Make It Stop Already, Please!
So between various issues, and the alternator/battery being replaced last week... we already used up all of Joel's tax return.
Friday, trouble started repeating with the car, and so I took it in to see what the heck was wrong that replacing the alternator/battery did not fix. I had to go on Saturday to get a diagnostic run somewhere that handles electrical repairs. This diagnostic (they didn't warn me in advance) cost me $100. And the problem, after making me wait two hours longer than they said I would? I need to replace my dimmer combo switch.
Replacing said switch will cost $300 between parts and labor. And then they will have to run another diagnostic (not sure if they'll charge me $100 again or not) to see if the switch damaged anything else while it was bad.
So yes... at least $400 worth of repair above and beyond the $400 in repairs we did previously. And the problems might not be fixed. And by the time we find out if the switch was the only problem, I'm sure something else will be wrong. It will likely be a chain of electrical gremlins. A friend has told me that once you get the electrical gremlins, it's unlikely that they'll go away. I don't want to keep paying to repair this car!
That said, we're going to look into buying another car to replace this one with. My current car has another three years worth on the loan, over $8k that we owe, $300 a month payments, and a 15.5% APR. Even if the car is only worth $5k, I imagine with the economy the way it is, so long as my credit is decent, I might be able to swing a new 2008 for about the same monthly payment if I don't mind having another 3 years tacked on to my loan.
I don't know. I'm going to look into it. Going to have ragresen give what advice he can. Going to do a lot of hoping and praying. We may have to drop the money for the switch, and if the car still isn't fixed after that, then plan to buy something. I'm so pissed, though. ALL of our tax return money was supposed to go into savings for the blasted wedding. At this rate, we'll never get married! ::dies::
Friday, trouble started repeating with the car, and so I took it in to see what the heck was wrong that replacing the alternator/battery did not fix. I had to go on Saturday to get a diagnostic run somewhere that handles electrical repairs. This diagnostic (they didn't warn me in advance) cost me $100. And the problem, after making me wait two hours longer than they said I would? I need to replace my dimmer combo switch.
Replacing said switch will cost $300 between parts and labor. And then they will have to run another diagnostic (not sure if they'll charge me $100 again or not) to see if the switch damaged anything else while it was bad.
So yes... at least $400 worth of repair above and beyond the $400 in repairs we did previously. And the problems might not be fixed. And by the time we find out if the switch was the only problem, I'm sure something else will be wrong. It will likely be a chain of electrical gremlins. A friend has told me that once you get the electrical gremlins, it's unlikely that they'll go away. I don't want to keep paying to repair this car!
That said, we're going to look into buying another car to replace this one with. My current car has another three years worth on the loan, over $8k that we owe, $300 a month payments, and a 15.5% APR. Even if the car is only worth $5k, I imagine with the economy the way it is, so long as my credit is decent, I might be able to swing a new 2008 for about the same monthly payment if I don't mind having another 3 years tacked on to my loan.
I don't know. I'm going to look into it. Going to have ragresen give what advice he can. Going to do a lot of hoping and praying. We may have to drop the money for the switch, and if the car still isn't fixed after that, then plan to buy something. I'm so pissed, though. ALL of our tax return money was supposed to go into savings for the blasted wedding. At this rate, we'll never get married! ::dies::