Infiniti...
Mar. 7th, 2013 08:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexpgpIf you head east on NASA Parkway after you get past the Johnson Space Center, there's a several-hundred-yard stretch that runs over the water between Clear Lake and an extension called Mud Lake. Technically, I suppose, you'd call this part of the road a bridge, but if you weren't paying attention to what was off to either side of the pavement, you really wouldn't be aware you were "crossing" any such thing.
Structurally, this stretch of road is constructed in such a way as to sympathetically rock your car off the road as you drive along, which normally is prevented by the vehicle's shocks and struts.
Unless something's worn out, as was the case with the Infiniti, which needed the rear struts replaced.
A comedy of errors ensued—including dropping off the car and renting a replacement, only to find that the warehouse had misread its inventory and there were no struts of the kind needed in stock—in an attempt to avoid having to pay the local Infiniti dealer almost $400 for each device, since the price quoted for installation by the mechanic we were using (and who I trust) was already impressive enough. But between my finding the struts online for less than $100 each and Galina finding someone here in Seabrook to do the job for about two-thirds of what had been quoted for installation, and since the amount of the potential savings was about one-third of what the car is worth ("potental" being the key and dangerous word), we figured we'd roll the dice.
I ordered the parts, stuck around while the local mechanic did the replacement, and so far, everything is okay. The "acid test" (driving across that bridge) was passed with flying colors.
We'll continue driving the Infiniti for just a while longer, I guess...
Structurally, this stretch of road is constructed in such a way as to sympathetically rock your car off the road as you drive along, which normally is prevented by the vehicle's shocks and struts.
Unless something's worn out, as was the case with the Infiniti, which needed the rear struts replaced.
A comedy of errors ensued—including dropping off the car and renting a replacement, only to find that the warehouse had misread its inventory and there were no struts of the kind needed in stock—in an attempt to avoid having to pay the local Infiniti dealer almost $400 for each device, since the price quoted for installation by the mechanic we were using (and who I trust) was already impressive enough. But between my finding the struts online for less than $100 each and Galina finding someone here in Seabrook to do the job for about two-thirds of what had been quoted for installation, and since the amount of the potential savings was about one-third of what the car is worth ("potental" being the key and dangerous word), we figured we'd roll the dice.
I ordered the parts, stuck around while the local mechanic did the replacement, and so far, everything is okay. The "acid test" (driving across that bridge) was passed with flying colors.
We'll continue driving the Infiniti for just a while longer, I guess...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2013-03-07 02:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-03-07 06:24 pm (UTC)(Galina is my wife. We were married on Griboedov Street, in Moscow, a bit over 35 years ago.)
Cheers...
no subject
Date: 2013-03-10 06:29 am (UTC)We lived in hotel in Clear Lake.
http://alien3.livejournal.com/557211.html
http://alien3.livejournal.com/551773.html
http://alien3.livejournal.com/544701.html
http://alien3.livejournal.com/542310.html
no subject
Date: 2013-03-12 02:14 am (UTC)