Trying Teen Times – the grown up one – A New Car revisited.

Insert swearing word here, well insert a few.

Seems that although superficially the new to you car was pretty tidy turns out it was just waiting to blow up. Firstly it took to popping the overflow radiator hose thing off, then the top radiator hose done and split, which meant a tow truck lift home.

The mechanic fixed that, tested it for a head gasket leak, which seemed to show that it was all hunky dory, until the next time it was driven where upon it's done it dash and now refuses to work.

The cylinder head has been at the testers who report back that the "head is soft" which can't be a good thing, and that it'd been taken off and repaired previous. Repairing it again might make it last 2 weeks, two months or two years, or never need doing again.

So as a lesson in trusting the person you're buying from this has come as a bit of a blow, as does being seduced by pretty things that look nice. I guess if they were honest they'd still own the car, and that wasn't their plan.

On the upside although it was a couple thousand dollars invested in what essentially is a road side ornament it's not a life shattering send me in to poverty spiral amount of money.

On the downside that was the contingency fund spent, and there isn't another stash of cash that we can flash on a new car.

The repair cost for the red roadside ornament would be equal to the amount that we could get in a return for the repair, $2000 to repair a car that when repaired would be worth $2000. But there are alternatives, one of which a replacement engine or head. The mechanic is going to let me know.

So I think we'll have to fall on the mercy of the bank manager to top our mortgage a little, get something that comes with a bit of a guarantee and accept that this time it was a "swing with no ding"

So anyone want a red roadside garden ornament, does have a WOF :-)