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If you haven’t already read ‘The Story Of Helga’ CLICK HERE to read it before reading this!

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It’s been a long and rough last couple of days, but we made it! Sooner rather than later, and all by myself, I got (and paid for) a brand new truck! No more terrible Helga that breaks down constantly! Instead, may I introduce my new baby; Raven!

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Okay, so let’s start where we last left off.. Helga (my White Chevy car) was broke and needed a new engine. My plan? Reach into my house fund I was saving for and try to afford a new car! The problem? Find a car before work started to get crazy so that I wasn’t using my parents car everyday!

Lucky for me, I was only scheduled to work every other day, leaving me a few days in the week to go car shopping with my family. After asking around a bit at my work, we went to a place that came highly recommended for selling used cars at a great price. They had two cars there that were ‘alright’, but as I would soon find out, a lot of used car places were very low on used cars. Covid had caused people to not have the money for brand new cars, and so used car places became an instant hotspot!

At the first place I went to, the lady there was very nice, but the cars didn’t interest me too much and their prices were a ‘little’ high for my wallet.

The second place we went to I hadn’t even bothered to look around. Out of the twenty or so cars that were on the lot, nothing was older than 2012 and most of the cars had back up cameras and no rust.. One look at those cars and I knew that I would never be able to afford anything on that lot. Of course, that didn’t stop the car salesman from trying to sell my dad a car he already had (just in a different color)..

We had driven past a few other places that sold cars that day, but the cars were ether too new, or not at all what I was looking for so we we hadn’t bothered to stop.

The next day that I had off from work, we went to a place in Indiana to look at a truck that my dad had found on Facebook. At the time, we were completely unaware that it was Sunday and that the place wasn’t open.. However, we looked the truck over anyways and it looked good. (Despite one flat tire it was sporting.) The truck was cute, it had 4WD, and I could see myself owning it!

We went home, vowing to come back in two days when the place was open and I was off from work. The truck didn’t disappoint..

My dad had messaged the dealer before coming, so we were happy to see that the flat tire had been pumped up. We of course asked if we could test drive it across the border to my mechanic to take a look at it, and the dealer said yes. The test drive was smooth, we found a few minor things that didn’t work in the truck, and besides a lot of rust (which is normal for a Michigan truck) and a non existent exhaust pipe, the truck looked great!

I drove it back to the dealership and that’s when the fun began..

Last time, my father did all the talking and I hadn’t gotten the ‘best’ deal. So with my knowledge from business and personal finance class, I decided to tell my father ahead of time that I wanted to do all of the talking this time! The result of batting a few eyelashes and putting all of my knowledge into practice? I got close to $1000 off the asking price of the truck! I was honestly amazed at my own power of persuasion! The only thing I had ever negotiated a price down on was when I bought stuff from my brother at family yard-sales. And here I was negotiating the price down on a truck perfectly by myself. *pats self on the back*

After signing the papers, I brought the truck home and test-drove down the dirt road that lead to home. When I turned the four-wheel-drive on, my truck made a terrible noise and I honestly thought I had lost a tire. I quickly pulled over and checked the tires, but they were fine.. Climbing back into my new truck, I started slowly down the road again. My truck, which had worked just fine on my test drive when I switched on my 4WD, was now acting like a child with a stubbed toe!

Over the course of a few days, I turned the 4WD on just to see if it was still making funny noises (it was) and finally I made an appointment to take it to my mechanic. So what does my trusted mechanic tell me? Not good news, I’ll tell you that! (Go figure, right??)

Right now, my family and I are trying to get this straightened out, but it looks like I’m stuck at my parents house a little longer as my truck can’t get down the icy dirt road back home. For now, I am using my truck to get back and forth to work because the roads are clear, but unfortunately I still have to use my mothers car for icy roads. Of course, staying here in the guest cabin where I basically have my own house wouldn’t be suck a bad thing, if it weren’t for the fact that my parents have no shower, no internet, and I have to walk outside in the winter to go to the house to use the bathroom..

So, what did I do with Helga you may ask..? She is currently being sold for scraps and I am trying to squeeze as much money as I can get out of her as possible. Thankfully, my mechanic found a buyer right away for my brand spanken’ new transmition, so I got a little money back for that that I’ll use to fix up the new truck with. When I’m sure I can sell everything I can from my car? I shall be selling her to the scrap yard for scrap mettle and she will finally be laid (crushed) to rest…

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Always count your blessings and double check that the car your buying is good! I certainly did better getting this Truck than I did buying Helga, but this truck still has a long way to go before it’s perfect.

I hope you all can rest easy knowing that this story has a happy ending and that my new truck shall be fine. As always, smile, have a great day, and remember to always put a little money aside for emergency’s.. You never know when you may need it!