Driven to Distraction

Oh, what to do?

The problem at hand is vehicular in nature.  You see, I have what many have called extremely bad luck when it comes to cars.  I've owned more cars in my life than I care to admit, and I'm always ready for the latest one to crap out on me.

My previous car was a fiasco...I got a bright and shiny Saturn in 2002 - my very first BRAND NEW CAR.  The warranty expired after three years, and at year four (one year shy of having the car paid off) the car decided to stop working.  This was accompanied by some pretty awful noises and rather copious amounts of smoke, all of which was caused by some sort of engine cracking which I was told was not my fault.

Not my fault, huh?  You'd think that would mean I was entitled to my money back or a free Saturn or something wonderful of that nature.

In my dreams.

But they did work out a deal with me where they would wipe out the remainder of what I owed on the car (minimal at that point) in exchange for taking the car off my hands for parts and whatnot...as long as I sat down and signed the papers on a NEW car that very day.  This seemed a win-win situation to me, as I certainly couldn't live my life in L.A. without a motor vehicle, and although my previous Saturn had exploded for no apparent reason, I still trusted in the brand - don't ask me why.

So I signed off on a new car...as a lease.  You see, I figured that if I couldn't keep a brand-new car alive for four years, why not just switch them up every three?  That way, I'd always have a shiny new vehicle, and I'd never have to worry about something going horribly, awfully wrong and perhaps stranding me in East L.A.  (I don't know why I'm in East L.A. in this scenario, as I don't go there on a regular basis, but it fit my parameters for a place I would not want to be stranded, so sue me).

So here I am, at the tail end of my three year lease (did you already figure out the math, you sly devil, you?), and I really have no idea what I should do next.  My preference is whatever is cheapest, but that ain't so easy to figure out right now.

You see, I have been in two sizable accidents in this car - both times the car has been repaired through my insurance, but the repairs were substantial and I'm not exactly sure how that will go over with the folks at Saturn.  Also, I had an incident in a parking garage that resulted in a rather long and horrific scratch on the side of my car - which has NOT been fixed.

There are a few other issues, none of which are my fault, but I'm not sure the dealership will see it as theirs.  For instance, one measly month after I got the car, the cover to the driver's side visor mirror fell off.  Literally fell off.  I didn't even touch it.

Last year, the front passenger side window broke for no good reason.  It rolls down, but comes up crooked (someone told me the window grips inside of the door mechanism must have come loose).

And a few months ago, the right side window washing valve stopped working.  When I pull the lever to squirt solvent onto my windshield, only the driver's side gets the juice.  Hey, at least it's the important side, right?

See what I mean?  The car isn't even THREE YEARS OLD.  What the hell???

So here are my options.  1) Finish off my lease and switch over to making payments to actually BUY the car in question, keeping fingers crossed that nothing else goes wrong with it.  2) Fix the scratch & other issues on the car (probably thousands in repair work), then turn it in to Saturn and wash my hands of them. 3) Turn the car in to Saturn without the repairs, be charged probably double that amount by them, but still get to wash my hands of them.

Of course, option 3 is probably out of the question, as it will likely be the most expensive route.  But between 1 and 2, I simply cannot decide which would be the better choice - do I stick with a car that already seems to be falling apart but save the money on external repairs, or do I shell out for the repairs, get rid of the pesky damn Saturn, and switch over to a new car from a different company?  Either way, I'm still stuck with car payments for the next several years, though admittedly fewer of them if I choose to stick with the Saturn.

Whew.  Long-winded, and pretty boring stuff.  I apologize.

You know, just from writing all of that down, I think I see what I need to do, which is stick with the G-D Saturn from hell.  Great.  Will someone PLEASE win the lottery for me, PLEASE???

Then I could just hire a freaking chauffeur.