Wednesday morning I was thinking in the shower (best place to think) that pretty soon we were going to need to figure out how to add a car payment into the budget. Who knows why I start thinking about crazy things like that.
Ok, I know. Small promptings. Maybe you don't believe me, but I get forewarnings. I need them. Too many surprises make for a crazy Sarah. Now here's why. On our way home from the library Thursday I pulled off the freeway and stopped at the light when my van started shaking like you wouldn't believe. I was scared. Terrified. Petrified. You get the picture? All out panic. Good thing it was only about a mile to my house! I got it to the driveway and did what any good thinking woman does. I called my dad.
HELP!!
We tried to figure out what was wrong over the phone with my best description. We were hoping for a stuck thermometer. That would have been best case scenario. I took the van to the church (4 miles up the road) for a presidency meeting that night and it shot up into hot, hot, overheating, hot as soon as I pulled onto the state highway. I made it to church, and barely home. It stalled on the way home. Yikes!
Brandon took it to a repair shop just a little further down the road from the church and it took him an hour and a half to get there. Five miles. One and a half hours. That's good time, right? Oh, well, he did sit on the side of the road 500 feet from the shop for half and hour waiting for good old dad to help get the van the rest of the way...
So, a quick diagnosis later reveals a blown head gasket. That's engine, folks. He said he could fix it for $3000. Uh, let's think. '98 Chevy worth maybe $2000. Sure! Let's pour $3k into it! Why not?
The lowest quote we got was $1000, and that's from my father-in-law who wouldn't charge us for labor. Plus we needed new tires, plus a tune up. That math just doesn't work in my head.
So, the hunt for a new vehicle we can afford begins! Going from not having a car payment to having to add one in is not fun! Who wants to do that? But we're looking.
Honestly, we're looking for one of these:
Does that make me overly Mormon? No comments, Paige. We're tall folks! We need a comparatively sized vehicle. What do you want from me?!?
I talked a guy down on one today. It was kind of fun. My husband was cracking up. We'll see what happens. Maybe I'll be posting about my new car soon. Hopefully sooner than later. I can't stand shopping and car shopping is about a thousand times worse. Wouldn't it be nice if we could custom order exactly what we want it our exact price range? Oh, the dreams.
6 comments:
The EXACT same thing happened with our van over the past 5 months!!!!! Overheating + rattling + smoking engine a little = blown/cracked head gasket. Ouch. Ours is a '95 Ford Windstar. We've been a one car family for most of our marriage, but with baby #4 on the way, that ain't gonna work anymore. We found our "new" van on ebay motors, but I found cars.com super helpful to narrow down our search and price range. Be patient - it's hard when you don't have a reliable vehicle, but worth the $$. Good luck, I have LITERALLY felt your exact same pain!!! Car pain.
Thanks Janene. I needed that today.
What a bummer! I know you will find the exact car that you are looking for. Good luck.
That green van was a good purchase. It lasted, what...3 or 4 years? Not bad. Just make sure you BOTH test drive it. My biggest mistake last time we purchased a car.
That green van was great. I'm really sad it's dead and the cost of fixing it doesn't quite add up. I don't know, though. I'm almost to the point of just saying Fix it. I don't want to look anymore.
I will tell you....I drove a Chevy Suburban and a Ford Excursion for many years and LOVED them. Plenty of space for all the long legs in our family. It was a little difficult parking at first, but you as anything else, you figure it out. There are times now, that I still miss it.
Good luck finding the right one. :)
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