My Desperation Buy. (Car)
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Topic: My Desperation Buy. (Car)
Posted By: Reb Cpl
Subject: My Desperation Buy. (Car)
Date Posted: 31 August 2014 at 6:46pm
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SUNY Plattsburgh canvassed me recently for one of their open UPD jobs. Its a 3.5 hour drive from where I live, but I love it up there, and that is one hell of a job...so last Thursday night, I went up planning on taking a hotel for the night, then going to the interview fresh Friday morning. Condensed story is, on the way up, the timing belt in my ancient and beloved Subaru went, and all the valves got bent as well. After a $200 tow (No AAA, lesson learned) and a bombed interview because I was stranded 200 miles from home and had a dwindling supply of expendable income- and thusly more than a little stressed out- I was told by the mechanic that I was staring a $2000 repair bill in the face- on a 12 year old car with 174K miles on it. He suggested I try their used lot up the street to see if there was anything I could trade for. TL;DR version of this section of the story was that I ended up being approved for financing at a very attractive rate on this:  '09 Ford Fusion with 69K miles on it. Essentially, I went up for a job interview and ended up buying a car out of necessity. it just wasn't a sound financial decision to keep pouring money into the Subaru when I could pick up something newer, safer, and a bit more roomy in the back for the boys. The good news was that the dealer ate the costs incurred by the garage when they tore into the junker to find out what was wrong with it. The detailed version of this story is very long-winded and has several twists and kicks to it that made the last 48 hours absolute hell on earth. ------------- ? |
Replies:
Posted By: Lightningbolt
Date Posted: 31 August 2014 at 9:57pm
| Wow that almost sounds like a movie! |
Posted By: procarbinefreak
Date Posted: 31 August 2014 at 10:38pm
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Hah. I had to buy a new laptop when the fans on mine decided to crap out. The battery was already gone on it as well, and it was hitting the 4.5 year mark anyway. I found this out when I signed in 10 minutes before my fantasy draft too. On the bright side my friend had an extra for the draft. Got a nice lenovo ultrabook now. I hate large surprise purchases.
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Posted By: RoboCop
Date Posted: 01 September 2014 at 1:41am
| Reb continues his bad luck streak. |
Posted By: Hairball!!!
Date Posted: 01 September 2014 at 3:55pm
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It may not have gone how you wanted, but at least you're upgraded now and no longer have to worry about a high mileage car, which is no small thing. AAA is more than worth it for roadside assistance alone. It's serious piece of mind to always have the backup of a jump, extra gas, tow, locksmith, etc. I pay a little more for the mid-tier membership just in case I need to have something towed a little farther. |
Posted By: JohnnyCanuck
Date Posted: 01 September 2014 at 8:38pm
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the fusion is a great car, be thankful you didn't break down when it's below 0 with your family in your car, etc. Best of luck going forward. ------------- Imagine there’s a picture of your favourite thing here. |
Posted By: tallen702
Date Posted: 02 September 2014 at 8:10am
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Does your cell provider not provide roadside assistance? It's standard with AT&T. Same goes for roadside assistance from your car insurance company. ------------- <Removed overly wide sig. Tsk, you know better.> |
Posted By: Reb Cpl
Date Posted: 02 September 2014 at 12:46pm
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Someone mentioned the roadside assistance thing from the phone, I never even thought about it. As for the insurance? Yeah, its not there if you're not carrying full coverage because your car is a 12 year old banger. On the UP side...we had to go to a wedding yesterday, and there was valet parking..so I didn't have to suffer the embarrassment of pulling up with a heavily dented, partially rusted, too-loud car that reeks of cheerios and child-leakage. ------------- ? |
Posted By: procarbinefreak
Date Posted: 02 September 2014 at 1:24pm
| Oh man. I once had to valet my poop brown 86 subaru at a swanky downtown hotel. I told the driver to take good care of her. |
Posted By: impulse418
Date Posted: 02 September 2014 at 1:46pm
| I know of 3 guarantees in life. Death, taxes, and Reb having car problems. |
Posted By: Reb Cpl
Date Posted: 02 September 2014 at 2:26pm
My brother in law is giving us his old car now that he just went out and bought a new Merc- its a mitsubishi with 200K miles on it. That'll be mine, and my wife gets the new car so I don't have a chance to break it on her. ------------- ? |
impulse418 wrote:Posted By: SSOK
Date Posted: 06 September 2014 at 7:21am
Didn't you take the door off on her Blazer once? ------------- 
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Posted By: Reb Cpl
Date Posted: 06 September 2014 at 11:16am
Her Toyota Corolla, yeah. The blazer was mine, and had fuel pump problems. Finally got that fixed and it runs fine now, its just been ragged pretty hard so my father uses it for a work vehicle. ------------- ? |
Posted By: Bunkered
Date Posted: 08 September 2014 at 12:58pm
