Saturday, March 14, 2009

Car dilema...

Repairs to the suv today did not fix it completely.. cylinder #5 is still showing up on the check engine light errors... today they replaced the spark plug to #5, checked the rpm compression .. car still shakes and is sluggish on hills and the engine sounds like a diesel engine.

I don't have any more $ to put into this 2002 santa fe that has 105k miles and $5k left on the loan

but.. I need a car for work and gigs...I have to be in Syracuse tuesday night (1hr 15m drive) for a rehearsal.. and back up Sunday afternoon for the concert.

the shop said that there is still something wrong, possibly the fuel injection for cylinder#5...and then there's the 'knocking' engine (the diesel engine sound)... so even if I get the injection replaced.. there could still be issues.

So do I ask for a salary advance from my summer job... pray I get some $ from the sale of my fathers estate/closing of mom's estate that will tide me over the summer.. and keep fixing my suv? I put in $550 today.. half went on what was left of the credit on my monro muffler credit card (where I took it to get fixed btw... lucky I had some $ left there).. the rest is coming from my paycheck I'm getting for next weekends concert. I was going to use that money to pay for getting my taxes done and save a little for the summer and transition to a new job after the summer.

Or should I not fix it.. pray it lasts until May when I may get some $ from estate sales... just drive to syracuse tuesday and sunday.. and then walk to work the rest of the time... keep my car off the road until I have to drive back home for the estate sale May 2nd... and then after I see where I am $-wise.. either fix my suv or try to get into something used-new?

I tried to get into something used-new last time (end of Jan.) but my credit isn't good and I didn't have a down payment.. but I would be trading in

I really don't know what to do... I guess I'm leaning towards just getting my summer pay advanced.. fix the suv... and pray I get some $ from the Estate to tide me over in the summer

Thoughts? I'm actually going through all my stuff to see what I can sell.. looking for any way to get some extra cash... tv.. instruments.. dvds... books... a savings bond that comes to maturity in 2010

It's like.. "what the hell!".. when do I fucking get my break?! I've spent the past 5..almost 6 years now dealing with crap.. trying to get my life back in order.. trying to find some peace and happiness... and I feel like I just keep getting kicked back down. I mean.. I know its all going to work out in the end and that this is NOTHING compared to what other people are dealing with and in the grand scheme of life.. this is just a bump.. albeit..a HUGE bump... in my journey... it just really sucks because I am really stretching for money and am worried about how I'm going to afford everything come summer and into fall... what with moving, finding a new teaching job, dealing with the estate in may

send any and all positive vibes my way.. and seriously.. if anyone has any suggestions on my car issues and/or lack of $... please let me know

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry to hear your current situation. I really hope all turns out okay!

Anonymous said...

man I WISH I had some great insights for you...all I have is/are good vibes and VISUALIZATIONS.

David Showers said...

With the trade in you may be able to get financed on a car. I know that some of our local dealers have great deals right now.

I know credit is hard to come by for everyone these days, but the dealers are so desperate the are really getting creative and will do just about anything to sell a car.

Try a larger dealership, they seem to have more pull with secondary lenders. I would go in to the dealership and just tell them up front - I have a trade and no money down. Let them try to figure out how to make it work.

Just a thought. Might be worth exploring.

Journo June aka MamaBear said...

My advice is not to borrow trouble from tomorrow, today has enough of its own! :-) I think you should fix your car so you don't end up stranded somewhere at a bad time. Most of the future things we spend time worrying about never come to fruition. So take care of the things you can control now and take it one day at a time.
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