My Car-Dying and Car-Buying Experience
As I posted, at great length, on Sunday night (good grief, was that really less than 48 hours ago?) and then updated on Monday, I learned that my car, which I’ve had since 2001 and which has been paid off since 2004, is in terminal condition. Head gaskets, camshafts, antifreeze leaking into the fuel lines, cracked radiator, bad O2 sensors—you name it, the car had that problem.
When I bought this car in 2001 as a two-year-old, it had everything I could possibly have imagined wanting: leather seats, 3.5L V-6 engine, great cassette/CD stereo—with controls on the steering wheel, cruise control—again, with controls on the steering wheel, sunroof . . . everything.
In the nine years I’ve had the car, I’ve only had to have minor, maintenance-type of work done on it—replace the battery, replace the alternator, replace the tires, replacing burned-out bulbs, and regular oil and filter changes. Great car, right?
Sure except . . .
- The sunroof quit working (won’t open, leaks during heavy downpours) in 2004.
- The passenger-side sun visor broke in 2005—and has to be tucked up under the “Oh my goodness, we’re all going to die” handle above the door to keep from flopping around.
- Cassette #1 of the unabridged audiobook of Mansfield Park has been stuck in the cassette player since around 2005 or 2006.
- The outdoor temperature gauge works only when the outdoor temperature is below 60 degrees or above 100 degrees. (When it’s between 60 and 99 degrees outside, the gauge reads anywhere between 20 and 40 degrees below the actual temperature.)
- The rear-view mirror fell off the windshield in 2008. Since the reading lights for the front seats are built into the mirror (due to having a sunroof), it dangled by the electrical cord until I was able to get over to Home Depot and get some epoxy putty to stick it back up with. You know that scene in Menu for Romance when Meredith goes to the hardware store for wood epoxy? Guess when I thought of that scene.
- The leather on the driver’s seat is worn down to the mesh liner underneath in a couple of places and looks pretty decrepit overall.
- The carpet under the pedals, in a tan-interior car, is nearly black and has several holes in it.
- The passenger-side front door sticks and is hard to open.
- Several of the knobs on the stereo have cracked and fallen off over the years.
- The power window motor in the driver’s side front door had to be replaced in 2007 (at the tune of $600). When the motor went out in the passenger-side back door the middle of 2009 and the window wouldn’t stay closed, I took my clear packing tape out there and taped the window shut rather than spend the money to get it fixed (mainly because I was broke—but still hadn’t gotten around to it this year because I didn’t want to part with the money).
- And let’s not get into just how nasty and dirty the car is, both inside and out (that happens when you don’t have a paved driveway or sidewalk and track grass, mud, and gravel into the car every single time).
(Stick with me, this is part of the healing process.)
Monday, after I got home from getting the fatal diagnosis, I applied for a car loan through my bank.
Denied.
I applied at two other major lenders.
Denied. Denied.
Put out a few feelers at a couple of the major car dealerships in the area that advertise they work with hard-to-finance customers.
Got a rental car so I could (finally) get out of the house. (Yes, I went to Starbucks while I was out and got a caramel Frappuccino. It’s amazing what one of those things can do for my psyche!)
Talked to my parents who offered to help me out, and asked me not to make any decisions about a purchase before talking to them. Then we talked about how I was thinking I might just wait until I got to Arkansas next week to go car shopping.
Watched the finals of ice dancing.
Phone started ringing and e-mails started coming in Tuesday morning, early. Sales reps from the auto dealers I’d queried the night before.
E-mailed back and forth with a couple of them only to discover that they didn’t have any inventory that suited my needs (financially, qualitatively, or aesthetically). Was not looking forward to going out in the 35-degree, wet, nasty weather to test drive cars when I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to get financed—at least not at an interest rate I was willing to pay. Didn’t want to have to clear out half of my savings for a down-payment.
Looked online at used cars in Arkansas and found a few options.
Went to the post office and UPS to send books to people. (Yes, contest winners, your books are finally on their way to you!) Picked up lunch. Decided to wait until I got to Arkansas to look at any cars. Came home, worked for a little while. Wasn’t very productive. Then my dad called.
He found a car for me.
It’s a 2005 Ford 500 (reference image to the right, not the actual vehicle), light green, fully loaded—including heated leather seats!—with a stereo that not only plays MP3 CDs but also has an auxiliary port to plug in my MP3 player. It has a great maintenance record, and comes from a trusted source.
