My Money Pit Car

I am kind of annoyed with my car right now. I have a 2004 Toyota Corolla that I have had for the past 8 years. We got it the summer after my freshman year of college and it only had 24,000 miles on it (had just come off a lease). I loved it. Great on gas (31 miles to the gallon) and reliable. I was suppose to inherit the monthly payments for it once I graduated college but as my graduation gift, my mom paid it off for me. Nice mother!! :) I was originally suppose to get my brother Mark's old Corolla except my brother Brian totaled it one day going back to school. So I ended up with the better end of the deal, getting a newer car.

I was pretty lucky...I only had to pay gas myself, oil changes, registration fees, etc. There was only two times it had pretty bad damage to itself. Once when it was parked in the grocery store lot in town, a 93 year old man had a brain aneurysm that burst and he hit one car, hit the thing that holds the shopping carts, turned around, hit a Ford Explorer that went flying into my car and took off. They got him but the poor man didn't know what was going on.After all the work done on that car, I had to get more work done two years ago when I had my first accident and got side-swiped. 

Lately though, I feel like my car is becoming a money pit. In December, I spent over $800 on my car. Between new ball joints, an oil change, new brakes and all this other stuff, I was ready to just puke at the thought of how much $$$ I was spending. And yes, I get that it takes $$ to maintain a car. My mechanic is my brother's neighbor so it's a nice service to drop your car off at his house and he brings it back from his shop to your house. He told me a few other things I was going to have to have done later on.

Last month, my car had a vibration feel that it shook around 60mph. I had to get an oil change and inspection done this month so I also had him do the new struts I needed. $600+ later, I was set. A week after, my car starts SCREECHING when I make left turns. At first, I thought I was going nuts because I worry about every sound my car makes. I also thought it was odd it was only when I was making LEFT turns. Then this fell off (and I have no freaking clue what it is!!)

What the heck is that?! Tonight I was at the stop sign around the corner from my house and it screeched very loudly. It's okay when I am driving but I am wondering if its my brakes, the power steering (which is what people are saying online but that's just what came up in Google.....I wouldn't trust it based on Google reviews) or that thing in the picture above. 

I sent my mechanic a text message to see if he can take a look at my car tomorrow or Thursday or even Friday. Luckily my brother is working tomorrow night and Thursday night at the same time as I am so I can go with him (ironically he has to have his dropped off to have some work done too). The mechanic hasn't answered me back so I am going to try him again in the morning. 

But this makes me wonder...is it worth it to keep pouring $$ into the car if I keep having all these problems arise? Everyone says Toyotas are built to last (I swear my mom's Camry had 200,000 miles on it before she got her 2014 in October and her old one was a 2002) but if I am spending almost $2000 in a calendar year to fix huge problems, maybe I should just BUY a new car! I know I have the credit that I could get a good loan but this is a big decision I would have to make. Hopefully my mechanic can look at it tomorrow because I can't keep driving around with it making the noise.

Unlucky Monday the 13th

They usually say Friday the 13th can be an unlucky day. Well, yesterday was quite possibly not one of the best days I have had. I spent two hours of my morning crying. Why was it so bad? Well, I had my first car accident. :(

My oldest brother Scott does not drive so I had to take him to his doctor's appointment. The appointment was fine and we were on our way back from it so I could take him to his job. I've done this drive numerous times before so it was nothing really out of the ordinary. However, on Long Island in New York (for those who are like "Where on Earth is that?!"), everyone likes to drive like a mad man. I'm talking people will drive up your butt to a stop sign, no joke.

I was trying to merge onto the main highway from the service road and went up the ramp. I was probably going like 30, 35 MPH and slowed down to see if I could merge into the right lane. People come flying down the highway because everyone drives like a maniac. When I had slowed down to see if I could merge, no one was coming and so I began to merge. Only, a Ford explorer came FLYING up and smashed right up against the side of my car. My mirror came off, part of my door handle, paint was scraped off. I basically screamed "OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!" I was so freaking freaked out.

I pulled over to the side and the lady gets out and begins HOLLERING at me. She began to tell me how to drive and that it was my fault. I think I was just in shock from it so I just let her yell at me. I couldn't even bear to get out of my car to see the actual damage or what happened to hers because people kept zooming past. She called the cops and they sent a Sheriff to take the accident report. He asked her what happened, asked me what happened and then I guess wrote up his report as we filled out our views of what happened. Granted, he couldnt have said who was at fault (or more at fault) since there were no witnesses to it. And I dont think the damage was that bad to her car considering it's much bigger and I drive a tiny Toyota Corolla. The sheriff told me to wait until she drove away and then to drive away. Well, she of course sped off.

I was just a mess the rest of the morning. Granted, I know it could have been worse. No one was hurt or anything but still, it is unsettling. I called my mom and then called my insurance guy. He said he could totally see how it happened because him & his wife discuss this all the time how everyone just drives up your butt. I apparently was also his 4th claim that morning and it was about 10:15/10:30 when I called him...wow. The insurance company called me around noon to get my statement and I guess they contact the other insurance company. There's a $500 deductible but I don't know how much I'll have to pay (or maybe I'll see if my mom will pay it, haha).

The bright side of things? Since I turned 25 in November, I can now rent a car! Why they make it 25 in NY I don't know (probably because everyone drives like a maniac) but I got my car towed to the collison place my insurance guy has had his fixed at, Enterprise picked me up and got all the paperwork done. Funny thing...I gave the girl my license and a credit card for it...apparently she couldn't read either of them as my name being Kristin and listed it as "Katherine" on my rental papers. HAHA! So until my car is fixed, I will be driving around in a Chevy Impala with NJ plates.

Not how I wanted my Monday or week to start off but I am proud of myself for getting everything done yesterday. This is all just a part of life. Hopefully my car will come back not looking too bad (like I hope the color on the mirror matches the rest of the car!).