Why a replacement engine beats buying a vehicle

When it comes to my car, the hand has been writing upon the wall for some time. We are faced with having to replace the engine. It's a massive car repair bill that I didn't see coming. The air conditioning needs to be fixed and the P.T. Cruiser needs new front struts. A new engine won't fix either of those.

It's very slow going but we are making some progress. We were able to get rid of two small bills this month and take care of a huge chunk of I.R.S. taxes. This will free up space in our monthly budget to put toward the car repair. It seems like a long time but we're hoping to have this done by December. We're also selling some things online which will help.

I almost cried when the mechanic suggested taking my much-loved P.T. Cruiser to the dealership. His exact words were "so you can look at the showroom". I can't say that the idea isn't appealing. There are lots of reasons to consider a new(er) car but, there are just as many reasons not to do it.

Don't laugh but, my main reason for not buying a new car is the cost. I was told to expect to spend at least $5,500 for a dependable used car. The new engine is estimated to be $2,600 plus tax and installation. The dealership will tackle a few other things for just the cost of parts. That brings the car repair to about $2,800.

Putting the engine in is estimated to be about $400. Taxes, fees and supplies should still keep the price below or around $3,500. The air conditioner and struts and another $900 or so and brings the repair costs to about $4, 400- still $1,100 below the estimate for a dependable used car.

Another option is to buy new. Thinking about paying roughly $400 for the next fives years is making me break into a cold sweat. Never mind the fact that I don't want the other stresses of buying a new car. (If you've ever witnessed someone trying to steal your car, then you understand where I'm coming from.)

Right now the car is still driveable for very short trips. So, I think that we're going to try for the repairs. We will essentially be down to one vehicle for the foreseeable future. In the end, I think that it will be worth the struggle. I hope so anyway because I really want to get rid of the debt.
 

Another car repair for the PT Cruiser

I have another car repair problem on the PT Cruiser. This time it's a biggie. The check engine light keeps coming on, it runs rough and the gas mileage is lower than it has been. My car can be driven but the problems are making the PT Cruiser temperamental at times.

It was in for the same problem about two weeks ago and acted up shortly afterword. Taking it to the repair shop (again) seemed logical but frustrating. Before taking it in, my husband and a mechanic friend looked the car over. They tried everything they could think of to get the car repair done. Everything was in vain. Now, we know why.

My beloved PT Cruiser is not holding compression and needs new engine is in order. But, it's a very expensive proposition. We're looking at around $3,600 for the car repair. The engine itself is about $2500. It's another $500-$600 to install plus taxes, other parts and some preventative work.

I keep reminding myself that $3,600 is still less expensive than five or six years at $??? per month. The main temptation to purchase another vehicle is that the monthly payments are easier than coming up with a lump sum amount.

It's frustrating. My new part-time position caused my income to decrease for the past few months. My schedule is just now beginning to level off. I'm not sure how we are going to handle the car repair bill. A yard sale and eBay auction may be in my future along with additional blogging.

One car repair down, another and 2 tires to go

Good news! As of today, we have one car repair done. Hubby and I picked up the PT Cruiser from the shop today and the price was close to the estimate. Originally, we were given a pre-tax estimate of $720. They adjusted a fee so today's payout was $768. The original quote with tax would have been about $792.

It's too soon to shout for joy. Tires and both front bearings need to be done as soon as possible. However, getting this much done is a big relief.

The impact the car repair has on the debt reduction plan is serious. We just dropped most of Hubby's paycheck on the car and our meager savings. Both tires must be replaced but one tire has almost been ripped to shreds.

To raise the money without going into debt I'll be writing as much as possible. All extra income is going to the tires and car repair right now. I received $30 from a client today and expect another client to pay by Friday. That'll put me about $60 closer to the $190 we need. We will still have to replace wheel bearings but at least it's a start.

It's tempting to grab a credit card for the car repair. The sad truth is that a credit card won't pay for a car repair or anything else. I've said before that fee and interest only add to the car repair debt problem. The cards prolong the payment pain and add salt to the wounds.

Midas is working with us to perform the repairs on a rough schedule. Right now, our plans are to stay the course, continue with our debt reduction plan and try to write my fingers off. If you're following us on our journey my advice is to hold on. Fastening your seat belt won't hurt. This may be a bumpy ride.

Another car repair threatens debt reduction plan

Another car repair has struck in a big way. I've noticed a noise and vibration coming from the front end of the car for a couple of weeks.The noise in the car didn't start out as much but worsened yesterday.  I'm learning that when you ignore things they don't go away. They get bigger.

My 2005 PT Cruiser

The team at Midas in Knoxville is why we've been able to put 240,000 miles on my PT Cruiser. They laughed when they saw the repeat offender in the parking lot. 

Automotive technicians don't come any better. The folks at this Midas do all of my repairs and preventative maintenance. My car would never have lasted this long without them. 

It didn't take them too long to put the car on the rack and deliver the very bad news. 

My beloved PT Cruiser needs a new rack and pinion, bearings, tires and an alignment. Ouch! 

These types of car repairs aren't cheap. Our estimate is a little over $1,500 and the worst part is that Midas says it really all needs to be done at the same time. Instead, to keep from going into debt we're going to try to take it in stages. My PT Cruiser will be parked a lot until the repairs are complete. I guess the bright side is that we'll save a few bucks on gas. 

Here are the estimates for the PT Cruiser and the repair schedule:

$720 Rack and pinion (Immediately - it's in the car hospital now.)

$190 Tires (Almost immediately)

$220 Bearings (Next payday)

$60 Alignment (End of the month)

We're going to put our Christmas stash toward the biggest repair. Gifts for the kids (college age) are already purchased and I have a small gift for hubby so that helps. The turkey and veggies for Christmas dinner are in the freezer.

Our plans were to start putting some money into the car next month. Its frustrating to have this car repair right now but it isn't insurmountable. If we didn't have the stash and gifts purchased I would be freaking out (and going into debt). Instead of going into red level panic mode I'm at the orange level. It's a definite improvement.

One thing that getting out of debt is teaching me is the ability to better handle a financial crisis. The car repair is scary and frustrating. But, we only have $200 left to pay on it. I figure we can put in a few repairs for less than the $4,200 that we've paying every year in payments.

I enjoy my PT Cruiser. Despite the car repair I look forward to driving it for years to come.

Our get out of debt plan is tested by huge car repair bill

I knew we’d be tested on our plan to get out of debt and it didn’t take long.

Thank goodness we’ve been working hard to try to get out of debt. The extra breathing space helped us deal with all the car repair bills that we had last week.  Without that space I am not sure what we would have done.

Let me just say here that last week was pretty ugly with car repair bills.

Here’s what the cost round-up looked like last week:

$451 Midas trip

$220 Jim Cogdill Dodge trip

$48.95 Midas 

$299.81 Midas

$10 Wal-Mart

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Total car repair bills: $1,030.00

Plus, receipts show that we spent just under $200 in gas. We wound up making several trips with both vehicles on the road between here and there. Add the car repair bills to the gas amount and the total is shocking. 

Earlier this month, I took some of what used to be bill payments and renewed our $207 AAA Premiere membership.  Knowing that we had it in place was a huge comfort last week! 

The bad thing is that I did have to use the credit card for part of the car repair bills. I'm pretty bummed out about it. We remembered our credit card lesson from the last big car repair bill. Juggling and finagling reduced the credit amount we needed.

Getting out of this hole will take some digging. However, our earlier work kept the hole from being as deep as it could have been. The car repair bills that could have blown us out of the water didn’t. That’s a pretty good feeling.