By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

If you’ve had a rocky financial year due to the recession but came out of it basically in one piece, you’re grateful for the little things. Still, and especially if your ride had to bear the brunt of your economic turmoil, there’s some seriously ouch expenses you just wish you could just claim. For example, during the darkest days of ’09, I had to take a job at a tire shop north of Seattle while circumstances forced me to move way south–suddenly inflicting a 50-mile round-trip commute on my 29-year-old Eagle. For an older, hard-driven car, a daily run like that will bring out gremlins (no pun intended) you never knew you had. For my Eagle, at nearly 200K on the original drivetrain, that meant worn-out carrier bearings that nearly caused the the front differential to come apart on me.

Faced with a burly disassembly project, I decided, hell, why not just get both front and rear diffs rebuilt with steeper gears for better acceleration (I went from the stock 2:73′s to 3:22′s), and ended up dropping a hefty sum to have the job done right at Randy’s Ring and Pinion. I still kind of feel like Uncle Sam ought to chip in–I incurred that catastrophic repair bill because I was doing my part to stay gainfully employed, dammit!–but somehow, I get the feeling I’m not going to catch a break.

How about you? Any vehicle expenses that you think you should get to write off?

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

It’s become standard practice to pick up holiday gifties for the pets, but has automotive gift-giving caught on yet? My Eagle pretty much broke the bank this year: it got a full front and rear differential rebuild at Randy’s Ring and Pinion, with both pumpkins re-geared to 3.08 for a slightly better launch than its stock 2.73′s. Not exactly a planned purchase–but when I found that the front diff was ready to come apart after 175,000 hard miles, I decided I might as well go the whole hog and do the gear swap front and rear. I was lucky enough to have boyfriend, mom, and sister pitch in to help defray the colossal expense, though still, I kinda feel the Eagle is set for about the next ten Christmases or so.

How about you? Did your ride get any presents this year?