Emergency Funds Needed To Replace My Car's Engine

Hello to everyone who's clicked the link to read this and thank you so much for taking the time to do so. I have found myself in a major pinch with little options... one option really.

My 2018 Honda Accord, which I bought only two years old with 36K miles thinking I was buying the most reliable car on the lot and making the best decision ever, is in sudden and dire need of a whole new engine. Go figure. So much for my stellar choice.

I found out a few months back from a local mechanic who scanned the codes on my vehicle that it was having a cylinder misfiring issue. At that time it had been losing acceleration power every once in awhile but it wasn't often and I would just pull over to restart it and it would drive fine again. Since it otherwise felt ok and was only having this issue every once in awhile, not to mention I didn't have the funds to take care of the issue just yet, I decided to drive it to LA last month for a week's worth of work I had booked down there thinking it woud be ok to wait a few weeks till I had the money to take care of this problem.

About an hour outside of LA it started acting really funny. It was suddenly losing power very frequently. I lost count of how many times I had to pull over and restart it. It also suddenly couldn't go full speed. It would max out at 40-60mph, I could only get it to freeway speed if I put it in low gear and gradually increased the acceleration over several minutes.

My brother advised me to turn around and go home but I knew I couldn't make that month's rent with the week of work in LA I had planned plus it was only an hour's drive to LA and 4 hours to get home at that point so I decided to stick it out driving in the slow lane with my hazards on till I got to where I was staying in Santa Clarita. I paid to rent a car for the week in LA, hoping that it had only been having a problem making the long drive and that letting it sit for several days might miraculously make it have an easier time when I started it again.

I started it a few times just while it was parked during my week in LA just to see how it was doing and it was suddenly making a horrendous noise that it hadn't been making before. I rented a car for the week in LA but knew I had to drive my car home as I could not afford a 5 hour tow by any means. I was terrrified it wouldn't make it and that I'd be stuck on the side of the freeway in the middle of the night with no options but I babied it the whole way and made it home in about 7 hours time.

I took it into the dealershp the next day and they discovered that the head is completely shot which is what's making the noise and that there was a leak in the coolant sytem that was blowing air into the engine and exacerbating the problem significantly. I have absolutely exhausted myself looking into my options and getting advice from as many mechanics and car knowleadgle people as I can.

I am shocked to find out that replacing the engine is really my only option. I thought of selling it or getting the trade in value but I still owe $17K on the loan and with the problems it has no one is going to give me much for it so I'd end up with a higher debt and nothing to put down on another vehicle. I have never had much of a savings and have lived very hand to mouth most of my life thus far. The warranty on my engine expired last year and I did not buy the extended warranty thinking my car was totally reliable. The local mechanics I have talked to originally wanted to do the work for me but have had a hard time locating a used Honda Accord engine. Apparently they're in high demand which is surprising for such a reputable vehicle. They have since recommended that I get the work done at the dealership since I'm in a time crunch and need my car to be operating again asap.

My brother has thankfully been generous enough to let me borrow his car while I'm figuring this out but that has an end date to it of course before it starts becoming very inconvenient for him and its already been a few weeks so I need to get the work done asap. Most of you that have known me for any length of time know that I have been very reliant on public transit for most of my life and have traveled quite a distance for my work regulary despite that. That is not even an option where I live anymore as my home is in a very rural area nowhere near a regular transit route.

The dealership was able to locate a used engine with low miles that is still under warranty (I'll definitely be opting for the extended warranty after this ordeal) that they can put into my car but it is going to cost me almost $8,000. I finally got a price quote back from them yesterday. My parents are in no postion to help financially but my dad has been kind enough to start doing landscaping on my property which my landlord is giving me a rent discount for and is allowing me to save more money towards this expense than I'd otherwise be able to. I am set to have about $2,000 set aside for it in the next few weeks but I still need to come up with another $6,000 to get my vehicle operating again. Not doing so would completely impede my livelihood and I don't even know what I would do in that case. I'd be out of options.

It took me a lot to come to this decision of starting a GoFundMe as I have never been very comfortable asking for help and self-reliance has been very deeply ingrained in my psyche throughout my life. I am reaching out to my community for help in this matter. Any donation you could afford to throw my way would be appreciated beyond measure! I'd be grateful for even five dollars and every dollar would make a difference.

If you'd like to make your donation as a deposit toward future work with me, I am more than happy to accomodate that. If that is the case then please message me privately or email me about that. Also please keep in mind that I will still need to cover my bills in the future so any deposits towards future work will need to be 50% deposits rather than 100% deposits. And if you simply feel like giving out of the goodness of your heart, in any amount, I will be immensely grateful to receive it.

With my deepest appreciation, thank you all.

Jenn