MIL bought my son a car but...

[carhill]

Have your brother test drive it and do a quick examination. Someone who knows cars can easily tell the difference between major issues and minor ones, often evidenced by symptoms the casual owner might be very disturbed by. This is one of those instances where experience is necessary to assess.

 

I could probably do such a test and exam in under 30 minutes and it'd be pretty accurate. Some of us just "feel" machines because we've been intimate with them for so many years (decades in my case)

[mopar crazy]

Have your brother test drive it and do a quick examination. Someone who knows cars can easily tell the difference between major issues and minor ones, often evidenced by symptoms the casual owner might be very disturbed by. This is one of those instances where experience is necessary to assess.

 

I could probably do such a test and exam in under 30 minutes and it'd be pretty accurate. Some of us just "feel" machines because we've been intimate with them for so many years (decades in my case)

 

H was going to take it to him yesterday but overslept so it didn't get done. I personally do not want to drive it so I don't want to take it out there. I will had H take it out next week. I hate feeling this way about his car but I can't help it.

 

I already owe my little brother over $300 for my cars tires, I can't really afford to keep adding to that bill. He was nice enough to let it go until I went back to work (laid off this summer) so the bill wasn't paid on for a month. I had my tires put on in July.

 

I am just freaked out how much is wrong w/ it and what needs to be repaired or replaced.

[carhill]

One step at a time. Freak out tomorrow

 

Bake some cookies for the gang at brother's shop. Mechs love cookies

[Ariadne]

Yeah,

 

You have to take it to the mechanic.

 

Maybe it's nothing, especially since the BIL didn't drive it much.

 

Just take care of it.

[mopar crazy]

One step at a time. Freak out tomorrow

 

Bake some cookies for the gang at brother's shop. Mechs love cookies

 

I will freak out next week, lol. H bought ds a steering wheel cover today that he really liked. While they were out in the car H had him turn the car on, don't know why. I heard a bunch of dinging and it wasn't the usual "keys in the car, door open, etc" dinging. I asked what it was and it was the electric radio antenna. it must make that noise when it goes up and down. Well, the stupid thing wont go all the way down. NICE! I am not going to worry about that, if that is the worst that is wrong w/ it I will be happy. I also noticed last night that one of the old owners had tinted the rear back window. It is extremely blurry. I told H him and ds need to take it off. Do you know if they sale window tint remover? If not I can ask my brother's employee, he tints windows as a side job. I must say he does an awesome job. He did my van I had years ago and it was the best tinting job I ever had. Still have to make time to get my car done.

 

Dd is 13 and will be learning to drive soon. She refuses to drive that car, can't say I blame her.

[carhill]

RE: radio antenna.... if it's anything like the one in my wife's Acura, it's a mast with a long, toothed nylon snake at the end which goes through a little gearmotor and winds up in a housing, in her car in the rear fenderwell, accessible through through the trunk. I've replaced the thing twice. The part costs around 20 bucks. The nylon usually breaks. If the whip isn't the right one for your motor, or the mast is gummed, it'll make clicking noises at the step clutch in the motor releases due to the overload.

 

Tip: When you wash the car, raise the antenna and clean the mast thoroughly. It's dust and dirt which causes drag on the metal and stress on the nylon whip which causes premature failure.

 

RE: tinting.... IMO, it's better to leave that to someone who does it professionally, like the guy at brother's shop. He has access to the proper removal chemicals and tools. I have chemicals in the shop that will dissolve almost anything, including your skin but they're best used by someone who knows what they'll do and not do. Bake those cookies

[mopar crazy]

Thanks for the tips car! I looked under ds car as H said the exhaust pipe had rusted and came apart from the rest of the exhaust. Yep, he was right, it's just hanging there all rusted. No wonder the car is so loud. H said he would take it in this week to my brother. Great, more money I'm going to have to shell out.

 

I was deleting old emails today and found the one from my mil about the car. In her email it states she is happy to help out getting him a car but she would like us to pay her back. WTF? How did I miss that part? I am not using our money (H and I ) for this POS car! Yes, H does use it for work until ds is ready to drive it but I didn't agree to this car. If I would have known we would have to pay on it b4 ds got a job I would have said NO! Maybe I would have gotten a Honda Accord, but I would have made sure it was in good, mechanical shape b4 I bought it.

 

I am in no way blaming H's uncle for this car needing so much work. I am blaming my MIL for not asking him to have it checked out by a certified mechanic first b4 he sold it to her, well, us.

 

Sorry I sound bitchy, just a little ticked right now.

