45°F and cloudy this morning, going up to 53° today. Should be sunny and around 60° for most of the week here.
Well, the work trip to northern Illinois was a complete bust. Got about 500 feet from my exit off the interstate when my car suddenly lost power and started to shudder. I pulled off onto the side of the exit ramp, where I remained for most of the day. I was pretty much 20 miles from anywhere. I called the Kia Roadside Assistance number and they arranged a tow for me to the Kia dealer in Rockford IL. Called the customer and explained my situation, and they guy was quite understanding. I also called the Kia dealer to let them know I was coming in. After a few hours of waiting, I called the tow company (out of Chicago, of all places), and was told it would be about another half hour. An hour later, I tried to call again several times, but they weren't answering the phone anymore apparently. Called Kia back, and got stuck in the computer void a couple of times, so I called them back again and canceled the service. A Google search found the best rated tow service in Rockford. They had a flatbed truck there in 20 minutes. Four-and-a-half hours later, I was on my way to the dealer. Unfortunately, by the time I got there, they did not have enough time to look at my car, as they were two techs short that day. They wouldn't get to it until Monday. Options were to get a hotel room and hang out in Rockford all weekend, or rent a car and drive home. Enterprise was right across the street, so that became the best option. They were able to get me into a brand new Dodge Grand Caravan right away, so I took it. Finally got back home around 10pm.
Just got the call from the dealer a few minutes ago ... the engine is toast. Two of the four pistons have blown rings. $5K-ish for a rebuilt used engine, or $7100-ish for a new Kia engine. Neither of those options sound attractive for a 5-year-old car with 175K miles. Looks like I'm car shopping today.
