I’m not joking, I felt all wonky all the time after driving, and I didn’t realize why my head hurt so bad all the time until J pointed out that it REEKED of exhaust in my car when he got in it.

I guess, because I practically live in my car between work, school, and home, I didn’t even notice the smell; or at least, didn’t see it as a cause for concern.

Well, I’ve lived with that madness for a little under a year, and it was torture. Pair that with only being able to roll down one window (yup, so aware that is illegal), and you have one high/unhappy woman in the summer.

Apparently my car had a missing exhaust manifold gasket.

So, after begging my dad to fix it (it is his car, after all), and his mechanic to fix it (and have my dad pay him), and my boyfriend to fix it (several times), I called several mechanics. The quotes were all around $300, if there wasn’t a stripped bolt. Thing is, there was. They were quoting $500 for that. Ouch.

After my griping and whining about not wanting to fix the vehicle, my boyfriend got fed up and grabbed a wrench. After 2 hours of hard, dirty labour, out came my car, minus an exhaust leak (and loud, annoying noise) and my windows were on their way to being fixed.

Yes, I had to pay for parts, but they weren’t overly expensive. In fact, I only paid about $40 overall, cause my dad had some of them kicking around already. In thanks, I bought J dinner and beer, which cost about $40, which he gladly accepted.

Because of his DIY effort, I saved hundreds of dollars and had my car fixed for just over $80.

What was your last car problem? How much did it cost you?

DIY Car Repairs is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.