Thursday, September 22, 2011

I hate being a car owner

So, after lucking out with the battery and electronics in my car, the exhaust goes.  And, being broke, I hold off for about a month before taking it in to get fixed because I'm broke as hell.  Now, 1200 fucking dollars to completely fix it, 700 to kind of fix it and it may need to be fixed again in a year or two.  700 it is.  Missing a flange on a catalytic converter.  Expensive.  So, I have to borrow more money to get that fixed.  Because without a car, I can't get a job.  So I plunge myself even further along the line of brokitude.

A car will be one of the most expensive things in your life.  After children and a house, it's your fucking car.  It costs a lot to get in the first place, and then the upkeep is fucking atrocious because you need specialists to fix problems you can't do yourself.  Yes, I can change my own oil and various other minimal things that need to be done like change a belt.  But weld an exhaust back together?  Nope.  Locate and fix a leak in any part of the engine?  Ha, no. Replace a water pump?  Too far out of my know-how.

So far, if my calculations are correct, my car has cost me over three times the amount paid for it, which was 1300.  The only redeeming thing here is that the car only has about 142,000 miles on it, which is really low for a sixteen-year-old car.  If I continue to play my cards right, I should be able to get another 100,000 miles out of it.  But I also need to be a little pragmatic.  The fan belt has something wrong with it, which needs to be fixed, because another winter without proper heat would suuuuuuuuuuck.  Don't know that cost, eh?

So, I need a job, so I can start saving money again for the next time my car shits out on me.  And the next time.  I desperately hope I can attain a decent job, so that maybe, depending on the cost of the next time, I can just get a new car.  But let's be reasonable.  The way things have been going, I'm gonna end up applying at the new mcdonald's going up a town over.  And I probably won't get that job, either.  AT least breathing is free

11 comments:

  1. Breathing is free, for now, and McDonalds might be your best shot at a job. My brothers car is currently doing the dance of death, the exhaust is going to hold out for a little longer, but no one is sure how much.

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  2. I don't think I can ever hate myself enough to apply to McDonald's

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  3. Yeah I went without a car for 2 or 3 years, and it was nice. Now that I have one, its nice to get around...but just so expensive. Ugh. Damn you cars and university...

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  4. Owch I feel bad for you, car troubles suck! A friend of mine bought and electric scooter and never looked back!

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  5. Sounds like you're me!! D:

    You have a nice blog. :D

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  6. Catfood cans are awesome for fixing exahust systems, seriously.

    I know dat feel about McDonald's by the way. It's saddening. We should start our own fucking country.

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  7. I know you can use tin cans, but the problem is mine was completely fucked. They ended up bypassing the catalytic converter to save me money on getting a new flange and such, so a couple hundred bucks less. And we start our own country. Fuck the rest of the world.

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  8. Cars can be annoying... i just had t repair my engine. $900 literally up in smoke.

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  9. Cars are such a pain in the ASS!!! +followed, come check my blog out when you get the chance! http://mightyideas.blogspot.com

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