faith and a fifteen-year-old Ford escort

[bluegreysky]

Have I told you about my husband's car?
He bought it used in early 2009 when he was freshly discharged from the military and trying to get back on his feet and go to college.
It was already over 7 years old.
6 1/2 years later, he still has it.
It has ??? miles on it because in 2010, the engine block cracked and a cheap n' sleazy mechanic charged him less then the next guy to just put an engine from some other scrap in there.
The rear bumper is mostly red duct tape. It matches the car and keeps the bumper from falling off because it's cracked from backing into a truck hitch.
When you drive it, it jingles and jangles and no one seems to know why.
It has a permanent check engine light because that cheap n' sleazy mechanic wired it wrong.
And of course, no one trusts it to go outside a 35 mile radius of home
because when you drive on the highway at 70+ mph, it sounds like you are driving a lawnmower.
Also there's that check engine light. who knows if something is ACTUALLY wrong?

Yep, you guessed it. All the "heavy duty responsibilities" fall on my car. a 10-year-old hyundai SUV that's had alot of work done but only gets 20 mpg and is up to 117k miles already.
is that really fair?

We have only been married a little over a year and are still paying off debt. we can't afford new cars. Hubby wants to buy a new one, but the debt is just such a bigger priority for him.
Since he goes to school right now (it's paid for by the VA and not part of the debt) and school is only 4 miles from our condo, he trusts the senile Ford to get him there. if it dies, someone could probably give him a ride it's not that far.
Still, our schedules are very different and our needs are different so a one-car-deal won't work for us more than a week or two.
He just really wants to keep paying on that debt and let it run until the engine falls out though...
And he won't buy a new car unless he either has the $15k he needs for the one he wants OR the ability to borrow $15k and he doesn't have enough room in his credit or even both of ours for that right now.
We both just took out consolidation loans this year.

So... I guess this story is about faith.
Faith in God that a FORD, acronym for "Found On Road Dead", can get us to where we need to be to buy a better car.
I suppose that I should have more faith.
After all... the fact that a Ford anything lasted more than 4 years is NOTHING short of a miracle...

I think what I'm asking for with this thread is some sort of reassurance about the matter.

 

[Dave-W]

a FORD, acronym for "Found On Road Dead",

OR:

Fix Or Replace Daily
Freakin' Old Rebuilt Dodge

 

[bluegreysky]

yeah I know this posts sounds like I'm a spoiled brat because there's people with worse cars... but it's true I am used to a different standard.
"daddy" didn't buy a new car every year or even a fancy car, but my dad is just as skilled a bargain hunter as my mom and I so he'd replace a used car when it got issues right away and we'd only have each one for an average of 4 years.

 

[Odetta]

I'm in a similar boat. My car is 14 years old and it's starting to slowly fall apart. I've always joked that I'd drive it until the wheels fell off. But the reality is that I drive my kids around in that car, and if the wheels actually do fall off, it will probably be in the middle of traffic, causing an accident. It's hard to consider buying a newer car, because we don't have the cash to buy outright. So we'd be taking on a car payment that we haven't had in a full decade. So in our case, we're doing a cost benefit analysis of reorganizing our budget and cutting some expenses to afford to purchase a newer car, vs. holding out as long as possible and praying for safety.

We are also carefully considering how much car to buy. I know what I would prefer to have and it's quite modest by today's standards, but it may be that we can't afford even that much car. As in, I'm considering $15,000 for a car that I think will last me another 10+ years, and maybe I really need to consider a $6,000 or $7,000 car that will only last 5 or so, which is still better than the $1,000 car I have now.

Please know that reliable transportation is considered a need, like shelter, food and clothing. However, there are many creative ways to obtain reliable transportation. That may require some out of box thinking. For instance, is bus service a viable option? My suburban area has no bus service whatsoever, except for what the school provides.

Anyway, I pray every day for God to hold up my car for another day. So far the things that have gone wrong have been easily and inexpensively fixable, or extra money has come in at just the right time, or it's just cosmetic, etc. - in other words God has proved his faithfulness and has provided. And I trust that as long as we approach this car replacement wisely, he will provide the right car at the right price and the adequate funding as well.

On an after thought, and this doesn't apply to you, another thing I am considering is whether or not I'd let my kid drive my current car if he were 16 (which he will be in 1.5 years). The answer is no, I don't trust the car that much to put an inexperienced driver in it. Which is another point in favor of replacing it soon.

So many things to think about.

 

[bluegreysky]

hahaha your car is worth $1000?
the escort isn't worth anything. In fact, if we do sell it at some point, we will actually have to pay someone to take it.

I see your point though.

 

[Darkhorse]

Been there, done that...

FORD = Faith Of Running Daily

If you own a Ford, you need lots of faith. I had a Ford truck and you wouldn't believe some of the tight spots God got me through with it.

