Went off without a hitch…well almost
Well it was an eventful day. The Mrs. and I headed off this morning to pick up my new Roadmaster wagon. We paid for the car, transferred the ownership and put a temporary plate/sticker onto it so that it could be driven home. I had no problems with the car at all on the way home. It made some odd noises but nothing too serious. Something under the dash clicked incessantly all the way home. Sort of like a turn signal relay clicking on and off. All of the signals work and I haven’t encountered anything wrong, but there is a clicking under the dash. It appears also that Roadmasters are VERY insistent about warning you that you’re almost out of fuel. Rather than a simple ding or beep to indicate that fuel is low, the dash buzzer sounds for almost a full minute. As I would go up a small rise I was treated to about 60 seconds of dash buzzer which would eventually stop, only to start again at the next rise. Filling the tank up stopped the problem so…noted.
The rear drivers side window has a problem with the regulator which is preventing the window from traveling correctly. This is a very common problem with these cars and really quite easily fixed.
It seems that all of the windows can only be operated from the drivers seat controls. The window switches on all of the other doors are inoperative. Presumably there is a problem with the Window Lock switch on the drivers door. Electrical problems are second nature to me and I don’t expect this to be too difficult to find.
I brought the car home and dropped off the four snow tires and rims, that were included in the deal, in the garage before taking it back out to get it washed and gassed up. On the way back home again, I discovered the our local police were in the midst of a safety blitz and I was pulled over by an officer who noticed that my rear shocks leave a little something to be desired in the support department. I can’t say as this disturbed me any. I have faith that the car is in acceptable shape and can pass it’s safety test without many issues. I followed the officer to the service depot for city buses where the Ministry of Transportation mechanic would look it over. In my mind, I was getting an unbiased second opinion, something that I would pay $50-$100 for a mechanic to do. The MTO mechanic confirmed that the car was fine and really just needed some rear shocks. Unfortunately, the Ministry of the Environment officer had other concerns. It seems that while the seller had provided me with all paperwork to indicate that the car had passed it’s last emissions test, they had in fact attempted an emissions test only days before I picked the car up and it failed. I discovered, that no matter what the Ministry of Environment’s website says about obtaining a temporary plate to transport a vehicle, it is illegal to operate a vehicle if it hasn’t passed an emissions test. The officer handed me a ticket for $360 for operating a vehicle without properly functioning emissions equipment. I have 15 days to pay the fine, or repair the car sufficiently to pass the test.
Oh well, I have the car that I want, and I have a number of nifty little problems to sort out as well. Exactly what I was after. The 15 day deadline and the approach of winter might make some of those problems difficult to address, but I’m certain it can be done.