[security]

my mom did the same thing to my brother, i dont think he even asked her to buy him a car, she just wanted to buy it, so she bought it from some people who get it from an auction and fix it up and sell it. she just brought it home one day and she made him pay her back too. it is bull, knowing how my mom is i wouldnt trust her, she will do something for her kids only if there's something in it for her. she will then act as if she went out of her way to help u and if you dont take it your ungrateful. my brother never got to pick the car yet he had to pay for it. he took it though because that was his only chance to get and keep a job and to go to school and get away from home. he id pay off the car too. i think that if your son needs a car and he needs it to get around and he has no other choice than take it. if he can a wait a little while and still make it around town relatively easily without a car, and he can save for the type of car he wants then do that instead of taking the honda. i mean honestly your mothe in law is not really doing this for your son, she doing it so that people with think she is so nice, and wonderful, she wants people to look at her a certain way. if your son doesnt really want and he can save for his own and he is patient, then just tell your mil thanks but no thanks, why should he pay for something he doesnt want anyway?

[nopainnogain]

When I was 19 my 29 yearold milf FWB bought me a 1990 jeep cherokee:cool:

[Jilly Bean]

I am blaming my MIL for not asking him to have it checked out by a certified mechanic first b4 he sold it to her, well, us.

 

Sorry I sound bitchy, just a little ticked right now.

 

I STILL vote to give the car back. I said that from the get go, Mopar, and now that the car is proving to be a lemon, I wouldn't sink a DIME into it, but would make the MIL's BIL take the car back. This is ridiculous, really.

 

Give the car back, and let your son pick out his own car.

 

Lesson learned to the meddling MIL and to you, for not rejecting the car outright. I wouldn't have been as courteous and accepting.

 

*When is a gift not a gift? lol*

[mopar crazy]

I STILL vote to give the car back. I said that from the get go, Mopar, and now that the car is proving to be a lemon, I wouldn't sink a DIME into it, but would make the MIL's BIL take the car back. This is ridiculous, really.

 

Give the car back, and let your son pick out his own car.

 

Lesson learned to the meddling MIL and to you, for not rejecting the car outright. I wouldn't have been as courteous and accepting.

 

*When is a gift not a gift? lol*

 

OMG, my MIL would have a ***** fit if I gave it back. Besides H wont b/c he said he would use it as a work car as we live 20 miles from work. He has a Dodge pickup but it gets terrible gas mileage needless to say. I really don't get a say in this at all.

There is no real reason why son has to have a car until Spring, if even then. I take my kids to school every morning on my way to work. They are usually in some kind of sports so they have practice until 5:00 and then I pick them up. He is in golf next year and the course is across town and not walking distance so he would need to get there. However I know other parents would be nice enough to offer him a ride. He can't drive the car to work, just school and school functions he is participating in.

 

We took the car out to my brothers and he fixed the pipe so it sounds A LOT better. They guy that does the window tinting took the nasty tint off the back window so that is much better. All three of the mechanics said it was a pretty nice little car for a 91, which surprised me.

It does need new tires though. My mil told H to not worry about making a couple months car payments on it and use that money to put on new tires. Ok, when did it come up that WE have to use our money to pay for this car? I thought it was the understanding that my son would start paying on it when he got a job? And now we have to pay $800 a year for insurance. This is why I wanted my son to get a job b4 he jumped into getting a car. His friend has worked a few hours a week for the last year and has saved over $2,000 for a car but he is still saving. That is what I wanted my son to do. I did it, there was no reason he couldn't. I saved for a car and when I had enough for a down payment I got a car and my dad co-signed for me. I had to put gas in it, and I had to pay car insurance. So now instead of son paying for some of this car, some of the car insurance, and part of the gas WE have to. This is why I wanted to wait until he got a job b4 I decided to get him a car.

[Jilly Bean]

I really dislike your MIL, but I really like your parenting skills.

 

I still think it blows that you are stuck with this car and situation that you never asked for.

 

At the least, I would make it a point to let her know how WRONG it was for her get involved. Tell her you appreciate the effort, but to never do this again. I think if you don't establish some boundaries, she will continue to meddle and feel entitled to "help" your family.

[mopar crazy]

I really dislike your MIL, but I really like your parenting skills.

I still think it blows that you are stuck with this car and situation that you never asked for.

 

At the least, I would make it a point to let her know how WRONG it was for her get involved. Tell her you appreciate the effort, but to never do this again. I think if you don't establish some boundaries, she will continue to meddle and feel entitled to "help" your family.

 

Thanks Jilly!!! I try my best but sometimes I don't always make the right choices either. By far not a perfect parent.

 

I just had a dream last night about this car. I had a dream that H took it into my brother for a complete check and my brother found tons of things wrong w/ it. H called and said what was all wrong w/ it and it wasn't worth pumping all the money into it so we were just going to part it out, lol.

 

It has had a check and it will need a timing belt soon. He repaired some exhaust work on it and it sounds 100% better.

 

The guy that works for my brother does tinting work so he removed the tint off the back window that was causing vision problems, it was all blurry. I wasn't expecting him to do it that day but as soon as my H pulled in he brought out his tint removing tools and started taking it off. It didn't take long and looks so much better.

 

I have finally came to terms w/ this car. It's been saving a lot of money on fuel.