Since 1994, I have owned 74 different cars, trucks, and vans. There have been times I only had one car at a time, and there was once when I had as many as six cars at a time. (1998-1999 mostly) In order to be able to move to Ohio from Texas, I had to sell every car I had. The $475 Cavalier impound car project. The $355 eBay Gran Torino sedan I had for four years. My grandmother's Cutlass Ciera. All we drove up was our Suburban. My wife must have felt bad at first because she let us go car shopping and I bought a minivan which turned out to have a transmission issue. It sat, I worked, tried to earn a living, and the engine locked up after sitting for a little over a year. I scrapped it back in March or so and have been searching for a vehicle since, but have no money to actually buy one. My wife keeps telling me to wait, wait, and wait some more. Meanwhile, she busts her tailbone at a roller skating event for the kids and it is VERY difficult now for her to move around. I'm no longer towing, instead I'm driving limos on the weekends and valeting cars during the week. She has to drive me to and from the jobs and it's hard on her. I can't leave her without the only vehicle we have, but for some reason we just can't get a second vehicle right now. I got up to $450 saved and had even found a few running vehicles for $350-$500 I could purchase, but by the time it came time to go look at them, something else would come up and the money would get spent on something else to prevent a utility from being shut off, or to re-activate a phone, or groceries, or something. It always seems to be something. I let her handle all the finances because we have children and I don't want to mess anything up. Things have been the way they are for ten years. I go out, I work, I make money, I keep ten bucks in my wallet at most times so I can get a bus home or a meal or a cup of coffee or whatever in an emergency, but every dollar I make goes in her hands to cover rent and bills and other needs. I am certain she is handling it as best she can, but I don't know how I can get car money saved up without outright lying to her about say, my tips, or my paycheck amount. I don't want to lie. But I also don't want to continue to not have a car of my own. I'm trying real hard to be patient but the fact is I've NEVER not owned a vehicle for this long. It makes me physically sick sometimes. I owned a car before I even had a driver's license. I've had cars, backup cars, and parts cars. I've had trucks to haul cars. I've had vans I lived in while I saved up for another car. I'm not sure how much more patience I have left in me. My paycheck hits the bank in about eight hours, and it's not going to be enough by itself to purchase a car. It's not even enough to cover the rest of the current bills. She has money coming in from her own projects and it'll work out but I know in my heart that there will not be enough left over for me to get even a bicycle. A week from now, two weeks, three weeks, it'll be the same story. Every time I mention how convenient it would be if we had a second car, I get shot down. It makes her angry to have to tell me no. Things I've tried: A second car would keep her from having to take me to and from work. A second car would keep her from having to take the 15 year old to and from work. A second car that isn't a 14mpg Suburban would be useful to make money with throwing papers early mornings or delivering pizza in evenings. A second car would give us the ability to do more family activities when we're not working. A second car wouldn't increase the insurance bill by very much. A second car would get better mileage and we could use it anytime the Suburban's seating capacity isn't needed. A second car would give me something to clean/work on/concentrate on so I bother her less when she's working at her computer. A second car has the potential to be resold for more than it cost if another deal comes along. I just don't know what to do without upsetting her or the delicate financial balance.
Best of luck Occupant. It's tough stuggling with money issues. You two are a team just work together and you'll get ahead. Hang in there.
Thanks for sharing Alan. Sometimes even that helps. Maybe let your wife read this post then she will see exactly what the problem is. Together you can work this out. I've never been with out a driving car in all our married life. Right now I have two that could be running but I let the license and insurance go because I thought we'd be moved to another state by now. My truck with only 73,000 miles on it needed only head gaskets we thought. it's been down for silly reasons over six months. I have to depend on neighbors and my undependable son to shop and pay bills. Not the same as your problem but being without wheels is not good when nine miles from town and few people to depend on. I'll get my truck back and you will have another set of wheels. People used to get by with one car. My wife never did drive and we got by with three kids in Illinois. Keep air in all four tires and none of them will drop.
