***Note: The dollar amount below has been changed to $700!!!!!!!!!!! It may be time for Colleen to get a new ride. I told them to hold off on the work till I decide...this was NOT in my budget! ;) ***
As you may or may not know, my drivers side door lock mysteriously broke over a month ago, and ever since I have been forced to climb in and out of my car through the passenger side. No amount of prying by myself, my mom, or Norm the mechanic has been able to get the damn thing un-jammed, so finally I gave in and took it down to the Honda dealership.
They called this morning with a first glance estimate. About $400. That's right, and that's without replacing the inside door panel which they most likely will break while trying to access the lock and latch. It's absurd, but I don't have a choice. I was next to tears when I told the guy to just go ahead.
The thing is, my plates just so happen to expire at the end of this month, which means a safety inspection and an emissions test (my car just missed the cut-off for emissions-test exemptions. All cars older than '96 don't have to test for emissions anymore beginning SEPTEMBER 1. Oh the irony). Needless to say, I can't take it through the emissions test without the door being able to open, and I know it can't pass a safety inspection without the same. PLUS it's been smelling really exhaust-y lately, so it's not even a shoe-in to pass THAT test without even MORE work.
I just finished paying off the LAST $400 car repair bill from March, and now I'm starting all over again. I'd like to start getting ahead, and I don't see how I could be without a car. I'd get to and from work okay, but not much else. We don't have public transportation that's conducive to non-commuter use.
Plus I have been insanely good about staying on a budget now for about a month. I mean completely nitpicky about where every last dollar gets spent, staying in most of the time, and cutting back on almost every single thing I enjoy. I flippin used up my travel shampoos before I would go buy another bottle of the stuff (with coupon), for pete's sake. I've eaten hot oatmeal for breakfast on days when it's 85 degrees at 8 am because that's all I had! I don't really get why karma has to kick me in the butt so much. I hate being a slave to plastic, but life doesn't seem to give me many other options.
Well, I just needed to vent. And now I need to work. It's gonna be a slow one today I fear, as usual. My job require very little actual brain function, even when I'm busiest. And that just means more time to wallow in self-pity ;)
5 comments:
holy crap! hold off kirbs. i forgot about it, but let me ask daddy-o about it again. i'm sure it'll be considerably cheaper than the 700 (and the 400 as well). nice guy butch would probably do it for a bottle of wine.
Wow...sounds like almost the same problems I had with my old car. My door would open, it just wouldn't unlock from the outside. And there was a hole in the exhaust line that leaked-guess where?-right into the ventilation, meaning anytime I drove it, I was breathing fumes, making me stupid. Probably why it took getting a new car before coming to my senses and finding a job other than Target.
I have found it is nearly impossible to stick to a budget, and that cars are a necessary evil with an emphasis on the evil. Two weeks ago, all of my tail lights and brake lights went out simultaneously, which cost $75 to fix. And last week, Kathy's car started leaking fluids on the driveway, and cost $250 to fix. It's just stuff you can't predict, and it's a pain in the ass, ain't it?
Sorry to hear about your car. But perhaps it is time to let it go to that great interstate in the sky.
New card! You deserve it!
Yeah, I meant car.
Well written article.
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