Green '94 Ford Explorer. That's my car. My sister, Michal, so graciously let me take over payments until it was paid off and now its mine. (Technically its still in her husband's name, but I have responsibility for it.) 
It's been a pretty good car, got me to where I needed to go: work, school, between houses; acted as transportation for a majority of the neighborhood.
But I've had quite a few problems with it...
It started last May (about a month after I got the car) when I had to get the brakes fixed. One day all of the sudden my brakes went out, I couldn't stop. I had to swerve to the side of the road to avoid hitting the car in front of me. Scared me half to death. They seemed to be working fine after that, so I kept driving on those brakes for a few days. Not a good idea, I assume it only made the brakes worse. I ended up taking it in to Big O' Tires to have it looked at and fixed. They told me I could've been in an accident at any time and shouldn't've been driving it at all. It's amazing I'm still alive. They fixed my brakes. Don't ask me what they did, I know nothing about cars. All I know is my car stopped when I pushed the left pedal and for that convenience it cost me $593.83. More than what I had. Luckily I have great parents that help out in tough times.
Less than a month later, my car is used to jump start another. I don't know what that did, put it had problems after that. My steering wheel sucked, making a U-ey was more like a 10 point turn. Took it back in to Big O', gave them $87.33 for them to replace my tensioner pulley. I don't know what exactly happened, but my air conditioner stopped working at the same time, and to fix that it would've cost me another couple hundred bucks, which I just didn't have. And now I've learned how to do my hair, so it looks intentionally messed up after driving on the freeway with the windows rolled down.
A couple months later, after coming home from a vacation, much to my surprise, the back driver side window was shattered. I attempted to get a used window at a junk yard with the help of my brother in law, Mike. But that didn't work out so well, so I went to Low Price Auto Glass where they put in a new window for $42.12. They also, so kindly, replaced, for free, my rear-view mirror, which I had broken off about a week before. It was difficult having no mirror, but I could drive just as well as before, except now I couldn't do my make-up in the car. I was glad to have that back. After fixing the window, they didn't put the inside of the door back on correctly; so I ask passengers not to use that one, otherwise they may not be able to close it. Guess that's what you get for getting your window fixed at a cheap place in West Valley.
It's been a pretty good car, got me to where I needed to go: work, school, between houses; acted as transportation for a majority of the neighborhood.But I've had quite a few problems with it...
It started last May (about a month after I got the car) when I had to get the brakes fixed. One day all of the sudden my brakes went out, I couldn't stop. I had to swerve to the side of the road to avoid hitting the car in front of me. Scared me half to death. They seemed to be working fine after that, so I kept driving on those brakes for a few days. Not a good idea, I assume it only made the brakes worse. I ended up taking it in to Big O' Tires to have it looked at and fixed. They told me I could've been in an accident at any time and shouldn't've been driving it at all. It's amazing I'm still alive. They fixed my brakes. Don't ask me what they did, I know nothing about cars. All I know is my car stopped when I pushed the left pedal and for that convenience it cost me $593.83. More than what I had. Luckily I have great parents that help out in tough times.
Less than a month later, my car is used to jump start another. I don't know what that did, put it had problems after that. My steering wheel sucked, making a U-ey was more like a 10 point turn. Took it back in to Big O', gave them $87.33 for them to replace my tensioner pulley. I don't know what exactly happened, but my air conditioner stopped working at the same time, and to fix that it would've cost me another couple hundred bucks, which I just didn't have. And now I've learned how to do my hair, so it looks intentionally messed up after driving on the freeway with the windows rolled down.
A couple months later, after coming home from a vacation, much to my surprise, the back driver side window was shattered. I attempted to get a used window at a junk yard with the help of my brother in law, Mike. But that didn't work out so well, so I went to Low Price Auto Glass where they put in a new window for $42.12. They also, so kindly, replaced, for free, my rear-view mirror, which I had broken off about a week before. It was difficult having no mirror, but I could drive just as well as before, except now I couldn't do my make-up in the car. I was glad to have that back. After fixing the window, they didn't put the inside of the door back on correctly; so I ask passengers not to use that one, otherwise they may not be able to close it. Guess that's what you get for getting your window fixed at a cheap place in West Valley.
That was the end of my troubles for awhile. Besides the occasional oil change and fillin' up on gas twice a month, everything was going smooth. But in the last few weeks I had more problems than I was ready for.
I took my car to get it checked to renew my registration at Just Inspection and Emissions. They looked at my car, and failed it. They informed me that the radius arm bushing needed to be replaced. (Don't ask me what it is, I think it has something to do with the axle though.) They also told me not to drive it anymore, especially not fast or far. Well I did anyway. I had places to go, people to see. They, too, are kind people - didn't charge me, and gave me advice on where to fix it and how much it would cost. A few hundred dollars. I had spent that much before, but I didn't want to again. I freaked out. Started thinking about my options.
