Sigh

I just got back from a day of sitting around and waiting. First I had an eye exam, and got the good news that my eyes had actually improved! The bad news: I still needed new glasses. My old ones were now too strong and were throwing off my eyes’ coordination. I tried to pick out a new frame, but Hambet had had enough waiting during the exam. So off to feed Hambet, then back to pick out new frames.
At least the salesman was helpful — when I came in and announced, “I want a cheap pair of glasses that look like my old ones,” he was able to find a pair. Then off to sit and wait for them to get finished. The mall has a little play space in its center, so I turned Hambet loose and went back to waiting.
Back to pick up the glasses, and then off to the next stop: getting the oil changed in the car. My timing worked well, and Hambet slept while we waited.
He was just waking up and getting restless when the car guy came in with that “I don’t have good news” look on his face. It’s the power steering. It leaks, in several places. They are recommending replacing a high-pressure hose and the rack (apparently you can’t just replace the leaky part anymore.) It will be a big pile of money.
I hate making decisions like this. Our car is a ’97 with almost 85,000 miles on it. It’s also paid for, and I like paid for. If we make this repair it will be good for a lot longer — I’d love to be able to crack 100,000 on it.
On the other hand, our car is a sedan. If we ever had another child, it would be difficult to get another car seat in there, and we would never be able to carry a passenger.
But then, it’s not at all certain that we’ll ever need to get another car seat in there.

8 comments

  1. you know that if you like your old glasses, you can always just have new lenses put in the old frames, right?
    best of luck with the car. i like paid for, too!

  2. I would fix the car. But then I got 265,000 miles out of my 1991 Chevy Lumina Van before I was forced to junk it last summer.
    When you need the other car seat, the right car will come along.
    Still praying for your reproductive chances!
    BTW – I will be back from my Milwaukee trip at noon on 6/13. I am hoping to meet up with Karen Marie while I am out there if I can make the connections.

  3. We’ve gotten 111,000 miles so far out of our 1996 Ford Windstar. It’s paid for and still going, though we’ve decided not to take it beyond a 20-mile radius of a repair shop we like, so it’s basically an around-town-mobile. (I recently rented for an out-of-town trip that required a minivan.)
    Alicia’s story is very encouraging. If one can get 265k out of a ’91 American car (I consider Ford and GM to be about the same for longevity and reliability — i.e., low on both), then I guess there’s hope for the Windstar.
    My other car is a Toyota. So will be all our future cars.

  4. Sympathies on the car woes. My Suburban is at 154k and not doing well. I am very dubious about its chances of making it to 160k without serious repairs. And it’s not even paid off yet! Hubby wants to buy a truck for our next vehicle, but that reduces seating and leaves us with no vehicle that can seat all of us at once. So I’m pretty much exasperated by the whole thing, and I’m leaving it up to him. Whatever he brings home, I’ll drive, and if it breaks down, I’m calling him to come fix it. 🙂
    And I will pray for you, hon. I know how frustrating it is.

  5. smock — I tried just replacing the lenses, but the old frames were too worn out. I need to take better care of this pair. At least now I’ve got a backup pair, which I didn’t before (my old “backup pair” was in terrible shape.)
    alicia — 265K!!! WOW! ps email pending.
    Cacc — 111K on your Windstar? oh, that is encouraging. I love Toyotas and am working my way through the Toyota life cycle: first a Corolla, and now a Camry. I wish they still made Camry station wagons, but they have been replaced by the Highlander. If we ever get our minivan I will be begging for a Sienna.
    Oh, Lynn, how frustrating to still be paying on that car. And a Suburban does seem like a good choice for hauling the Tribe around.

  6. Keep the car. If God does bless you with another child, you will be able to fit another car seat in the car. We’ve got two car seats in a smaller car – same year – with more than 1.5 times the miles on it. If yours is a Toyota it should last you a long time… much longer than 100k.
    Praying for you!

  7. My husband tells me the Checker cab (the fourth to last in service in NYC, 7A70 as seen on postcards and here) that we rode away from church after our wedding had 1.2 million miles on it. It had only had either 2 replacement engines and 3 replacement transmissions or vice versa. And it still runs fine. I’m not sure what all that means, but it should be encouraging, right?

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