Dying Tucker Update: I should never try my luck at a casino...

"Mercedes Streeter" (smart) 10/11/2016 at 11:35 • Filed to: Tucker

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Alrighty, so the weekend is over and I’m finally back home from camping. I allegedly have 4 days left at this employer...Rumour has it that they might hold us on for longer...but it’s all hush hush, so I have no freaking idea. If I had to rate my current employer’s transparency on a scale of 0-10, it’s a clear -1 . Everything is a secret, all the time. That said, I do have a new opportunity lined up, so maybe my life won’t completely fall apart...again.

Anyway, the car was sitting for four days, so I’ll definitely know for sure now if there is an ongoing leak and how bad said leak is. I’m driving the Expedition EL (that big beast below) today so no reports on engine performance.

I don’t know what to do with the car if it turns out to be dead...If I dump it and get a paid off used car, I still have to make payments on the dead smart. If I trade, I could end up with a new car with the same car payment...but a car payment is still a car payment, down payments and other fees not included.

The most logical solutions in this case are to either try to limit further damage to the engine, and/or start driving the parents’ Envoy...which drives fine save for a lot of non-critical electrical issues.

Funny, literally not even a full two weeks ago I was so happy because I was caught up on my bills and even building a savings, but life really doesn’t like it when I’m happy, obvs.

64Mali > Mercedes Streeter 10/11/2016 at 11:43

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Jewish lighting?

not serious but hope it gets stolen/catch fire?

Also I’m a 1/2 Jew I can get away with saying that.

crowmolly > Mercedes Streeter 10/11/2016 at 11:47

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Shitty thing, but I have to say it...

Go buy a Corolla or equivalent. Anything that’s very reliable and common enough to be cheap to maintain.

Not fun, not unique. But probably your best bet right now.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Mercedes Streeter 10/11/2016 at 11:56

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How much of the payments on the Smart are left, if you don’t mind my asking? If it’s still a lot, I’d still probably get something used and reliable you could pay off to keep until the Smart is paid, then look into something else. If there’s not much left to pay and you can swing it, then maybe trade it in with issues for something else as the car payment would still be present regardless....

EL_ULY > Mercedes Streeter 10/11/2016 at 11:58

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honestly buddy, that all sounds a bazillion percent normal :]

especially with cars lol

Unless you are some rich asshole douchenozzle, every single human here is doing good, then doing bad, then doing really super rad, then very shitty, etc. etc.

The way I coped with it around your age and onward....

F it! *puts arms up* weeeeeee! F it all! Shit could be worse so weeeeee!

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > Mercedes Streeter 10/11/2016 at 12:11

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Reading through all of your posts, I believe you may have a valve cover leak, and have had a small fire from the leaked oil. Clean off all the oil, check wires for damages, and go from there.

Mercedes Streeter > crowmolly 10/11/2016 at 12:14

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*Sigh* That may be what the best route is. I’m all sorts of mad at myself...it’s like, I shouldn’t have taken a contract...maybe I should have paid better attention to maintenance on the car. I’m actually my own worst enemy.

Mercedes Streeter > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/11/2016 at 12:16

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I guess the most important thing is an actual income...then I guess the car stuff will work itself out. Either I end up with a beigemobile as punishment...or maybe have a turn of luck.

fhrblig > Mercedes Streeter 10/11/2016 at 12:20

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As someone who bought a Corolla (Prizm, actually) while I was dealing with financial headaches about 16 years ago, I highly recommend it. It helped me dig my way out of a hole, and it wasn’t even terrible to drive.

crowmolly > Mercedes Streeter 10/11/2016 at 12:21

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Don’t know you personally, but after reading your posts on here it seems like you did the best you could given the rollercoaster you’ve been on. I don’t get the feeling that you were lazy.

Do not beat yourself up because the car is borked. Sadly, it happens to everyone.

fennelbreath > crowmolly 10/11/2016 at 12:21

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This.

Your life might be a little less fun for the time being... but it will probably also be easier.

