Locked Steering Wheel From Hell

I'M PISSED!!

The steering wheel on my car is locked....I put the key in the ignition and it won't turn!! I've unlocked my steering wheel a dozen times before, but this time it won't friggin budge!

I hate cars!

Could you possibly not have something in the correct position to unlock it? Something over-looked?

Bang it a coupla times! It always seems to work with my printer...

Originally posted by Jonna
Could you possibly not have something in the correct position to unlock it? Something over-looked?

I wish....nope man....It was the ignition

I got my father to come out and help me figure it out - He struggled with it for a few minutes like I did and then gave up...

Only after we twisted the key with the force of a Bavarian Wildebeest did the damn thing start, and now the ignition is all loose and needs replacing....

*sighs*

On modern cars, there's a little computer that you can plug in under the dash and find out what the diagnostic says.

Mine always has a "check engine" light on. and the diagnostic alwasy says the same thing:

"PC Load Letter"



Seriously. Was it a GM? they do that a lot.

Love the "Saturn eating his children avatar." by the way. Is it a Goya?

Originally posted by dr_strangecraft
Was it a GM? they do that a lot.

No - It's a Jeep Classic.....

Yeah - The check engine light is never a pleasant thing to see come on....Sometimes all the meters on my dash will just flatline while I'm driving and then suddenly come back to life - That gets pretty damn annoying....espcially if it happens when you're driving through a speed trap....

But I've made my final desciion that this car currently has too much to fix to be worth the investment....so I'm looking for a new car...

I'm looking at the new Mustang GT, Subaru WRX STi or the Chrysler 300c....Beasts of cars at descent prices...

Love the "Saturn eating his children avatar." by the way. Is it a Goya?

Yeah - The avatar is a Goya (There's some text above and below that says the work and the artist)....One of my all time favorite pieces though - Very powerful and bold...

You have a great new one too!
"You know, the Nazis had pieces of flair but they made the Jews wear them."



[edit on 2/20/2005 by EnronOutrunHomerun]

can't believe I missed the words right there. Sheesh. And to think I was secretly smirking to myself for recognizing "cultcha" that no one else would. Ahh, well.


I never buy new cars anymore. Generally, 10% of the car's value evaporates when you drive it off the dealer's lot. Let someone else do that, and you get the trade in.

My rule of thumb is, on used cars, to divide the price I paid by 4. I am willing to do a quarter of the thing's value (my price or bluebook, whichever is higher). I'm willing to pay a quarter of that amount in repairs. But that is my limit. I paid 2000 for my Le Sabre, and now the repair guy sez it needs 500 in transmission work? No thanks, dude. I'll just avoid putting it in overdrive from now on . . . That worked for another 50K miles.

Here's the stupidest thing. Before you sell it, detail it. I know it's stupid, but you get more money from it that way.

Advice number 2: never sell a car to a new-car dealer. You can always tell if you're getting screwed if you look in the mirror at the dealership--that person is the one getting screwed.

Once upon a time, when we were poor, we were buying a new(!) car at a dealership. We agree on the price for the new shiny sedan, but I look down the contract's page and see that Mr. sales Mgr is only giving me $250 for Frau Dr.'s old beat-up Lumina. Frau Dr. starts to bite her lip. But I don't say anything I just get out my checkbook and start writing a check.

"What is that for?" asks the Sales Manager in disbelief. I say "Well, you are saying my car is only worth $250. I say it's worth more. But you say it's not. So, I'm writing you a check for 250 bucks, and you don't even have to touch the car. I'm saving you a lot of trouble for your $250!"

"Umm, see. No. . . . You can't do that," drones the sales manager.

"Oh? Is my care worth MORE than 250, then ?" I ask, arching my eyebrows furiously.

Sales Manager scampers into the back. Various secretaries come and peak in his office, and stare at us like we are exotic life forms. He comes back and says he cannot do that, and I have to give it in trade.

"Fine," I say to Frau Dr. "Get your things. We can go home now."

Then the President of the dealership comes out and asks the sales rep what the HELL is going on. I cut off Mr. salesmanship and explain. The Pres looks blandly at the rep and tells him to take my check.

Meanwhile, Frau Dr. is whispering furiously in my ear that we don't HAVE $250 in the checking account right now, seeing as how we bought groceries a week ago, and diapers and all. "IF I sell the car for more than $250, can I keep the money?" I asking, again arching my brows. "Yes" she says, also in disbelief. I shopped around for the three days before the check cleared (this was before CHECK21), and sold it to the guy at the speedyzippy oilchange place for $850!!!!!!!

Next year, second verse. A whole lot louder and a whole lot worse. We are selling our OTHER old car. I go through the whole check-writing ritual. Frau Dr. again leans over and whispers that we don't HAVE $300 in our checking account, seeing as how we paid rent this month and all. So I says to her, "IF I sell the old car and make a profit, can I keep the money?"

She pauses for a minute, and says "You can keep half."

Turns out that bargaining is contagious.

That's a great technique!! I certainly will take your advice....

I'm planning on leasing this car too though....I'd rather not commit myself to one car right away and find out that something is faulty in them or that I just don't like it, but would be stuck with it for the next 10 years....

It's ridiculous though....My car was around $25,000 new - Today it's trade in value is a maximum of $4000......And given that there are at least around $1500 worth of repairs to do pre-sell, I'm really not gaining much to do this - And to be honest, a few things like the moldy AC, the brown paint that looks exactly like a mud splash, and the clinking and clanking of my transmission are all things that will most likely go unnoticed by the inspector - which is fine by me - lol

The inspector of my last car took all of 5 minutes and came back with a list of about 1/4 of its problems I was aware of....

I think it is a good idea to try and sell this myself though - I just have to try and make it happen as quick as possible....

[edit on 2/20/2005 by EnronOutrunHomerun]