Road Trip Turmoil: A Broken Car in Albuquerque

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Picture this, two young women, approximately 22 years of age, stranded in Albuquerque, New Mexico, sometime around 10pm on an abandoned corner with a dead car, sitting right in front of them, and a cop pulls up behind them. Think you’ve heard this story and know how it ends? Think again… But before we get to the ending, I should start about 12 hours earlier that day.

The day started about 545 miles east in Oklahoma City as part of a week-long road trip from North Carolina to California (yes, we all know there is a song about that. Heads Carolina, Tails California). At this point in my life, I didn’t really have a home base and therefore, didn’t have a regular oil change place, meaning I stopped for the service whenever I hit the magic number of miles in which it was recommended to get an oil change. Seeing as I have already given away part of the ending, you may have figured out that we did indeed stop for an oil change at a reputable brand-named shop in Oklahoma City. It was the only thing we did after stopping for breakfast at our favorite roadie diner (yep, the place with rocking chairs on the porch) and then we started driving for hours and hours and hours and hours as there is almost nothing but a random Dairy Queen between Oklahoma City and Albuquerque. Since it was my car and not a rental, we were able to swap drivers as one tired, so about 7 hours in, I was napping in the passenger seat when my cousin woke me up to ask if my oil indicator light typically turns on and off. As mentioned, we were quite young, in the middle of the desert, after dark, so we decided to continue until we reached our hotel for the night before we tried to troubleshoot the issue. As we reached the top of the exit ramp, hotel just a few buildings down, we stopped for the red light; the car sputtered and died. And now we’re back at the beginning of my story, two young women, approximately 22 years of age…

Not so sure about the ending anymore? Ok, I’ll continue. For some unknown reason, the freeway was shut down shortly after we passed through, leaving the exit ramp deserted, until a kind officer pulled up behind us and decided to keep us company while we waited for the tow truck. About an hour or so later, now closing in on midnight, the tow truck finally arrived. My cousin’s fiancé (now husband) is a mechanic, so luckily, we had a contact to walk us through what to say and how to get the car where we needed it to, but turns out it was all for naught. After the car was loaded and we, along with 6 months’ worth of my stuff, including my plant Medusa, were unloaded at the hotel, we tried to sleep as it was a very exhausting endeavor. However, with our luck, there was construction or something happening next door, so we asked to be moved. A while later, when we, along with 6 months’ worth of my stuff, including my plant Medusa, were moved into another room, we were able to get some sleep, only to be woken up my phone ringing a few hours later. The dealership was calling. They had tried to start the car and the engine seized with no hope of getting it unseized. Now, time to introduce the main character – my car. It was a silver Hyundai Tiberon, which is a small, sporty, lower-riding car. At the time, Hyundai wasn’t really a top seller in the south and especially a sporty car like that in the desert, so imagine our surprise when the dealership was able to find TWO new (used, but functioning) engines that could be delivered and installed within two or three days. Unfortunately, that meant traded seeing the Grand Canyon for another few days in Albuquerque, but we didn’t have much of a choice, so we did what any young women would do to release some stress, we went to the SPA! And because we didn’t have significant funding, we saved money next by watching videos on our DVD player in the car… And the to finish off the time-wasting, we took a tram to the top of the mountain, where I promptly lost my credit card. (Oh, I forgot to mention that the dealership had to call my dad to put the charges on his credit card since I only had two that were under $5000 credit limit and we were already on day four of a road trip, meaning there wasn’t enough left on my cards to pay for a new (used, but functioning) engine.)  We finished Albuquerque, with an engine we didn’t start with and down one credit card. I’ve never been back. BUT my sister and I have a plan to go to the Albuquerque Balloon Fest one of these years, so fingers crossed that the next trip goes along with a little less drama.

Epilog: I was able to get reimbursed by the oil change place after about a month. Turns out the plug was not installed correctly after the oil change, fell out sometime on the drive, and oil leaked out over the 8-hour drive. Nothing we could have done differently as it was a simple mistake.

Bar Stool Talk: Have you ever experienced an unexpected twist on a road trip that turned into a memorable adventure? Share your story with us and let us know how you navigated the challenges and surprises along the way!