Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: annoyed
  • Music: Christian Kane, "Something's Gotta Give."

It never rains but it pours.

My mother called me last night just before nine o'clock. "I thought I should let you know," she said. "My car threw a rod today."

Not being a driver myself (which is why there are so many entries that include the phrase "and then Mom drove me to..."), I asked naively if this was a bad thing. She explained that yes, it was a bad thing, and that further, given the age of her car (a third-hand station wagon we bought in early 2010, when her prior car, a fifth-hand station wagon that I think she bought from evil gnomes), it would be cheaper and safer to buy a new car than it would be to buy a new engine.

Well, crap.

So now we need to find a car. As cheaply as possible, since the money isn't exactly flowing like water around here. My mother gets me to the majority of my book events, as well as needing a vehicle to, you know, work. (One of the sad ironies of our current culture: She can't afford to live where there's good, dependable public transit, so she lives in a place where you have to have a car, but she can pay the rent. Take away her car, she has to move to where there's dependable public transit. Only she can't do that, because there is no more dependable public transit in even semi-affordable places. So she needs a car...)

If you know of anyone in the Bay Area who is selling a vehicle and not too wedded to using the money to buy a boat, please let me know? A station wagon would be preferred, since Mom regularly hauls a lot of crap around, including me.

I swear, it never rains but it pours.
Tags: cranky blonde is cranky, family, freaking out, oh the humanity, things go boom
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  • 86 comments

tintiger

February 13 2011, 11:39:24 UTC 6 years ago

As a non-North American I'm slightly startled that virtually all of the recommended cars on this thread are either Swedish (Volvo, and they really ARE fantastic cars) or Japanese/ Korean.

Am I missing something living in a family that runs two Fords (one of them a 'station wagon', if that is what you call an 'estate' car)?

tintiger

February 13 2011, 11:39:52 UTC 6 years ago

Although the motorbike is Japanese, now that I think about it ;-)

lysystratae

February 13 2011, 17:41:32 UTC 6 years ago

The Ford Escort got a mention; I'd have suggested the Ford Focus but she's already got a couple options higher up the thread. I haven't had a Ford yet that wasn't reliable, so I'd say no, you're not missing anything :)

phoenixsansfyr

February 14 2011, 12:29:32 UTC 6 years ago

Seconded! I'm on my second Ford after a brief stint with a Kia (NEVER AGAIN HOLY CRAP NEVER AGAIN) and after only breaking ONE bone in a major accident, I am hooked.

seanan_mcguire

February 14 2011, 20:37:15 UTC 6 years ago

Wow.

seanan_mcguire

February 14 2011, 20:43:54 UTC 6 years ago

I know NOTHING about cars. NOTHING. So I don't know.