What are you looking forward to?

In a word, moving. More specifically, moving to Arizona. I feel like my life here in California is over and that I need to be somewhere else. I’ve stagnated on finding a job here, the college system here is so beyond messed up it’s not even worth it to go to school, and living here is genuinely starting to get to me.

So yea, that is what I’m looking forward to.

I’m The Proud New Owner…

of a 2001 Toyota Corolla!

Well, actually, I’ve been driving it now for the better part of five years, but it’s always been in my dad’s name because he’s the one who initially bought the car and I paid him back for it, but since Joe and I are moving to Arizona soon, we figured it was time to get it registered in my name.

So we dropped Joe off @ work and went to the AAA office and got it switched over. The lady who helped us printed up the registration and it has my name on it and everything! I’m so excited.

But now comes the fun part. The damn car has 180,000 miles on it and its never had the timing belt replaced, plus we’re pretty sure the engine is about to blow. It goes through oil faster than I go through a cup of coffee, which is saying a lot. Oh and it makes this lovely screeching noise every time I hit the brakes.

Thankfully, my dad paid for new tires on it a couple of months ago, so that won’t have to be worried about any time soon, but I’ll probably end up getting it to Arizona and have it die on me. The question is, do I fix it, or get a new one?

My dad just replaced the engine in his American made truck, and it cost him $4,000. The timing belt ALONE on my car is $1,200, and the engine is looking to cost anywhere from $1,450 to $2,500. And that’s just for the engine, not including labor to have it installed.

I’d have my dad do it, but he doesn’t have the equipment and refuses to even change the oil in my car, let alone put a new engine in it. He’s not a fan of foreign cars, and for good reason. Yea, I’ll probably get another 30,000-50,000 miles out of that car, but the work space under the hood is next to nothing and EVERYTHING is more expensive for that car, just because it’s a “foreign” car. Never mind that the factory that probably made my car is less than 15 miles away from my house. Urgh.

So what do I do? I’m planning on driving the thing till it croaks, but do I fix it or get a new car?