Ding Dong

[beetiger]

...the car is dead. Apparently the warning light about the oil was actually trying to tell me something. The engine has seized entirely, making it more or less useless. Even with a used engine, the cost of replacing it would probably be $3K or so, which with a blue book value of perhaps $2500 isn't really worth it.

Sorry Julia.

I'm trying to decide if I can actually convince myslef to take better care of the car I've been thinking of buying myself for a while, since the Prius is likely to be pickier than average, or if I'd really be better off buying something used and cheap but sufficient to get me to work safely. I can technically afford the new car, but it's unclear whether I should go that route.

Sympathy and car-buying suggestions encouraged. Any comments on what I should have done with my other car distinctly not encouraged.

Comments

The other tack:

[orb2069.livejournal.com]

I saw a book once that suggested the exact opposite tack - Buy junkers at dirt-cheap prices by waving cash in people's face(Like, half what they want, in $50 bills), and do NO maintenance on them, at all, other than gas. Buy two, and keep one available as a spare. Sell your corpses in the paper or to junkyards.

The author claimed it was actually cheaper than most other methods of owning a car, as long as you did NO maintenance at all. No experience here to agree or deny with on that count, though.

The Prius seems neat - I haven't seen that they require significantly more maintenance than regular cars, though.