Mercedes Streeter > Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. 10/11/2016 at 12:22

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Done and done. I even changed the spark plugs, which I will not know if that worked until tonight...or so.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Mercedes Streeter 10/11/2016 at 12:24

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Beigemobiles don’t have to be a bad thing. :) You always have the opportunity then to make it into something you want, and, in your case, you can just keep it as long as necessary and then BUY something else you want.

I do miss my old Impreza wagon, but I am perfectly happy with my Accent 2-dr hatch, and am slowly doing a few things to do it to make it mine (though nothing performance-related yet...)

Mercedes Streeter > 64Mali 10/11/2016 at 12:27

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Tbh, I kinda wished someone would have whacked it way back in the past. Write it off and start new...would have solved a lot of issues! Well, that said, so many people are running uninsured nowadays...I don’t want to win that lottery either. :O

Mercedes Streeter > EL_ULY 10/11/2016 at 12:30

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That’s what I try doing when I can find the chance. Get away to my favourite beach or play a stupid xbone game and get my mind off...My brain is a horrible place to live sometimes.

Frenchlicker > Mercedes Streeter 10/11/2016 at 12:31

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Beige mobiles are underrated. They are like refrigerators, they run and run and run and do their jobs. For that everyone should be thankful.

64Mali > Mercedes Streeter 10/11/2016 at 12:36

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I border a state that doesn’t require insurance, when I got Tboned I was so happy to see a Mass lic so I knew he had to have insurance.

EL_ULY > Mercedes Streeter 10/11/2016 at 13:06

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radness. I find tiny bit of paradise even in the worst of situations lol.

the other day there was some huge BS with a body shop in town that should never touch exotic cars to start with and I was getting ripped by management for something that has never happened and will ever happen again because of its rarity. A huge pile of BS that in the end wasn’t even close to being my fault but at one point in the rant management said the word “Overkill”. At that point while he was rambling on I was in my mind instantly got transferred to my home while I played the song Overkill by Motorhead on my bass trying to remember the chords just jamming awesomely completely ignoring them lol :] !!! In my own little word.

Once they were done, I told my side of the issue and was cleared :]

Keeping calm and letting things go has helped me so much. Not sweating the small stuff and knowing that indeed, things could be much worse.

I mean, this was my childhood home in Nuevo Progresso Tamps: pic 1 , pic 2 , pic 3 , pic 4 . No running water or restrooms. We had 2 buckets, one cold and one warm (heated on a propane stove) for showers and the classic outhouse full of red wasps usually lol. One electricity port for the fridge and one light bulb on the ceiling. The home was a concrete floor, panel board walls, and a sheet metal roof all measuring 12 x 25.

Fast forward to the last 30 days, we were at COTA recently watching racing, took my fam to a rad Brazillian Steakhouse, was down at the beach last weekend and at the Renaissance Festival on Sunday.

So far today.... I have major over draft fees because of payment that got changed without notice, my wife had to go to the clinic for abdominal pain, and I just had a ballast go out on my Volvo.

still.... weeeeeeeee!!! *arms up* weeeeeeee!!!!!!!

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > EL_ULY 10/11/2016 at 13:09

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Agreed brother, life hits us all very hard and we gotta try and be an optimist about it. Its very challenging but getting down is doing no one any good.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Mercedes Streeter 10/11/2016 at 13:11

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Life hits everyone hard sometimes, myself included. But theres a future and you have a good relationship if I remember correctly? Thats enough to look at life and see theres something to be thankful for. Im in the same boat with life bullshit, but trying my best to be an optimist haha. It aint easy though.

smobgirl > Mercedes Streeter 10/11/2016 at 13:52

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Wanted to chime in and agree with El Uly. From a distance it looks like I have my shit together. House, 2 cars, 3 pets, 3 jobs, bills paid, whatever. While some of that is temporarily true, I’m rapidly coming face-to-face with the fact that I have no reliable heat source in a hundred-year-old house and I live in Colorado. I managed to save some money over the summer but it could potentially be WAY more than I saved.

