If my car dies and other rabbit holes

[susandennis]

My car is 12 years old. It has next to no miles on it (30K) but I live in dread fear that it will die. And I will be fucked Mercedes still services them but that situation can't have a long life and parts... if I need a funky one, they probably won't even try to get it. Every year when I take it in for its checkup, I tell the guy that it has to last as long as I do. But I have my doubts.

It is 106" long and that is the perfect length of car for me. Sadly, there's nothing else close.The shortest mini cooper, for instance is 168". Plus there are other critical bits. How hard is it to get in and out of. What color is it? Inside? Outside? Etc. So I internet the whole thing to death - about once every 2 or 3 months. I never find a good answer.

When my brother was little, one year for Christmas, he asked for a harmful chemistry set. There were a ton of commercials on TV for chemistry sets (for little boys only, of course) and they were all touted as harmless. He was having none of that shit. He wanted harm, baby!!!

I keep seeing these ads for meal programs/meal services/meal deals... HEALTHY meal programs/meal services/meal deals. I want the ones that will kill you. But, no one advertises those.

Fucking browser leaks. I had a third Very Important thing to add to this disjointed list and the damn thing fell right through the cracks before I could get to it. Such a shame.

Comments

[bill_schubert]

Well, my Smart is only 11 but has 70+K on it. I'm counting on 150K. I just googled smart car repair near me and found a new place (https://luxuryautoworks.com/cedar-park/). So I did the same in Seattle and found one too: https://www.eurocarservice.com/auto-repair-service/smart-car/. So Mercedes is not the end game.

[susandennis]

yeahbutt, parts, man. This is what set me off this week: awww fuck - it was a post on reddit but the are on airquotes strike /airquotes so I can't get to it but it was was very end of the Smart Car universe... parts wise.

on the other hand, i'm so glad you found a place for you and cool for finding me a backup

[beed]

i would LOVE an 'evil' meal service, LOL.

also reading the comments because i'm nosy and i had no idea your brother lived so closed to me!! =')

i wish i knew more about cars but it honestly seems like they all suck and are annoying to deal with. no winning because public transport is a nightmare too (like you experienced earlier). lol

[susandennis]

Reading comments is not nosy! It's being interested.

[beed]

awww okay good!! cause you have the most fun comments in your journals, and it's always fun to see everyone's opinions/thoughts <3

[susandennis]

And see? That's one of the funnest comments yet!

12yo car thoughts

[ng_moonmoth]

Only twelve? That's the prime of life! I'm approaching 10 years on my current car (Infiniti [Nissan]), and do not expect to have any worries of that sort any time soon. The car I had before this one lasted comfortably 25 years/360K miles, and it was only the quadruple conjunction of 30K/60K/90K/emissions work required that made me think that money was better spent on a newer model.

Here in California, I see enough 20-30yo Mercedes on the road that I have to believe obtaining parts even at that vintage is relatively straightforward. At your own age, I would expect that you've already worked out that having an independent garage you can trust is a much better idea than dealer service. They will know how to get the parts you need,

Sounds like the car is a really good fit for you. By all means keep it, and you may find that by the time it's no longer economical to repair, the transportation landscape will be so much different from what it is now that you will be happy not to have sunk money into something now that won't work then.

Re: 12yo car thoughts

[susandennis]

My car is a special snowflake. It's a Smart Car. It was so sold in the United States until 2016 by Mercedes. Parts are no longer made anywhere and no longer available. And Mercedes would like to quit servicing them all together. I will of course drive it for as long as I have it am able.

Re: 12yo car thoughts

[ng_moonmoth]

Ugh! Sorry to hear that. Pouring whatever car mojo I command into the continued usability of your car.

[spiffikins]

Are the European Smart cars compatible for parts in any way? Wouldn't be cheap, but at least parts would exist?

One of my neighbours has a weee little Fiat 500, I have noticed recently. It's absolutely TINY compared to "normal" US-sized vehicles. They keep parking it sideways in front of their (single-car) garage in the spot that isn't large enough to allow a car to park in it, LOL

I have a Mazda CX-5 - my first Mazda - and I stumbled onto a forum today with CX-5 drivers - someone had just bought one, and posted asking people to post the model year of theirs, the mileage and what kind of issues they have had. Tons of people responded, and honestly, it was VERY encouraging to me to read their posts - most people really have not had any major issues, and a bunch of them have a lot more miles on it than mine does. I've been starting to wonder if I was going to start having issues since my car is 9 years old in a couple of months, and with my last car, that was when I started to see $$ problems. So at this point I am choosing to just renew my AAA membership as insurance to get "home" if something does go awry, and just keep driving it as if it will last forever and ignore that it is aging and the mileage is starting to get up there (78k miles)

I love the idea of a meal service that isn't even *trying* to be healthy - just tasty food that you want to eat, regardless of whether or not it's good for you.

[yesthatjill]

Evil meals! Yes!
I’m gluten free, and I dislike that searching for gluten free recipes gets me and vegan or and paleo or and raw foods or and egg free or and dairy free. I want the gluten free version of the little Debbie snack cake! I don’t want to sprinkle stevia on a dried slice of apple and pretend it’s tasty.

[ladythmpr]

+1!

[zoefruitcake]

So how hard would it to be to import a new(er) Smart? If you want it and can pay for it you can get anything. Never had any problem getting parts over here so no reason you can have them shipped to you. My brother took his TVR to Australia and had parts shipped to him. Where there's a will there's a way

[desdemonaspace]

Hello from a fellow old car owner. My Prius is ten, but I don't recommend it if you're tall and want a lengthy car. When my long-legged friend is my passenger, I put the seat back as far as possible, and it's barely enough.

Hope you find the perfect solution.

Oh, yeah, I remember dangerous toys.

[greghousesgf]

I hate it when toy ads/toy store employees get sexist. There's nothing wrong with a girl having a chemistry set, dammit! I bet those women on CSI had chemistry sets when they were little girls.

[rsc]

Bear in mind that "when [Susan's] brother was little" was some time ago.

[susandennis]

hehehehe We're talking almost the 1960's!

[greghousesgf]

yeah, but they still do it now.

[mollywheezy]

I always wanted a chemistry set growing up and my parents would never let me have one. What did they think I was going to do? Blow up the house?!