With the good must come the bad

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greenfreak

New Member
So the day before Thanksgiving I find out I got a promotion I was going for at work. I used to do pc repair, now I'm going to be the junior network administrator. A dream job, to be sure. I've been on Cloud 9 ever since, excited at the thought of starting my new job and all the perks that go along with it.

I was talking to someone the same night and said, "Things are too good. I'm just waiting for something bad to happen."

Last night, while driving the 50 miles to my sister's house for Thanksgiving, my transmission in my car blew. It would still run, it would just BANG into gear whenever the car shifted. If I drove slow and was careful, I could avoid the bang.

When I left at the end of the night, I thought if I just took it easy, I could make it home and then get it fixed today or tomorrow in my area. Wrong. I got maybe 4 exits when all of a sudden the car shifted into a lower gear and I couldn't accelerate anymore. Each time I pressed the gas, even a little, the tach would rev up to 7000 RPMs. I had enough time and room to pull over on the side. Thankfully, my brother was following me and it happened right at my parent's exit so I didn't have far to go to leave it in a safe place. I couldn't go above 20mph, it just won't shift anymore.

My parents are taking care of the repair with a guy they know. I got a quote for $1300. to replace the whole damn thing. With my new job and the different hours I'm going to be working, Rusty and I were talking about getting a new car for me anyway. I would give him my car and we'd have two to drive to work.

We were planning on paying off my credit cards before we get the new car but that doesn't look possible now. Add the repair bill, a few days of a rental car, downpayment & monthly payments on a new car and the cost Rusty's going to be paying for insurance, and we're not in great shape anymore. Looks like the extra money I'm going to be making with this new job is already spent.

I'll be looking on the bright side of all this later, I'm sure. I'm just a little bummed right now. *sigh* :(
 
Nixy

Nixy

Elimi-nistrator
Staff member
Sorry to hear that gf.

I hope your parents' friend can get it fixed for less than the quote you got...
 
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greenfreak

New Member
That is the quote from my parent's friend. :(

Last time I faced such a big repair was with my last car, when the head gasket blew. And I got rid of it, and bought this car. WTF do I keep buying GM's?!

If I get what I want, my next car is going to be a Jetta.
 
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greenfreak

New Member
I just priced out a 2004 GLS (sport package) with a 1.8 liter Turbo 180hp engine, automatic, GREEN with camel interior (of course), for $22,465. That's not too bad.
 
Gonz

Gonz

molṑn labé
Staff member
As I've come to learn & now expect...the light at the end of the tunnel, well, it a train.
 
Luis G

Luis G

<i><b>Problemator</b></i>
Staff member
It sucks when the car fails, but they always fail anyway and always when you least expect it. If you could look at the bright side of it, at least it failed when you got some extra money. I know, not much of a comfort, but still :shrug:

You'll do fine with the bills, your plans are not cancelled just delayed :)
 
IDLEchild

IDLEchild

Well-Known Member
Interesting. In situations like these it would seem that Life rears its ugly head to keep you grounded. To make you realize that even in joy, the dread of puny mortality still looms above us all. Think of it as a lesson that you are always under something and that in the greatest of accomplishments the smallest of enemies wait for our every fall and look forward to our every frown. Now if you see the silver lining around that, small, dark cloud you will see that you got away with a lot more compared to what you ended up losing....that in itself is a blessing, that in its self is a wicked joke of life........its funny, in situations like these it would seems life manifests itself in a tangible form just to mess with you only to make you a better person......



...that, to me, is the most wicked sense of humor if i've ever seen any.
 
MrBishop

MrBishop

Well-Known Member
Sorry to hear about the car Trish, but I'm elated for you re: the new job.Congrats!

"This too shall pass"
 
Dave

Dave

Well-Known Member
congratulations on the promotion.
bummer about the car. i know how you feel about waiting for the bad thing to happen. stuff like that happens to me all the time too.
 
