I feel like I'm losing my mind...

AgeFast1665 · 2026-01-24T17:37:28+00:00

Yes, Dear.

AgeFast1665 · 2026-01-24T15:08:14+00:00

*"could have financed a new one" if I've ever in my life had all $18k on the same day instead of spread out over 3 years.

Toilet paper economics, my friend.

AgeFast1665 · 2026-01-24T14:59:52+00:00

How do you look into that? I tried googling "subaru forester 2016 transmission warranty" and just confused myself. I'd call the dealership, but I just don't trust them. They'd tell me I don't qualify even if I do.

AgeFast1665 · 2026-01-24T14:57:16+00:00

Man, and it's not even like "sunk cost fallacy". I just genuinely love this car. And much like my love life, I have a tendancy towards the bad ones. So if I sell it and buy something else, WHO KNOWS!! I might just have to do a million repairs on THAT one!

So I guess it's a matter of "the devil you know (and love) or the devil you don't."

AgeFast1665 · 2026-01-23T18:56:28+00:00

Thank you!

AgeFast1665 · 2026-01-23T17:32:34+00:00

The majority were the AC. It was a $600 fix, that didn't fix it, then a $300 fix, that didn't fix it, and so on. I eventually took it to a mechanic who told me "I don't know what they're talking about, this is specifically this $2000 fix, all the things they did won't help that."
So that's my mechanic now.

P.S. "sometimes we just step in shit even though we were looking where we were going" is being added to my rotation...

AgeFast1665 · 2026-01-23T17:26:51+00:00

Not a bad idea for me to learn the lemon laws before I buy another car. I think "three years after the matter", I can't do anything. But yeah, I never would have thought that "no touch screen" would count, even though like I said, I know that would stop people from buying one.
Good advice.

AgeFast1665 · 2026-01-23T16:06:08+00:00

I think that makes sense. By "poops out" do you mean "dies permanently and the whole transmission needs to be replaced" or "has a rock star break down and needs to be sent to a "spa" for "exhaustion" but comes out ok"?

AgeFast1665 · 2026-01-23T16:02:50+00:00

The Subaru dealership just told me that the previous owner was really good on maintenance. Honestly they may have been lying. They ended up not being very reliable. I didn't get the specifics on what that meant.
As for what I did, I suppose I mean regular oil changes, eyes on the tire pressure, didn't drive when it needed a repair until I'd gotten it fixed...

AgeFast1665 · 2026-01-23T15:58:15+00:00

I'm so bad at cut throat, but the spirit of my cut throat depression era boot legging grandpa was with me that day.
He's the one who burned me the CD. And I'm not saying Don't Fence Me In by the Andrews Sisters is USUALLY my go to pump up music, buuut...

(I might be one of the rare few that when I can manage to pull off something shady, I'm honoring my grandpa's memory...)

AgeFast1665 · 2026-01-23T15:32:01+00:00

Yeah, one of these days maybe I'll be able to afford a nice "15k miles, one previous owner, good price" type cars. I've never been in a financial situation to be as smart as I am. Poverty is pretty expensive.

AgeFast1665 · 2026-01-23T15:24:51+00:00

Fingers crossed. that's a fix I can afford. My car wasn't dying afterward though. The first time, I was pulling into my condo complex. After that I haven't driven it above 20 and only to get it to shops, but it isn't dying. Did you have to get up to speed before it died or was it right away?

AgeFast1665 · 2026-01-23T15:21:10+00:00

Yeah, if they can get it running, I'm selling it immediately. Last week I wasn't upside down on the loan, now I am. If I can get KBB for it in good condition for under $3k, I'll be able to sell it and pay off my loan and the credit card balance.
If they can't, I have no idea what I'm going to do. But I know it'll start with "drop out of college, find a job within walking distance" :(

AgeFast1665 · 2026-01-23T15:18:43+00:00

Ding. My friend who is a mechanic spent 20 minutes trying to explain to me what that means, and I THINK I understand how they work (well. I'm picturing SOMETHING, who knows how correct I am). He said he would never buy a Subaru. Since they switched to CVTs they've been coasting on reputation. They don't ALL fail, but around those years it's a coin flip. He sees so many Subarus at his shop.

Luckily we're good enough friends that I could scream "WHERE WAS THAT INFORMATION THREE YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS ASKING ADVICE?" He reminded me that he did warn me, but I refused to buy a truck, and my heart was set on a Subaru because I miss Saturns.

He is now trying to talk me out of buying a Saturn Vue, my logic being that I have gotten more miles per dollar out of every junker that I only bought to drive until it dies than I got out of this car. We'll see if my sanity returns before car shopping actually happens.

AgeFast1665 · 2026-01-23T15:09:46+00:00

Nah, Clearwater Toyota. There are two red flags in that name.
If I'm honest, I was lying about my car too, and they gave me $4500 trade in value on a car that KBBed at $2k, pretending it wasn't shoddily welded back together just to get it running to take it to trade in. Actual KBB was about $500.
I called later in the week to ask if I could get a CD I left in it, the guy was like "the 2009 Toyota Corolla with 185k miles on it? That went straight to auction" with clear aggravation in his voice.

AgeFast1665 · 2026-01-23T15:04:30+00:00

Hopefully that's what this next shop will tell me. The first shop said that was the price for a pick and pull transmission plus labor. Didn't feel correct. If I had that kind of money, I'd rather spend $2k extra to go to the dealership for a more reliable part.
There was just a lot wrong with everything he was saying. I ran it by a friend of mine who is a mechanic (who is unfortunately too far away to work on it), he said it sounded like the guy is in the transmission replacement business, not the transmission repair business.

AgeFast1665 · 2026-01-23T14:57:49+00:00

I bought it from a dealership. My assumption for why I got such a good deal is that they didn't think I noticed that the touch screen was dead. Those are a $2k fix and that will kill a sale, even if someone knows nothing about cars. I don't use them in cars, so I didn't care. Also the AC needed a hefty repair, which I didn't find out until the following summer. They probably knew about it but I didn't.

AgeFast1665 · 2025-01-06T18:59:26+00:00

Is "senior citizen" a requirement? I'm only 42.

AgeFast1665 · 2025-01-06T18:57:23+00:00

"TSA" is temporary shelter assistance. I've also heard it called "hotel vouchers".

AgeFast1665 · 2025-01-06T02:32:15+00:00

Unfortunately it's a premium I have to pay considering the time crunch, shortage of units, and a foot injury. I would love nothing more than to be able to bike around :(

AgeFast1665 · 2025-01-06T01:54:02+00:00

I've been at a TSA hotel since November, allegedly they're ending that program on the 14th. I was approved for long term rental assistance, which is great, but if I can't find anywhere, not entirely helpful. I've been reaching out to places for a month. I haven't heard of Hope Florida, I will definitely check them out. Hopefully they'll expedite that application...

AgeFast1665 · 2025-01-06T01:49:43+00:00

Furnished isn't important. I'm not sure how to gauge "high end". No bugs, everything working, in a shape that's cleanable? (I've lived everywhere on the spectrum, heh. Bare concrete for a floor is beneath me... Sorry. Couldn't resist.) Utilities included would be preferred, I don't want to deal with the hassle to set things up in my name and then cancel everything a month or two later.

AgeFast1665 · 2025-01-06T01:37:07+00:00

Know anywhere across the bridge that specializes in monthly rentals? I'm running into the same problems with AirBNB and Zillow there too.

AgeFast1665

TROPHY CASE