#spookyempire

Our trip started out lovely! We were staying in a nice resort in Orlando, we went to see a Gorillaz concert, and the convention was fun! Then, on my birthday, we drove down to Melbourne, FL to visit my mother and have dinner with some of my old friends. (Yay, more good times!)

On the way back to my mother’s house from dinner, the brakes gave out on my 4Runner. (Boo. Super bad times!) I was able to coast it into a gas station parking lot and we requested a tow through AAA. After 3 hours of waiting and calling repeatedly, it became clear there were no tow companies open at that hour of the night (I had so many slurpees at that 7-11 where we waited). We decided to leave the car and come back in the morning. To save us the cost of an uber, my mom agreed to come pick us up and take us to her house just 20mins away. 

On the way to my mother’s house, just 1 mile from her exit, her car stopped getting gas. It started slowing down and we pulled off on the side of the highway where it gave out completely and would not start again. We called a friend and got a ride the rest of the way to the house. It was officially a very shitty night. 

In the morning, we took an uber back to the 7-11 to get our car. We got a tow from AAA to a mechanic my mother uses. The mechanic told us the ABS unit had gone out and repairs would be $2k and take a week to do. Super. We had to be back home in 4 days for work and because our dog sitter would be leaving. Mild panic attacks ensued. 

We went back to my mom’s house and waited for a friend to get off work so we wouldn’t have to guide an uber driver to a random spot on the side of the highway. We drove out to her car and called her roadside assistance. We were then informed (wait for it) that no tow trucks were available after 5pm. We took a picture of the sticker highway patrol had put on her car saying she had 48hrs to remove the car, then went back to her house. 

In the morning, we got a very expensive uber back to our hotel ($100, but if we didn’t get back that morning for a timeshare pitch, they would have doubled the cost of our room). While we listened to a sales pitch we couldn’t afford and didn’t want, my mom got another ride to her car. Or tried. When she got there, the car was gone and had been taken to impound. 

Mom called to argue that the sticker said she had another day to move it, and after being transferred through several people, she was told the fine print said if she was on a “low access highway” (I still don’t know what this means) she only had 6hrs to move (with the lack of tow companies and time of night we stopped, this would have been literally impossible). Now she was stuck with a $400 cost to get the car out of impound. 

Meanwhile, Terana and I still needed to get home! We put out a call for help and gathered some funds. We decided to try and rent a car since we had so much luggage. We checked apps and called around most of the day and found out that no car lots in the area would rent a car to go out of state. We would have to take a plane. (You have no idea how much I hate flying.) 

The cheapest way to get a flight home was going to require we also  add a night to our hotel stay. Altogether this was over $600, but still cheaper than an earlier flight with our amount of baggage. Things continued to suck. 

We put out a call for help on our Facebook pages and we were able to get enough money for the hotel stay, the flight, and a portion of the repair fees. (We are very lucky to have good friends!) We made it home in time for work and to relieve our dog sitter. 

Now, however, we still need to get back to Florida and get the repaired 4runner from the shop and drive it back to NC. My mother has had her car inspected and found the timing chain went out. No clue what other damage it may have done. Impound fees have now mounted to over $500 and repairs will be a $500 minimum. Her car only cost $1000. She plans to leave the car in impound, but they still want $300 (at least) if she abandons it and she will need another car. My mother lives on social security and I have to send her around $500 a month just to cover her basic bills... I will have to help buy her a car. 

Any help at all is appreciated and I thank you if you even just managed to read all of this. I am in constant panic mode right now and don’t know how we’re going to make it through this. It is already an expensive time of year when we need to pay $1000 for heating fuel for the year and $500 for car insurance. 

Venmo: @NixHunter