Nope; I didn't say that. All I was able to do was give you some insight on the types of things that could be involved in solving the problem. It also depends on how far you're willing walk back home! In my case that has been ten miles after locking my keys in my vehicle, ... Twice! I don't want you stalled on a deserted highway in the middle of winter.
I am skeptical about the diagnosis of a bad computer unless there was some testing done to back that up. The Engine Computer is probably the last thing I would suspect. Also, no professional just throws random parts at a problem because that's the most expensive and least effective way to solve a problem, but in this case when it is so intermittent, that is often what we have to resort to. The problem for you is you never know if it's going to let you sit somewhere. The problem for the mechanic is he has to remember what diagnostic steps he has already gone through, what he has tried, and what he has replaced. He also can not be expected to stay working on your car until it's solved because that could take days or weeks. Did I mention that intermittent problems can be very frustrating?
Not driving the car is not the answer because then there's no point in having it. Most of the time intermittent problems get worse and act up more often as the offending part wears or degrades more. The more it acts up, the more time the mechanic has to go through the troubleshooting steps. When fixing tvs I often had to tell people to "put up with it until it gets worse, then call me". The same is true with cars except you don't know where you're going to be when it gets worse.
Friday, February 22nd, 2013 AT 8:19 PM