Hi folks--This might be a long thread, so please bear with me. And I might ramble a bit.
We have one car, a '99 VW New Beetle that has engine problems (and we're not sure what it would cost to fix them). Recently we began looking around for a "new used" car. I have the money in a Capital One money market acct. and ready to transfer to my local credit union, where I figured I'd just get a certified check. We did find a car we wanted to buy, and the seller wants a certified check. Saturday, we told him we could most likely meet up with him on Tuesday of this week.
Monday morning, spouse had a car accident in a snowstorm that resulted in the oil pan of the VW leaking all over the place. He thinks he can fix it himself, but found out he needs a certain tool that we don't have in the house. Bus service around here is sporadic and stops at 6 p.m. I work until long after bus service has stopped. Monday, I told him we should rent a car, but he thought it was too expensive. This was before I found out about the tool and the fact that even IF he can fix the VW, it still might not be driveable as the car is so old & a bit neglected (his words).
OK, so in the meantime, I'm trying to get my money from Cap One over to my credit union. I find out that it will take about 4 business days to do so. Cap One suggests I simply get a certified check from them, made out directly to the seller. For $20 they'll overnight it to me. Sounded good so I arranged for it. Spouse didn't know about it, so when Cap One called our landline instead of calling me on my cell, he thought it was spam and said he would have to call me and I'd call them. They took this as some sort of sign to cancel the darned check. The proviso with said check was that as long as I did before 2 p.m. that day, I'd get it the next day. They'd send a tracking # and someone would have to be home to sign for it. I figured spouse would be at home working on the car.
I had to go through the online process of getting the check again, which means I won't get it till Thursday. Spouse is concerned he won't be there to receive it (iin case he can get a ride to the auto parts store) or something will go wrong w/the delivery.
So, Plan B: I applied for a car loan from my credit union, which is under consideration right now. I should get it today if it is approved. Seller is texting us asking when we can set up the title and transfer stuff. Spouse went to rent a car, & found out it was $100 a day all included, not the $45 he was quoted on the phone. He wants to try and rent it for one day only, so we can get to the credit union, pick up the check (assuming I'm approved for the loan), and get to AAA for the transfer.
OK, if you're still with me: Is there a way I could have handled this better? What do others do about paying for cars? What do one-car families do for back-up? I had my "new car fund" in Cap One b/c it paid more interested than my piddly local credit union. I keep about $5K in the credit union for emergencies. (Car is $7,500, plus tax and title etc.).
I have had the craziest couple of days. To add to all this, spouse is recovering from minor surgery and had to cancel his followup appointment (was on way there when accident happened).
Sigh...thanks for listening.