Our vacation is definitely OFF!!!!!

[lemondog]

DH's car is dead. I mean side of the road, black smoke spewing out of it DEAD! The mechanic said the engine is blown -- minimum of $6000 to fix it. Hah! That's WAY more than the stupid thing is worth. I am so PISSED OFF we just put $1200 into that car, and DH had JUST put $42 worth of gas in it not 5 minutes before it blew up.

So much for Volvos. In my opinion, they SUCK! When we got the car in Sept. the mechanic gave it a thorough inspection and said "Yep, this Volvo engine will never die." Ya, right!!! We had bought an older car to avoid a car payment, but I am scared to buy a cheapy car again for fear of this happening, which means we're off to a dealership to finance one. Like we need a car payment!!! The Disney vacation is shot for sure. We need that money (we've saved up $3000 so far) for a down payment. Such is life.

I am SO ANGRY right now I think my bp must be through the roof!!!

 

[MouseMan]

I feel your pain. Same thing happened to me last year but, with a FORD. I had to use the money to get a new car. But hey I'm back in the saddle and on my way again to Disney in April.

Remember Disney will be there when you get back in the saddle.

 

[agotta]

Awww!! So sorry that the car died!! Everything happens for a reason though, you just have to wait to see what it is

 

[ducklite]

I know you didn't want a car payment, but in all honesty, with the zero % financing deals many automakers are offering these days, it's ridiculous to not buy a new car. The money you'll put into buying and maintaining a used car over the next four to five years will be the same or more as the payments on a new car, and at the end of five years you'll still have a trade-in on a new car, a used car is generally worthless at 10 years.

Had you put the cash you used to purchase the used car down on a new one, and financed it for five years at zero percent, you'd probably only be looking at a $225/mo payment, maybe even less which is quite manageable in most budgets. I bought a $20K +/- Saturn financing 100% of it at 0%, my payments are only $308 per month. I financed 100% of it--why not? No interest!

Sorry you'll have to cancel your trip, maybe you'll get a bonus at work or a tax return that will allow you to reschedule?

Anne

 

[disneysnowflake]

I"m in the same boat as you.
DH's truck started squealing 2 weekends ago. The mechanic said the ball joints on his Dodge truck need replaced. It's no longer under warranty. We were shocked to not only be told the 4 ball joints cost $1000, but the parts are on national backorder... there's no telling when or if we'll get the parts. This is a nice truck, too. How can Dodge not make replacement parts for this particular year?

Anyway, DH started having to take my car to work. It's been out of warranty for 2 weeks. Sure enough it made a noise. I had to get the tire rod replaced plus 2 tires replaced. The cost of this work we had done on Tuesday was $350.

DH was on layoff for a while, and then was back to work but at cut back hours. Unless we get really lucky we're not going to WDW this year. I don't want to do that whole ebay income tax filing crap, so unless I can do really well at our yard sale we're not going.

I feel for you. I like cars, but sometimes they stink.

 

[frannn]

First we spent 2000. for a new transmission. Then he had an oil leak. After 4 times trying to have it fixed and another 4000. later, we finally decided to throw in the towel. In Jan, we just bought a 2005 Saturn Vue. We got 3.9% financing and a few incentives. We put a decent down payment on it, but still have monthly payments of 368. This and our real estate tax increase is crippling us somewhat, but we have made a committment to take our WDW trip. We will use our tax refund to "pay ourselves back" for the downpayment, pay off some bills, and pay for the trip. If DH's employment contract ever comes through, we use his retro pay to pay down some more of the car's balance. I remember when we didn't have a house or a new car, and we had more mad money. But, we didn't have a new car, or a house. So, I'll eat pb&j for a long, long, long time.

 

[christinadei]

Wow, everyone is having car trouble. I blew a head gasket last saturday on my NEW car. Okay, It's not brand new, it's a 2000 Honda CRV. But it's not the car's fault. I ran into someone a while back and apparantly put a whole in the radiator. It's costing us about $350 to fix it and that's with DH doing the labor.

 

[luvindisneyworld]

Go with one that has 0% interest and finance it all.Then you will stillhave your money for Disney and have a new car and dont have to worry about it breaking down on your way there.

Misty

 

[DisKim]

I can feel your pain. My story is not about needing a new car, but my DH has had his hours cut for the summer at work. He is a computer technician for a school district and gets paid hourly to prepare the schools for the next year's opening over the summer. This is the first year that the budget was completely cut so as of right now, he has no work for 2 1/2 months since there will be no money to buy new computers or software for him to install. To top it all off, I'm expecting a baby very soon and I was taken out of work in January and put on bedrest which ended my paychecks. We had reservations for the end of June. I can't see any way around cancelling them. I'm just thankful that I never told the kids we were planning a trip. I couldn't imagine having to explain all of that to them.

