white_elephant

[opabinia]

Oh, man.

To summarize: saturniidae has taken the Money Pit Buick for a prolonged test drive, and concluded that she is uninterested in taking it off my hands. Can't say I blame her, considering the fucker has a LEAKY FUEL TANK. Jesus. I didn't notice before, because I assumed the nasty smell was 1) old engine goo burning off, when I first bought it, then 2) bodywork smell, after Auto Rust Ripoff Techs* had their way with my wallet.

Right now, the white elephant is sleeping at the Shell station on the corner, waiting for a used (but patent!) fuel tank transplant. This will run about $175, according to the nice mechanic man.

After this, I'm going to foist the beast on some local Tufty. I can see the poster now:

LOOKS UGLY.
RUNS GOOD.
YOU BUY CAR NOW.

Yeah, I lost a lot of money here. No, I'm not keeping the car. There's more rust under there, and I'm not dropping another dime on it. It's not threatening, structurally, but it's ugly. Besides: after this ordeal, I would begrudge the poor rustbomb gasoline, never mind repairs and modifications.

I'm starting fresh. Step 1: Get a job in the private sector, so you can afford this.








It's gonna be a while.

*****
* Never, ever ask a body shop if a car is worth repairing. Of course it is, to them.