Lisa
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I need the opinions on my car!
A bit of background: I'm almost 25, just moved into a new place that I have to pay rent - before that I was working at a farm that included room & board.
My car is making me very frustrated and upset. Over the last year I have had to deal with SO much crap about my cars. My mustang lasted about six months before it started giving me serious issues. It finally bought it in November after having spent about $500 on trying to fix it and I was without a car until I bought my neon in January. For the first two months I couldn’t drive it because it kept breaking down and was constantly in the mechanic’s. I put about $1000 into it during those two months, on top of the $200 that I purchased it for. Since then I’ve had to put at least another $500 into it to keep it running. It still needs a lot of work and is constantly giving me new, fun issues. Just last night, my lights decided to go on the fritz and my friend lent me his Escape because he didn’t want me to drive at night with lights that may or may not stay on. My car likes to randomly die and not start, until I ask someone if they can jump me and then it will magically start up again.
I’ve been left on the side of the road more times than I can count in the last year. I’m nervous every time I get into my car – or any car! Even brand new cars leave me wondering if I’m going to make it to where I’m going. My mechanic knows me by first name and voice; I don’t even have to say my last name to have him know who I am. I have his number memorized because I’ve had to call it so many times. He refunded me half the original cost of $900 for my mustang because he felt so bad about it. He rarely charges me more than he has to for labour, because I’m in there so much.
My visa is racked to $5000 thanks in very large part to my cars, as well as they took a good portion of my savings for my trip to Calgary next week. I have $25,000 in student loans, my regular bills, my rent, etc. I can’t afford to put more money into this car. I don’t have any extra money for a new car. I’m at a real crossroads here.
What I need an opinion on is whether to keep this car and keep stuffing money into it, try and get a loan for about $2000 and buy a new car, or lease a quite-new (but not brand new car) from my work. My work has a leasing department and they work with many dealers. Employees get very good deals on leasing cars (I think it’s 4.35%).
The pro of leasing are that I’ll have something RELIABLE. The cons, of course, are that I can’t really afford it. I will have to get a part time job somewhere and that will be how I pay for the car. If I don’t get a permanent position after the maternity contract that I am currently working is up in February (I've been here since January as a temp, but was hired for this contract last month), than I’m sure my rates will go up as I won’t be staff anymore and if I don’t get something permanent, than I won’t be able to pay the leasing fee. I’ll have to make sure that I can do maintenance on it, which is expensive. Yet, it will be RELIABLE!
If I keep this car, I’m putting a lot more money into it – which could be better spent. If I get a car for $2000, there’s no guarantee that it won’t do the same darn thing as the last two cars I’ve had. I will still likely have to get some sort of part time job to pay off the $2000 loan.
My mom is quite upset that I’m even considering getting a new car. She rightly told me that I can’t afford it, I’m already scraping by right now and I want to lock myself into something that requires a part time job just to keep afloat? She just had to get a new car because hers was toast - but she bought something for $1500 because that's all she could afford. I agree with what she’s saying, but dammit, I am so, so frustrated right now. I am tired of being left on the side of the road. I’m tired of being told that I’m going to have to put MORE money into a car that just isn’t worth it. I’m tired of not knowing how much gas I have in my car because the gas gauge doesn’t work. I’m tired of my car deciding to not start. I’m tired of being neurotic about whether or not I’ll actually get to where I’m going. I’m simply tired, tired, tired of it all! I’m ready to take my car and burn it in a sacrificial bonfire!
A bit of background: I'm almost 25, just moved into a new place that I have to pay rent - before that I was working at a farm that included room & board.
My car is making me very frustrated and upset. Over the last year I have had to deal with SO much crap about my cars. My mustang lasted about six months before it started giving me serious issues. It finally bought it in November after having spent about $500 on trying to fix it and I was without a car until I bought my neon in January. For the first two months I couldn’t drive it because it kept breaking down and was constantly in the mechanic’s. I put about $1000 into it during those two months, on top of the $200 that I purchased it for. Since then I’ve had to put at least another $500 into it to keep it running. It still needs a lot of work and is constantly giving me new, fun issues. Just last night, my lights decided to go on the fritz and my friend lent me his Escape because he didn’t want me to drive at night with lights that may or may not stay on. My car likes to randomly die and not start, until I ask someone if they can jump me and then it will magically start up again.
I’ve been left on the side of the road more times than I can count in the last year. I’m nervous every time I get into my car – or any car! Even brand new cars leave me wondering if I’m going to make it to where I’m going. My mechanic knows me by first name and voice; I don’t even have to say my last name to have him know who I am. I have his number memorized because I’ve had to call it so many times. He refunded me half the original cost of $900 for my mustang because he felt so bad about it. He rarely charges me more than he has to for labour, because I’m in there so much.
My visa is racked to $5000 thanks in very large part to my cars, as well as they took a good portion of my savings for my trip to Calgary next week. I have $25,000 in student loans, my regular bills, my rent, etc. I can’t afford to put more money into this car. I don’t have any extra money for a new car. I’m at a real crossroads here.
What I need an opinion on is whether to keep this car and keep stuffing money into it, try and get a loan for about $2000 and buy a new car, or lease a quite-new (but not brand new car) from my work. My work has a leasing department and they work with many dealers. Employees get very good deals on leasing cars (I think it’s 4.35%).
The pro of leasing are that I’ll have something RELIABLE. The cons, of course, are that I can’t really afford it. I will have to get a part time job somewhere and that will be how I pay for the car. If I don’t get a permanent position after the maternity contract that I am currently working is up in February (I've been here since January as a temp, but was hired for this contract last month), than I’m sure my rates will go up as I won’t be staff anymore and if I don’t get something permanent, than I won’t be able to pay the leasing fee. I’ll have to make sure that I can do maintenance on it, which is expensive. Yet, it will be RELIABLE!
If I keep this car, I’m putting a lot more money into it – which could be better spent. If I get a car for $2000, there’s no guarantee that it won’t do the same darn thing as the last two cars I’ve had. I will still likely have to get some sort of part time job to pay off the $2000 loan.
My mom is quite upset that I’m even considering getting a new car. She rightly told me that I can’t afford it, I’m already scraping by right now and I want to lock myself into something that requires a part time job just to keep afloat? She just had to get a new car because hers was toast - but she bought something for $1500 because that's all she could afford. I agree with what she’s saying, but dammit, I am so, so frustrated right now. I am tired of being left on the side of the road. I’m tired of being told that I’m going to have to put MORE money into a car that just isn’t worth it. I’m tired of not knowing how much gas I have in my car because the gas gauge doesn’t work. I’m tired of my car deciding to not start. I’m tired of being neurotic about whether or not I’ll actually get to where I’m going. I’m simply tired, tired, tired of it all! I’m ready to take my car and burn it in a sacrificial bonfire!
) has an excellent bus system. Can you get by taking skytrain or some other form of public transit for a while? Perhaps you could start saving for a better car and in not driving you will have all the money you normally would put into gas/insurance and maintenance to sock away. You might be surprised at how quickly you can afford a MUCH better car. There are ways to set up automatic savings from your cheque if you are inclined to spend everything you have. My advice is set up an appointment with your bank and discuss money management with them. Explain your situation and your goals and see if they have any advice. Most banks offer financial planning for free even when you only have a small amount of money. Thats all I can think of right now. Hang in there, it will get better.
