The Whine thread.

[WarpGirl]

You'll get them I know it. There is hope!

[panyasan]

:( I have no access at home, my laptop is stuck in a vicious 30 second reboot cycle. No end in sight.
Plus my poor little September and October word promt stories are in there...somewhere.
I feel nervous, jittery, out of sorts..withdrawal is the PITS!!!

I feel for you! Take it form some one who is been there (see my story Back-up) ehh.. when you get your computer online), the stories are still there on the computer. Hopefully you get your laptop fixed soon. Can't wait for your stories.

[WarpGirl]

My sink is leaking, meaning I can't wash my pots! My father's a plumber. But who do you think will fix it? The answer... My Mom! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! The Yankees just lost to the Angels! (SOBBING!)

[Alelou]

I thought I'd be a good little do-bee and go to the department meeting at 1pm today even though I have a LOT of work to do, not to mention leaves to mow up. I got into the neighborhood just as they cancelled all classes and meetings because of a water main break ... so I just spent over an hour traveling and stuck in traffic just to turn around and come home.

[WarpGirl]

I'm sorry!

[Linda]

That's a bummmer, Alelou, when you want to treat yourself and it goes bust.

And I still haven't found a replacement vehicle. My mechanic told me the latest one I was interested in has too many problems. Okay. I guess trying to buy another car on the cheap is penny wise and pound foolish. Have to look at ones that cost a bit more. Don't wanna. But gotta be logical about this.

[WarpGirl]

When it comes to this stuff logic is good and your friend.

[Aquarius]

That's a bummmer, Alelou, when you want to treat yourself and it goes bust.

And I still haven't found a replacement vehicle. My mechanic told me the latest one I was interested in has too many problems. Okay. I guess trying to buy another car on the cheap is penny wise and pound foolish. Have to look at ones that cost a bit more. Don't wanna. But gotta be logical about this.

Have you thought of going to an auction? Around here there are police auctions every so often, and regular auctions. At the police auctions, you generally get cars that were seized in drug busts and stuff like that, so you can often get a pretty nice ride for cheap (though what I would probably do is turn around and sell it, then take the money and get something else, 'cause you never know!). One client of mine got an old but decent Porsche for about $4,000 at one of those things! He fixed it up and turned around and sold it and made enough money to get a nice, dependable car.

The other auctions are often where these independent used car dealers get the cars for their lots. Oftentimes they are repos, or stolen cars that the insurance company settled on that were recovered after the fact--you're likely to see cars with missing airbags, stereos, etc. BUT, at either type of auction, if you take someone with you who is pretty knowledgeable about cars, and get the CarFax on whatever ones you're interested in (you wouldn't want one that had been in a flood, for example), you can get a decent car pretty inexpensively. That's how I got my last car, for about a third of what it Blue Booked for. Don't know how this car had ended up on the lot but the airbags and stereo were still factory so I doubted it had been stolen. I had to replace the antenna, and after I started driving it I had some issues that led to a couple of sensors replaced, but given the age of the car it was not all that big of a deal, and for what I'd saved on the purchase price, I felt the repairs were quite affordable.

Something to think about.

[Alelou]

That's a bummmer, Alelou, when you want to treat yourself and it goes bust.

And I still haven't found a replacement vehicle. My mechanic told me the latest one I was interested in has too many problems. Okay. I guess trying to buy another car on the cheap is penny wise and pound foolish. Have to look at ones that cost a bit more. Don't wanna. But gotta be logical about this.

Have you thought of going to an auction? Around here there are police auctions every so often, and regular auctions. At the police auctions, you generally get cars that were seized in drug busts and stuff like that, so you can often get a pretty nice ride for cheap (though what I would probably do is turn around and sell it, then take the money and get something else, 'cause you never know!). One client of mine got an old but decent Porsche for about $4,000 at one of those things! He fixed it up and turned around and sold it and made enough money to get a nice, dependable car.

The other auctions are often where these independent used car dealers get the cars for their lots. Oftentimes they are repos, or stolen cars that the insurance company settled on that were recovered after the fact--you're likely to see cars with missing airbags, stereos, etc. BUT, at either type of auction, if you take someone with you who is pretty knowledgeable about cars, and get the CarFax on whatever ones you're interested in (you wouldn't want one that had been in a flood, for example), you can get a decent car pretty inexpensively. That's how I got my last car, for about a third of what it Blue Booked for. Don't know how this car had ended up on the lot but the airbags and stereo were still factory so I doubted it had been stolen. I had to replace the antenna, and after I started driving it I had some issues that led to a couple of sensors replaced, but given the age of the car it was not all that big of a deal, and for what I'd saved on the purchase price, I felt the repairs were quite affordable.

Something to think about.

That would normally be good advice, but I'd be careful at auctions right now. There is such a shortage of vehicles. Our local car guy complains that he just can't find good cars at auction right now, and his sales lot reflects that.

As long as you have a good mechanic on your side, buying from individuals is probably your best bet in this market.

[Linda]

I never thought about an auction! That might be a good idea for the future, but we need a vehicle right now so we can get to appointments next week. I bought "Biscuit" from a private owner and it was the best car I ever owned - came with a folder of its repair history! But I don't have time now to find a private seller. Already I am missing out on a dinner Jim and I wanted to go to tonight unless I can convince Jim to go by city bus.

Tomorrow I will go to a couple of larger car dealers that have hundreds of cars on their lot and have the paperwork process in good working order. I have a credit union loan all lined up. My problem was I went to a small dealer who wants cash only, has only a few vehicles, and lied about the condition of his cars. I was wondering why he was balking at me taking the car I wanted to buy off his lot for an hour to my mechanic's shop for a check over! Duh. My mechanic is saving me a lot of heartache by telling me the thing was crap.

All I want now is something that runs reliably. I don't care what it looks like. A car that won't quit on the freeway and has a working heater! My little Saturn spoiled me by running so well for years before it was just too old to continue. I took good care of it and it took good care of me...until last week. My mechanic did warn me starting a year ago to be looking for "Biscuits" replacement.

[WarpGirl]

I wish I had something comforting to say.

[Linda]

That's okay, WarpGirl. I know what I have to do now, and should have done before if I had paid closer attention to my mechanic. And I have help! My son-in-law is going to drive me around tomorrow. Well, I have helped him out when he needed it so now he is helping me. Its great to have family!

[WarpGirl]

That's true family is EVERYTHING. Even if you can't stand them.

[justTripn]

There has never been a better time to buy a new car, they say . . . Not that I followed the advice. I recently bought a two-year old Honda.

[WarpGirl]

The game got rained out today! Grrrr. I need the ACLS to end and my Yankees win the world series. That way the Bones schedual will get back to normal.