Mr.Goodwrench

This afternoon I am about to change the front brake pads on one of my cars. This particular car has had to be repaired several times in recent weeks. I use this car for business and for a part time job of delivering pizzas. And surprisingly enough, it does run good for a 9 year old car that has seen over 60,000 miles in only ONE YEAR!

Of course all of that driving takes a heavy toll. I had to replace the alternator last week ($140). The radiator cooling fan last month ($50 replacement part from a local junk yard) and now the front brakes were squealing so I will replace those today. ($11). Also I am close to needing 4 new tires for the second time on this car. Again, I drive a minimum of 1,000 miles a week on this car, so I have to really keep up on the maintence. Overall my experience is not bad with this car. To save money I do as much of the repair and maintence as possible myself.

Since I drive mostly General Motors vehicles, you can call me Mr. Goodwrench!

I bought this GM car, a 1996 Oldsmobile Achevia SC (2-door) for only $900 last year in a rush because of a 10 year old (Nissan) pickup truck whos engine died at 175,000 miles. The $900 Oldsmobile only had 85,000 miles on it when I bought in November, 2004. That car now has 148,566 and despite having to replace a few parts in recent months, I think this little car is holding up pretty well. If you don't know this car, it is basically the same thing as a Grand Am.

I do have a "good" car, one that looks nice and I don't like to put too much mileage on it. And if I could finally catch up on my bills without emergencies popping up I will finally get a new engine in my truck. I kinda like my cute little pickup. And would like to drive it again and maybe even add a couple of nice tricks to it. Nothing extravagant. Just some larger tires and to raise the profile a couple inches. Maybe even a nice bedliner and tool box on the back. Sounds kinda butch doesn't it? Well, thats the way I really like my truck. Functional and attractive at the same time.

I really want a new Chevy truck. If the gas prices were lower I'd surely get a Silverado, but I fell in love with the new Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon trucks. I rented one for a couple of weeks earlier this year to check them out and was really impressed. But there is no way in hell that I will ever get into making monthly car payments again after my last car purchase. So the new truck is a very long way in my future. Better get my still good looking old truck back on the road for a few more years.