Of course I spoke too soon about the Briata... Mere hours after I posted last, the transmission freaked out yet again, this time thankfully after I was off the freeway and almost home, so it wasn't as scary but still extremely disappointing. Since Wednesday morning they have had my poor car, and each day I have to call right before they close asking for status. Yesterday I called and the latest diagnosis is that there is absolutely nothing mechanically wrong with the transmission, only the electrical, so I was told "Your PCM probably killed your last transmission and is working on killing #2." Excuse me? Now my Briata needs a brain transplant?!? They are waiting for the subcontractors they hired to install my new alarm system last October to come back and verify they didn't screw up any of my wiring before they install a brand-new brain, especially because they've already told me it won't cost me anything. Unless they get their act together tomorrow, that means they'll have my car the entire time I'm out of town this week, but I've been promised it will be stored each night inside the dealer garage. They aren't driving it because each time it's driven, they think the faulty (psychotic?) PCM is shorting out parts of my brand-new transmission and doing minor damage that can get worse. Joy.
However, if the Briata's brain was already deteriorating a year ago, that could explain the problems with the emissions system that took so many times to correct, the alternator spontaneously going bad, and my alarm system freaking out, in addition to the fried transmission solenoid, all within the same year. I had even asked last March "could it possibly be the computer going bad and creating check engine codes where nothing is wrong?" but I was dismissed by the experts since the 1999 Miata brains don't have a history of breaking. Maybe if the brain had been replaced last year I wouldn't have had to pay for everything else, but too late now. Too bad she couldn't have just started singing "Daisy" so I would have some proof she was becoming unstable!
Now, I'm going to pack & try to enjoy my work trip this week, since it's a Royal Caribbean cruise out of Miami to the Bahamas & Key West. At least I hope for some sunshine after this absolutely miserable weather we've been having!
