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Jun. 15th, 2012 10:46 pmWe spent last weekend car shopping and it was a NIGHTMARE. Armed with about $2800 that could ostensibly go toward a crappy used car purchased in full or as a down payment on something new-ish that would have a low payment, we went everywhere, called everyone, and almost gouged our own eyes out. In the end, we got a 1998 Honda Civic with 144,000 miles on it (so we had enough leftover for tax, tag, & title, setting up insurance, and a tank of gas). Judging from the number of Civics as old as me still on the road, and the quantity of them on Craigslist with 200,000+ miles, it seemed like a decent choice with good gas mileage. This is only supposed to be a vehicle to get Grant to and from the train station, basically, so that the van is freed up for us and can stop guzzling all this commuting gas.
I did a test drive with my mechanic-father's advice in mind; tight donuts listening with the windows down; speeding up fast; stopping suddenly; getting on the highway at high speeds; idling. Because of all the crazy caveats Craigslisters included in their ads for other vehicles, we also made sure to check all the windows, locks, door handles, AC settings, make sure the trunk opened and the hood popped, and so on. We looked at the oil quality and level. In the end it's an old ass semi-crappy car but the owner was still driving it every day (we had choices of different cities to meet him in on different days and had to wait for his class to finish before he came down and met us in the college parking lot), he had it painted last year so it looks ok, and he put in a sound system that can use an auxillary cord attached to my iPhone so, you know. Shit could be worse. I drove it the whole way home from his college (2 hours) with no trouble at all.
Then the first day Grant was coming home from the train station, he broke down.
Research, calls to my Dad, more research, blah blah blah. We get what's going on with it now and he's driven it the rest of the week ok and the real issue is that THE VAN has been doing weird stuff, the van we paid $35,000 cash for just 4 years ago, and I took it to Goodyear where we always go, and got a $1300 bill that has to be paid tomorrow when we pick it up. We can do that...it's just gonna leave no money for ANYTHING, like. Aaron's birthday. Father's Day. THE CAR INSURANCE FOR BOTH VEHICLES, gas, groceries, you know. Argh.
I've been sitting here doing all these logistical budgetary things for the last however long feeling so side-eye-ish about both vehicles. I'm like, you know, they're paid for! This is way cheaper than car payments! Right?!?!?!
Whatever.
I may or may not be extra irritable about this because:
-I'm on my period and it HURTS
-I spent four hours in a waiting room at Goodyear with Isaac, Jake and Elise today, bleeding through my clothes and running to the bathroom and cleaning their bathroom, and cleaning their waiting room seats, and generally being super glamorous as I growl-scolded my increasingly anxious young over and over
After a long night of telling all my kids that the camp-week is over and they can sleep in tomorrow, it really sucks that I have to get up at 7 anyway to drive up to Statistics.
WAH!
I did a test drive with my mechanic-father's advice in mind; tight donuts listening with the windows down; speeding up fast; stopping suddenly; getting on the highway at high speeds; idling. Because of all the crazy caveats Craigslisters included in their ads for other vehicles, we also made sure to check all the windows, locks, door handles, AC settings, make sure the trunk opened and the hood popped, and so on. We looked at the oil quality and level. In the end it's an old ass semi-crappy car but the owner was still driving it every day (we had choices of different cities to meet him in on different days and had to wait for his class to finish before he came down and met us in the college parking lot), he had it painted last year so it looks ok, and he put in a sound system that can use an auxillary cord attached to my iPhone so, you know. Shit could be worse. I drove it the whole way home from his college (2 hours) with no trouble at all.
Then the first day Grant was coming home from the train station, he broke down.
Research, calls to my Dad, more research, blah blah blah. We get what's going on with it now and he's driven it the rest of the week ok and the real issue is that THE VAN has been doing weird stuff, the van we paid $35,000 cash for just 4 years ago, and I took it to Goodyear where we always go, and got a $1300 bill that has to be paid tomorrow when we pick it up. We can do that...it's just gonna leave no money for ANYTHING, like. Aaron's birthday. Father's Day. THE CAR INSURANCE FOR BOTH VEHICLES, gas, groceries, you know. Argh.
I've been sitting here doing all these logistical budgetary things for the last however long feeling so side-eye-ish about both vehicles. I'm like, you know, they're paid for! This is way cheaper than car payments! Right?!?!?!
Whatever.
I may or may not be extra irritable about this because:
-I'm on my period and it HURTS
-I spent four hours in a waiting room at Goodyear with Isaac, Jake and Elise today, bleeding through my clothes and running to the bathroom and cleaning their bathroom, and cleaning their waiting room seats, and generally being super glamorous as I growl-scolded my increasingly anxious young over and over
After a long night of telling all my kids that the camp-week is over and they can sleep in tomorrow, it really sucks that I have to get up at 7 anyway to drive up to Statistics.
WAH!