Tough situation for you Alan. In all your posts on this and other forums we're on together, I never got the hint you were struggling. you're ALWAYS so upbeat and willing to help others with their vehicle issues. Man, if I had an extra car, I'd give it to you....... One bit of advice for you. Get involved in your household's financial affairs. You don't want to jump in and undermine your wife's authority in the matter, but your family's financial health should be a joint project. Right now, if things were REALLY tough, would you be aware of it? Your wife shouldn't have to bear that burden alone. Make it a plan to sit down at least once a week (should only take 5 minutes or so) to go over accounts, pending bills, etc. As to a car fund...... Ask your wife for her support in getting a second vehicle (seems like a no-brainer to me...). Maybe start a 'Car Jar'. Money goes in, and doesn't go out - for ANY reason (so be careful about only putting money in when other obligations are already met). Good luck, Marshall
here is just a suggestion with my personal checking account everytime i pay a bill they round it up to the next dollar and take the difference and put that into my savings acct. it's not much maybe a dollar or two but it will add and give you the hope that one day you can get something . hope it helps to keep the dream alive for you
Together Could be the same reasons a fool would move from sunny Florida to drizzly Illinois. As for the other replies, great ideas. I try to stay upbeat but life is not always like we see in those old fairy tales. Money is always the biggest problem, even for those with more than they know what to do with. Sadly I've never had that problem But we've lived off Carp and corn, scraped up pennys and nickles, borrowed from the kid's piggy bank, and even ate lobster and drank wine. Together a family can work out problems. Maybe never buy that Mercedes and spread Grey Poupon on our Ritz crackers. But with saving and luck we can have an old Ford in the drive next to the Suburban.
I think sharing did help and I appreciate all the ideas and words of encouragement. Since this post my wife and I got picked again for a project we did last year and we'll be renting a car, driving to a couple hundred fast food restaurants around Ohio, collecting the pricing data and some pictures, and once that's all entered we will get paid $2700. That should give enough room for us to actually get a second vehicle. Project should take about a week to complete and they pay pretty much instantly. So we'll do one major metro area (Columbus) with our Suburban, get paid, then rent a small car for the remainder of the week (about $200 taxes and all) and do the other three metro areas (Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton). After catching up on the bills we should have $800-$1200 left over for a car. On a $1000 car, the tags/title/tax will run about $125. Insurance difference will be negligible and we're only paying $56 a month for full coverage on the Suburban anyway. In other good news I had my first weekend driving limos part time and had four good trips Saturday and Sunday. One of those tipped me $150 which allowed us to get both phone services refilled and enough left over to finish paying off past due amounts on the gas bill. It'll all come together in time. We kinda have a deadline now because we'll need two vehicle by the last week of June. 13-year old needs to go to Dayton for two days for a STEM camp and someone needs to take him and bring him back. That someone wouldn't be able to take either myself or our houseguest to/from work those two days. We may end up renting a car for those two days if nothing else works out, but it would be much simpler to have the second vehicle by then. My shopping specs are as follows: Most important thing: dependability and reliability (so, no French cars among others) Fuel mileage is important (my commute is 3 miles each way, but his is 22 each way) Should be large enough to carry 5-6 people if needed (sedan/minivan) Should be small enough to fit in the garage (to work on it) without parking sideways Can't be rotted out to the point engine/trans mounts or suspension/steering bits are compromised Preferences: I'd like something GM so it is easy to work on (those are the cars I know best) I'd like something 1996 or newer so I can use my laptop and OBD-II cables to diagnose things I'd like something with power steering/brakes and automatic transmission (so my wife can drive it too) It would be nice to have working cold AC and hot heat and a radio I'd prefer a four door sedan, will consider a wagon r minivan, but my wife would refuse to drive it so it's unlikely Example cars I'm looking for: 1997-2005 Buick Century and Regal (except Supercharged) 1996-2005 Buick LeSabre and Pontiac Bonneville (except Supercharged) 1997-2004 Buick Park Avenue (except Supercharged) 1997-2003 Chevrolet Malibu (and 2004-2005 Classic) 2000-2005 Chevrolet Impala (3800/3.8L engine only) 1998-2004 Chrysler Concorde and Dodge Intrepid (except with 2.7L engine) 1996-2007 Chrysler/Plymouth Voyager, Chrysler Town & Country, and Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan 1996-2004 Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis (with 2.73 rear axle only) 2000-2007 Ford Taurus and 2000-2005 Mercury Sable (3.0L Vulcan engine only) 1996-1999 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight 1998-2000 Oldsmobile Intrigue (3800/3.8L engine only) 1997-2003 Pontiac Grand Prix (except Supercharged) I've been able to find examples of everything in that list on the Columbus Craigslist for anywhere from $400 to $1500 over the past couple of months.
