Turns out that both Hattie's car and the Saturn have to be inspected in January. The down side to this is that if something goes wrong on both cars it can be expensive. Turns out that both of our cars failed the inspection. Hattie's car, a 2001 Ford Focus needed a rear plate light and sway bar linkages. The total bill $350!! Well instead of paying the garage a bunch of money for an easy task I decided to do the work myself. I went to the local NAPA auto store and purchased the sway bar linkage system for the left and right. The total coast was under $40. All I had to do was jack up the front end of the Focus, crawl under and wrench on two bolts for a bit and replace the part. 

The Saturn was a different story... It needed a lot of love. The Saturn needed a Steering gear, EGR valve, Spark Plugs and Wiring, and a driver side door mirror. Total damage $1,000. I was able to do the spark plugs and wiring, along with the EGR valve. I ordered a piece of mirror from a glass store and will glue it over the current one which has a minor crack. The steering gear I can't do though. I did a lot of research on the Steering gear and I just dont have the skills to fix it. Apparently you have to loosen the engine cradle in order to remove the steering gear. Once I read this I immediately stopped and decided it would be best to have a professional fix this. Good news is though that I saved myself a few hundred dollars by doing most of the work myself. I have found through past experiences that it is best to know your limits and not exceed your bight to chew ratio. So I made an appointment at my garage for the steering gear to be fixed.  Once that is replaced the Saturn should be good to go! (knock on wood!). I can't afford to be putting this kind of money into my car. In fact I was all set to order a new road bike assuming the car passed inspection. Well with all money going into the Saturn I wont be purchasing a road bike any time soon. Hopefully by the spring I will be able to purchase the sweet ride. Till then I have a lot of saving to do and a lot more riding to do!! For those of you in Maine, toughen up and get outside and ride!