My car smelled of smoke yesterday. Note the word choice - "like smoke" suggests someone has been puffing up in the back, while "of smoke" should imply that part of the car itself has taken on that particular smell, perhaps because it was freakin' on fire. I cannot begin to describe how disappointed I am in this car; it's a Honda Civic that I bought brand-spanking new in 2003 with the purpose of driving it into the ground, or until we gave a well-used but safe-and-functional car to a relative graduating from college. I've kept this thing impeccably maintained. Not just routine oil changes but the service packages they recommend for every blah-miles. And, like a really crappy sitcom plot, it hit 90k miles and began to fall apart like a leper on a roller coaster.
Until roaring flames prove otherwise, I'm assuming that I just drove past a(n invisible) brushfire yesterday and the smell lingered in the car, because I've poked around under the hood and all the bits look unmelty. So far its other problems don't seem to pose a safety hazard: the dead automatic door lock is an inconvenience; the window stays in place thanks to cardboard wrapped in silicon, the air compressor that screeches and sucks power from the engine isn't an issue now that summer is coming to a close and the window shoots down faster than it ever did on its little motor once I've plucked out the silicon.
Fire, though.
The cost of repairs is estimated at $2.5k including labor. The tires will need to be replaced in a year for $400. And none of this factors in some motherfreakin' fire.
The Kelly Bluebook value of the car is about $4k, and thanks to the crappy economy I can get $4k for it without needing to make the repairs (although ... um... wonder what they'll say when I mention the smoke...). I trade in the car, I don't have to make those repairs I know about and whatever else might need to be done to the Lepermobile as its parts gradually get flung to the side of the road like confetti. Although, I trade in the car, I start making car payments again...
It would be cheaper to make the repairs. Short-term and long-term, maintaining the car I have is more cost-effective than buying a new one. But this is a Honda Civic with under 100,000k miles on it and I'm exceptionally grumpy that I can no longer trust it for anything more than running local errands. Ya know, because of the fire. Brown and I have been planning to buy a four-door car as our next vehicle and I am sorely tempted to cut my losses and move our timetable up by two years. And it doesn't help that we rented a Toyota Rav4 when we went out of town last weekend: it had 27k miles on it but drove like it came new off of the lot, had one of the nicest consoles I've seen, and got an average of 26.5mpg. On highways it was punching 32mpg in the face and loving it. The Lepermobile - again, this is a Honda Civic built for longevity and fuel economy - gets 21mpg in spite of a brand-new oxygen filter and regular maintenance. When exactly did some SUVs stop becoming gas-sucking blights on the planet? Those things better require the soul of a freshly clubbed baby seal to make, or I'm going to have to rearrange some mental furniture.
Bah, I say. Bah.
Until roaring flames prove otherwise, I'm assuming that I just drove past a(n invisible) brushfire yesterday and the smell lingered in the car, because I've poked around under the hood and all the bits look unmelty. So far its other problems don't seem to pose a safety hazard: the dead automatic door lock is an inconvenience; the window stays in place thanks to cardboard wrapped in silicon, the air compressor that screeches and sucks power from the engine isn't an issue now that summer is coming to a close and the window shoots down faster than it ever did on its little motor once I've plucked out the silicon.
Fire, though.
The cost of repairs is estimated at $2.5k including labor. The tires will need to be replaced in a year for $400. And none of this factors in some motherfreakin' fire.
The Kelly Bluebook value of the car is about $4k, and thanks to the crappy economy I can get $4k for it without needing to make the repairs (although ... um... wonder what they'll say when I mention the smoke...). I trade in the car, I don't have to make those repairs I know about and whatever else might need to be done to the Lepermobile as its parts gradually get flung to the side of the road like confetti. Although, I trade in the car, I start making car payments again...
It would be cheaper to make the repairs. Short-term and long-term, maintaining the car I have is more cost-effective than buying a new one. But this is a Honda Civic with under 100,000k miles on it and I'm exceptionally grumpy that I can no longer trust it for anything more than running local errands. Ya know, because of the fire. Brown and I have been planning to buy a four-door car as our next vehicle and I am sorely tempted to cut my losses and move our timetable up by two years. And it doesn't help that we rented a Toyota Rav4 when we went out of town last weekend: it had 27k miles on it but drove like it came new off of the lot, had one of the nicest consoles I've seen, and got an average of 26.5mpg. On highways it was punching 32mpg in the face and loving it. The Lepermobile - again, this is a Honda Civic built for longevity and fuel economy - gets 21mpg in spite of a brand-new oxygen filter and regular maintenance. When exactly did some SUVs stop becoming gas-sucking blights on the planet? Those things better require the soul of a freshly clubbed baby seal to make, or I'm going to have to rearrange some mental furniture.
Bah, I say. Bah.
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