Help Single Mom Stay Safe and Keep Her Job

Hello to everyone, I am asking for a huge helping hand. Not only for myself but also for my 2 sons. Aiden is 9 years old and Deacon is 6 years old. We’ve been unable to leave our little apartment for the past month. The car I own is unsafe and I shouldn’t be driving it anymore. I’ve risked my safety to get to and from work, but I am no longer able to do so. The car in question is a Mazda CX-9 2012 that has roughly 81,560 miles on it. (That the current payoff is $7,488.10) What could go wrong?

One Shaky SUV

It all started with a shaking that happened while I was driving. It wasn’t the whole drive, only at 40 MPH it would start vibrating the entire car. Had an appointment a week away at “A” repair shop. The day before I was dropping it off, the check engine light came on. Repair shop “A’ said that my tie rods need to be replaced and I would need an alignment. The check engine light was a dirty oil sensor, probably needed an oil change. I went to get the car due to not having the means to transport myself to and from work otherwise. Did the oil change at an oil change shop and they noticed my coolant was low.

December

By December 12th I noticed that my heat was blowing but no heat. I was advised to add coolant. It should be fine. Yes, I had heat, for a day or two. I started keeping 2 gallons of coolant in the car for emergencies. December 19th, I had a puddle under my car in the afternoon after not driving it all day. I put in roughly 3 gallons of coolant since the oil change at the beginning of December. I was told my car should not be driven. Doing research I thought it was a blown head gasket and called around to see who could fix it. Many repair shops said no, repair shop “B” said they would be able to look at it but had no openings until Jan 7th. December 27th was able to push on the underside of the engine, to see an engine’s water break. Went to an oil change shop, they noticed the coolant in the oil said it was a blown head gasket, and said that I shouldn’t be driving it.

January Hope?

Repair shop “B” said I needed a new engine. It would be around $7,000 and the engine they found had 140,000 miles. Another repair shop “C” was willing to tow it to their location, to look at due to the owner’s wife’s Mazda 2011 needing the SAME FIX. A replacement water pump and I would be able to drive safely, I had hope. Got the call on the 13th that it was beyond repair. I would be lucky to get scrap for trading in, which is unfortunate. With payoff being $7,500 roughly. On the 19th, I was stranded on the side of the road, in a car with no heat at 13 degrees. I am grateful my boys weren’t with me. The drive was 10 minutes away to a dealership to discuss my options.

Definitely a Need

I need a vehicle to be able to pick up Deacon. He has an IEP through his school. Often I get phone calls to pick him up, he is unable to take the bus. I work as a pharmacy technician, specifically within a compliance packaging team. I am unable to do any of my work from home. Not having the reliability and independence of a vehicle has hindered me in more ways than one.

Finance and Options

I tried renting a car for 5 days. That just put me further away from being able to handle my monthly bills and expenses. I’ve missed days of work due to a lack of transportation. My credit score took a hit when I took out a personal loan I thought I could fix the Mazda with, which I paid back immediately after not doing the engine replacement. I have maxed out my credit card and have enough in my account to cover the bills for the next week. The best option I have is to pay off the Mazda with as close to $7,500 as I can get. And take the $1,500 trade-in towards a new vehicle. I am unable to roll over the remainder of the $4,500 into a used vehicle loan with the prices being increased by $2-$6,000 already. The bank said the vehicle would have to have the extra equity in it in order for me to roll it into a new loan. For example, 15k car and I owe 4k more, the value of the car is at 17k. I would NOT be able to do it, there is only 2k to roll into the new one.

Any help would be very much appreciated and change our world in the right direction. Thank you.