The Weight of Money

And the car saga begins — or is it simply a continuation? My car has been recently spotlighted here too many times and it looks like all my reluctance and concerns were valid.

Friday morning, running late for work, I found an ominous puddle spreading out from under my car. The water pump appears to have given up overnight admist the below freezing temperatures. The partner called for a tow to the shop that treated my so well last time and I’m expecting the estimate call today.

Thankfully I can use mass transit to get to work and, other than the disconcerting feeling of being car-less, it doesn’t cause any hardships to have it in the shop for a few days.

Yet, this unexpected situation comes just a week or so after getting it tagged and titled in state (the content of my previous debates). I feel like I’m at the top of the slippery slope where everything is downhill from here. I remind myself that my car is the best vehicle we own. Our two other vehicles seem to teeter on the edge of operable and failure. We’ve already agreed that vehicle #2 (the “family car”) will be disposed of the next time it breaks because we’re not putting any more money into it. Vehicle #3 goes to emission testing this week and there is an air of unstated concern as to whether or not it’ll actually pass. I’ll have faith that we’ll still have at least two working vehicles when 2007 starts.

The saga continues on the car. Perhaps I should have seen this coming with my reluctance to make a final decision and with my stated appreciation of my car (I love my car). But we finally had to decide where our priorities were and selling the car was not in line with them.

Primarily, we just don’t feel that now is the time to purchase a new(er) car. Yes, we have a vehicle that is mostly just hobbling along, but our debt and home ownership goals have taken precedent. We’ve decided to keep the partner’s car even though it may fall over and die any day now. When it does, we’ll get rid of it. No more major repairs. We will keep my car as the backup family car. My car can fit all three of us but probably can’t accommodate camping weekends to the scale we’re used to.

But, there is good news in this. My major reservation with keeping my car were the fees I was going to have to pay to get my car tagged and titled in MD again. In trying to figure out how to get out of as many fees as I could, I actually called the MVA — shock! I spoke with a very nice lady who explained that I don’t have to get it inspected (-$68, plus less and repairs that would have been needed) and I am exempt from the excise tax (-$32). The reason for this sudden reduction in cost, 1. my car was previously titled in MD and 2. it will be classified as a gift from my mom — oh so funny how my mom is gifting my car back to me.

So, decision made – my car stays and I’ll refrain from posting about it anymore.

In July I posted about selling my car and got some useful comments. However, I realized that I still hadn’t committed to either prospect.

To briefly folow up on previous comments: 1) we will (most likely) not be getting a new car payment — we both like the freedom of owning our cars outright; 2) Maryland insurance was more than $3,000 a year and Oklahoma was $500 — big difference; 3) the partner’s marriage discount amounted to $100 a year — not impressive.

The partner and I discussed this further and outlied the pros for selling:

• milage (almost 140K)
• no a/c — summer in Maryland is painful and none of our three cars has a/c
• stick shift — annoying in rush hour traffic but otherwise great
• front-wheel drive is harder for the partner to work on
• no where to work on a vehicle at current residence
• don’t want unexpected problems to arise — more common as car gets older
• will be easier to sell now than later
• I will be using public transit for work and need to reduce transportation costs
• we really don’t need three cars for two drivers
• no inspection fees and fees to tag it in MD

and the cons for selling:

• I love my car
• timing on being able to buy a newer car — will I be stuck driving his car for a while?
• it is a great car and it never complains about anything
• time and effort
• again, I really love my car

So, we’ve decided to sell my car and I think I have finally settled and accepted this fact. This weekend I will do everything I can to get it cleaned and see if I can get out some spots in the backseat (oh the joys of children). Then, I think I’ll visit the local CarMax, but I know they offer low numbers for cars over 100K, and then post to craigslist. I’ll also post around in my social circles as well.

Also, I am considering getting it Maryland inspected anyways just so I can advertise that it has been done. This will help in terms of selling the car, I think, but will create a new timeline needed to get it sold. I’m a bit swamped right now and wondering if this will come back to bite me.

Finaly, I think the blue book value for my car is $3,100 but I just don’t see anyone paying that much for it. It is a great, reliable car but it has power-nothing (except breaks and steering) and no a/c. Maybe this cool spell and cooler weather that we are having will help people overlook that aspect. The heater works great!

I have a wonderful car! She is 8 years old, has 135K miles, and has never really given me any problems. I would love to keep her until she dies; however, I’m seriously considering selling her sometime soon.

When I returned to college full-time, I couldn’t afford Maryland car insurance. I “sold” my car to my mom, she titled it in Oklahoma, and has kept insurance on it for the past two years with me driving it in Maryland. Thanks to being a full-time student, that is possible. However, now that I’m married and back in the professional world (hopefully I’ll be working soon), I need to get personal insurance and get on the partner’s policy. That means bringing this car back into Maryland.

In 2002, I moved to Maryland with this car. In 2003, I paid all of the fees to get it tagged, titled, and taxed correctly. This included an inspection ($55) that failed due to poor tires ($120). Due to procrastination and a two week vacation, I didn’t re-inspect it within the allotted time and had to get it redone. Inspection number two ($60) resulted in another failure for something as dumb as windshield wipe blades ($15). Finally, my car was properly inspected and then the title fees ($43), excise tax ($100), registration ($128), and other fees ($13.50) were paid. So, three years ago I paid $534.50 to bring my car into Maryland.

So now, I’d be looking at another inspection ($55) and hope that it will pass — they always seem to find something stupid to fail it on. There will be the title fees ($43), excise tax ($32 now because my car 7+ years old), registration ($128), and other fees ($13.50). To continue to own my car, I will pay at least $271.50. And then, I will have the increased insurance rate — I now pay less than $500 a year; before I was paying about $350 a month.

It is looking like my gem of a car is no longer worth keeping. I did have a $200 repair recently, but I felt that was a reasonable repair considering the age and milage of my car and how it never has any problems. Parts do eventually wear out and need changing.

The partner desperately needs a newer car and we’ve been holding off due to housing. Selling my car and hoping someone will pay $20 for his will give us additional funds to get a newer car, one that we can have faith in. Also, the job I’m currently crossing my fingers for is easily accessible through public transportation and we could have just one newer car for the two of us. We also currently have a third vehicle, a contractor van that isn’t in top shape but is far too useful to let go and would allow us the use of a second car as needed.

I was toying with the idea of selling my car earlier this year and had decided that it just wasn’t time to make that decision. But now as I look at the numbers for bringing my car back into Maryland, I just don’t feel like throwing that money away — for that is exactly what it is, money thrown away as it has no positive benefit, no mechanical improvement, for the car. We’ll have to pay part of those fees for a newer car and we will be getting a newer car wether or not I keep my car.

Why not save on fees/taxes and simplify to living with one car (the van really isn’t a day-to-day driving vehicle) and public transportation to work. I imagine it’ll save us money in insurance and maintenance in the end.

[The other big issue with my car is the lack of a/c. On days like today, with a heat index of 104 degrees, it makes selling the car sound like the only reasonable thing to do. For the record, I bought it in Wisconsin where I didn't need a/c.]