Well good luck. I'm on a food site called roadfood.com and read a lot of food information on YELP. Always something interesting and I learn about things we normally don't eat. A midsized wagon would be great for you.
Any wagon would work great for me but I wouldn't be able to get the wife or the nearly 16 year old to drive it. Ever. That said I do have four wagons in my bookmarks of CL posts. Two are Saturn wagons (one SW1, one SW2, both 96 models and automatic) which are a little small but for the fuel mileage would work fine. The others are a 1992 Custom Cruiser...for $1200 ...and a 1992 Roadmaster...for $1100 Both would need to be a little bit cheaper, in the $950-$1000 range tops, so I can afford to tag and title right away and not end up paying late fees later when money doesn't come in right and I don't have the $125 or so to get it done. The OCC seems to be the nicer of the two, with a recently replaced engine, under 200K miles, and receipts for a lot of work. The AC doesn't work (this is Ohio, not too worried about that) and three of the windows go off track (that I would have to fix at least one or two for airflow until I can work on AC). The Roadmaster has over 200K and definitely needs some cosmetic work, but that can wait for another time. Also it has had a recent transmission replacement and many other parts. It certainly doesn't look as nice and the quarters are primered, and seeing that makes me think they are probably an inch thick with bondo. Interior isn't as well kept but it all seems to be there. Both seem to be described as reliable daily drivers. 350 TBI engines won't be as efficient as an LT1 for example, but they will at least be cheap and easy to work on if they need anything. My wife would be MUCH less upset about the OCC. It has no woodgrain, a nice tan leather interior, and with a better set of hubcaps it would really look nice. I never like generic silver auto parts store hubcaps unless it's on a small car and it's the kind that looks like stock 95-98 Tercel hubcaps. Advance Auto sells them as a "Sahara" and they're available in 13, 14, and 15. They actually wouldn't look TOO bad on that OCC... ...at any rate if I tint the windows right my wife wouldn't be upset about driving it and we can tell the 16 year old to "suck it up, buttercup". If she wants her license and a nice little car, she'll have to learn to drive a barge first.
Then again a quick check of eBay shows four different styles of proper Oldsmobile hubcaps for $60-65 shipped. One set from a 73-77 Cutlass (wire type), another set from a 77-79 Delta 88, another set of slotted caps from a 75-77 Cutlass, and another set of older (74-76) 88/98 caps. Don't worry, I wouldn't buy a $40 set of auto parts store caps if saving up an extra Jackson gets me something sweeter.
My wife does not drive. Sometimes I wished she did but being in an accident when very young makes her afraid to drive. So when it comes to cars, trucks, or anything on wheels she's always happy with anything I drag home. I do hear the "you don't need another car" but she doesn't really complain. Our daughter hated riding in my 55 and 57 Chevy until the boys she went to school with thought they were cool cars. Like you wrote, your daughter can suck up or take the bus. I had to walk ten miles up hill to school in three feet of snow ....both ways in Illinois. Our daughter had the same problem with her daughter. She didn't want to ride the school bus that went right past their home. Daughter caved in and took her for years. Who's the boss in these families? Man is the king of his castle!
$1,499 http://columbus.craigslist.org/ctd/5016762955.html I was looking at these on Auto Trader just last night....
There's a reason they're $1499 online: the Opel V6 sucks sausage. Notice there's no pic of the engine bay; it's too depressing to look at that complicated hunk of junk. I only dealt with two of them, but boy did they give me fits in trying to fix them.
Krash I'm torn about L-Series wagons. It's like, do you want your catastrophic engine failure with four cylinders or six? Love the actual cars, drive them quite often at my valet job during the day, and if one was properly cared for then the tensioner for the timing belt (V6) or chain (Ecotec) MIGHT not fail. I liken those chances to a 2.7L Chrysler V6 engine. Engine survival? The good news about that is that dealer, about 40 miles away from me in Lancaster, has a high turnover rate. Every week he has plenty of fresh $999 and $1499 cars.