Anyway, not trying to one-up you by any means. Just wanted to speak from experience that shit breaks. Shit that shouldn’t break, breaks - sometimes even when you’ve taken the best care you could. All you can do is learn to ride the wave and save the emotions for the really good meltdowns (like when shit breaks and leaves you stranded with no cell service hundreds of miles from help). And then after the meltdown, you get a chocolate cupcake, and gather yourself together, and try and think of life like a puzzle to solve instead of an enemy combatant.

(I also recommend the cheap reliable-mobile for the time being - there’s probably something you can get and drive for a year or so, then sell for what you paid.)

Jonee > Mercedes Streeter 10/11/2016 at 14:21

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Bummer. I hate the thought of you not in a Smart. The things we love the most always punish us the hardest. You can only take it one day at a time, I guess. At least you have other vehicular options until you sort it out. Can the Smart dealer help you out?

Nibbles > Mercedes Streeter 10/11/2016 at 14:26

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Unrelated - y’all should get a weight distribution hitch. Makes a world of difference and hauling is so much nicer when the ass isn’t sagging :)

Mercedes Streeter > Nibbles 10/11/2016 at 14:31

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We have a weight distribution hitch and an anti-sway bar. At the time I took that photo, I was still very new at trailering...and I hadn’t set up the weight distribution hitch properly. On our hitch, three links is best, I had it on one. Dad fixed it before we pulled out that day. lol

Nibbles > Mercedes Streeter 10/11/2016 at 14:33

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Ah, cool. They’re the best, ain’t they? :)

Mercedes Streeter > Nibbles 10/11/2016 at 14:36

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I can’t imaging towing that trailer without it! I mean, that tongue is probably heavier than my car!

Mercedes Streeter > Jonee 10/11/2016 at 14:42

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Possibly. I have a friend in California who might be able to help me get into another smart with little to no cost to myself...but we were waiting until my final word about my current car before we moved forward.

I hate the thought of myself not in my car either. I mean, it’s not even about driving a non-smart...it’s about the implications my brain would inevitably place on me...that I lost my car because I fucked up in the many numerous ways I can and probably have. And I guess it all comes back to what my therapist and I are working on, with me feeling like I’m not worth it.

Jonee > Mercedes Streeter 10/11/2016 at 15:05

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I go through the same discussions with my therapist, so I hear you. I’ve fucked up more cars than most people will ever own in their lifetimes. I’m in the process of putting a new motor in my Le Car because I didn’t change a couple belts on the current engine. I keep learning and moving forward. I was thinking maybe you could turn this car in and just start making payments on a new one. It’s not like Smarts are parading out of dealerships. Regardless, you’re still a hero around here.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > Mercedes Streeter 10/11/2016 at 15:35

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I hope Tucker is easily repairable for not too much money.

Mercedes Streeter > Jonee 10/11/2016 at 16:16

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Perhaps. All this depends on what happens over the next few weeks. In my original plan, I was going to ditch Tucker this weekend for a brand spanking new 2016 with a Manual...Hence why I couldn’t even be bothered by the failing engine in Tucker.

But in wild fashion, of course a dying engine isn’t the worst of my worries, now it’s just making next month’s rent...which dashes all hopes of replacing the dying car and puts me right back into the crosshairs of homelessness that I’ve already spent a few months of this year battling. As soon, literally as soon as we finally stabilized financially, the floor got ripped out from under me yet again. It makes me regret almost every decision I’ve made other the past year...maybe it would have been better to stay with my abusive parents after all.

Anyway, I have a plan a (I don’t get laid off and instead I convert) and a plan b (another employer lined up) and well, if either of these plans works out, everything will be okay. In fact, everything would be better than okay. But knowing my life, of course neither of these plans will work and I’ll have to do it the hard way...which is like, everything in my life...Ugh, I’m not sure why I’m so self-destructive today. Kinda just want to pass out and cry or something.

Jonee > Mercedes Streeter 10/11/2016 at 22:47

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Ugh. I’m sorry to hear that. That sounds rough. I’ve been in those precarious situations, financial and otherwise, where one small thing feels like it’ll ruin your whole life. But, you’ve gotten through it before, so you’ll get through it again.