Car Math

It's the alternator. So yay, tow truck guy. Why wasn't there more warning? No one can tell me accurately. Why wasn't there some indication that my battery was almost dead? (Because apparently that factored into the perfect storm of stupid yesterday.) No one can tell me that, either.

Google says replacing an alternator should be between $750 and $1k. The car place? Between $1500 and $1700. 

I would like Google to be my mechanic, please.

We'll do it. But it's $2K more (because taxes and I'm sure they'll find some way for it to take longer and thus cost more because they know we're not going to tow it home and then find another place to tow it) in the dang thing after sinking nearly $6K in December.

And that puts you firmly into the camp of doing car math. Is it better to repair and pray or have a car payment each month on something that should not, theoretically at least, need repairing?

Cause $8K in 4 months is...a lot.

Now if that's all we have to deal with for the next 100,000 miles (hahaaaa, I crack myself up) then grand.

But I'm pretty sure at this point that if we end up needing to put anything else into this thing before the end of the year, that's going to signify the swan song.

Other than the whole new cars cost more right now and supply chain and blah blah it's a terrible time to buy a car thing. (Because we tend to be new car people. Maybe because we don't know a reliable, trustworthy mechanic to talk to about used cars and we trust dealers of any ilk about as far as we can throw them - have I mentioned my back's bad? That throwing distance is tiny. So yeah. I'm sure your certified pre owned no really, trust me, it's fine, it's gonna work great car is a great deal. But also probably no.)

Blergh.