June 15, 2004

• Happy Xanga-Versary to me.  (I almost forgot)

  
  

   

  
  

  The Price is Right *

  
  

  Well, in my car shopping, I have found one that I feel is a strong possibility, but my parents think is a bad decision.  It's not ideal, very few of the choices I've ever made deal with ideal circumstances.  I look around for the best information I can find and then I make the best decision I can based on that information.  I'm working with constraints my parents aren't used to.  Absolutely NO car payment can result from this transaction.  I have a personal and moral conviction against debt that is getting deeper with each year that passes.  (And especially as the past six months have ticked by.) 

  
  

  My financial situation isn't grim, but it is precarious.  You may recall that along with the divorce proceedings, we filed bankruptcy.  And at this time, I'm working a part time job that I have only been at for two weeks and I expect to leave in less than a month.  So even if it weren't for my convictions about debt, I simply cannot have a carpayment.  I have to pay cash. 

  
  

  The amount of cash I'm shopping with is what most people consider to be a reasonable downpayment on a car.  (Of course, I think that spending what most people spend on a car would push me over the edge of insanity.  I can't see pouring thousands into something that's going to be worth nothing in a matter of a few years.  Maybe I just slept through that class in my financial management course, but all on my own analysis, I think it looks like a bad use of a very limited resource.) 

  
  

  Now, I don't have to find something today, but I do have a time limit.  I'm leaving here on July 11.  That's less than a month to get everything organized and get on the road, so I do feel a bit of pressure to find something quickly. 

  
  

  And it needs to be the most reliable vehicle I can get for the money I have to work with.

  
  

  So far, looking at ads in the paper, visiting car lots, calling a friend of a friend - I keep getting "well, if you just had a couple thousand more dollars we could put you in a really decent little ..."  I don't have a couple thousand more dollars.  That's just a waste of my time to go there and it irritates me.  I know I don't play the negotiation game right, because I don't want to wheel and deal and try to sucker the guy into lowering the price to below what the car is worth.  I want to get a car.

  
  

  Like I said, I found one yesterday, that I'm pretty comfortable with, but there are some serious drawbacks to it and my parents aren't completely out on a limb to express concerns.  I found a man who buys cars like the Focus, that have been totaled in a collision and rebuilds them for sale.  Stamping "Total" on the title of a vehicle reduces the value of that restored car to half it's blue book listing even if it is restored to pristine condition. 

  
  

  I'm not really worried about driving a car that has been repaired.  We had an incident 3 1/2 years ago when Tim hit a deer.  Our van should have been totaled in that accident.  It was several years old, had 90,000 miles on it already and the repair cost over 14k.  But the insurance company was in charge and they decided to fix it.  Tim is still driving that van and it's in reasonable shape considering the additional 70k miles we've put on it since the accident.  We've had no more or less than expected maintenance issues to deal with.

  
  

  There are two different cars I looked at that are almost equally acceptable to me.  One is a Chevy Cavalier, 2002 with 19,000 miles.  It was in a front-end collision and the damage to it was the more extensive of the two.  There are several places when I look around and under the hood that I can see welding.  The most serious concern I have is that when the car was wrecked the radiator was burst and has had to be replaced, the battery exploded and sprayed acid across the engine, and I'm just not sure what additional engine damage may have been repaired or is still undetected. 

  
  

  The second car is the 2002 Pontiac version of the Cavalier.  It has 27,000 miles on it.  This wreck was more like what happened with the Focus.  All the damage was to the body.  It was a driver who lost control and spun around.  Rear quarter panel and bumper etc had to be replaced along with the front bumper. 

  
  

  I didn't drive the Cavalier, I tested the Sunfire and it handled well.  When I drove it on straight stretches, I took my hands off the wheel to see about the balance and it performed very well.  With my hands loosely on the wheel, I braked from 70 mph to 0.  It braked without pulling even slightly to either side and came to a smooth stop.  The acceleration was good.  I picked a fairly twisty highway outside Cabot and it hugged the curves nicely.  It has new tires. 

  
  

  Like I said in the opening, the price is right.  I could write a check for the car and cover the tags, title, and taxes from the insurance settlement (when it comes in - we've settled but I don't know exactly when I'll be getting the money.)  I explained this to the man and he told me that he'll hold the car until Friday without a deposit, after that, I'd have to put something down to hold it until my money comes in.  

  
  

  Or I could keep looking.  Have any of you had experience that would suggest that there are considerations I've overlooked? 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  How to make a quiltnmomi

  Ingredients: 1 part pride 5 parts self-sufficiency 3 parts energy

  Method: Stir together in a glass tumbler with a salted rim. Add a little wisdom if desired!

  
  

  
  
  

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  Personality cocktail
  From Go-Quiz.com

  • 10:01 am
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