Diverse & Wickedly Crazed Diary

As promised, I’m back to talk a little of what has happened since the car fire and our visit to Lake Shasta. We’ve visited Death Valley which I’ll talk more about in another post but right now I’m going to address the aftermath.

We were both very shaken and the reason we ended up at the lake to to try and relax, take a few photos and unwind. The insurance company totaled the vehicle which I figured they would. I quickly purchased another vehicle but the power steering assist fault came on. It’s not all the time. It’s sporadic but it has come on almost every time I’ve went to pull out of a spot in the last couple of days. I already have an appointment in two days. I knew it could be safety issue. Afterall, yesterday, I went into panic mode when the steering locked pulling out of a Denny’s parking spot. What I didn’t know is that it can lock while I’m driving. Needless to say, finding this out made me more shaky than I should be but less shaky than yesterday because I’m avoiding caffeine. I settled for a gatorade instead.

What I don’t like is that my companion and I start arguing about the best way to deal with this. We both know it’s going to be expensive. I’m estimating it will be over $2000 and I haven’t priced the part yet. The service advisor said it was most likely the assembly and is a six hour job. This car has electric power steering. There is no power steering pump, no fluid and no belts.

Today, we hashed out some options since they will need to keep the vehicle for a day or two. I’m hoping it won’t be longer than that. I like being in my own car. We discussed several options and we started arguing about it. I suggested a campground but she wasn’t thrilled with that idea if it wasn’t relatively desolate, meaning she wants to be able to park the car in location where we’re hidden from view from other campers. Her reasoning being, it’s early in the season and there probably won’t be many other campers and she’s afraid there may be homeless people in the campground. That’s starting to be an issue everywhere. But, we are homeless people too so I don’t see the reasoning but she wasn’t hip on the dispersed camping idea and we don’t have any camping gear with us. We weren’t intending to camp in the wild. I’m not really hip on another expense. She says call the car lot where we bought the car and demand they give us a loaner and I personally think that is a ridiculous idea because I think they will laugh at us. I don’t think the lot where I bought the car is going to give us a car to drive. My idea was too simply get a rental car but she more or less eighty-sixed that idea citing we don’t need to be spending any more money than we have to and I have to agree with not spending any more money than needed. I suggested a motel and she said she was long overdue for a good drunk and would get beer. I don’t want to deal with that and told her, she wasn’t getting beer but if we go to a motel she probably would and I can’t handle that right now and we can’t take the risk she can’t stop (she’s a recovering alcoholic) and having to drive. We are in separate vehicles and need to head back to South Carolina soon. But first, I have to get the car first. I admit I’m somewhat angry that this lot didn’t address the issues on recall and there are other issues besides the steering rack that are on recall but how I can make them responsible without going to court I don’t know.

She does know a couple people here and said she can call or text and see if they’d be willing to let her stay and I could take her car. These friends haven’t been very forthcoming with allowing her to stay with them so I’m not sure how effective that would be. Ultimately, we decided that we could probably both stay in her car for one night, maybe two. Like me, she sleeps in the passenger seat but I used to sleep in the driver’s seat all the time. And this car is big enough but we’d have to rearrange it a little bit so I could put the seat back. I think the only thing that might bother me, aside from not being in my own car, is getting cold. She doesn’t run the heat at all and Iget really cold at night and I want have my comforter and blankets. But, I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. And this is one of those gotta do’s.

I’m almost afraid to drive the car before it’s fixed, fearing the steering will lock up while driving. I also know that I’m going to keep my driving to a minimum until it’s fixed and make as few stops as possible because it locks up when I stop but it could always lock up while driving or slowing down.

