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2019 was going so well too......
6 years ago
My life has taken quite the turn in the last couple of weeks.....Tldr post is at bottom if you hate reading
Two Fridays ago I left work for a mini 6 day vacation. I drove up to MA, and 1/2 way there, my car started to act funny. I had a hole in the muffler so I just thought it had gotten bigger and was making it sound weird. The next day, I checked the oil and it was almost empty. Now I had gotten a full service oil change one month prior to that. I had no idea what the hell happened because there was no signs of any leaks. No oil in the snow under my car, nothing. So I went and bought a few quarts and dumped em in. Also noticed a vacuum hose came disconnected, so I fixed that too. Thought everything would be fine, and headed off to a couple destinations over an hour away. Well.....everything was fine until I got off the highway. The car was really chugging and sputtering bad. Managed to get to where I was going, and despite my anxiety going bonkers, I had a good time. Left there and went to place B. It was close by so got there okay. Now the drive home. Got half way home and stopped for a bathroom stop.... Car basically just shut off on me as I was slowing down. Started it back up, put it in drive, and kept going. Next stop.... It shut off again. Started it back up and kept going. Got onto the highway and put it in cruise control all the way home. Got off the highway, and at every stop, it would shut off. Managed to get it back home (MA home).... But somehow I had to get it back to CT. It was a scary drive, especially through Hartford. It almost died on the highway going 55 through downtown Hartford. Somehow I managed to keep it going, and although it died a few times after exiting the highway (once right in front of a cop).... I managed to get it home.
Took the car to pepboys next to work, and they ran a diagnostic test on it. Came. Back that the car jumped time. So my car is the tardis basically. They said I would need a new engine which parts and labor is close to 6000$.
Now starts the fun......the car in question is a 2012 Chevy Equinox 2.4L I4.....apparently there's a warranty out for the car for damage due to excessive oil usage. But since the car isn't safe to drive due to it shutting off while driving, they can't administer the mandatory oil usage test, which requires me to drive it for 500-1000 miles 2 to 5 times to determine just how much oil the car is burning. Now here in lies the issue.....the chevy dealer can determine what the problem is and repair it..... Out of my pocket..... And then do the oil usage test. If it passes the test..... I'm out whatever I just paid for the repairs. If it fails, I may get that money back and also get the free warranty repair. Basically either getting me a rebuild or a used engine if it's damaged too severly. But here's the kicker..... The used engine is an engine that hasn't broken yet. I say yet because they all break. Some have broken at 25K miles, some have broken closer to 100K miles. You just never know when unless you're dumping 1 or 2 quarts of oil in a week.
So I'm stuck......my car is sitting at a mechanics because they can't make the necessary repairs. They diagnosed it as needing a new engine.....You'd think okay great, a new engine. That's perfect...... But it's not. They'd just be taking out my broken engine and replacing it with an engine that hasn't broken yet. What happens if they replace the engine and 25K miles later that engine goes to pot. Then there's no warranty and I'm sol.
So fast forward to today......basically I still owe 10,000$ on that car and it's a POS paperweight right now. It needs more work than I am willing to pay for. I owe 10 grand on a car that's maybe worth 7500 tops. And that's showroom floor quality. Mine is probably worth a few grand, if that.
So here's where I stand now.....I have to buy a new car. I have a plan..... It's kind of a desperation plan, a desperate times call for desperate measures kind of plan, but I have a plan. I'll be making all sorts of stuff for ANE and FE in hopes I break the bank with my dealers Tables. The car I'm looking to buy is a 2016 Kia Sorento. The car is 19,000$.....my current loan will be added on top of the new loan, minus whatever I can scrounge up got a down payment, and also whatever they give me for a trade in.
This whole thing really sucks but life loves to throw me curve balls every once in a while. I loved that car and I've made some mods to it and had more planned.....but all of that was for nothing. I totally didn't see this coming.
So Tldr..... My car is garbage. I owe 10g's on it still. Have to buy new car. It costs 19G's. Loan total will be almost 30G's minus trade in and down payment. And also buy my shit at ANE and FE, and help me pay for my new car that I totally didn't think I would have to buy but my 6 year old car decided it wanted to be a glorified paperweight and not a car.
