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Farewell to my car, and Gencon question revisited.
I took my car in for some repair work today, and they reviewed what else is wrong with it...and it's not worth doing the work they had planned to do. I might need a new transmission ($1800). I might need a new catalytic converter ($400). I definitely need $600 of ball joints, sensors, and other junk. The car is probably worth less than $2000, though, so it makes more sense to bid farewell to the Engine of Doom and get another car.
This puts new emphasis on the whole Gencon or Not question. Do I not go because it's several hundred dollars that I should save for a car, or do I scramble like a crazy person to assemble a porfolio of doom and head to Gencon because more than ever I need to get going on this Artist as a Career thing, and this is a useful step?
Also, this means I'm once again open to suggestions for a good, reliable car to replace my dying lump of garbage.
This puts new emphasis on the whole Gencon or Not question. Do I not go because it's several hundred dollars that I should save for a car, or do I scramble like a crazy person to assemble a porfolio of doom and head to Gencon because more than ever I need to get going on this Artist as a Career thing, and this is a useful step?
Also, this means I'm once again open to suggestions for a good, reliable car to replace my dying lump of garbage.
Re: All a matter of perception
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It is a standard not an automatic. It's very easy to learn though and I'd be happy to give you lessons. :)
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I had a copy of the Intellichoice guide from the library when I bought my car, which is really good in terms of comparing models and includes an estimate of total cost of ownership. There's also a ton of stuff on intellichoice.com. I also had a subscription to the online consumer reports for the month or two that I was looking, and I think that's where I got the high-theft list info. (though my car has moved up since I got it)
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I've put over 100,000 miles on my car over the past 5 years,
and the only time it's been in the shop is when I put it in
for body work or preventative maintenance.
VWs are in many ways good cars, but getting work done on
them is often very expensive.
When it comes to buying cars, I've found that you can get
the best deals from private individuals, but you MUST have
a good mechanic either with you when you look or to check
the car out before you buy. Used cars from established
dealerships or often a safer bet, but it's harder to find
a real bargain.
Good luck!
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As to models, we've got two used Saturns at the moment. Mine's a 95 Saturn SL2 standard with 120,000 miles. I bought it three years ago and have had nothing beyond normal maintance done on it. I did have to have two tires and the brake pads replaced since I bought it, but that's pretty well in the maintance category.
Mom's got a later model automatic Saturn sedan, a 2002 sedan with around 35,000 miles. No problems with it.
My father has a miserable piece of crap light truck, a Chevy 150. Standard. Not sure of the year or total milage, but its high. I do no its newer than my car and has less miles. Piece of CRAP. Has needed lots of repairs, the tailgate is falling off, the parking brake is broken, rusty, the horn doesn't work, the clutch is incredibly stiff no matter what you do and the horsepower SUCKS. Dad's considering replacing it soon.
The Chevy and Mom's Saturn replaced two Ford Taurus' from 1995. They both ran for 150,000 miles with no repairs. One word of caution, check the sticker on the car that says what plant it was assembled in. You want one built at the Atlanta ford plant. All the other plants building Taurus' turn out crappy models that need lots of repairs.
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