Around 18 months ago, I bought a GMC Yukon because I wanted a large, safe car to drive my kids and dog around in. This was a big investment for me, but I saved up and paid cash for it out of my checking account because I wanted to make sure I had the vehicle I needed.
Since I always drive my vehicles into the ground and I intended to keep the car for at least a decade or longer, I didn’t mind fitting the cost into my personal finances.
However, I’m now considering actually selling the car — which would require me to take a big financial loss. Here’s why.
This is why I’m thinking of getting rid of my car
The reason I am considering getting rid of my car is that it has turned out to not be the reliable vehicle I was hoping it would be. In fact, in the last several months, I’ve had to have the vehicle towed to my local dealer a grand total of three times — each time, because the battery went dead and the car would not start.
See, the car that I bought has a problem related to over-the-air software updates. The updates caused the battery to drain, leaving me stranded when I could not start the car. While I was told by the dealer that this had been fixed the first two times it happened, sadly that was not the case and I ended up with a vehicle that I was unable to use.
Now, the entire reason I bought a new car and paid a lot for it is because I need my vehicle to work. My kids have to get to pre-school and we take a lot of road trips to remote places. Like most people, I don’t just have a second car sitting around to use when my car randomly won’t start. And while the local dealership has been very helpful in trying to fix the issue and hasn’t charged me anything for getting the car towed or trying to make repairs, the fact is I just don’t trust the car anymore.
I don’t want to be nervous every time I start the car, nor do I want to end up stranded somewhere dangerous. So, I’m considering taking the big financial hit and trading in the car for something more reliable from a different manufacturer.
You can’t always count on the laws to protect you when something goes wrong
Unfortunately, lemon laws won’t protect me in my situation, in part because the car is more than a year old. So, if I end up having to trade in the car because I don’t trust it, there’s no way to avoid the big financial loss.
Obviously, something like this shouldn’t happen when you spend a lot of money to buy a reliable vehicle. But, the fact is, products sometimes don’t work as promised and there may not be an easy solution. That’s why it’s important to have emergency savings so you have options when things go wrong.
If I have to trade in my car, it will be a financial hit — but it won’t devastate my finances, and it may well be worth the peace of mind to not have to hold my breath for a minute until the key turns and the engine actually kicks on.
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