Dave's New Engine

If you've been following along, you know that for the past two years, my regular car the Jeep (aka the Flying Dutchman) has been on its way out the door. It's got 230,000 mi on it, and generally, the term "shit box" fits pretty well.

So I saved for those two years, used part of a small settlement from when I was a kid and got a new car. With covid, the car market is upside down, but I managed to find something that looked pretty good. Seem to be in excellent condition, the interior was great, and it met all of the things that I had decided I needed in a car. The adventure vehicle for the next few years had been found, and it was a tremendous relief. It looked like May 2022 would be the most fantastic month of backcountry adventure I had ever been blessed with.

I had to take out a small loan despite how much I had saved. Before I bought it, I inspected it twice, once by a Subaru specialist. Both people told me that it was a great buy and there was nothing significantly wrong with it to be worried about.

I got a 500-mile limited warranty from the dealer that if anything were to happen within 500 miles, they would have to pay for part of it. 500 mi came and went, and right around the 600 mi mark; the engine died - May took a sharp and precipitous nosedive.

Maybe I could have done better research to know that in 2012 Subaru foresters tended to have engine problems and needed replacements around 80,000 mi. My car is at 75,000 mi.

I was told that the repairs would be over $7,000, which almost precisely doubles what I would owe on the car if I were to take out a loan. Since I currently work three jobs at 46 hours a week and I'm a full-time college student figuring out a way to make enough income to make that payment is daunting.

I think that this is the next best option. Just see what people can help with - nobody's particularly thriving right now I don't think. Whatever you can give will go a tremendous distance. I've received tremendous support from my online circles in the past, so I decided that reaching out in this way is one of many different financial solutions I will implement. I don't think I've ever had the financial rug pulled from under me in this way. I'm now responsible for more bills than ever before, and this is a very large disruption in the trajectory of my next few years.

If you can help, I will be unbelievably grateful - If you can't trust me, I understand. It seems that the world only gets more and more challenging to navigate, and we are all just trying to stay on top.