G*ddam car trouble
2017 VW Passat. Purchased used in 2021. Staring down the barrel of a third multi-thousand dollar repair, this time for a rebuilt or new transmission. Thought I had truly endured the worst of big ticket repairs when we replaced the fuel injectors nine months ago. Thought wrong. Can't justify sinking more money into it. Trade-in value reduced to pennies on the dollar. Brain is stuck. Have always been averse to the idea of buying new cars. Have only ever bought one new car in my 38 years of driving, and it was as basic a Honda Civic you could find, six weeks before our first child was born back in 2000. Used car prices are still awful. Mrs. The Riv is pretty adamant about going New. Ugh.
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Sure, and I understand that when you take on a used car that's beyond its warranties and racking up the miles that things are going to need repairing/replacing: an alternator, a fuel pump (when cars had fuel pumps), the timing belt, tires(!) -- those were the things we braced for -- god forbid the rear engine oil seal goes! But this VW beats them all. Even before this transmission issue it already needed a different oil seal/gasket replaced and at least one new front wheel bearing. The first two years of ownership were blissful. Never had a car this nice. The last two years have been pretty frustrating, though, and not inexpensive for a couple of teachers in the Deep South where teaching salaries are poor. So it's "choose your hard" time: a monthly payment in the hundreds, or the inevitability of recurring repair bills on something far cheaper at the outset. Again: ugh.
I am no longer a confident driver.
I still need to get a replacement car before winter. Might be another Skoda, although probably second-hand due to current finances.
They are not the most popular of cars. Not even car thieves seem to bother with them.
One thing I have noticed about second hand cars is the improvement in the bodywork
My former stepson was (and maybe still is) a skilled mechanic, and for some years kept me supplied - free of charge - with cars to get me to and from work. They were usually MoT or insurance write-offs, which he repaired so that they would once more meet MoT etc. requirements, but none of them were particularly smart in appearance!
The old rear-engined Skodas were often sneered at, but a couple of people I knew each possessed one, and found that they were actually very reliable, especially in cold/snowy weather. Built for Eastern European winters, I suppose...
"Thanks for the warning, but the car runs on diesel", I said.
He muttered something about weird foreign cars.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/475-179_czech_steam_locomotive_2007_05_12.jpg
Ooooh, pure top-shelf hardcore steamy smutty choochoo porn! Down boy, down!
Ahem. Apologies for the tangent. Back to cars...
It depends on how old they are, till the mid 2010s VW ran with their platform concept, and since then the MQB matrix has taken over, which maps to a fair amount of commonality between components and their placement (especially engines and transmission).
Yes but a bit less expensive and a few less refinements
If you cannot think of getting a new car either by buying or leasing. I say look again. We have leased our last two cars. We go for 15,000 miles per year on the lease. We went over that last year due to the death of my mother. The over charges were deducted from the trade in value which we applied to the new lease.
Short of that, look to purchase a fleet return. These cars have been well maintained and many may still have warranty coverage.
Then look for repair insurance. Granted, this may seem high, but as you have pointed out, it could go a long way to taking care of a major repair bill.
It can definitely be expensive. I don’t know much about mechanics. I want to learn though. My job is currently always between 3am-330pm. Often it’s 5am-130pm. But they are going to work with me to do 3am-11pm. Monday through Friday. Sometime soon I’m entering into an auto mechanic trade school part time. 230pm-530pm Monday through Wednesday for four years. It’s a master automotive mechanic course for $5-6k. They have 3 months dedicated to just rebuilding and installing transmissions. I’m doing it so I can learn how to work on all of my
Own stuff and maybe make some side money. My job is in an aluminum mill doing tool and die work, installs and press operations. So the mechanic thing won’t really help. But it’s for personal use. I also have been talking with an auto mechanic company near my to work Saturdays 10-12 hours and Sunday 8 hours. Like 5am-5pm with paid 30 min lunch on Saturday and 5am-1pm on Sunday. Just for a few years to develop the skills I’m learning.
