The Car Chronicles: Part Two: Done Digging

Well, the verdict is in. Our beloved Golf is toast. Well, essentially. $550 to fix the power steering. Another hundred for the speedometer. Good news: the exhaust appears fine. Bad news: no real evidence of where all the coolant is going. You know what that means? The engine is burning it. And faster as of late. That means…toast. The engine is about done. That or the head gasket. Probably the head gasket. I suppose what do you expect after over 320,000km? Poor baby. My hubby is real sad.

So basically, it will be like living with a terminal patient when we get our car back. We will tearfully be remembering all the good times and feeling guilty (almost) for refusing to give it an engine transplant. There are just too many things falling off of it to make it a good candidate. It’s a good thing I never got around to putting those new bumper stickers on it.

Hopefully we’ll get the car back next week. I left my coat and hat in it. We’ve been borrowing my father’s Grand Marquis which we have been babysitting. And that thing is Grand alright. You could put another person between me and the driver’s side door–while I’m driving. Unfortunately, when you are used to a diesel that goes 800km on about forty bucks, the Grand Marquis is not so grand at the gas station, or at least it is grand, but your feelings of financial generosity are not.

I suppose we have gotten the $6000 or so we paid for it eight years ago. Let’s see, we bought it in November of 1999. It is June of 2007…so we’ve owned it for 91 months. That’s only $65.94 per month! Yes, we got our money’s worth. Especially if someone still wants it for $1500 or $2000 or something. Then it would only be about $43.96 a month. Dang! That is pretty good!

In a way, I am a bit relieved to be done with that car. It doesn’t like me. It leaves me places. And it wants repairs, like, every year! (If you are reading this oh wonderful hubby dear, yes I love the car. It is nice. It’s just time for it to go. I’m sorry, but really, deep down inside, that is how I truly feel.) And besides, our Shadow starts with immense amounts of neglect.

So now begins the car buying game. Put on your tough buyer face and jump in. Actually, when it comes down to it, I really like buying used cars. Waaaaay more than buying a new pair of jeans–that is torture. Only problem is that any decent car seems to cost over $10,000. I think we have raised our expectations a bit. The $1500 cars just don’t have the same appeal after you discover that tow trucks can NOT haul the whole family (including carseated little ones) from wherever you have broken down to the shop. So, the whole financial part of the equation sort of blows. If I had say, $15,000 to blow on a car, oh my god! I would have SO much fun!!!!

Hey, anyone want to buy a book? Or three?