Rant VIII: The Reckoning

Dave

Staff member
Dude! What is it with you and cars? Do you opt in for the self-destruct package when you buy them?
I can never afford a good one, so I'm left with old, cheap pieces of crap. I have 3 cars. The lowest one has 180,000 miles on it.
 

Dave

Staff member
Dude. For the money you pay on clunkers (for repairs, upkeep, whatever), you could get a brand spankin' new one.
Yup. But new cars have monthly payments. Of course, now that the kids are all moving out, our food budget and a lot of other things will be getting better. Plus the wife and I are looking at getting a townhouse, which would be cheaper as well.
 
RAWR, Internet is out and I'm about to go over my cellular data limit. Cannot function without internets!
 
Dude. For the money you pay on clunkers (for repairs, upkeep, whatever), you could get a brand spankin' new one.
When I dropped $1200 in a year for repairs on a clunker I was driving, I traded it in on a new car. So, I pay that roughly every 3 months now. And I still see my old clunker zooming around town.
 
Best part of sitting in the waiting room killing time while they put new tires on my car? Knowing full well I know nothing about tires, so I spend the whole time wondering just how ripped off I'm getting spending $750 on four new tires.

Second best? The bonus "hey, we could also do this extra $1000 worth of maintenance while you're already here" offer. Yeah, no, I'm good thanks
 
Fun Size said:
Best part of sitting in the waiting room killing time while they put new tires on my car? Knowing full well I know nothing about tires, so I spend the whole time wondering just how ripped off I'm getting spending $750 on four new tires. Second best? The bonus "hey, we could also do this extra $1000 worth of maintenance while you're already here" offer. Yeah, no, I'm good thanks
And that bullshit it why I refuse to be the one to take my car in for maintenance and make my husband do it for me.
 

Dave

Staff member
When I dropped $1200 in a year for repairs on a clunker I was driving, I traded it in on a new car. So, I pay that roughly every 3 months now. And I still see my old clunker zooming around town.
Sold my old, non-running jeep for $500 about a year ago. Guy who bought it put about $300 into it and he still drives it around. It's depressing. Of course, that $300 is parts as he fixed it himself. For me with labor it would probably have been $1000+
 

fade

Staff member
My grandfather dad and uncle are mechanics. My wallet thanks me regularly for growing up with a wrench in my hand n
 
GasBandit said:
That's what you get for having the audacity to forge out into the world and make your own life. You rebel you.
Stop paraphrasing my mom, you're scaring me! (In all seriousness, my entire extended family lives in the same area and so I do get something like that speech quite often ;) )
 
My boss apparently doesn't read the emails I send him.

My father doesn't remember the things I tell him, or read the emails I send him.

Bell has atrocious customer service, I actually regret switching from Rogers.

UPS also has atrocious customer service. They were supposed to call me by 7 last night. They did not. So now I'm gonna have to call them back, and I'm not going to be patient, or happy, and I feel a little guilty because I know it's not the random customer service call centre peon's fault, but someone has got to get me to someone who will solve my problem
 
Actually, yes.
Ah, so I don't have to tell you that paying repairs on a crappy car is easier to come by than a loan for a new or even a used car. I know I'm being a little harsh here, but sometimes 'just go get a new car' isn't as easy as going and getting a new car.
 
Unfortunately, I've gotten to the point where the repairs cost more than the car - and that's when it's been time for me to get a new car.

Now, granted, my last two cars haven't been brand-new, off the showroom floor cars. The HHR that I got in December was (obviously) used - and had over 70k miles on it.

But I guess to me it's just a matter of, "if the money I have to pay to fix the car is more than it's worth, I'm just going to get a new one." And that pretty much summarizes what happened with the HHR.
 
Unfortunately, I've gotten to the point where the repairs cost more than the car - and that's when it's been time for me to get a new car.

Now, granted, my last two cars haven't been brand-new, off the showroom floor cars. The HHR that I got in December was (obviously) used - and had over 70k miles on it.

But I guess to me it's just a matter of, "if the money I have to pay to fix the car is more than it's worth, I'm just going to get a new one." And that pretty much summarizes what happened with the HHR.
I can understand that. I'm just thinking that all of our situations are different when it comes to disposable cash and what we can do as far as credit goes. The other week I made a $500 repair on a 98 Corolla with 190,000 miles. I know that might not work in my favor, but I also know I can't drop $3,000 to $8,000 on a decent running used car. Sometimes the options just aren't available.
 
My father suffered a stroke today. Luckily he was working in a firehouse right next to a hospital, so they caught the early signs and took care of him. He's resting comfortably right now and he's got full movement and speech. The docs say he'll have a 100% recovery. I'm glad he's going to be fine but holy crap that phone call was scary.
 
