Together We Can Rebuild....Nick's Transmission

On September 12, I started my car to go run an errand, and I immediately noticed a whirring sound that I had not heard from my car the previous evening. About 10 minutes later, my car slipped out of gear at a stop light. I immediately turn around to head back home. After 20 white-knuckle minutes of my car alternately slipping in and out of gear and a subsequent loss of power on hilly California terrain - twice of which happened in large intersections that almost got me rear-ended both times - I barely managed to get it back.

After towing my car to a trusted mechanic, they reported that my transmission fluid was black and thicker than normal, and the transmission itself also had significant mechanical damage. As a result, my transmission will need to be rebuilt at a cost of $4850.

I began to investigate my options, as the COVID-19 pandemic has me furloughed from my job as a live audio engineer, and my income was basically nil . To my dismay, I discovered that my auto insurance did not offer mechanical breakdown coverage as I had previously thought it did, and had stopped offering loan gap insurance in the event that I needed to total my car. My banks were not willing to refinance my auto loan to help me cover the cost, as I had no consistent income. My girlfriend is currently unable to contribute, as she is relying on assistance from her family to keep our bills paid while she waits to hear back from better-paying jobs.

This leaves me in the position I am in now, and why I'm asking for your help.

My Dad is being wonderfully generous, and is willing to contribute $1850 towards the repair cost. This leaves me with a more manageable, but still huge, cost of $3000. I am requesting $3100 here, since I want to offset the fees that GoFundMe will require for hosting this campaign.

With pandemic-related restrictions in California and Orange County in the early stages of easing towards a state that would allow me to return to work, it is feasible that I could return to work in as little as a month from now. My job requires a 60 mile round trip commute, at a bare minimum of twice a week under normal scheduling. I cannot rely on having access to my girlfriend's car and, with a job change hopefully occurring in the near future for her, her hours may not line up in a way that allows her to work and at least one of us to be home for child care.

This means that I must find a way to pay for the repair in a month's time, to be sure that I am not prevented from going to work once it becomes available to me again.

I understand that we are all going through a incredibly wild and uneasy year, and that money is tight for everyone. Any contribution, no matter how small, will get me closer to getting my car cruising again, and allow me to continue to bettering our financial situation. Know that I ask this of you with great humility, as I am incredibly uncomfortable with asking for money from anyone. That said, I realize that the odds are against me and that, in order to not get into a worse situation than  I'm already in, I must act decisively.

On behalf of myself, my girlfriend, and my stepson, I deeply thank you for your help. I sincerely hope that you are all staying safe and healthy, and I very much look forward to the time that I can see all of you again face-to-face to repay you for your generosity.