Tag Archives: car

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$1k Car Repairs and a Broken Radio

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My car started having “issues” a few months ago. In the mornings, sometimes it wouldn’t want to turn on. I’d try a few times, hold my breath, and eventually it would work.

But then the other day it just – kaput – gave out. It was time to get it towed to a repair shop and see what was wrong, and just how much it would cost me.

So my insurance company sent out a tow truck, and the guy jump started my car so I could drive it to the auto repair shop I read about on Yelp that was beyond the “free towing” distance. I drove it there, safely, and found out that the inspection would be $100 just to find out what’s wrong.

I agreed to that (it seems normal) and got a call a few hours later letting me know that… I needed new back breaks ($$), I should get a 150k checkup ($$) and I probably needed a new starter ($$$$) and my battery chords were all messed up so they had to get replaced too ($$). The total price came to $1018 to fix/check out my car.

I can’t help wondering if I got ripped off. I know it costs a lot to repair cars, and my car wasn’t starting, but that’s a lot of money. Still, I think it was worth it for my car. The guy said the engine and battery look good and should last me.

The only thing I’m pissed about is that when I got my car back my radio was broken. So, it was kind of on the fritz before, but it had been working no problem. Now it won’t turn on. I haven’t gone back to ask about that because I’m sure he’ll say that he didn’t even touch the radio – but really, it’s not turning on, at all. I don’t really want to pay to get that fixed too!

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5 Ways to Save Money on Car Insurance

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Got a car? Then you have car insurance, a requirement for drivers everywhere. That insurance can range in cost vastly depending on your age, the length of time you’ve been driving, the type of car you drive, and a variety of other variables.

While you can’t change the time since you’ve gotten your license or reduce the number of “bad driver” points you have on your record, I’ve recently found out some ways to reduce your yearly payment.

1. Call your auto insurance company twice a year or so and just ask if there’s anyway to lower your rate. Mention you’re shopping around. If they’ve started a new program for discounts, they’ll likely not offer up the information unless you ask.

2. How far are you really driving to work each day? Many car insurance agencies charge you more for the amount you drive per year. But they base this on the miles you drive to and from work. It’s never good to lie, but if you have moved closer to your job, or if you think the miles you noted in past are too high for how much you actually drive (or maybe you work from home a few days a week now), call up and ask to change the yearly mileage noted on your account. You’ll notice that your yearly fee will be reduced.

3. Did you know that the cost of car insurance changes based on your zip code? Out of curiosity, I recently talked to an agent and asked her to plug in some different zip codes within my county, and found out that where I used to live, and where I’m still paying for, costs $50 more a year than most of the other zips in the county. Again, lying here is probably pointless, but if you’re looking to move, it might make sense to call up your insurance agent and find out if your insurance price will go up or down with the move. You can always change your address to a friends if they live in an area that’s cheaper.

4. Check out that auto billing. I thought my pay was on auto billing because I’ve set it up to pay automatically from my bank account, but for some reason I didn’t do it through my insurance company, so they were still charging me $4 a month to send me bills. Not only did those mailed bills go straight to the trash, it turns out that I was wasting $48 a year on them.

5. Every year, take a half-hour or so to shop around to see if you can get a better deal with another company. Look at the small insurance companies and the big ones. Just be careful with ones that offer six month rates, as this means they can change your rate after the first six months.

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Stolen Credit Card

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Did I mention that my car got broken into a month or so ago? I thought all that was stolen was $4 in cash and two checks (for $400 and $50). The $400 check was canceled and sent to me again. My aunt refuses to cancel the $50 check (that was a gift) because she thinks I’m stupid for leaving my car door open with the checks in it. Fair enough.

So… apparently I am really stupid because I must have left this Amazon.com Credit Card lying around in my car as well. I kept meaning to throw it out… I signed up for it on a win wim (I wanted to buy perfume, they had a $30 if you sign up for a card now deal, and I couldn’t resist at the time). But I keep one credit card because I know how I get with bills in general (if I could put all my late fees into one investment account I’d be rich by now.)

Anyway, these crooks stole the card that I hadn’t even activated. I didn’t find out about it until today when I received a bill for the card. $103 of charges. Interestingly, all the charges are at a gas station about 30 minutes north of here. I guess my car thieves travel to my ‘hood to break into cars at night. The fuckers.

