We bought an effin’ car.
Pat and John have an effin’ car.
Now we do too.
The $11,500 1999 Mitsubishi Montero Sport Rally Edition, yes that was it’s official title – shall now be known as the effin’ car.
The sumbitch overheated the first day we had it after 36 miles.
The sumbitch overheated the second day we had it after 43 mile. I suppose that is progress, but the second day had a 60 minute respite.
Contrary to the other person’s opinion, who lives at Sedolosoder, I did not ignore it the first day hoping the effin’ car would heal itself.
I went to an auto parts place and told them my predicament – with a lot of Spanglish and sound-effects.  After trying to communicate that the anti-freeze was gone – not really odd that Costa Rica doesn’t understand “freeze.”  I even tried suggesting “Prestone.”  The guy pipes up with “coolant.”
BINGO, I almost put my finger on my nose like the expert charadist I am.
He swapped out the 13 psi radiator cap for a 16 psi cap.
Nice try, but no Maduro.

The second time, the effin’ car overheated on the way to Atenas to pick up the dogs from vet/groomer. We had driven to town and back waited about an hour and about 3/4 of the way the temp guage started creeping upward.

Luckily I was able to baby it to the top of a hill and we coasted the rest of the way.

The groomer is married to the vet and he also is a body man. Ironic that his Tico wife is built like a boy… just sayin’.

His body shop is right next door to a mechanic. I drove the car to the shop on Saturday night and we left it.

We were supposed to have dinner with Kat and Layne on Sunday, but I cancelled after it cost us $9 to get home.

Even though Kat insisted she was worth it, I didn’t feel like paying another $18 for a trip into town for dinner.

Nancy did some shopping at Pali’s on Saturday night… it was like Kroger on Senior Citizen’s day… long, slow moving lines.

Bruce and Frances dropped by. Bruce offered to loan us a car, but his effin’ windsheild wiper motor stopped working.

Effin’ cars.

We will be testing the 30 day guarantee on engines and transmissions that is “Costa Rica Law.” (always in quotes because one never *really* knows what is law here.)

The used car guy was at least willing to have “our” mechanic fix the car at his expense.

Effin’ cars! They are everywhere in Costa Rica.

With all the babyboomer Gringos here, there is a fortune to be made importing US cars that can be easily repaired. I’m talking about 1950-65 Chevies and Fords etc. You know the kind – they had huge hoods and engine compartments and everything was easily accessible and fixable with a good set of socket wrenches and a couple screwdrivers.

Now those were effin’ cars… in a good way.

UPDATE: The effin’ car had a small split in a hose for the a/c. Wooooooo Hoooooo…. unless it’s not. The mechanic said to watch it for a while to make sure I didn’t crack the block or something. Hum Don Ho while you read this… Tiny bubbles… in the radiator… make me feel happy… like a gladiator…

Cost to repair. $26.00