 

[mikess]

Go with one that has 0% interest and finance it all.Then you will stillhave your money for Disney and have a new car and dont have to worry about it breaking down on your way there.

Misty

Even better, get one that is cheap and good gas mileage. Like a Honda Civic. You can get one used for under $10,000, cheap interest rates and 40+ miles per gallon. And you can use the Volvo as a trade in.

There's on way I would put $6000 in an old car, when you can get a new one.

 

[Ilovestitch]

I bought a brand new Plymouth Neon in 2000 and its been a GREAT car- gets awesome gas mileage. I live close to my work so I only have to get gas every 4-6 weeks. The only time its been to a mechanic is to get oil changes- that's IT! Its a great car and was far cheaper than a Honda Civic- I think honda's are overpriced for what you get.

 

[Forevryoung]

I got an amazing deal on my car a 2003 Nissan Sentra that was bought from the dealer over the summer. The car had about 30,000 miles on it but is in perfect condition. It still has the original 3 year warantee soooo if anything goes wrong before October its totally covered. The car was 10,000 total. I thought it was an amazing deal. Wonderful wonderful car and I will have it for the next 7 years or so

 

[HenDuck]

Just wanted to say, I feel your pain!

My DH has been telling me that our 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo is going to die at any moment. Of course, he's been saying that for over a year, but it's like playing Russian Roulette driving that thing!

We know it's not long for this world. We don't have the $$ for a down payment on another car. It will be a total burden to take on a new car payment too.

So I'm just sitting and waiting for the "bomb" to drop on us...

Good luck with your situation! (I'd buy a Toyota if I were you... )

 

[bengalbelle]

I'm so sorry about your trip. I know how disappointing that must be. Here's some and hoping you find a way to take your vacation.

It must be time for the car troubles. I just spent over $1000.00 on new tires and car repairs. I'm lucky because it could have been much more. My computer had to be replaced but thankfully it was covered under the powertrain warranty. We're looking into replacing DH's Tundra right now. He drives 50+ miles round trip to work and we're spending over $200.00/month in gas (just for him, not counting my gas). We love the truck and it will be paid for next year, but we just keep thinking about what we could do with the savings if we bought something with better gas mileage.

 

[Mady/Sophiemom]

We must have the same gremlins jynxing us, as you do.

4 weeks before Christmas- $600 in van repairs. OUCH!!

last week $360 for our other vehicle. Double OUCH!!

Fornuately not enough to cancel our trip. But definately enough to cut down our spending $$.

We feel your pain Had to cancel our trip one year for medical expenses. But don't worry, you will rebound, and when you finnally do go, it will be even sweeter.

GOOD LUCK

 

[MagicalMom]

Maybe you can use the older car as a trade in. I traded in a car with a blown engine once. They came & picked it up from my house. I'm sorry about you vacation.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

im so sorry that stinks
goo dluck and make sure you dont get ripped off at a dealership

 

[CarolA]

I just spent $600 on tires. Now it wouldn't be so bad, but this the second full set of tires this car has had and it only has 47,000 miles!

 

[FigmentGuy]

Eeek, darn cars! We had car trouble also.. past summer we sank $3000 into repairs only to have the motor blow 2 months later! So to replace it, 2e got a great deal and a great warranty on our Kia Spectra. Great lil car, then it happened this Feburary... my transmission in my car went! $2000 later i have a rebuilt transmission. Then out of nowhere our Kia got hit by a big old durango 3 weeks ago! (full coverage w/$500 deductable , but our ins. rates are gonna rocket) E~gad! So.. we are feeling a bit down on the spirit too. This may hinder our vacation too But I tryin for a promotion at work... just keepin my fingers crossed!

 

[lemondog]

Thanks everyone!!! It makes me feel good to know people out there do care. I know Disney will still be there, but we were hoping to get in a trip before the twins turned 3 just to save a little money. Oh well, the upside is, they will be a little older when we do get to go (would have been 22 months), so that might make things easier on us physically.

I am feeling a little better now. Actually, we have 3 kids in carseats so I need a bigger car anyway (translation: minivan), because they are really wedged into my Explorer. So DH can have the Explorer and I'll drive the minivan. Oh God, I never thought I'd become a minivan mom!

We are still looking at used cars. Even with 0% financing we would not be able to swing the payments on a brand new minivan. I am a SAHM and we were pushing it as is. Thank GOD we just used DH's bonus to pay off some debt, so we have a little freed up to afford a car payment now. Like they say, everything happens for a reason.

Luckily DH was the top salesman at a local car dealership for 2 years -- he really knows the ins and outs of the business and hopefully that will keep us from getting screwed. Wish us luck!