Friday, September 07, 2007

Rough day yesterday. I wanted to get my car inspected but on the way their noticed a giant crack in the wind shield. I took it Apple to get it fixed (because it won't pass inspection with a crack), that set me back $312.00. That's a lot of yarn!! I took it to Mighty to get it fixed and was told I really shouldn't have bothered fixing the window because the car is a write off.

Fuck.

So now I am trying to decide if I will get my dear sweet brother Lionel to fix my car. Or if I should just get a new one. When I bought the beast I was in a really different position that I am in now. I intended to drive it for the summer and then see from there what happened. I didn't count on getting so attached to the beige hunk o junk though!!

But now I am driving all over the province for work - and I do get paid for the travel - and I think I want something that I know will work and that I know will be safe. My brother has been great about fixing it when it needs some work, but what if it breaks down when I am in Shelburne? On the other hand, not having a car payment is awfully nice.
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5 comments:

Alison said...

That sucks. But you know, a car payment is an expected monthly expense, and repairs aren't, you never know when they're going to show up, and usually when you can least afford them! I'm going to sound like a mastercard ad now, but peace of mind from having a new car, especially when you're travelling for work? Priceless. We had a beast and hunk of junk as well. We finally took on a car payment when I started commuting to Tantallon for work. It really did make me feel better knowing that the engine wouldn't burst into flames on the highway (yes, our beast did do that!). Good luck whatever you decide!

September 07, 2007
Megan said...

Cars are a curse so you might as well have a reliable curse.

September 07, 2007
Maggie Tipping said...

I looked a couple Yarises today.. what is the plural of Yaris? Anyway I am seriously thinking about. Nothing like Toyota's for reliability!

September 07, 2007
rho said...

I had a nervous-wreck of a car that made me a nervous-wreck. It really lightened my mood when I got a reliable car.

It took a timing-belt-break/engine-seizure/dead-in-its-tracks-on-a-lonely-road event to get the new car.

I drive a Toyota Echo now (the old Yaris) and have had nothing but great times with it.

September 08, 2007
Catie said...

Did you change provinces or is this a yearly inspection where you live? Just over a year ago I had my old car inspected when we moved to Alberta and it didn't pass out of province vehicle inspection. We had brought it to Canadian Tire because we thought that they would be fair and not try to make us get repairs that were not needed. Instead they stuck to the book like glue... I actually cried when I heard that they said the car needed $3000 in repair (it was a 1992 Ford Tempo). I knew that the car didn't need that many repairs because a mechanic friend had looked the car over just 2 months prior. He had told us to expect 1-2 years before the car started breaking down and the costs and anxiety of not knowing when it would break down would start to show up. So we figured we had a bit of time before having car payments - but there was nothing we could do. So Cory (husband) looked at a few reviews online and we went to buy a new Civic within a week. We bought new because we intend to move in 5 or so years and if we move out of province, a new car is more likely to pass inspection than a used one. Plus we know nothing about cars so we could get taken really bad with a used car. I love the new car but the insurance was more per month last year than the car payment! And there were little things that we did on the recommendation of the dealership to reduce our costs - things like a 4 door car is cheaper in the long term because it is less sporty and therefore cheaper to insure. And having a coupe instead of a hatchback - same thing. Somewhere I heard that you have yearly inspections but no/low insurance in Nova Scotia, even if this is true, these might be things to think of if you intend to move someday. A big cost saver ($1200 - which ends up as more than $20 less per month on the payments) was going standard as opposed to automatic. That is a funny tale that I will never hear the end of from our families - Cory could drive standard but I couldn't so he drove for 8+ months before I got up the nerve to learn!
Well, sorry about the long post, let us know whatever you end up deciding.

September 08, 2007

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