Car Issues

With two small kids it is importsant to have a reliable car. Buy an inexpensive used car from a dealer... with a warranty.... You don't want to throw good money after bad.

My husband isn't the most mechanically car repair qualified person in the world. But he was able to google reliable instructions on how to replace a radiator on a 1995 Ford Taurus last February and got step by step instructions. The radiator only cost about $100.00 brand new from a store (not from a dealorship though). And voila, the radiator still works to my knowledge. (We sold the car later to someone else who is still driving it.)

It took a few hours though to do it.

Been there done that! Go ahead and take your car to a reputable radiator repair shop or if you or your husband feels that you could do the replacement yourselves, go for it. Has anybody looked to see if the car's thermostat or water pump needs replacing? Don't make a mistake by putting more money into a vehicle than it's worth. My Dad is a used car dealer (our family had the Ford Dealership, Prince Motor Co. in Abbeville, SC from 1932 until 1996). He would tell you to get your credit situation right and save as much money as possible for the downpayment, and look for a newer reliable vehicle with low mileage. Good Luck!

Replacing the radiator could be a fairly inexpensive fix. Are you in Marietta? Marietta RAdiator is good. My son replaced radiators in a couple of our vehicles for us, we bought them online through a radiator web site. If you need help putting it in, he went through auto repair college but works in electronics and fixes friends' cars on the weekends. Call me ###-###-####.
S.

Hi H.,
I've been in your same situation before. We were on a very tight budget and couldn't afford monthly payments. I was putting water in my radiator before going to work and I would do the same thing to get home. If you or your husband know how to work on cars, I suggest going to a salvage yard and buying a used radiator for the make and model of your car and putting it in yourself. That is what we did and it worked fine until we were able to afford something better. I wish you all the best.

If you're barely making ends meet now, I really wouldn't recommend financing a car. Not only are you going to have to commit to monthly car payments, but your insurance will go up because you'll have to get full coverage and you'll more than likely be paying higher property taxes as well. I was in this same boat for a while, and I saved up $5500 and payed cash for a used 2000 Honda Civic. (I actually used some student loan money, as my husband and I are both in school too!) It was every penny I had, but it's worth it to have an affordable, reliable car. I would recommend getting a Honda. They last FOREVER and they are extremely reliable. You usually don't see major problems at all, and if you do it's not until the odometer hits the 200,000+ mark.

Have you checked with a radiator repair shop? Get prices from 2 or 3 and that might solve your problem for a few months where you could save up a little more money. V.

Like someone else mentioned, you could sell the car, or even sell it to a place that would sell the parts, like a salvage yard. Then, as far as getting a replacement (because it sounds like you need to and would be putting more money into repairs than payments) you could check out police auctions. These are cars that have been repossesed or impounded. They are usually in decent shape and really cheap. Check your local paper (classifieds)or call the non-emergency number for the police station to see if they have any info.

A new top of the line radiator will cost you about $400, installed. That is top of the line, though. That is still a lot less money to spend than buying a new car with payments. Besides that, it is difficult to finance anything right now unless you have pristine credit, which you say you do not. Unless the engine is about to blow, things like radiators and belts, although they can eat up money, are still cheaper to replace than replacing the whole car unless something new breaks every month. If the car is nearing 10 years of age, it probably will continue to have things that must be replaced. I'm facing the same problem now that mine is 10 years old. Every month is a new thing, but it's still cheaper to fix than to replace the whole car. That said, there are some fantastic deals out there right now, from new car dealers and from private sales, so if you can afford to do it, get a newer car now, but do not go into monthly payments if you can possibly help it. The economy is bad now and will get worse before it gets better. If it were me, I would get the new radiator as long as the engine is in good shape.

Hi H., I think there's no question it's time to ditch the clunker and the stress! If you can find a used car that is great on gas and only has 30 or so thousand miles on it, I think that would be great. When I needed a used car for me and my son who was turning 16, i went to Hoover-Chrysler Jeep and asked for the used car with the best gas mileage and lowest miles. John Covington, the dealer there, was SO NICE and helpful. I ended up with a Dodge Caliber which was not expensive, very roomy and comfortable and great on gas. Plus it had tons of cargo room, which surprised me for a small-ish car.
Good luck!
also - a lot of car places have their used cars online so you can research before you go -

I don't know if you have heard of Dave Ramsey, but it sounds like you are following his financial plan. We, too, have gone without a car payment for almost 2years now. We have had repairs, but they have not equalled what we would have been spending with car payments. (My husband drives a 91 Lexus, and I have an 01 Volvo.) You could try to sell the car you have and put that money plus any extra you can save in the meantime toward a different car. It won't be brand new, but it may be better. I would not recommend financing a car though. Its hard in this "finance everything and go into debt" world not to give into the commercials with all of the so-called great deals being offered. But keep focussing on your family and remember in the long run your family will be better off financially by making a sacrafice now. If you don't know who Dave Ramsey is, I would encourage you to find one of his Financial Peace University classes..it will really give you a great plan and help keep you on track financially! If you have any queations or need any further help, let me know!

I second the doing it yourself and stay out of debt right now. Find the instructions on how to do it. Start looking around for either a new part or one really cheap from the junk yard and change it out. You'll feel much better and proud by doing it yourself and helping yourself by NOT getting into debt when you really can't afford it.

Don't know where you and where you need to go, but I've been taking the Express bus for 1.5 years and love it! My husband and I share one car and I use the bus to get to work M-F. My husband drops me off at the bus stop, takes our daughter to day care, then drives himself to work. See www.ridecarta.com for bus schedules.