Our Car
Recently we have learned some... well... not so great news.
Our car had been in a wreck before we bought it.
We found this out because it was overheating and the engine sounded a little loud. We decided to take it into the Honda dealer about a week ago so that we could figure out what was wrong. You always hear of people buying a car they had no idea was in a wreck before. I never thought that I would be one of those people. We thought we were being smart when we bought the car, bringing our mechanic along to look at it, but the previous owner was sneaky. He had a plastic covering bolted down over everything that was obviously patched up. Also, we looked at the car at night which made it really hard to see any problems.
The Honda dealer said they wouldn’t even try to fix the car, that maybe we should think of a trade in. Even though we would have to take a hit on our car, it probably wouldn’t be as bad as paying a mechanic to chase and fix all of the problems. Whoever patched up the car did such a bad job a mechanic would have to undo the problems to be able to actually fix them well. This could take a really long time and would become way to expensive.
With a trade in, our car is actually still worth something. The dealership told us the price they would give us for the car depended on what we traded it in for. One car we asked about they said they would give us about 1/2 of what we paid for ours. Bad, but not as awful as what we at first thought.
We decided to get a second opinion on our car. Our Lithuanian friends here have a mechanic who they trust, so we decided to go to them. On Thursday, we had our car checked out and the mechanic said that even though the work done on our car was really bad, he thinks it will still be worthwhile to fix. Right now they are going to fix the radiator and then we will see if there is anything wrong with the engine. Since they are fixing the radiator for a very reasonable price, we figure we should get that done even if we have to trade it in because this will probably make our car more valuable. If the head gasket is blown, then we will probably trade it in somewhere. We will be getting the radiator fixed this Tuesday.
Anyway, if you could be praying for us for discernment in this situation, we would appreciate it. We feel bad that this happened, but the Lord is providing for us.
Thanks for your prayers.
With a trade in, our car is actually still worth something. The dealership told us the price they would give us for the car depended on what we traded it in for. One car we asked about they said they would give us about 1/2 of what we paid for ours. Bad, but not as awful as what we at first thought.
We decided to get a second opinion on our car. Our Lithuanian friends here have a mechanic who they trust, so we decided to go to them. On Thursday, we had our car checked out and the mechanic said that even though the work done on our car was really bad, he thinks it will still be worthwhile to fix. Right now they are going to fix the radiator and then we will see if there is anything wrong with the engine. Since they are fixing the radiator for a very reasonable price, we figure we should get that done even if we have to trade it in because this will probably make our car more valuable. If the head gasket is blown, then we will probably trade it in somewhere. We will be getting the radiator fixed this Tuesday.
Anyway, if you could be praying for us for discernment in this situation, we would appreciate it. We feel bad that this happened, but the Lord is providing for us.
Thanks for your prayers.
Here's some pics of the problems.
Stephen and Alisa,
ReplyDeleteIf you were in the States, I would give you this unsolicited advice RE: trading in. I don't know if it applies there:
1. Decide how much you have to get for your current car. Decide how much it's worth and how much you'll take for it. Imagine if you were selling it privately.
2. Go to a different dealer to trade in. The Honda dealer now thinks they know that you are motivated to get rid of that car, and they will not be as likely to give you a good deal.
3. Find the car you want and settle on a price for it before you discuss your trade in. If you're going to finance the new car, focus on the total price rather than the monthly payment. Refuse to even discuss the issue of whether you are going to trade in a car until you've agreed on a price for the car you're buying. They are two separate cars and their values are unrelated.
4. Finally, discuss your trade in. If they won't give you what you need, leave. If they try to change the price or financing of your new car based on your trade in, leave. If you feel you're not being treated like a competent car customer, leave.
Of course I don't know how much experience you guys have! For all I know, Alisa was a used car sales professional for years before I met her. But like I said, this is unsolicited advice. Good luck!