June 27, 2010
Oh The Stress Of It! or It's Driving ME CRAZY!
It's not in the top 10 of stressful life events, but I would put it at number eleven. Buying a new(er) car. Turns out our 93 wagon is on her way out. We called her "Kitty", our mom car. We bought her when we started our family, I was 6 months into my first pregnancy. Being a used car "Kitty" ended up needing a new radiator. Unfortunately, the mechanics assistant decided not to put new $2 clips to attach the oil hoses and reused the old ones. Not good. I ended up dropping the engine oil all over the 101 freeway in rush hour traffic. Not a good thing. Luckily our cracker-jack of a mechanic replaced the engine. Alas, the car was never the same. Nine years later, it is time to move on. We are 4 days into our car mission and my insides are screaming to be ousides. My stomach just can't take the stress of interest rates and auto dealerships and endless searches on line. Credit unions, by the way, are THE way to go! I've been up late, getting no sleep and worrying about the money we will have to spend. Used is the only route for us, and I don't mind that, you can get some pretty awesome deals. By the way, the Ojai Lavender Festival was great, but I did spend the whole time obsessing over cars and deadlines and failed smog checks. Ugh! So bright and early I'm dragging the kids, Nintendo games in hand, to the credit union to make some sense of this. Wish me luck.
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4 comments:
I feel for you Gaea! Its such a worry in so many ways..but I know youve hashed out all of the ways! My husb bought me a new small truck 2 yrs ago it feels great to ride in a very dependable car but its 3 yrs of payments still. Well keep it till the cows come home. Do you know someone whos selling a good car? So many times thats a great place to find a dependable one. Hang in there this too shall pass!
My car is a 94 and I asked the mechanic how much longer it would last and he said a year, maybe two. So soon I will be in the same boat, looking for a good used car. Yes, stressful!
I've had good luck with recommendations from our mechanic. If you mechanic knows someone who buys and sells cars and has them checked with him/her, they might be able to steer you to a good used car. I wish you luck too.
Emanda
However, if you no longer trust your mechanic, ask at the credit union -- there might be a repo they need to move.
Good Luck with finding a new car! I will always and forever be in love with my Rav-4... she was (as in Romancing the Stone) my little "pepe". My little silver 5 speed zipped around everywhere, lugged a ton of beads, and got awesome gas mileage... Wiping tear away... Driving a Chevy Traverse now - the only vehicle we could all fit into with all our stuff and without Dave wearing his knees on his chest with a car seat behind him. I will have another Rav-4 one day!
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