UGH

Okay, som y now former landlord is probably what some would consider a 'slum lord'. I lived in my rental house for eight years simply because I really had no place else to go...especially not at 550 (more recently 650) a month so I put up with a LOT of shit. When we first moved in the agreement was that when we moved out we'd put 200.00 in oil back in the tank and call it even. They don't do 200.00 oil drop offs anymore so he got 300.00. That was alright with me, we had put a hole in the wall trying to move my desk from the house recently so I thought that was more than fair, right?

Okay...so we are moved out by the 31st of March, as we said we would be. Blue, his father and I went through and cleaned the house. We called and asked if he wanted to do the final walk through with us but he declined saying he was too busy and too just pass the keys to the person in the garage out back who would also be the new tenant. I had a feeling that wasn't okay but, whatever, I did it.

That Tuesday night, April 1st he calls saying the house is in deplorable condition. He said the fridge and stove, just a year or two old when we moved in, were trashed. I disagreed. The shelves in the fridge had broken away from the door but, other than that, it was fine. The stove was NOT new when we moved in and was already rusting....that he thinks it would be in better condition after 8 years is, well, wrong? He said the walls were dirty. That baffled me, my father in law and I cleaned all the walls and base boards. The heating ducts were dirty and rusty...well...yeh, probably. The front door was beaten up. I had to think about that and realize he was talking about the dents at the bottom that came from two sources: a customer from his garage getting pissed off and thinking we were 'liars' and worked for him and our door freezing shut and having to be brute forced open. He says there's mold on the ceilings and windows but that had to do with the lack of insulation and the leaky rook and window casings!

I didn't want to cause much trouble so i told him that I'd have a maid come in and clean it better. I'm 7 and a bit months pregnant and can hardly touch my knees from standing let alone scrub floors and shit. He agreed, I contacted a service, and told him that someone would be there this past Monday. I contacted him a few times past this for an extensive list of what he wanted done only to meet with the message machine every time.

Monday comes and I'm met by the guy in his garage who says Gerald is on a ski-doo trip. Okay. He also tells me that theres renovation happening inside the house. I'm baffled. I tell him that I don't believe the maid will be able to clean in that. A peep inside confirmed that...they were ripping out cupboards and flooring among other things. Well, the maid calls and says she's going ot be late. I had doctors appointment so i leave the cheque for her quoted services and take off.

Well, I get home after and the service is after calling me to say the maid could not clean in the construction. I told them I understood..they tel me I owed them a cancellation fee and that's that. I tried and my landlord decided to pull that.

Welp, here comes two nights ago. He calls me. Says I owe him 1400.00 in expenses. I'm shocked. He said the cleaner quoted his wife 250-300.00 to clean the place...but that was while construction was happening. He says I owe him for a new fridge and stove...he trashed the other two because 'they were beyond repair'. He said he bought a door for 150.00 and it would cost 400.00 to be installed. I'm blown away and tell him I'd talk to hubby.

Instead I talk to the landlord and tenant board. After speaking with him, my husband, and a lawyer I call back and offer him 500.00 based on their advice. He flipped and said he wanted his 1200.00 and he'd go to small claims over it (I didn't mention he had originally said 1400.00...or that the min amount for small claims in Nl is 5000) and that he was 'being fair' and that he'd get a lot more from me then he asked. It was my choice and he has pics of the condition and etc.

I told him, nicely, he would have to speak to the landlord board and have us served.

Now my anxiety has kicked into over drive and, while I feel in the right, I can't BREATHE.

Sorry for the rant.
 

Dave

Staff member
I hope he doesn't mind dragging himself along by his arms, because the dude has no leg to stand on.

Ignore him. He's blustering. If he sues, you win. If he doesn't, you win.
 
What Dave said.

He can't be bothered to do a walk-through when you move out and starts doing renovations before the cleaning service comes in? He can fuck off and die in a fire.
 
I just...what if he wins or something and i have to pay THOUSANDS of dollars or something?

I just bought y new house. I don't wanna lose it. :(
 
I just...what if he wins or something and i have to pay THOUSANDS of dollars or something?

I just bought y new house. I don't wanna lose it. :(
This is just a guess, but I suppose if the worst happens you'll have to put up with @Dave putting up a donate button with "Save LittleSin's House" on it.
 

Dave

Staff member
You're god damned right we'd help with that.[DOUBLEPOST=1397237592,1397237566][/DOUBLEPOST]Remember, I lost my house a couple years ago. I'd help you so you didn't. It kinda sucks.
 
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