I am so fucking sick of this shit

[kellinator]

Just got a call from my mechanic. My car has blown a gasket. Between that, the catalytic converter that needs replacing, and the rotors my father's mechanic fucked up, I'm looking at something like $1500 to fix it. Which is probably more than the damn car is worth. Which means I have to decide if I want to blow the money I can't afford on fixing the car and hoping to get another year or two out of it, or if I want to hock my soul to get another car.

Michael does not want me to call my parents because he figures they will just verbally berate me some more, but I don't see that I have a choice.

I don't really know what else to say about any of this.

EDIT: Michael was right. I shouldn't have called home. I hate my parents. Sure enough, just as he said, it became my fault for not taking care of the car. Never mind that the oil was changed on time and the real problems started after my father's mechanic, who is a fucking idiot, worked on it. I hate my parents.

Comments

[reannon.livejournal.com]

Oh hon. I'm so sorry. I sometimes forget how lucky I am that my dad is a good, decent guy who cosigned a car loan with me.

Here's the (sucky) deal. Your parents will not help, and if they did, you'd be stuck with them hanging around your neck for the length of the car loan. Also, do NOT fix the car. It is in that catastrophic meltdown that makes it absolutely positively not worth it. Remember my cascade failure of constant car troubles? This is how it starts.

If your credit rating is good, find a nice five-year-old Toyota or Honda that someone traded in on a newer model. I found a 1999 Toyota Camry in excellent condition, 73,000 miles, and paid $9,999. Or, to be specific, I financed that much, and that means the payment is about $200 a month. Yeah, that really pinches the budget. But when I consider what I used to spend on atrocious gas mileage, tow fees and the constant, constant repair bills, not to mention the wear and tear on my stomach lining from never knowing if the Kiddo and I would be stranded on the side of the road...

Before you buy, drop me an email. Dad subscribes to Consumer Reports, and it has comprehensive listings of every possible used car. It'll tell you if you're buying a lemon.

You can do it, hon. And won't that show up your parents? :)

more unsolicited advice

[reannon.livejournal.com]

I forgot what to say if your credit ISN'T good, as mine wasn't. Since you don't have a cosigner, you're going to have to go to the armpit of the industry. Find the used-car places that accept any credit rating. Now, their interest rates are usurious, and many times they will have obnoxious policies like weekly payments. But you can usually bargain with them - a slightly higher interest rate in return for a lower down payment, for example. Offer them your junkmobile for a trade. They may laugh, or they may say, "Hey, parts."

Bonne chance, hon.