Well, THIS Bites...

[pitbulllady]

and no, it isn't an animal. My engine in my car is officially DEAD-as in caput, finis, over and out. It died on me while I was returning home from buying rats yesterday, full of oil, so no idea what caused it. Now, I have to figure out what to do next. There's no way I can afford a new vehicle, since with my animals, I have to have an SUV. I can't transport 100-lb. dogs or 400 pounds of dog food in a car, and pickups don't provide any protection for cargo. It will cost around $2000.00 to put in an engine from a junker, and that's still taking the risk that it will be damaged or ready to go bottoms-up itself. This has simply not been my last few days, *sigh*. On a positive note, my contract WAS renewed-there has been considerable talk of eliminating teacher positions due to budgetary problems, but fortunately mine has not been one of them, so far at least. Usually the Art, Music and other "special area" teachers are the first to go.

pitbulllady

[Beboots]

Man, that sucks (the thing about your engine, not your job security - the latter's a good thing ;D ). I remember a few summers ago, my family and I were on a road trip, several days away from home, and while we were driving through this tiny town in The-Middle-Of-Nowhere, Saskatchewan (I don't remember the name of the town, so sue me), our engine broke down. Some part was worn out, but they had to replace the whole engine, meaning that they had to order it in (which took a few days, because the place really was in the middle of nowhere), and took another day or two for them to finally install it. So we were stranded there for ages. On the plus side, we got to hang out at the local museum (it actually was interesting - they had turn-of-the-century hair curlers).

Anyway, to finnish off my ramble, I hope your vehicle gets better soon, and congrats on keeping your job. ^_^

[lizardgirl]

SUVs ARE generally a lot more expensive, aren't they? It must be expensive to run, too. But hey, at least you've kept your job- I know what you mean about 'creative' subjects being regarded as less important than other subjects, although they are much more fun and, in my opinion, AS important.

[pitbulllady]

Well, no, actually this particular SUV has not been expensive to drive or maintain, up until now. It's a Toyata RAV-4, which is a smaller-sized SUV, and was getting some 30 miles per gallon, which is really good considering it is an automatic transmission(manual transmissions get better gas mileage, but can be an aggravation to operate, especially in city traffic). My vehicle has never even been in the shop before now, and I kept it well cared-for. I could haul dogs, dog food, school supplies, groceries, you name it-in the back of this thing, which is why I don't want to get rid of it. The engine had a lot of miles on it, though, from long trips to Louisiana, Florida, Virginia, etc., for dog field trials, reptile shows, and such, as well as to work, since it takes me over half and hour to get to work and back each day.

pitbulllady

[RandallBoggs]

Not much I can say but....ouch....
If it's any consolation, our cars break down frequently...

[Mirage]

Boy...that's rough. Sorry to hear about that. We haven't had much trouble with our cars lately, luckily...*knock on wood* Not that I know the first thing about cars..but..hope it can be repaired. And soon.

[MelTSS]

Sorry bout that.....o.O;;
I dunno much bout cars, but that's quite a bit of money.
That sucks. Alot. Wish there was someway I can help, really, I do.

[lizardgirl]

Ditto.

[RandallBoggs]

I would send Randall over but umm....well...you know heh......

[pitbulllady]

Yeah, well, Randall and a certain other Pixar character who is very mechanically-inclined crossed my mind more than once when I found out that the engine IS indeed dead as a doornail, believe me! It would be so useful having either one of them around, since I, like most females, have only the most rudimentary knowledge of how these things work. Automotive repair places are aware of this, and will waste no opportunity to take advantage of female customers when it comes to repairs on a car. My grandfather used to do stuff like that, or he'd know exactly who to take it to who would be fair and honest and do a good job at repairs, but he's gone now, so that leaves me with no contacts in the vehicle repair field. I'm single, and anyway, it's tough to find a guy nowadays who can do stuff like that. That's why someone like Randall or Buddy would be a blessing right now, and probably my only monetary loss would be to buy an engine from a salvage company.

pitbulllady

[RandallBoggs]

Then again he hasn't had much luck fixing our cars heh....

[Beboots]

So if the engine is well and truely dead (*knocks on wood, hoping it won't be*), what will you do? Replace the engine or the whole vehicle? Which is cheaper, in your case?

[pitbulllady]

Yes, the engine is really and truelly "dead"-"locked up" is the term the mechanic uses, meaning that absolutely nothing in the engine will move, and if nothing movies, the engine is useless. I cannot afford car payments; even on a used SUV, they are going to run well over $200.00 per month, well over $300.00 if it's in really good shape, PLUS, if it's a newer model that my car, the insurance if going to go WAAAY up, along with the vehicle property taxes, the latter of which are the highest in the state(and our state is one of the highest in the country)in my county, so I'm looking at forking out around roughly $500.00 per month when it's all broken down and said and done. Remember I just bought that darn motorcycle, so I have high payments on IT, and I can't sell it because no one is going to take over those payments, and if I just let them repossess it, my excellent credit rating(do you have any idea how rare an excellent credit rating is and how hard it is to maintain?)will be ruined, which means I will NEVER be able to get ANYTHING financed, again, for as long as I live. I cannot do that.
The cost of buying, and installing, an engine from a wrecked car, either a RAV-4 or a Camry(they use the same engines), is going to be right around $2,000.00, and that's cash, people, no payments. I make around half that per month, so either way, I'm basically screwed, and NOT in a good way, either! I am not decided at this point what I'm going to do, but it looks like the engine replacement is still the cheapest option. I just don't know how to come up with that kind of cash.

pitbulllady

[RandallBoggs]

You and my mom should talk....

[lizardgirl]

Cars are so expensive nowadays. I've always wondered how people can afford to buy their first car, especially if they don't want it to be an old banger.