F

fury

Administrator
Staff member
Buttcrackdivine said:
Interesting. In situations like these it would seem that Life rears its ugly head to keep you grounded. To make you realize that even in joy, the dread of puny mortality still looms above us all. Think of it as a lesson that you are always under something and that in the greatest of accomplishments the smallest of enemies wait for our every fall and look forward to our every frown. Now if you see the silver lining around that, small, dark cloud you will see that you got away with a lot more compared to what you ended up losing....that in itself is a blessing, that in its self is a wicked joke of life........its funny, in situations like these it would seems life manifests itself in a tangible form just to mess with you only to make you a better person......



...that, to me, is the most wicked sense of humor if i've ever seen any.
Click to expand...
You took the words right out of my mouth...

*humps greenie for consolation* :sex:
 
tommyj27

tommyj27

Not really Banned
congratulations on the promo greenie. if the advancement is what it sounds like, it should make up for the extra money you aren't getting to enjoy.

i think car problems are a manifestation of your attitude. i always assume that the pile i drive isn't going to make it to my destination, and the damned thing keeps running like a champ. ;)
 
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greenfreak

New Member
Thanks everyone! :hug: :kiss: I feel better about it today. The car has 116,000 miles on it and I put almost 60,000 on it in the three years I've had it. I've only replaced the battery, two tires, the serpentine belt, and had a tune up and some minor engine work done for a misfiring cylinder.

While I'm not happy about spending this kind of money, I realize that cars are not made the way they used to be and the car isn't a Mercedes or something. It just adds more fuel to the fire growing in me that when I do get my Jetta, it's going to be everything I want. I'm not "settling" anymore. And I'm getting the extended warranty too. :)

I'm going to pick up my rental car today. $35.00 a day! I hope this guy gets the tranny done on Monday like he thinks, I don't want to keep this car till Tuesday or Wednesday. I'm kinda glad this happened now though, I wouldn't want to have to take time off after I transferred to my new department, that doesn't look good.

Now I'll just have to fantasize about my new job until I feel better. :D
 
Inkara1

Inkara1

Well-Known Member
Just so you know, VWs can tend to consume a lot of oil. You'd think a "new" car wouldn't consume any, but VW considers a quart every 1,000 miles to be normal. That doesn't mean a Jetta you buy will, but it's something to be on the lookout for.

www.consumeraffairs.com
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/vw_jetta.html

How much time will you be spending in stop-and-go traffic? If it's not much, might I interest you in buying a car with a manual transmission? They're much simpler, they don't tend to blow as often and it's a lot easier to limp around if you lose a gear, they're more efficient, and it makes driving more fun because you have more control over what your car does. The only downside is that if you're in stop-and-go traffic on a daily basis, it's a pain in the ass to launch the car from a stop over and over and over again.
 
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greenfreak

New Member
Thanks for the info Ink, I'll be looking through it. The other thing my mechanic said was that he doesn't see that many needing major repairs but when they do, it gets pricey.

My current car goes through a lot of oil too. I don't have any leaks and have had it checked out, it just sucks it down. I wind up getting my oil changed sooner than normal because of it. Of course, driving 350 miles a week might have something to do with it too.

Oh guys, believe me, I know how cool it is to drive a stick. My last car was a stick shift and I had it for 6 years. I loved it. Except when I would drive into Brooklyn, omg what a pain in the ass. But the control thing was cool, and it helped me more times than not when we had a lot of snow. I was able to rock the car out of a snowbank a few times, avoid skidding by downshifting instead of braking... And the way I drive, I never had to replace the clutch in those 6 years and only needed a few brake jobs.

See, I can't decide on the manual vs. auto. Every time I think I've decided one way or the other, I wind up changing my mind. I love the stick for all the reasons you said Inky, but there's something to be said for the ease of use of an auto. Most of the miles I drive weekly is highway, little to no traffic. And we're planning on moving further east which is more suburban than where we are now. I just don't know.

I'll just have to see if I can test drive both. If I go with the stick, that leaves about $1000. free to get the sport tires and rims. Or just to save the $1000.
 
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