My Mini Van bit the dust!

by lovelylil 2 Replies latest jw friends

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  lovelylil

  I had some car drama over the weekend. On Friday I picked up two of my Son's friends to come over and do a school project with him. Anyway on the way home my transmission starts acting crazy. I put the car in park but it would not stay in park, also trouble switching to drive. Anyway, the transmission has been going for a few months and we have been putting off fixing it because we didn't think it was worth it. My Van was a 10 year old Dodge, pretty beat up, well over 100,000 miles on it. Book value maybe 2,500 or so. New Transmission cost 1,600. Not worth it.

  So I get home try to park in my driveway. Seems to work now and I turn off the car. Everything seems o.k. I go inside and my daughter yells for me about 2 minutes later. My dodge rolls down the driveway right into my new wooden fence! No one hurt, good thing it didn't hit the house. My hubby fixed the fence over the weekend and we went car shopping.

  I picked up my new Van last night. Its a Toyota Sienna, only 3 years old, very low miles, it was a leased car. We got a great deal, more than $2,500 below the book value and low interest loan 5.5%. We put money down and traded in the Dodge Van which unbelievably they gave us 1,000 trade in for, even knowing the transmission was shot. I don't know how my hubby did it but I think he must be the best used car negotiator I have ever seen.

  So far I love my new Van. Drives smooth, pretty roomy, cd player and all power, alarm system, nice misty grey color. My dodge was all manual so not very convenient. My kids love the automatic sliding door, my son says it opens like a Star Wars ship. LOL And the funniest thing about it is - my maiden name is Sienna! Hope this will be a lucky sign. Lilly
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  sspo

  How did your husband do it?

  Very simple , every car on a dealer's lot is priced at the high end of the kelly blue book.

  When a dealer goes to an auction to buy cars for his lot he usually pays below wholesale price or when people trade their cars in, they usually buy them way below book.

  Every car price you see on the lot is jacked up at least $5000, so if you are a good negotiator you will bring the price down but they are still making $1000s on cars.

  Your broken down van, they will either fix it or drive it down to a dealer's auction and sell it as is, getting their $1000 back or more.

  I sell cars, so your next car, let me know and i will take care of you.
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  Mystla

  My trany went out a couple years ago.. I was in the middle of moving. I had spent the night at the new place the night before and left the dog there while I returned for another load.. it was about 3 hours away. I spent all day getting the last bits out of the house and cleaning, it was midnight by the time I headed out. I only got a couple miles, the transmission locked up tight while I was doing 40.. I skidded sideways down the road.. yikes. It's fortunate that it was so late at night, this was a very busy road during the day.. so there I am, in the road, locked up tight.. there is no moving this car! I got out and stood on the sidewalk to call a towtruck (I didn't want to be in the car if it got hit) While I was waiting a very strange guy came along.. then another.. then another.. I have never been so glad to see a cop in my entire life! He pulled up and parked with his lights on so no one would hit my car, then waited with me for the tow truck...

  So now I am back at the old house with my broken car and my hubbys car which hadn't been started in a year. Battery was dead in it.. whats a girl to do? (battery was dead on my car, too, by this time.. ) It's about 2 am by this point. I had to wait til morning to get someone to jump the Brat (hubby's car is a subaru Brat) and there wasn't any one I could call even then to do it for me. So, what did I do? I went across the street to the halfway house and asked the dozen or so guys who answered the door if they would do it.. they were more than happy to help

  So I'm finally off.. exhausted, having only caught a few winks on the floor of my empty house, driving a car I haven't driven before... which had problems of it's own.. my dog is still locked inside my new house (since 6am the previous day) That was a drive I'll never forget. By the time I let my dog out he had been inside for 30 hours.. he is soooo good, there were no piles or puddles in the house! He peed for about an hour though. poor guy.

  Eventually my dad replaced the trany in my car and discovered that when I had had the oil changed, a short while before it went out, someone had fiddled with the trany's fluid plug and it was dried out and that's why it seized up. Car is still running, has 340,000 miles on it

  Hubby was in Alaska for his brother's wedding during this fiasco.. he felt so bad that I had gone through that with out him.

  I hate car trouble!! I tend to take it for granted that my car will run forever (it practically has already) and I hate it when something goes wrong.. but I've learned a lot about cars from working on this one (change the oil my own damn self from now on!!) I dread the day I have to get a new one.

  Misty