Well, it looks like my previous post on the true cost of your car was quite a big hit. If you missed it, read it here. It was quite a popular post, so I figured I’d do a follow up when the situation has changed, and I was able to get myself a new (to me) diesel truck (or car). I had figured that saving for this goal would detract from paying off my credit card debt a bit, but with the situation that my car is in, I figured it’d be the wise thing to do.
Dont you hate it when you have this grand financial (or other) plan all worked out in your head, then the wheels fall off?
I do too.
So, there’s been alot going on with the car situation lately, and I just wasnt sure how to tell this tale. I want equal parts common sense and suspense, but I’d also like the readers to have a take-away lesson from it as well. So, I’m going to give it my best.
I had someplace important to go last Saturday, and it was about a 4 hour drive (most of you would consider that a road trip, but it’s fairly common in Wyoming). I was headed north towards my destination when I start to feel a wobble in the car, and wonder if it’s the new pavement that was just put down. The problem persists, so I finally decide to pull over. Quickly racking my brain, I was remembering a problem that I was planning to have fixed in 2 days and went to see if that indeed was what had happened. It was. I had been driving the car with 3 lug nuts, and finally, they had just fallen off. So I was looking at my vehicle with just 1 lug nut on it, and got a great idea to take one from each of the other wheels and put it on the problem area. Not so simple, unfortunately. After I got the tire off, I realized that the lug nut studs (things they screw into) had been sheared clean off, and there was no hope for me getting any more lug nuts on there. I drive about 20 miles to the nearest town and see if I can find a repair shop. Small town Wyoming was mostly closed at noon on a Saturday, and the ones that were open told me it would be at least 3 days before parts came in and it could be fixed.
Immediately, I think….crap, why couldn’t this problem just hang on for 2 more days until it was convenient for me to deal with? I really wish that could happen, but the reason that we have savings accounts and things like that is that problems dont come around when they are ready to be dealt with. If that was the case, they wouldn’t be called problems, now would they?
So, I ended up buying a new (to me) car. It was a cheap, reliable car, and was situated perfectly to get me out of the bind I was in. So, now I have 2 cars, both of which I dont want to own, and one of which I need. Im going to try & sell the newer car and am getting the old one fixed, but it’s all going to take some time. Also, because I got such a good deal on the car, I may be able to sell it for what I bought it for (or perhaps a bit more).
That’s where Im currently at with the vehicular situation, and wish I wasnt. Oh well.
But lets be real people, If things came at you as you prefered instead of as they actually happened, they wouldnt be called problems, and life would be like that movie pleasantville. Boring, eh? Even though it was a pretty lame experience, it was something that i’ll remember for next time, and I wont let the maintenence wait!
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