The good news is that the customer service people were nice about it and won’t make me pay for the charges, or so they say. I’ll see about that in 14 days when I get the papers I have to sign, and then I’ll find out if I don’t have to pay it.

At least it was my credit card and not my atm card.

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Death to COBRA and Car Thieves.

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I have a follow-up to my last post regarding my saga with the doctor’s office and the collection agency, but first I feel it is more important to rant a bit about my recurrent car break ins.

My apartment is in a safe neighborhood. Of course, no neighborhood is perfect, but I live in the fairly wealthy burbs of San Francisco. My exact area isn’t exactly upper class, but it’s a cute little apartment complex where I have the illusion of security.

I have a carport spot right under my apartment. Last year, around this time, thieves broke into my car (they smashed the window) and took about $80. You think I would have learned my lesson after my car got broken into twice in San Francisco, but I figured that in the burbs it was a different story.

After the thieves broke the window and stole the $80 they came back about once a week going through my things until I got the window fixed.

Following that incident, I decided to stop locking my doors and to keep valuables out of the car. It seemed smarter to let them go through my thing and find nothing than to smash the window every other week. I even signed up for the full comprehensive coverage for my insurance just because I knew that they might break the window again regardless. But it’s just such a hassle to bring the car in to get fixed. I don’t have the time. So I let them go through my car if they want.

After a year without any problems, I started getting slightly careless again. My fault. I put two checks in my car that I had planned on cashing today. One was for $50 the other $400. They were in a closed compartment. The car was a bit of a mess but nothing else valuable was in there (except at $180 jacket that I’m so glad they didn’t take.)

So two nights ago they (or he or she) came and went through my stuff. They took $4 and the two checks and made a mess of everything. They made my car smell like smoke. I am not happy about this. But at least I don’t have a broken window.

Now I have to deal with telling the two people who sent me those two checks (it just so happens they’re married and my aunt and uncle) to cancel the checks. At least I found out they hadn’t been cashed yet. I just feel awful asking my aunt & uncle to cancel the checks when the stupid thieves took them. But what can I do about it???

I’ll update on the health insurance situation in a bit. I have to get back to work.

Transportation

Cars are EXPENSIVE

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Finally brought my car in to get checked out today. That’s after getting into an accident (a spin-out, I didn’t hit anyone, but figured I should ask a professional why my car has been shaking a bit since) and hitting a deer (broken headlight. would thank the deer for the car alteration, but he’s dead.)

Anyway… it turns out that my car needs about $1500 in repairs. Yikes. This is my first car and I’m not sure what to do about it. At first the mechanic told me that it would be $3000 in repairs and I kind of freaked. But then he figured out the timing belt actually was changed at 108k before I bought the car (some sticker was missing or something) so somehow that made the $1500 repairs seem “cheap.”

Today I got my front breaks fixed. That, including the inspection and an oil change, cost me $598. I still have to get my smog checked and pay my registration fee and insurance. I think that was due 15 days ago. Oops. Should send that check in soon. Late fees love me. Or maybe I secretly deep down love late fees. (No, I don’t think so.)

I can’t believe how much money I’ve been spending lately. — I don’t want to even think about how my mutual fund and Roth IRA are doing right now. Don’t get me wrong, I check every day, and I’m down about $600 (EEK) but I’m trying to sit tight and tell myself if the markets can be this shitty they can also be the opposite. I’m hoping that’s true. Still trying to figure out this whole deal with the subprime mortgage lending stuff that screws over the stock market. Have been reading a bit about it but I’m still a bit confused. I’ll figure it out eventually.

Transportation

Sitting on the floor of a parking garage; goodbye $165

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I have a brilliant talent for making my life miserable. I decided to drive into the city today and park in my free spot by the office, which was a good 30 minute walk from the conference I was attending downtown. That all went fine, and despite being upset about my loafers not being the most comfortable walking shoes, I felt proud of saving the few extra bucks it would have cost to take the train or park closer.

Then what do I do? I manage to lose my car key. Yes, somehow during the course of the day my key fell off of the key chain and well, long story short, I do not have a car key.

There goes $165 (or more) plus three hours of my life that i’ll never get back.

I can deal with the wasted hours. But the $165? So much for my payraise.