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car expenses piling up

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

It's amazing how quickly the car repair bills pile up when your warranty expires. Mari took poor ol' Meabh in to have the snow tires off, and Canadian Tire told us the all-seasons were so worn they wouldn't put them back on the car. So we bought new ones, which by some magical coincidence were "on sale". They warned us that the wheels needed alignment, so we took the car to the dealership to get that done.

And at the dealership they told us that due to the little use the car's seen, the brakes had needed some violence to un-seize. But, the rotors and the pads would need replacement, and it was no longer small change.

Mari was unwilling to spend that money, but I'd cautioned her when we bought it that it would come to about $2,000/year in maintenance. We talked to the dealership about the option of trading Meabh in for something new, and they said with her early history as a rental we wouldn't get much despite the low odometer reading and her general good shape. All in, we'll be lucky to get a quarter of her cost back, so the cost of the purchase comes to about $3,000/year with mounting repair costs.

We went as far as test-driving a similar (hybrid) model from Kia and found it mighty blah. It was particularly interesting that though that hybrid would save us only $15 or so in fuel charges each month that our low use would quickly age the battery. And that would make the premature aging of the brakes look like nothing.

So we're casting our net a bit wider. Once Mari's currency trading is able to pay for it, hopefully in six months or so, who knows. I guess we'll need a new name.