u/judashpeters

I just made this up the other day and not sure if its appropriate for this sub but thiught Id share. I found it hilarious but no one in my family laughed.

You: think of a number between one and ten, and dont tell me what it is, im going to guess it.

[Wait for them. Once they're ready, you say a decimal number but say the integer slowly, then say point slowly, then speed it up at the end like "four...point...sevennnnn...twofivethree?"]

Then they say its not their number shout "DAMMIT!!!!"

The last few cars Id bought have been awful.

Minivan: i had driven my previous car i to the ground and when it it finally bit the dust, I was able to trade it in for a whopping 300 bucks at Dealership A, for a $8k minivan. A month after I bought the minivan, it began shutting off randomly at stoplights. It needed a few thousand dollars of work in the next few months.

Within two years, the engine light came on, was told there were metal shavings in the oil pan, which was a bad sign. They also saod the code came back that it was the "engine block". My mechanic was like, dude, I could take your engine apart, diagnose it, find the part you'd need, but with your car its going to be hard AND once I find that part, its going to be just as old as this kne thats dead. It would be about 15k in parts and labor and I just cant do that to you"

I still owed 6k to the bank for this car. I was pissed and confused as to what to do. The car literally wouldnt run, so I couldnt drive it anywhere to be traded in, and I didnt necessarily want to tow it to trade it in, oh wait, I COULDNT trade it in, since I still owed 6k on this now worthless car. If it needed 15k, but worth 8k when i bought it, and I still owed 6k...

So I just left it sitting while i went and bought a new used car. I think it was like 9k. Pathfinder.

Guess what, within 6 MONTHS, that second cars engine light came on. Diagnosis: metal shavings in the oil pan. Needs a new engine. 15k worth of work...

So here I am paying 190/month on an unusable minivan. About to be paying another 230/month on an unusable pathfinder (since I did NOT have 15k) thinking that my only option is to purchase yet another 3rd car that will likely get the same damn issue in a year anyway.

I was freaking out at having to pay well over 600/month on three cars, 2 of which are undriveabe.

Cut back to the mechanic saying "here are the keys, I disabled the check engine light, but itll probably come on again soon. You'll need to do something about this soon."

Check engine light is off?

Drive to Dealership A, said I just got a raise and was trying with the idea of upgrading.

They checked out the pathfinder, and offered me 6K for it, as long as I lease a new 2024 model for 500/month.

I was so excited.

That morning I was looking at:

3 cars, 700/month (potentially?) + who the heck knows how many repairs would be needed and possibly another ticking time bomb of yet another "metal shavings in the oil pan"

Now, I was looking at:

2 cars, $690/month but the one car is a lease and its brand new, better warranty than any used car.

First, I couldnt believe they valued the pathfinder that high. Im surprised. Second, I couldbt believe thst even paying off the pathfinder and leasing a new car, that I would be SAVING money per month.

As I was thinking it over there were dozens of times I almost blurted out "500 a month is a lot for me but at least I wont have this useles-"

‐---------------

Part of me felt bad that they gave me so much money for a useless car. But then Id remember thst they were the same dealership who sold me the minivan lemon to begin with!!!!!

I also dont even know if they cared that the car was undriveable and needed a 15k engine. I dont knownwhat goes on in mechanics but I have a hard time believing they would have valued the car at 6k in the deal had they known...

TL:DR - i knew my car needed 15k / new engine, turned off check engine light and traded it in to a dealership who sold me a lemon car years ago, hoping they wouldn't do too thorough a check. They offered me a lot of trade in value and made out with a monthly payment that was better for me.