Two Fridays ago I left work for a mini 6 day vacation. I drove up to MA, and 1/2 way there, my car started to act funny. I had a hole in the muffler so I just thought it had gotten bigger and was making it sound weird. The next day, I checked the oil and it was almost empty. Now I had gotten a full service oil change one month prior to that. I had no idea what the hell happened because there was no signs of any leaks. No oil in the snow under my car, nothing. So I went and bought a few quarts and dumped em in. Also noticed a vacuum hose came disconnected, so I fixed that too. Thought everything would be fine, and headed off to a couple destinations over an hour away. Well.....everything was fine until I got off the highway. The car was really chugging and sputtering bad. Managed to get to where I was going, and despite my anxiety going bonkers, I had a good time. Left there and went to place B. It was close by so got there okay. Now the drive home. Got half way home and stopped for a bathroom stop.... Car basically just shut off on me as I was slowing down. Started it back up, put it in drive, and kept going. Next stop.... It shut off again. Started it back up and kept going. Got onto the highway and put it in cruise control all the way home. Got off the highway, and at every stop, it would shut off. Managed to get it back home (MA home).... But somehow I had to get it back to CT. It was a scary drive, especially through Hartford. It almost died on the highway going 55 through downtown Hartford. Somehow I managed to keep it going, and although it died a few times after exiting the highway (once right in front of a cop).... I managed to get it home.
Took the car to pepboys next to work, and they ran a diagnostic test on it. Came. Back that the car jumped time. So my car is the tardis basically. They said I would need a new engine which parts and labor is close to 6000$.
Now starts the fun......the car in question is a 2012 Chevy Equinox 2.4L I4.....apparently there's a warranty out for the car for damage due to excessive oil usage. But since the car isn't safe to drive due to it shutting off while driving, they can't administer the mandatory oil usage test, which requires me to drive it for 500-1000 miles 2 to 5 times to determine just how much oil the car is burning. Now here in lies the issue.....the chevy dealer can determine what the problem is and repair it..... Out of my pocket..... And then do the oil usage test. If it passes the test..... I'm out whatever I just paid for the repairs. If it fails, I may get that money back and also get the free warranty repair. Basically either getting me a rebuild or a used engine if it's damaged too severly. But here's the kicker..... The used engine is an engine that hasn't broken yet. I say yet because they all break. Some have broken at 25K miles, some have broken closer to 100K miles. You just never know when unless you're dumping 1 or 2 quarts of oil in a week.
So I'm stuck......my car is sitting at a mechanics because they can't make the necessary repairs. They diagnosed it as needing a new engine.....You'd think okay great, a new engine. That's perfect...... But it's not. They'd just be taking out my broken engine and replacing it with an engine that hasn't broken yet. What happens if they replace the engine and 25K miles later that engine goes to pot. Then there's no warranty and I'm sol.
So fast forward to today......basically I still owe 10,000$ on that car and it's a POS paperweight right now. It needs more work than I am willing to pay for. I owe 10 grand on a car that's maybe worth 7500 tops. And that's showroom floor quality. Mine is probably worth a few grand, if that.
So here's where I stand now.....I have to buy a new car. I have a plan..... It's kind of a desperation plan, a desperate times call for desperate measures kind of plan, but I have a plan. I'll be making all sorts of stuff for ANE and FE in hopes I break the bank with my dealers Tables. The car I'm looking to buy is a 2016 Kia Sorento. The car is 19,000$.....my current loan will be added on top of the new loan, minus whatever I can scrounge up got a down payment, and also whatever they give me for a trade in.
This whole thing really sucks but life loves to throw me curve balls every once in a while. I loved that car and I've made some mods to it and had more planned.....but all of that was for nothing. I totally didn't see this coming.
So Tldr..... My car is garbage. I owe 10g's on it still. Have to buy new car. It costs 19G's. Loan total will be almost 30G's minus trade in and down payment. And also buy my shit at ANE and FE, and help me pay for my new car that I totally didn't think I would have to buy but my 6 year old car decided it wanted to be a glorified paperweight and not a car.
I hope you're happier with the new vehicle. Keep your chin up.