I wrote two other posts about this issue. One on medium here: https://medium.com/@sassygrrl32a/power-steering-assist-fault-r-xie-qi-holbert-jones-page-iva-keowee-sc-e9284575dbe6; on blogger here: https://xie-qi.blogspot.com/2024/03/power-steering-assist-fault-part-2r-xie.html

Needless to say I’ve done a lot of complaining about this issue. But I really wanted to know what I was facing. I didn’t want to go into this blind and be sticker shocked when they told me what it was going to cost me. So I did some research and called the dealership (yes, I know, most people say, whatever you do, don’t go to the dealership, but one, I want my car done quickly because it’s my home and I don’t want an aftermarket part on something as expensive as a power steering rack. The truth is, I used to take my cars to this mechanic that got the parts from Napa or Carquest or maybe ordered it from somewhere and I was endlessly replacing parts. Many times more than once. These repairs cost anywhere from $500 to $800 each time and to do these repairs twice, sometimes three times cost a lot of money and I don’t want to go to a regular mechanic that orders the part from some online wholesaler that uses aftermarket or refurbished parts and end up replacing the part a year later and instead of spending $3000, I end up spending more. I had this one car and I always took it to the dealership even when it got older and high mileage and never once did I replace a manufacturer part a second time and many times these parts come with a warranty which I can take advantage of at any dealership, not just the hometown repair shop that if I’m hundreds of miles away, I’m out of luck.

The steering rack itself is $1420, the labor will be six hours at roughly $175 an hour plus the diagnostic fee of $165 and taxes putting the total cost at $3000 maybe a little more. It is not going to be easy to scrape enough money together to pay that but I don’t see what choice I have. It’s either pay it or go pitch a tent in the woods and live like the truly homeless live. Which could happen so I don’t want to bring on that bad luck.

Did a little more research besides looking up prices and see that it needs to be done at the dealership due to needing to be scanned/reprogrammed and you can’t use used ones due to it not matching the VIN. Sounds like the PCM where only the dealer can do the repair because they have to reprogram it and regular shops don’t have the scanners to do it. I’d already decided to take it to the dealership but found out that only they can do it after calling a few regular shops to find out about bringing it in and get quotes and they tell me the dealer has to do it. It turns out the rack has modules, sensors, etc. and if you put a used one in it can cause all kinds of problems the car didn’t have before and of course needs to be programmed.

I hate vehicle issues. They really bug me. And it seems now that I’m older and living in the car I’m more hyper about it because it’s a really scary thing. Not having the money to fix it and no one to help me means I/we could end up having to sleep in the woods like the truly homeless do or dispersed camping where many homeless also stay and many dispersed areas have no cell service so if there was a problem we couldn’t call the authorities or get help and that’s scary. It’s a truly scary thing.

