Gremlin Grievances

For about a week, I liked the car I purchased. I actually gave it a name - like a kid does with a goldfish. I named it "Gremlin," and just like a goldfish, it died soon after.

The Gremlin is my first car - a 1999 Dodge Intrepid - and it was a "steal" - or so I thought.

Apparently, a 2.7 liter engine is as good as dog poop - that and its capacity to retain oil. Blithely unaware I was cruising around in a virtual time bomb, I felt confident in my green low-rider for all of three minutes - the time it took for me to wave goodbye to the dealer, Tim of Tim's Auto, and turn on the radio to realize the speakers were out and the passenger window wasn't rolling down.

I swallowed the anxiety-ridden consumer's cries within me, screaming, "You were had!! Take it back now before you're desperate, stranded and crying on the side of the road somewhere!" I got used to ignoring these stomach-churning thoughts until one day my car did leave me desperate, stranded and crying on the side of the road...in the rain. And yet somehow, through the down poor, my engine continued to chug heavy smoke from under the hood. Two hours later, I arrived home, thanked the Russian gas station attendant who agreed to drive me and called up Tim to plead my case.

But instead of the premeditated speech of wrath I had prepared to deliver to him from a safe distance over the phone, I instead spoke woefully about my inabilities to keep a car on life support. He agreed to fix it for a discount and only charged me $500 - yay! The anxious consumer within me nearly suffered cardiac arrest that day.

Six months later, my car was like the child of an estranged couple, spending weekdays with me and weekends in the garage of Tim's. At this point, I didn't hate Tim, I hated my luck.

And then I decided to do something about it. I poured good money into my car, fixed it up as best I could, learned from Tim the few maintenance procedures it might need in time - and made the decision to sell my car on Craigslist. I've been honest about its mileage - it's no spring chicken, it's new parts and known problems - and I priced it low enough to interest buyers and high enough to help me purchase a new car. I've had several interested individuals so I'll keep you posted about the Gremlin's status. But if all goes accordingly, in about a weeks time I should be singing - Goodbye, Gremlin, Goodbye - free to do the whole rigamarole again.