SDS

I just a need a commuter car to get me to work/hockey and the kids to school. The wife already has a nice to car for us to drive if needed and we have a mini-van for trips and moving lots of people. I don't want to put long term miles on the van because I never want to buy another one, although I can drive it short term for quite awhile if necessary... It seems like the Mazda3 5-door is fairly good car that is funnish to drive and gets reasonable gas mileage. It would certainly be a step up from my deceased Malibu... Any thoughts?

I decided to go with Purple Heart Cars. Thanks for the suggestion.... Going to go clean her out and take the tags today.

that's like asking if you would rather have gonorrhea or clamidia... why are those your only two choices?

I had that replaced probably 3 years ago or so...

yeah, but apparently there is a bunch of noise coming from there and the mechanic highly suspects some damage has been done. There may be many issues including a water pump. I dunno. It's a '99 Chevy Malibu. I've hated every yawn inducing mile we drove it.

actually, my idiot light came on and made a beep. I looked down, said "wtf is that?". And I saw my temp gauge racing to 260. I pulled off the road and had the car shut off in under 5 seconds. I'm sure I caught it early enough.

the car overheated. I pulled off to the side. Had it towed. Mechanic said he kept getting coolant in the oil. The coolant is overheating somewhere and spewing out my overflow hose. Says there is a lot of noise up top and suspects engine damage. He recommends not putting the money into fixing it since the engine may go at any time. I had my brother talk with him who is a car repair nut and he thinks the guy is being very honest (he's actually telling him NOT to give him work). My Kelley BB value is about $2k. $700 on trade-in.

depends on that tax bracket. You need to include state taxes too, plus the income on "selling it".

I don't know who is going to sink $5k into a new engine though on that car. Unless they have ways to fix it for less.

from what I heard about the tax deduction - you have to wait to see what it actually sells for before you can claim anything. I assume I'm screwed and $200 is the best I can get. I would have to get it towed though. Not sure how much that would be for under 10 miles.

One junk yard would give us $200, but we have to get it there. I didn't know if there was a better option or not - or whether $200 was the best I could get.

there are enough signs of engine damage that it doesn't make sense to fix a 1999 Chevy Malibu with $136k miles on it. The car is good shape, save for the engine. Sheet metal, doors, seats, etc... Where does one take a car that isn't really drivable anymore?

read the thread.

thanks. Assuming they take the 1st set of numbers, mine averages to 21 MPG. Crud.

I presume they look at the original manufacture's MPG estimates? My car just died on Sunday... Not worth fixing and not worth a new engine. Of course, this means I don't qualify, but I wonder if I was close.

I don't see the flux capacitor anywhere?

1700 songs $35000 what's an order of magnitude between friends?

I'm against illegal downloading, but this is absurd. I can understand the logic behind fining the uploaders that amount, but an individual downloader? Ridiculous.

what does that mean exactly? You aren't shooting sports photography for $200.... well, maybe for the camera bag. $200 buys you a basic point and shoot. That's it. There really isn't anything to recommend beyond "find a Canon P&S in that price range".

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2009/05/college-d...on-instead.html "Hernan Castillo is treading water, trying to survive under the weight of $5,200 in credit card debt and $30,000 in student loans. He’s making payments on time, but the Orange County, Calif., resident sees little hope for getting out of the warehouse job he holds and landing a job as an accountant, the field in which he earned his degree. And forget about saving money for a home or retirement. He now firmly believes the money he spent earning a college degree was a waste."

I'm sure the order you ate had a 12th spice...

thank you!

and if you buy through the ad on the twobillsdrive.com home page (on the right) - SH will kick some money back to us at no cost to you!

You could buy the house next to my sister. She lives on a nice cul de sac in Lancaster...

To be a contrarian... I think 5 years is HUGE. Everyone keeps referring to 2-3 years. Well, 2-3 ain't 5 unless you're VABills. I would monitor the situation very, very closely. Maybe even just tell your kids that you play together whenever they want as long as a parent is around.