I recently paid off my car, which means no more payments! Freedom from car debt! More money in my pocket! Ownership!
Right? Well, kind of.
Just a few weeks prior to this monumental occasion, a co-worker and I were joking about the “payoff curse” phenomenon. We both recounted stories of how this friend or family member paid off his or her car only to be faced with a hefty repair charge. It’s ultimate irony, and it completely supports the theory of Murphy’s Law. Of course, I didn’t seriously consider that this would happen to me (although I had fleeting moments of fear that it would).
And it did. Two weeks to the day after I received the title to my little Ford Escort, I got in my car on a rainy night and noticed that 1) the windows were really foggy and 2) it was unusually quiet in my car considering I had the heater cranked up to high.
It took me a few days of denial and another day or two of delusional thinking that I could fix it myself before I resigned to the fact that I was just another victim of the “payoff curse.”
Car repairs are always nerve-racking, mostly due to the fact that I have a very limited understanding of how my car functions. A mechanic could tell me I needed the doppledoohickey replaced in my exhaust system and I’d ask how much that’d cost. Having access to a list of auto mechanics that others have found to be reputable is a huge help to the likes of me.
Luckily, I had already found a great auto shop from the List before my car’s heat outage. The reviews on this shop are great, and they gave the overall sense that the mechanics are honest. And they are, from my experience. Even better, they routinely have coupons, which saved me money on getting my car’s heater fixed.
So, now that I own my car, I see that the payments don’t really stop and it doesn’t necessarily mean more money in my pocket. Payments are replaced by repairs, but at least repairs aren’t as frequent. At least, I hope.
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