Roadspill

Saga of the $500 car

I bought my 1987 Mercury Tracer for $500 just under two years ago.

At the time, I needed a car because I was shooting a lot of CBC items in places where public transit was nonexistent or wasn't convenient.

Chris Holmes, my editor at I was working with at The Corp. mentioned he had an old car that he'd let go cheap. No guarantees, he said.

My thinking was: a new car would cost at least $250 a month. If I could get 2 months out of a $500 car, I'd break even. Any more than that would be a bonus.

And what a bonus. With more than 380,000 KM on the odometer, it's the Timex of beaters.

Another concern with a beater is maintenance costs. It's great that the purchase price is low, and that there are no monthly payments. But if maintaining it costs hundreds a month, then there's not much point.

But the Tracer has been amazing.

During year one I didn't put a cent into it, other than for fuel, tranny fluid (more on that follows) and oil.

Then, at the end of my first year of insurance coverage, I was forced, like other BC residents, to get my car air cared. This is ostensibly to keep cars that spew off the road. But in reality, its a way for garages to make some money.

Here's the deal:

Take car to Air Care. Pay $28. If it passes, you can re-insure your car for another year.

If it fails - you got to get it fixed. But there is a limit. You only have to spend a max of $400. If the problem isn't fixed - you get a conditional pass. And that's good for a year.

So - in this scenario - the spewing car still spews. The provincial government has made 2 x $28 (2 tests) and the garage has made $400. And there is absolutely no benefit for the environment.

Scam!

So... I failed. I paid my $400. I passed. The $500 car needed only $400 in maintenance.

This year there were some more problems. I needed 2 new tires, so I bought used ones (new to me!) and that was about $150.

Then the carb was being weird. That cost $50. And the thermostat went. That cost $50.

And then, I decided that leaking a litre of tranny fluid every few days was not a good thing. I took it in to the Deep Cove garage...

A seal was gone, and some tranny switch was hooped.

I figured that this would mean a huge expense. And, if I had to remove the tranny to fix it -- then it probably wouldn't be worth it.

The garage estimated $300! Shocked, I said, when can I bring it in?!

It went in today. And a few hours later, the phone rang. Uh oh!

I expected the worst. And I got great news.

The car was done, and the damage was $160! Cheap! I happily paid up.

The old beater is still going strong. And after having put in only $810 in the past 2 years makes me smile. It may not be pretty, but it works. And, $810 divided by 24 is just $33 a month.

Pretty decent payment plan, I'd say.

Cheers!