I have a rental car for the rest of the week, and then I’ll be getting another car, a one-way rental, to drive to Arkansas next Monday. Monday evening, I’ll be signing the paperwork on the new-to-me car—which just happens to be sitting in my parents’ garage at this very moment.
You see, my dad is selling me his car! Which means I don’t have to dip into my savings for a down-payment. I don’t have to go through the headache of trying to find financing. All I had to do was figure out how to get to Arkansas—a trip I’ve been planning since late last year when I learned I would be teaching at the writers’ conference in Shreveport the first weekend in March.
Aren’t parents wonderful? And isn’t God’s timing uncanny?
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KayeDacus.com 
Amen, and Amen, Kaye! God is good!
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God is so good, and parents are awesome. So happy this got resolved so quickly – though I’m sure the past 48 hours felt more like 48 days, or months, or something like that due to the stress load!
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Yay! God and Dad come through! 🙂 So glad this has worked out well and quickly Kaye.
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AMEN!
Yes, parents are wonderful. My mom has always been like that and I intend to do everything I can for my kids, too.
What a great resolution!
YAY!!!!!
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Very cool, Kaye.
Our car caught fire and died on the side of a highway back in August. It’s traumatic when your car dies unexpectedly and you don’t have the finances to replace it. God took care of us and gave us a better car that cost less than our insurance check. It sounds like he took care of you too. 🙂
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God’s provision is amazing. Parents are such a blessing! I’m so glad you’ll have your own wheels again.
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Wonderful! Awesome! Praise God!
I had to laugh at the clear tape on the back door – my best friend has had to do that with her car as well. And I feel the pain of not having any gravel/pavement in my yard. My car looks like I’ve been mudding, when I haven’t.
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That is absolutely fantastic. God really came through for you in an unexpected way.
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What a blessing! I’m so glad.
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Yay!! God sure knew what He was doing when He created parents. And congratulations!!!
(if I still lived in Louisiana I’d definitely be at the conference in Shreveport, but alas, I’m 1400 miles away)
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Sharing in the joy of that answer! So glad your parents are blessing you that way. Sweet!
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God is good. How awesome that this happened now instead of on your trip to Louisiana. His timing is perfect. Dad’s are wonderful. A funny thing happened to us last week with cars. My son who recently returned from time in the army had waited until he got back to Louisiana to buy a vehicle since he was stationed in New York with snow half his height or in Iraq for the past few years. He is in college and working part time, but gas eats up his paychecks, so has saved little since his return toward a vehicle. Not having a full-time job has made financing difficult and he hasn’t wanted to acquire debt, so he’s been looking for something he could buy dirt cheap.
He needed a specific type of bargain to meet his needs, because he is a musician and needs room for his guitar gear. His band travel to jails and a home missions church each week as well as the occassional Christian conference or town festival.
A week ago, a car sales friend called to say she had found him a minivan if he didn’t mind its age. It was well maintained, but the owner couldn’t drive anymore. He said he didn’t care about age, just dependability. As we were sitting in the insurance company getting insurance, he got an education in DOS computers. As we were sitting in the DMV, the lady had a hard time not grinning. She asked him to verify his birthday while looking at the vehicle title, and when he said it, I realized the van is older than him! He pointed out it is actually the same age as his sister. We all got the giggles.
When we got to the car lot to pick it up, all he cared about was seeing if his iPod adapter would work int he cigarette lighter and if the ancient van had a digital tuner so the adapter would work. Unfortunately, the van was so loud, he could barely hear it even though it worked and the tuner was digital. One muffler later and he is cruising in his music machine happy to have independence and not bum a ride.
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Wow I totally know how you feel! My dad had a 1999 Oldsmobile Alero and pretty much everything that you listed above that went wrong with your car went wrong with ours including the leaky sunroof! It took 6 months to find another car but finally we did get another one last week. Funny story though, when dad went to get the title signed over the lady accidentally signed over her new car to us instead of her old one that she was supposed to be selling us! Luckily we caught the error the day after when we went to go get insurance so we were able to conact the notary before they sent the title in to the state. Whew! I’m sooo glad that’s over with I know you know how stressful car buying is! I’m so glad you found one!
XOXO~ Renee
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