Maintain me
I took my car in the other day for its "30,000" mile check-up. The whole idea of a check-up for cars is mildly humorous to me because until recently I NEVER owned a car with less than 80,000 miles on it and "check-up" then meant, "the car isn't running and I need to pay $1,000 to fix it".
But, with a new car, I am a bit more involved in the whole "maintenance" thing. That is really a foreign word to the herewegoagains...let's face it, our first car never needed an oil change, because its chronic oil leak was so bad that we basically changed the oil in five days after adding our daily quarts.
The thing I don't actually get is that we are spending money for a perfectly good, running-well, new car to be "checked-out". I mean, I do it, because I'm afraid, I'm very afraid. But let's run some numbers here....
15,000 mile check-up---$300.00
30,000 mile check-up---$300.00
60,000 mile check-up---$300.00.
That adds up to $1,200.
Not checking anything...timing belt breaks at 65,000 miles....$1,000.
See? We would be ahead if we didn't maintain it.
This is true in all areas of the herewegoagain house. We spend $4.00 per a/c filter change. That is semi-monthly, so it adds up to around $100 a year. After 10 years, that's $1,000...once again, the cost of a really good reconditioning of the a/c. Why spend the money?
And while I'm at this, I would just like to apologize to the state of Texas for the current drought. Mr. herewegoagain built us a new well house. For the first time in years, we actually did get around to putting a roof on it, but we still worried about the well electrical components getting wet, anyway. SO, the little well house is very attractively swathed in tarps, garbage bags, old vinyl tablecloths...let me tell you, it is DRY in there. Of course, it has not rained once since we encased it in every kind of plastic we could find around the place. Had we foregone that bit of "maintenance", we would be a very green state by now...and the herewegoagains would have the electrician's phone number memorized along with the mechanic's and tow-truck company's.
We also never had winter this year. That's because the kids' old comforters are keeping the pipes warm. For once.
SO, really, maintenance is a bad thing. Just wait till it breaks, and buy the new thing you would have had to buy anyway. Or something like that. I hope I've typed this correctly because the computer is doing weird things...what? You're supposed to maintain it?
But, with a new car, I am a bit more involved in the whole "maintenance" thing. That is really a foreign word to the herewegoagains...let's face it, our first car never needed an oil change, because its chronic oil leak was so bad that we basically changed the oil in five days after adding our daily quarts.
The thing I don't actually get is that we are spending money for a perfectly good, running-well, new car to be "checked-out". I mean, I do it, because I'm afraid, I'm very afraid. But let's run some numbers here....
15,000 mile check-up---$300.00
30,000 mile check-up---$300.00
60,000 mile check-up---$300.00.
That adds up to $1,200.
Not checking anything...timing belt breaks at 65,000 miles....$1,000.
See? We would be ahead if we didn't maintain it.
This is true in all areas of the herewegoagain house. We spend $4.00 per a/c filter change. That is semi-monthly, so it adds up to around $100 a year. After 10 years, that's $1,000...once again, the cost of a really good reconditioning of the a/c. Why spend the money?
And while I'm at this, I would just like to apologize to the state of Texas for the current drought. Mr. herewegoagain built us a new well house. For the first time in years, we actually did get around to putting a roof on it, but we still worried about the well electrical components getting wet, anyway. SO, the little well house is very attractively swathed in tarps, garbage bags, old vinyl tablecloths...let me tell you, it is DRY in there. Of course, it has not rained once since we encased it in every kind of plastic we could find around the place. Had we foregone that bit of "maintenance", we would be a very green state by now...and the herewegoagains would have the electrician's phone number memorized along with the mechanic's and tow-truck company's.
We also never had winter this year. That's because the kids' old comforters are keeping the pipes warm. For once.
SO, really, maintenance is a bad thing. Just wait till it breaks, and buy the new thing you would have had to buy anyway. Or something like that. I hope I've typed this correctly because the computer is doing weird things...what? You're supposed to maintain it?
posted by herewegoagain at
11:47 AM
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