Keep your eyes open and ask around among your friends; maybe one of them has a relatively good car that they want to upgrade from. That's how we got our Civic in 2002, for about $4500 (1993 car, 114,000 miles). It now has 285,000 miles and it's not very pretty, but it works reliably.

Another great source when you can manage it is CarMax and other marketers for once-leased cars. The bargains can be good, but the prices are probably too high for you right now.

So, watch your tires and brakes, carry a fire extinguisher, carry tow-truck phone numbers in your phone, and alert your friends. And lots of prayer.

 

[bluegreysky]

we were scanning carmax website and the honda's we want that are a few years old are almost as much as a new car. but if we go to the honda dealer in my hometown 3 hours away, some of them are $7000 less. for the same car with the same mileage.

If you have a Ford you also need thick skin... because people always make fun of those.

 

[bluegreysky]

So, watch your tires and brakes, carry a fire extinguisher, carry tow-truck phone numbers in your phone, and alert your friends. And lots of prayer.

Hahahah alert my friends.. "hey we drove the ugly car today, so wear a blindfold. and warn your kids not to cry when they hear a "gunshot" in your driveway. it's just the motor backfiring."

 

[LinkH]

Why does he want to buy a new car? In this market, where car prices depreciate rapidly, if I were a millionaire, I still don't think I'd ever by a new car. If they lose 30% when you drive them off the lot, it's better to buy one that has been driven off the lot. Is paying a few thousand for a reliable used car a possibility?

 

[LinkH]

When I used to live in a different part of the country, I'd ask my cousin if I could go with him to the sale. He's a used car dealer, and I'd go with him to a used car auto auction. He'd give it to me for the bidding price plus $100. Do you have any family in the used car business?

 

[Odetta]

There is new and there is new-to-me. I don't think the OP really specified which, actually.

 

[bluegreysky]

that's what i meant.... pre-owned.
it's just easier to say "new" because it's not the old ugly car.

 

[LinkH]

that's what i meant.... pre-owned.
it's just easier to say "new" because it's not the old ugly car.

A brand new-to-me car.

 

[bluegreysky]

yeahhhhh

 

[beaverpond]

I will never forget when my wife and I sold our house well over a decade ago. Our vehicles then were 15 and 13 years old. We traded them both for one car as I did not drive as much as I used to. Used some of the money from the sale of the house to buy this brand new car outright. Then things got really tight a couple years later and I do mean so tight we had a hard time keeping food on the table and putting gas in the tank as I had lost my job and she was still working. I had medical problems and was now no longer able to work. So we sold this car for something less expensive to put some money in our pockets. We bought an older car and were given $7000 cash on top of that.

Finally several more years went by and this car was ready for the junk yard. The frame was rotted and the body was letting go as well as needing a variety of other repairs. It would have cost us a ton of money to fix this thing. So we got $500 for it and bought a Dodge Caliber for $8000 when we were in a much better financial position. A year later when things were even better, we bought a GMC 1500 SLE Z71 for $14,000. The truck is now 9 years old and needs a new bed. My brother and Dad are going to help me build one as the cost of buying a replacement one is absolutely outrageous because my truck has an 8.5 ft bed. This thing is doing well in the frame, and engine, and so many other ways mechanically. I love the fact that it has a 34 gallon tank.

My wife's car is 8 years old and is running well, but it too is showing signs of body rust. It needs some tlc because when we bought it, it was purchased at auction down in Texas and had received some tornado damage. We have fixed some of the issues, but there is some things I still need to deal with. I dealt with the major ones, like windows and mirrors to make it road worthy. She drinks anti-freeze, but can't figure out where it is going and it only seems to disappear during the winter months and not during the summer...go figure.

When we bought the Dodge we really got taken for a ride as we had not had any type of credit in more than a decade and they would not consider our rent as it was a private landlord and not some property maintenance company. Without realizing what I was signing and knowing how much we needed a vehicle, I agreed to a 12.9% interest rate. A year later when I went back to lending institution about a rate reduction they declined the idea. However, when I bought the truck a different lender could not believe what we were paying and offered to consolidate the two auto loans down to 4.9% because of the age of the vehicles. I certainly was not going to complain. So I took a payoff check to the old lender and they asked me why I did not consider asking for a rate reduction and I looked at them and said I was here less than three weeks ago and you told me that you would not consider it. We went round and round arguing with each other and I finally handed them the check and walked out with title in hand with transfer paperwork so I could hand it to the new lender.

Bottom line...watch out for those places that say buy here / pay here. That is where I found the Dodge because we were having a problem getting financing because we had not had credit in ten years other than our rent. No utility bills and no credit cards. All our utilities are covered in our rent...he pays phone, oil, water, sewer, electric, cable, and internet. He has not raised our rent in eight years. I also maintain the property for the landlord outside all year round and we have a billing process to reduce the rent each month.