No Brainer

In March 2001 I treated myself to a birthday present. My cousin had a Jetta and I was amazed by all the options the of VW at that price. So I test drove the car a bought a silver bullet. Couldn't stop there...changed the suspension and added 18" rims with low profile tires. The stereo needed no upgrading, because VW has a great sound system. Because this was a new model and body style, the VW sales people would actually come outside to see the car when I came in for service (New model, customized, but not overboard).

Ten Years Later

Fast forward 10 years and my need to impress everyone who sees me driving down the road is at a lifetime low. Basically, been there done that. Repairs...there's nothing easy or cheap about fixing a VW. All the parts that need repairing are tucked well inside the engine and require hours of labor. At $99/hour, mechanic labor on an import car ain't cheap. Every trip to the mechanic was a car payment and the number of trips were becoming more frequent.

Civics lesson

This isn't your ordinary civics lesson, nor does this have anything to do with education. A month ago I sold the Passat for $2000 and bought a 2002 Civic for $5000. As some used cars would have it, the Civic took all that $2000 to become reliable and ready for the road. It still aint no peach but it gets me from point A to B. I had plans to do minor cosmetic repairs, paint the exterior and add rims to the civic. Let's just say that I installed a stereo, four speakers and had the window tinted, nada mas. Since all the bumps and bruises are on the passenger side and I rarely go over there, no more repairs needed. Out of sight out of mind. Rims...yeah right. As stated previously, been there done that.

The No Brainer

The Passat had a 14 gallon tank, which had to be filled every week, with Super Unleaded. The Civic's tank is 10 gallons, which I fill every two weeks with regular unleaded. The passat gas bill was approximately $2,800 annually. The civic will cost me $949. That's already an $1800 savings.

No so happy ending

We also bought a used 2001 Yukon fit for a presidential motorcade, but we'll use it for the twins and mommy to ride in. I couldn't have momma and babies in no Smart car, tin can. So all the gas calculations will be poured into that beast. For a brief moment, I thought some extra pocket change was coming my way.