I sat in the waiting room of the service station wondering what, exactly, was taking so long with my car. I had been waiting for over and hour and a half and all I asked for was an oil change. Did an oil change really take that long?
When the service representative finally called me over to tell me that my car was all set, she broke the bad news. The mechanic had performed the oil change I requested as well as a tire rotation, but while conducting an overall inspection of my 4-year-old SUV, found that I had a few “problem areas” that needed to be addressed — $1,600 worth of problems, in fact. The good news was, at least half of the items listed on the estimate sheet the service representative handed me were covered under my extended warranty. The bad news was that half of the items listed on the estimate sheet would need to come out of my pocket.
I smiled and nodded politely as she outlined my options, and I tried in vain to work out the math in my head without outwardly showing her that she was giving me a migraine.
By the time I scheduled a follow-up appointment to fix those problems, she handed over my keys and I made my way back to my car. I decided I had one of two options: I could trade it in and buy the shiny, new SUV I’d had my eye on for the last few months, or I could suck it up and fork over the money for the repairs. Given that the former option was about a likely as my getting hired as a television news anchor for a national news organization, I decided to plan on the latter.
This was exactly the reason why I went out and purchased a new car four years ago: I didn’t want to have to worry about exorbitant repair bills. And while it seemed like a good idea at the time to pay up front for a problem-free new vehicle and accompanying warranty (I thought ahead and bought the best warranty the dealership had to offer, which is, admittedly, coming in handy now), the fact that I’m now faced with huge “routine” maintenance/repair bills with only 57,000 miles under my (serpentine) belt is slightly… irksome. If not for my excellent warranty, I would have been in trouble; even with my warranty, I’m struggling.
When I called my dad to lament my misfortune, he informed me that I am just one of many car owners who feel this way during this economic climate. Evidently, he was right.
A study recently released by AAA indicates that at least one quarter of American drivers neglect car repairs or maintenance due to the economy. One in four people could not afford to pay for a vehicle repair of $2,000 if faced with one today, and one in eight would be unable to pay for a $1,000 repair, the study indicated.
Well then, at least I’m in good company.
Despite the financial burden, AAA encourages drivers to keep their vehicles up-to-date on routine maintenance in order to prevent more expensive problems in the future, but therein lies the rub. Do you come up with the money now in an attempt to stave off the inevitable, or do you tempt fate and hold off on spending money you don’t have in the hopes of winning the lottery? And if you win the lottery, do you pay for repairs or do you buy a new car outright?
I’d go for the latter, but that’s just me. A girl can dream, can’t she?
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