Posted on Sunday, 2nd March 2008 by R.J.
On Thursday the rear end in my car blew up. I always knew this day was coming, but didn’t expect it to come so soon. The car only has 65,000 miles on it.
I’m scrambling trying to figure out a way to get my car back on the road and spending the least amount of money. I’ve priced new rear ends and they cost around $900 and I’d have to have it shipped freight ($350) — ouch. That’s if I do all the labor myself. I cringe to think how much a dealer would charge to do this job.
On the other hand, I can get a new take-off rear end on eBay. This will cost me somewhere between $500 and $700. The good news is I should be able to pick it up locally, so no shipping charges.
I’m going back and forth on if I want to drain my E-Fund and put the balance on a credit card or put the entire purchase on a credit card. Both solutions frankly scare the crap out of me.
Tags: car repair, Credit Cards, Emergency Fund, rear end, savings
Posted in Emergency Fund | Comments (4)
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:09 am
Do you have a local junk yard? Seems like the best place to find something like that for less.
Thankfully you can do it yourself. I would be up a creek without a paddle, frankly.
My two cents on your dilemma, isn’t that what the Emergency fund is for…emergencies? I know you’d have to drain it, but that’s what it’s for, right?
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:30 am
Hi Jess: Unfortunately the closest junk yard is about 40 miles away. I think I may have found a good deal on one on eBay, though. I’m going to see if that pans out, as it may save me a good deal of money.
You are right that the emergency fund is for emergencies… But its still scary to not have anything to fall back on in case there are any other emergencies. Heh.
March 3rd, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Well, at least it’s fixable! My husband’s car made a “ping” noise at 62,000 miles (2,000 miles after the warranty of course!) and never drove another mile. My brother in law asked “what was that noise?” and I jokingly said, “That is the sound of Mommy getting a new car!” and sadly, I was right.
Look on the bright side… at least you have options on how to pay for it. This definitely qualifies as an emergency.
March 3rd, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Thanks Mom.
Isn’t that funny how it always works out like that? My car was about 500 miles out of warranty when the A/C clutch would no longer engage (made a huge knocking noise) and the mechanic said my engine would eventually seize if I left it.