I took my car to get it checked to renew my registration at Just Inspection and Emissions. They looked at my car, and failed it. They informed me that the radius arm bushing needed to be replaced. (Don't ask me what it is, I think it has something to do with the axle though.) They also told me not to drive it anymore, especially not fast or far. Well I did anyway. I had places to go, people to see. They, too, are kind people - didn't charge me, and gave me advice on where to fix it and how much it would cost. A few hundred dollars. I had spent that much before, but I didn't want to again. I freaked out. Started thinking about my options.
That's when I heard about Cash for Clunkers from my good friend Bryce. A new government program that allows you to turn in your PoS and get $4,500 off a new car. This was the deal for me. My car fit all the qualifications: low gas mileage(13-15 mpg), old ('94), registered and insured for the past year (although it didn't matter that I couldn't get it re-registered). I 
researched the program, calling around to different dealerships to get more information. My dad knows a guy, Ross, at the Ken Garff dealership down town. We worked up a deal with him, and before I knew it I was test driving a brand new Nissan Versa. I was getting pretty excited about this. A new car!! But as I thought through it more and more, I realized that I couldn't handle a new car payment each month, especially as a new college student. That bright light of hope I had of a new car dimmed quickly as I looked for places to get my car fixed.
researched the program, calling around to different dealerships to get more information. My dad knows a guy, Ross, at the Ken Garff dealership down town. We worked up a deal with him, and before I knew it I was test driving a brand new Nissan Versa. I was getting pretty excited about this. A new car!! But as I thought through it more and more, I realized that I couldn't handle a new car payment each month, especially as a new college student. That bright light of hope I had of a new car dimmed quickly as I looked for places to get my car fixed.I started calling around for the best deals on getting a new radius arm bushing. I found that Big O' Tires and Clayton Snow's American Car Center could do it the cheapest. I took my car in for them to look at it and get a better estimate. Big O' said about $190, whereas Clayton said $125, so I took it to Mr. Snow. But before, when I had been at Just, they told me my front tire had a puncture and would need to be changed. So while I was in Big O' I asked about a new tire. They were actually able to get me a used on for $26.71. It was the only one they had that would fit my car and would be that cheap, so I jumped all over it (figuratively). Directly after that I went to get the rest of car fixed, well a piece of it. Clayton was pretty confident that he could fix it for a good price, however he did warn me that with a problem like mine another part on the axle could've been wearing and might need to be replaced as well. Sure enough it did. Couldn't tell you what the piece was, but it's something that was supposed to be round and was now oval, not good. So after replacing both those parts, it came to $215.60. That was just about all the money I had at the time, but luckily I have a wonderful father who loves to help me out, and covered this one for me.
Now it had been awhile since my last oil change and I get a free one every now and then at Midas with the two-year maintenance plan my car has. So I took it for the change, and asked for a inspection since my car had been fixed. Much to my surprise, they told me my brake hoses were cracked and that I'd fail the safety inspection if I didn't fix them, and it'd cost me over $200. (What did Big O' fix just last year? I better not need new brake equipment.) This was pretty freakin' frustrating! I called my dad, mostly to get a credit card number to pay for it, cause I didn't have enough on my card at the time, but he told me I was being taking advantage of and to take it back to Just for the inspection. So I got the free oil change, but the emissions cost $25.50. Thanks for charging me for the part I didn't fail. Good to know success in life will cost ya.
And back I went to Just Inspection and Emissions. They remembered me from when I was in a week or two before. They didn't want to charge me for the whole inspection again since they had just looked at it and knew I got the problem fixed. They couldn't find any paper work from the last time I was in (because they didn't give my any), so they searched my car for it and found the receipt from Midas. Then they started questioning me why I went there, as if I had been unloyal to them. Freak, I needed an oil change; give me a break. I assured them that Midas had been unfair and that's why I came back. They passed me and gave me new registration, for a total of $79.50 I don't think I paid for the inspection or emissions but that was quite a lot for renewal. However, I trust these guys. As for Midas, why did I need new brake hoses there, but I didn't at Just? I think one of those companies was taking advantage of a stupid little blonde girl. See if I go there for anything but the free oil change ever again.
After all of that I have a car that gets me to where I'm going, for which, I am grateful. I just hope it keeps getting me there, for at least a couple more years. And now my car is mostly fixed. I still don't have air conditioning, one of doors is falling apart, there are holes in the fabric of my ceiling, and the 'check engine' light just came on...better get that looked at.
