kimgarden

:-\ , :-\, I was driving slowly through a grocery parking lot, following behind a large 4-wheel Chevy pick up. He stopped, so I stopped. He quicklyattempted to back-up trying obtain a parking space without looking in his mirrors. His wife was yelling at him to stop, but he kept going and smashed into the front driver's side of my 1986 Subaru GL. When we assessed the damage, he was very quick to state"well, at least it's only the head light and we don't need to call the cops. I was a pushover and agreed to swap insurance info. as long as we reported the incident immediately to our insurance companies, along with any pertinent info.(phone nos, addresses, license info. etc. He said he couldn't get through to his agent, but all would be right by Mon. This all happened on a Saturday, so 1st thing Mon. a.m., I contacted his insurance (State Farm) to verify damage. The man that smashed my car hadn't contacted his ins. co. so I had to file a claim for his lazy you know what. I then proceded to take my 86 Suburu GL to one of their "preferred" shops. I found out that not only was my headlamp smashed, but the metal rectangle shaped "cup" holding 3 lights is bent and is pushed into the radiator and fan belt. The grill is broken, the hood latch is not working since the frame that holds the hood is also bent. I managed to open the hood but can't close it due to the warping. I guess my point is that the arrogant jerk that hit my car was more worried about getting back home with the cold beer, claiming the damage to my car was only a broken headlamp and man oh man was he mistaken. I was given a rental car to drive on 8-8-11 as I left my Subaru at the shop (feeling a heartache that is hard to describe). Today is 9-13-11 and the necessary parts have been nearly impossible to locate. I'm told the new grill is "in the mail" for 2 wks now. Statefarm even had the audacity to call and let me know the cost of using a rental car after one month of service was to be my responsibily. The parts for a 25 yr. old car are difficult at best to locate. I refused the assinine proposal and the body shop is also refusing on the grounds that I can't safely drive my car without a grill for many reasons. The accident was caused by a man who can pay for any additional costs/fees in my opinion and I think if this went to court, justice would prevail - I hope. thanks for listening kimgarden

Hey, thanks for the info. I'm going to get my arb. checked and clean it now that the fuel filters are changed. Thanks again for the helpful advice! Kimgarden

I drive a sweet 86 GL Hatchback, carborator only with 77,000 original miles on her, keeping oil changed, new belts and some hoses. Lately, a small amount of moisture got in the gas and I have been using "Heet" to help with removing moisure from the fuel (my mechanic said to do this) but it feels like I'm running out of gas when I go uphill or drive over 30ish. Mechanic also said she needs a new fuel filter, but I wonder if I should have a tune up. I know this sounds stupid, a 25 year old car might need a tune up? I just don't want to get ripped off again and again. I got the fuel filter and will install it tomorrow. What does a tune up involve for my car? Plugs, wires, points? More? I'm on disability and can't afford more, but I don't want my car to suffer due to my lack of knowledge. Help