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The car is dead. Oh yes, dead dead dead. The old Saab, which served with unfailing unreliability for so few years and so many consistently irritating miles, has suffered a complete engine squishing, and will require 4000 worth of fixing. So that's not going to happen. I mean, it's not that I don't <i>love</i> Saabs in general, what with the fact that they're ridiculously hard to get parts or service for, they have a stupid flat-butt look, and no one seems to have the electrical manuals for them before 1998. And it's not that I don't <i>love</i> our Saab in particular, with the 700 dollars we poured into the transmission six months ago, or the way the power locks and windows and dome light don't work, and the way the headlights can't be turned off, and the climate control that blasts heat unless it's freezing your ass off (paid 300 on that a couple years ago, still busted). Not to mention the suspiciously squeaky breaks, the radiator fluid that constantly runs out, or the windshield wiper fluid that will shoot everywhere but onto the windshield. Oh yeah, I'm gonna miss this car.
So, new car. Yaay? We can't afford it, not in any possible universe, but it's sort of been thrust upon us. We're renting for this week so Mike can get to work and not lose his job. I've been looking at cars online, and it seems like it's possible to get a pretty good used car with less than 100k miles on it for around four thousand dollars. Which is what it would cause to fix the current Saab disaster, coincidentally. And if we went with a dealership, we could probably get something for a trade in. I mean, <i>something</i> has to still work on this car. Maybe they can part out the butt warmers and the CD player and... um... the muffler? I don't remember having problems with that. Option 2 is to give the car to Rick the Mechanic in exchange for services rendered, so we don't have to pay him the 300 dollars it cost to tell us that the Saab had gone to sedan heaven. Of course, Rick knows exactly what kind of shape the car is in, he might not bite.
The exciting part is, I have NO IDEA how to buy a car. I have never bought a car, never participated in the buying of a car except to take a test drive as a backseat passenger. Anyone have any suggestions? What's a good car to buy used? A good company, even? I'm not buying anything weird this time. Nothing that Joe's Redneck Oil and Lube won't carry oil filters for, nothing that anyone with a knowledge of cars won't be able to fix. That's really my main concern. God, I hate the Saab. Especially now. Shoulda kept the Boat of Car, which gave up the ghost last year because no one was driving it, but who knew?
So, new car. Yaay? We can't afford it, not in any possible universe, but it's sort of been thrust upon us. We're renting for this week so Mike can get to work and not lose his job. I've been looking at cars online, and it seems like it's possible to get a pretty good used car with less than 100k miles on it for around four thousand dollars. Which is what it would cause to fix the current Saab disaster, coincidentally. And if we went with a dealership, we could probably get something for a trade in. I mean, <i>something</i> has to still work on this car. Maybe they can part out the butt warmers and the CD player and... um... the muffler? I don't remember having problems with that. Option 2 is to give the car to Rick the Mechanic in exchange for services rendered, so we don't have to pay him the 300 dollars it cost to tell us that the Saab had gone to sedan heaven. Of course, Rick knows exactly what kind of shape the car is in, he might not bite.
The exciting part is, I have NO IDEA how to buy a car. I have never bought a car, never participated in the buying of a car except to take a test drive as a backseat passenger. Anyone have any suggestions? What's a good car to buy used? A good company, even? I'm not buying anything weird this time. Nothing that Joe's Redneck Oil and Lube won't carry oil filters for, nothing that anyone with a knowledge of cars won't be able to fix. That's really my main concern. God, I hate the Saab. Especially now. Shoulda kept the Boat of Car, which gave up the ghost last year because no one was driving it, but who knew?