Until next time……..My story-page……..UPDATE: I’m moving to a marina on Lake Keowee in Oconee County, only in a smaller boat, a 1981 Yukon Delta 28 that needs a ton of work (I’m doing it)…………….I’m Rachel Xie Qi Holbert-Jones BlackHeart and this is my story/page: living in Iva, South Carolina (Anderson County), part time in Hartwell, Georgia on my boyfriend’s boat, a 1986 Chris-Craft Catalina 381. I was at the Hartwell Marina which doesn’t allow liveaboards so I left. He purchased a 1996 Holiday Mansion 39 Barracuda, 1977 CHB Trawler 34 (I’m remodeling), 1986 Marine Trader 54 Sunliner that I’m updating, 2018 Sunseeker Manhattan 52, 2001 Nordic Tug 37 and a 1983 Fishcraft 28 (similar to the AdventureCraft 28 I lived on and still call home). I’m also camping at various places, mostly lake campgrounds.****************I still care for my aunt in West Virginia sometimes and hoping not to have to return to Memphis, Tennessee. We are scheduled to move my aunt to Dead Women Crossing, Oklahoma but first it’s to Georgia for the winter & Michigan in the summer. I’m still traveling for work and have been to my Uncle’s ranch in Alpine, Texas to oversee it and the cattle he retitled in both of our names, Texas Longhorns, Scottish Highlands, Brangus and show horses. He’s also added Bison and Beefalo to his ranch. **************************** For my work travels my uncle purchased a 1995 Ford E-150 Econoline GT Starquest Campervan. I wasn’t sure about an older van like this but the man that owned it had completely converted it with solar power and electrical, it was a good deal. It only has 112k miles. It only has a sealed portable toilet but it is okay because I prefer a public toilet and only use a camper toilet if I’m dispersed camping, at a Walmart or Cracker Barrel. I prefer rest areas and truck stops. For short trips, I drive a car or SUV. *************************** I have an avid love for photography and capturing the essence of old, abandoned houses, allegedly haunted places, classic, antique vehicles, lakes, rivers, nature, museums, art galleries, antique shops, car shows and historical places. I’m not a ghosthunter or paranormal investigator although I’ve had people request me to lead their groups, I’m a legend hunter. I love scary podcasts and spend more time on YouTube or Audible than Peacock or Tubi. I used to watch TV or movies when I stopped for the night but now I usually go right to sleep when I stop and prefer the podcasts of Darkness Prevails, What Lurks Beneath, Swamp Dweller or Red Owl. I like to listen to scary trucker stories too, occasionally grizzly/polar bear attacks, audiobooks & Dateline Podcasts. I like google scholar, casetext, medium, wordpress, livejournal, blogger, unsplash, pexels, pixabay, pinterest, instagram, facebook, X, tumblr, amazon, eBay, shadowlands (for places that are haunted), reading, greek mythology, animal shows, National Geographic, the metaphysical, food, camping, fitness, weightlifting, nutrition, health, gua sha, face rollers, beauty, fashion, tai chi, yoga, YouTube (listening to van lifers and people living in their vehicles), road tripping, computers, internet and creating videos. I also like long drives & deserted back roads. Work consists of scouting for investment properties and rehabbing/remodeling those properties for my employer. We also remodel old boats and restore classic cars. ******Visit my blogs at https://rachelholbertjonespage.com (Diverse & Wickedly Crazed Diary) that I’m changing to revolve around mostly haunted, abandoned places and occasionally focus on personal posts having to do with my homeless situation; https://xie-qi.blogspot.com (Rachel X’s Secret Diary) focused on my homeless situation; https://sassygrrl32x.blogspot.com is social media type posts in a blog format; https://medium.com/@sassygrrl32a is mostly reviews; https://sassygrrl32.livejournal.com is a social media type blog; https://rachelholbertjones10.blogspot.com has some links to YT videos and personal posts; https://rachelholbertjones.wordpress.com is my business blog, https://rachelholbertjones.weebly.com is my crazy and contentious blog and https://youtube.com/sassygrrl32 ……………..By Rachel Xie Qi Holbert-Jones BlackHeart AKA sassygrrl32 & Haunted Legendhunter & Bourbon Street Blogger **********************************************Alot of people have asked me the story of my homeless situation and I’ve removed it for now and will discuss it in my blog posts. ***********************************#rachelxieqiholbertjonespage #sassygrrl32 #Iva #Keowee #SouthCarolina #Hartwell #Georgia #andersoncounty #Michigan #livinginacar #vanlife #nomadlifestyle #carcamping #roadtripping #boondocking #carlife #livingoffgrid #vandwelling #vanliving #legendhunter #haunted #abandoned #xieqi #sassyaftersixty #deadwomencrossing #oklahoma #westvirginia #memphis #tennessee #bourbonstreetblogger #bepositive #prayer #GodBless #rebranding #westernzhoudynasty #daxie #nanyang #mandarin #xiemei #lowbow #vitallifeforce #flowingvitalenergy #unseenenergy #taichi #davisislandersllc #rizzoreipartners #crazyandcontentious #blackheart #rachelxieqiholbertjonesblackheartpage #rachelxieqiholbertjonespageblackheart #rachelxieqiholbertjonesblackheart