I’ve been bad about car maintenance. My car was due for an
oil change last fall, and with the furnace debacle, a Thanksgiving trip back
home to see my family and Christmas, I just didn’t get it done. It’s been on my
to-do list week after week, and I just ignored it. I finally called last week,
and came to find out my last oil change was long enough ago that I don’t want
to admit how long it’s been, and that I was due for my 40,000 mile service.
We dropped off the car last night, and I had been antsy all morning,
wondering what problems might crop up. At 38,000 miles, this is the point where
the car is no longer new and needs a close eye to keep expensive bills at bay.
Since I didn’t work for about a year of the time that I’ve had the car, the
mileage is pretty low for more than four years of ownership. I hope to stay in
this car for at least four more years, but at the very least until the credit
card debt is paid off and we have enough cash for a significant down payment.
Both of us drove our previous cars until they basically were no longer
driveable, so depending on how well I take care of the car, I may even get more
than a decade out of it.
When I bought the car in March 2005, I went ahead and bought
the car care service plan. I know these things can often result in paying a lot
more for service than necessary, but my mom offered to pay for it, and it’s
been a blessing ever since. As bad as I am about car maintenance, I can’t even
imagine how bad I would be without the majority of my service appointments
being prepaid over the past four years.
With the service plan, the 40K maintenance will cost more
than I had set aside, but still only around $200. What will cost a pretty
penny, however, is the other services that need to be done. I talked to the service
manager around 11 am this morning, and my back brake pads and rotors need to be
replaced, my brake fluid flushed and new wiper blades.
I could thank them for figuring out what needed to be done,
pay for the maintenance, then take my car to a cheap brake place, buy wipers at
autozone and skip the brake fluid flush. But honestly, I’ve had a great
experience with this service department, they have fixed very expensive items
at no charge AFTER my warranty expired, and I have a foreign make of car with a
specialized engine and I feel more comfortable with the dealership service.
Plus the logistics of locating another shop and transporting my car there,
dealing with getting to and from work in the meantime and wondering if I’m
getting good service, it is simply worth the money to me. Knowing my luck, my
brakes would fail on the way there.
Maybe when I’m perfect and plan and research maintenance and
schedule things ahead of time, I’ll be able to do things the “right” way. I have to find a way to be more responsible about something with so much effect on my bottom line (as an asset and in its importance in my ability to earn money).
But
for now, I’ll just cringe at the large chunk of change that I’m putting into my
car. I’d rather pay a little more now and have the peace of mind that I won’t
have to deal with brake failure while traveling at 75 mph on the highway and
approaching a traffic jam.
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