The car overheated without any warning. And no, I wasn't "ignoring" it. When I bought the car, I paid a mechanic to look it over.
And even if I were mechanically inclined, how the heck am I supposed to deal with a duel-overhead cam in a tight engine compartment?
The car I had before was a 1992 Toyota Tercell. It was running strong with 160,000 miles on it. Somebody hit me and I had to replace it with another car (the Contour). Note one thing. Other than brake pads, new tires, and oil changes, I paid NOTHING to fix the Toyota.
My Ranger (just bought) has a checklist of required maintenance at specific mileage. The previous owner saved all receipts and meticulously performed that maintenance. That's what I do. And that's all I should have to do, unless I have a junky car.
If a car is going to be a money sucker at 60,000 miles, it's garbage pure and simple. And when you compare the Contour to many other options (Taurus, Ranger, Tercell, etc.), it's completely obvious.
And as for being handy with repairs, that's all fine and dandy. However, people have to do what makes them money. By performing additional duties at work, I can easily up my pay. (In fact, I paid cash for the Ranger, with several thousand left to pay student loans down). I'm not going to spend hours trying to fiddle with a bad car when I could spend that time making money doing what I've best at.
It's like this. My father is a homebuilder and very good at it. A few years ago, he took time off work to replace his roof. After three days, he had it half way done. And then he started thinking about it and called a roofer to finish the job (in eight hours, at a big savings). You see, sometimes you save money by doing what YOU do best and letting experts handle your self-help projects.
Sincerely,
Scott