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The $55 a year for RV towing package has bailed me out more times than I careto list. 100 miles up to 4 times a year. MOst recently got me home when the brake lines on my Chevy 2500 burst 60 miles from home in rush hour traffic. It's bad enough when you have car problems w/o having to worry about how you're going to get it home to work on it. The other good thing is I've heard of some towing companies that ONLY deal with AAA late at night and service is usually much faster than if you were to call around for yourself. I'm sure there are other perks I've never used, but I'm not one to run out of gas or need them to deliver me a new tire. Nice find on the car though; much rather see you in a Ford than that hipster-wagon anyways. ------------- 
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Posted By: Reb Cpl
Date Posted: 08 September 2014 at 8:45pm
The Forrester was actually a great all-around car. There were times last winter when I was able to get my car out of the driveway and to the ambulance building....but couldn't get the ambulance out of the parking lot, much less down the road to a call. It was brilliant on bad roads- of which we have plenty in the winter. Plus with the two kids, there was space and it was reliable. However, the Fusion does seem to have more space in the back for them, with the added bonus of leather seats. ...Kids leak. ------------- ? |
Posted By: SSOK
Date Posted: 08 September 2014 at 11:47pm
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I'm a diehard Ford person but I'll take every opportunity to say how impressed I am with Subaru. I saw a kid drain the trans and put five quarts of oil in the engine thinking he drained the crankcase. After driving around half a day the car lived pnce the proper fluids were put in. -------------
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Posted By: tallen702
Date Posted: 09 September 2014 at 4:34pm
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Reb, You should see the leg room in the new Legacy platform (2012 and newer) same with the new foresters. ------------- <Removed overly wide sig. Tsk, you know better.> |
Posted By: Reb Cpl
Date Posted: 09 September 2014 at 5:33pm
My wife is in love with the new Forester, but it wasn't in the price range when I was up against the wall. I think we'll ultimately go back to a Subaru one day, but for now I am content with the Fusion, even if it was a purchase born out of necessity rather than choice. ------------- ? |
Posted By: tallen702
Date Posted: 10 September 2014 at 1:26pm
Fusions are definitely nice family vehicles. Don't get me wrong. I was just saying that the leg room in Subies have come a loooong way over the past few years. ------------- <Removed overly wide sig. Tsk, you know better.> |
Posted By: KRL15
Date Posted: 11 September 2014 at 9:55pm
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I bought my first Subaru in 1982. There has been at least one Subaru in the garage ever since then. Your car was low mileage. 175-K on a Subaru is about broken in, not worn out. The key to Subaru timing belts and water pumps is this: Change the timing belt on time (or early) according to the service manual. Putting this off will be a disaster. Also, change the water pump at the same time. The only added cost is the price of the water pump. If the water pump starts leaking before the timing belt is due, change the timing belt along with the water pump. After all, the belt has to be removed to change the water pump, so the only difference in the price is the cost of the belt. If you are paying for labor, it is the labor that dominates the bill. If you do it yourself, you will appreciate not having to do the job again in the near future to replace the belt. Besides, leaked coolant on the belt does not do it any good. It is best to start out fresh. When you get in the neighborhood of 350-K miles, you will probably want a new car just because you want a new car. Even at that mileage, you should not need to add oil between oil changes. I have never been stranded on the road with any of my Subarus. When I am done with them I either give them away or drive them to the junk yard. Most are given away and the new owner gets many miles of smiles from them. The old Subarus had severe rust problems. The newer ones (mid-90's and up) are much better. I have had old Subarus get ratty due to rust, but I have never had one wear out mechanically. I never replaced a clutch on the manual transmissions and I never had to rebuild or replace a Subaru automatic transmission. I have no experience with the Subaru Constantly Variable Transmission (CVT). If you buy a used Subaru, you MUST determine if or when the timing belt AND water pump was changed. If you cannot find this out, you must assume that they were not changed and figure that cost into the purchase price. Quite often, Subaru owners decide to trade in their cars when the timing belt is due for replacement because this is an expensive job due to labor costs. The parts (water pump and belt) are not cheap, but the labor is the big ticket item if you pay a garage to do the work. My wife refuses to drive anything that is not a Subaru as her daily driver. Stay safe, Karl ------------- That which does not kill you often makes you stronger. |
Posted By: God
Date Posted: 11 September 2014 at 11:57pm
| Good to See you KrL. |
Posted By: KRL15
Date Posted: 12 September 2014 at 12:03am
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Hi, God! Has anybody seen Rambino in the past three years? He is a very special person. I hope that he and his wife and son are doing well. Stay safe, Karl |
Posted By: Lightningbolt
Date Posted: 12 September 2014 at 8:01am
a past snowmobile riding partner designed those junk gm fuel pumps. We used to raz him at pit stops. Many of us have experienced pump problems even on new lease vehicles. Millionaires handle razzing fairly well. |
Posted By: Kayback
Date Posted: 12 September 2014 at 1:07pm
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Holy <KRL>. KBK ------------- Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo. H = 2 |