The house I’m building I am doing a mini mechanic shop in the garbage. Just a small 24x28 two story house on pilings made of concrete and steel. It’s like $5k to have and hydraulic lift installed for working on vehicles but I think it will be worth it to be able to do it down the road. 35 now. Hopefully at least another 50 years of cognitive and physical health.
They are often the best ones. They rely on repeat business and recommendations, so they invariably do a really good job.
Did you respond "Definitely, Maybe"?
This.
There is a Young Man here in Arkland who sells cars (they are on site), and I've had 3 from him in the past 12 years - one was a bright red Seat Ibiza which I gave to a friend when I became epileptic in 2015, and had to give up my licence, the next was a kingfisher blue Ford Fiesta lost in the Great Flood of 2019, and the current vehicle is another Fiesta. It is Dark White (or Light Black).
All the Young Man Of Arkland's cars are in excellent condition, come with a 1 year warranty (which he will extend, for a small fee), and are very reasonably priced. He is my go-to person if I need another, and, happily, there is an excellent Mechanical Man in Our Town who specialises in mending small Fords, and to whom I shall be going next month for the MoT...
The Good: Mrs. The Riv and I purchased her brother-in-law's 2017 Subaru Outback. It has been meticulously cared for by the local Subrau dealership, and even though it has 80k miles it's in excellent shape. He even did some advance maintenance and a rather large repair in preparation for the transfer, which was incredibly generous on his part (he can afford it much more than we can). Additionally, because of the way private sale laws are down here, and since my sister-in-law's name was actually on the title for the car, she actually sold it to my wife's father, who immediately re-sold it to my wife the next day. That way no one had to pay sales tax. Oddly, if my wife's sister had sold it directly to my wife, we'd have had to pay sales tax.
The Bad: the cost of necessary repairs to my aforementioned VW Passat supersede its trade-in value, which means I have a large, worthless asset to dispose of. The repair shope where it still sits doesn't want it. The VW dealership doesn't want it. A junk yard *might* give me a couple hundred dollars for it to be able to "part it out" over time, but that's the most I can hope for, I'm afraid, unless I can move to someone via FaceBook Marketplace who's a savvy home mechanic. In the meantime, I have to keep liability insurance on it, so I want to do something soon.
The Status Quo: I will continue to drive what used to be our kids' car when they were in high school -- a 2009 Saturn Aura with a number of scratches, dents and crunches, not the least of which is a front end that's partially caved in from Mrs. The Riv hitting a deer a couple of years ago. 137,000 miles and counting with no redeeming value other than it's been paid off for some time. I'll take it(!), and when we have this Subaru paid off, we'll probably trade-in the Saturn for something else for me before it becomes a worthless asset like the VW. Fingers crossed (and the appropriate Santeria rituals as often as necessary) to keep it running well enough until then.
She and three of her children all drive Skodas; they're absolutely not the joke cars they used to be.
If you really wanted a "joke" car in the 1980s/90s you bought a Lada.
Wiper blades come singly, and are easy to install. On many cars, there are two front wiper blades of different lengths. If they snapped the wiper arm, that's slightly more work to replace, but it's not too bad.
First you snap the wiper blade. Then you have the offending car towed.
All good so far, @Mamacita! Thanks!
Over the years I have donated a couple of worthless cars to Cars for (A given charity). I get a small tax deduction, and they get a vehicle that can be stripped for parts for proceeds or used for training programs. Not sure what may be around where you live, but you might want to check it out.
My conclusion is that the best cars by far have been the red ones, and the worst were silver grey, with the blue ones coming close. The actual worst, just beating out a Mitsubishi, was a small Subaru, badly matched to a transmission that would have been better suited to a washing machine, and with abominable handling and roadholding compared with the more familiar VWs. Tragically, after only a few months it was written off after a flood that got water into its electrickery, and I had difficulty hiding my joy from the insurance man. The current car is a VW diesel with a manual transmission - a delight to drive. It is red, of course.