I really hate going back to tell stories when they are over. They lose so much of the drama, and I can't remember enough details. But I'll try to at least cover the basics.
A year ago we had a white Ford Explorer and a white Ford Focus. We LOVED our cars, both of them. They were SO reliable and trouble-free. We had gotten them at two different dealerships, but both in a very pain-free buying experience, at great prices. We were very happy with them.
We had bought the explorer first, before Andrew had a job an hour away. It was to be our only car. Then Andrew got the job at the hospital, and we decided to get a second car, with great gas mileage, and the focus joined our family.
But then we had this really nice explorer that we were paying quite a bit of money on (like double the payments on the focus), and it guzzled gas, and it mostly just sat in the garage. Plus the budget was a scooch snug, so why not sell it? Besides, then I could get a minivan for half the price that uses half the gas. And then if it spent a bunch of time just sitting in the garage, I don't feel too bad. Follow my logic?
Fast forward to this spring, it finally sells. So we start casually looking for a van. A month or so later, I see one that is perfect, at the same dealership we had gotten the explorer at. We pray about the decision, feel good about it, and go for it.
That's where things went south.
When we bought it, it had a tweaky thing or two (i.e. things like a ding in the side door, and a key broken in the lock) that were put into the contract, they would be fixed that next week.
Over the weekend a power window died, a power lock died, the AC started making horrid noises, the alternator started showing signs of going, and so on and so forth. It just kept going and going. By monday there were over $1800 in repairs WE would be responsible for.
The dealership was good, and was "trying" to work things out with us, but we'd take it in for two repairs, and when we picked it up a week later, they had forgotten one of them. By the time we had owned it for 5 weeks, we had only had it in our possession for 9 days TOTAL. Granted, they had let us drive a really nice GMC Terrain, but still. Finally, something that they had "fixed" broke again, and I called and said we were DONE. They said they could trade it for something else, giving us back 100%. Awesome.
So they had one other van, for about the same price. I went to get it for a drive. It sounded REALLY good, compared to the first van. But it was TRASHED inside. Every crack, crevice and flat spot had food, wrappers, and vomit smeared, stuck, and wedged all over. Every plastic part was broken. Every part was plastic. It was just GROSS.
So that one went back and we said we needed something else.
Bad news. They had NOTHING else in that price range. Nothing anywhere close, of ANY type of vehicle. At ANY of their dealerships.
So we did they only thing we could think to do. :(
We traded in the focus too, and bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. It's beautiful, and can tow massive amounts. It is in good shape all over.
But we are back to one expensive, gas guzzling vehicle. And this time we don't even have a third row, like the explorer had.
Really, all gas, payments, and insurance, we are paying exactly what we were for the two white Fords.
So - drama over. But we are no better off than we were. Sigh. If we can find a car for Andrew for exactly the right price, that gets exactly the right gas mileage, we could have both for what we are paying now (because of the amount of gas we use), and if gas goes way back up, it would be worth it...
But gosh, what a waste of time, money, conveniences, and credit scores.
A year ago we had a white Ford Explorer and a white Ford Focus. We LOVED our cars, both of them. They were SO reliable and trouble-free. We had gotten them at two different dealerships, but both in a very pain-free buying experience, at great prices. We were very happy with them.
We had bought the explorer first, before Andrew had a job an hour away. It was to be our only car. Then Andrew got the job at the hospital, and we decided to get a second car, with great gas mileage, and the focus joined our family.
But then we had this really nice explorer that we were paying quite a bit of money on (like double the payments on the focus), and it guzzled gas, and it mostly just sat in the garage. Plus the budget was a scooch snug, so why not sell it? Besides, then I could get a minivan for half the price that uses half the gas. And then if it spent a bunch of time just sitting in the garage, I don't feel too bad. Follow my logic?
Fast forward to this spring, it finally sells. So we start casually looking for a van. A month or so later, I see one that is perfect, at the same dealership we had gotten the explorer at. We pray about the decision, feel good about it, and go for it.
That's where things went south.
When we bought it, it had a tweaky thing or two (i.e. things like a ding in the side door, and a key broken in the lock) that were put into the contract, they would be fixed that next week.
Over the weekend a power window died, a power lock died, the AC started making horrid noises, the alternator started showing signs of going, and so on and so forth. It just kept going and going. By monday there were over $1800 in repairs WE would be responsible for.
The dealership was good, and was "trying" to work things out with us, but we'd take it in for two repairs, and when we picked it up a week later, they had forgotten one of them. By the time we had owned it for 5 weeks, we had only had it in our possession for 9 days TOTAL. Granted, they had let us drive a really nice GMC Terrain, but still. Finally, something that they had "fixed" broke again, and I called and said we were DONE. They said they could trade it for something else, giving us back 100%. Awesome.
So they had one other van, for about the same price. I went to get it for a drive. It sounded REALLY good, compared to the first van. But it was TRASHED inside. Every crack, crevice and flat spot had food, wrappers, and vomit smeared, stuck, and wedged all over. Every plastic part was broken. Every part was plastic. It was just GROSS.
So that one went back and we said we needed something else.
Bad news. They had NOTHING else in that price range. Nothing anywhere close, of ANY type of vehicle. At ANY of their dealerships.
So we did they only thing we could think to do. :(
We traded in the focus too, and bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. It's beautiful, and can tow massive amounts. It is in good shape all over.
But we are back to one expensive, gas guzzling vehicle. And this time we don't even have a third row, like the explorer had.
Really, all gas, payments, and insurance, we are paying exactly what we were for the two white Fords.
So - drama over. But we are no better off than we were. Sigh. If we can find a car for Andrew for exactly the right price, that gets exactly the right gas mileage, we could have both for what we are paying now (because of the amount of gas we use), and if gas goes way back up, it would be worth it...
But gosh, what a waste of time, money, conveniences, and credit scores.
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