New Car Broken within half a tank =(
Posted on October 18th, 2006 | by admin |So after my bike accident, and hearing from my insurance that it’s totaled (cost of repair > value of vehicle), I decided it was time to get a nice, safe, reliable car to last me a few years. After a little shopping I ended up with a 2003 Volkswagen Passat. It’s a really nice car, decked out with leather and sun roof, and a 1.8 liter turbo engine. Sadly it didn’t come with an iPod dock. But I got it for a great price at $12k with only 65k miles. Not bad I figured.
Now if you know me, you understand that I’m not exactly made of money. Everything “extra” I have goes into the show. So when it came time to finance I had to make a choice about the warranty. The deal on the table was 2 years/24,000 miles for an additional $72/mo, or $5k over the course of the 5 year loan. So real quick I did some math and it turns out that 24,000 miles would only last me 1-1.5 years. (I drive to work in DC weekly, a 300 mile trip, plus all those visits to Toronto at 1400 miles each. Ouch!). So paying an extra 5 grand for a 1-1.5 year warranty didn’t seem like such a wise investment, especially since I’d be paying for it well after it expired, and if I wasn’t expecting to put more than $5k in work into the car in the first 1-1.5 years I’d come out on top, right?
Well, I’m not saying that I wish I had gotten the warranty. I still stand by my financial judgment. But I just wish I hadn’t been struck by the bad luck faerie. First the finger, then the bike, and now, well… My new car died within the first tank of gas! I had been planning on taking a pretty picture of it and blogging about how happy I was, but now I’m back in the “Wess, can I borrow your car” boat. And though only semi related, Wess’ car IS a boat (97 Crown Vic)!
So yesterday it got hauled off to the dealer, and hopefully they’ll make it go again without costing me an arm, leg, or pinky. I like when things go.
So here’s hoping my new broken car gets fixed, and that the insurance settlement money on my bike comes in soon. So what’s your ride?
PS: Lego Star Wars is still shrinkwrapped. One of these days I tell you…
