Driving home from work yesterday, I noticed a very loud humming-whomping sound when I turned the steering wheel to the left. Then I noticed it was happening when I drove straight, but never when I turned right. So, I looked down at the wheel and noticed the alignment was way off so I corrected it and the car pulled hard to the right. Great. Just great. The guess is either wheel bearing or axle. I’m hoping axle because that is so much less expensive to repair, like several hundred dollars less.
In addition, this morning, Matt noticed the rear rim was scratched as well. It looks like shit, not as bad as the front rim but pretty bad. He said, “Let it oxidize, it will be fine.” What choice to I have? With the car in need of mechanical repair, I certainly don’t have the cash for aesthetics, especially two 17″ alloy rims.
Cars are cars, they cost money. Shit happens and I’d rather drop $1000 on a repair than have to deal with insurance companies, major body work, or, even worse, the car being totaled and having to buy some shitty little piece of shit because we would still owe money on the Outback and not be able to afford such a nice car.
Okay, now that I’ve put it in perspective, I feel a lot better. We know a guy who does good work so we’re taking the car to him tomorrow. Hopefully he doesn’t find any other damages. I even put the rims into perspective thinking, “Cindy, you bought a sport-utility wagon. You guys haul this thing through all kinds of shit. Give it another year and someone will throw a car door into it or Matt will hit an ATM. It’s just a car.”
Speaking of cars, Matt’s about ready to turn in the Impreza, so we’re thinking we’ll buy a new car at the end of this year. I’m leaning toward the Element, which I was leaning toward when Matt found the Outback, as it would be perfect for business and, therefore, the business can buy the vehicle and take the payments and maintenance off our hands. We can also afford a new one, of which I am very much in favor.