Cheap vs. Thrifty: Having a Fingers Crossed Car

This might just tip us over to the cheap side of the spectrum.... up until recently we had what I called a "fingers crossed car."  You know, I cross my fingers it will get us where we want to go without breaking down.  It was a hand-me-down from my dad - he gave it to me when my mom upgraded and he got her hand-me-down a couple of years ago.  We call him Diego, because at the time we got him we had a purple Ford Explorer (another hand-me-down) that I called Dora. 

Since I can walk to work we really only need one car.  Occasionally we do need two, and that is where Diego came in.  Unfortunately for him, we have decided not to put the money into getting him through the New York State inspection this year.  For the past two years he has stumped the mechanics and they can't figure out what is making the "check engine" light be on.  The mechanics ultimately give up and get it so it turned off long enough to pass inspection, but it came back on during the drive home.  It was an expensive process both times however, so we decided we'd rather put the money into a new car.  Or maybe we'll just drop down to one car for awhile and save the money. At various points we have had only one and we managed just fine.

Diego's future is the same as Dora's fate: auctioned off and the proceeds go to charity (we picked the U.S. Humane Society).   It was an easy process last time, USHS arranged everything and the auction company came and picked up Dora while we were at work.  A few weeks later we got a receipt for the tax purposes - USHS got 80% and 20% went to the auction company.  Now every time I see that model purple explorer I wonder if it is Dora.

Overall, Diego has been a reliable car.  He's only broken down on us once and although he might be ugly (and a bit smelly), he could still last a long time.  Hopefully he'll have a new life with someone else who really needs him.

Bye Bye Diego.