i wanted to throw this situation out there to see if you guys were on the same page as me.

or hopefully can give me better advice than what ive already planned out in my head.

here goes:

so i bought a 2010 nissan titan in november- lets say i still owe between 20-25k on it. its a king cab, loaded, 13k miles, silver, etc.

i just moved in with my girlfriend and her 99 accord is about to die. transmission jerks, steering wheel wobbles, a whole ton of shit. its a real can of worms.

i think i have a good enough relationship with my favorite nissan dealer to trade the titan in without being upside down on my loan. girlfriend really likes the sentra. i just refuse to lose my shirt over this shit.

i still have my harley, so i wont be completely stranded in the meantime, and then will get myself something cheap and disposable like a kia for when it rains (or simply steal something a family member isnt using).

what would you do in this situation? or should i try to sell the titan privately? people arent really buying huge stuff too much these days...

i just dont know what to do! girlfriend is marriage material, not anytime soon, but its likely in a couple years.

ideas?

6/14/2011 9:05:03 PM

Girlfriend is responsible for buying her own car. This is 2011.
Do NOT buy her shit.
Don't do it man.

You can sell her car on craigslist.
You can give her free labor.
You can buy her a car with HER money.
but never sacrifice your own financial and transportational security for this girl.

You need to marry a girl that brings you up, not brings you down.

6/14/2011 9:24:26 PM

Quote :

"what would you do in this situation?"

Make my girl buy her own car.
If she's "marriage material" she can probably afford a payment on a reasonable car and you can help her pay it off after you're married.

6/14/2011 9:39:45 PM

^

6/14/2011 9:47:41 PM

Life lessons from the Garage. Better than Dr. Phill

6/14/2011 10:07:03 PM

dude i do not know you from adams house cat but you would go down in my book as one of the top 3 biggest idiots if you did said plan. tell her to get a job, if she has one and cant do anything with her car then be a good boy friend and buy her a bus pass.

6/14/2011 10:42:43 PM

I'm pretty sure I'd be keeping my Titan and she'd be getting the Kia even if I did decide to help her out.

But she's probably better off fixing & maintaining the 99 Accord that she's got rather than running another car into the ground just because it's on someone else's dime.

6/14/2011 10:46:27 PM

Quote :

"Life lessons from the Garage. Better than Dr. Phill "

yeah this is pretty brutal but i appreciate it anyway.

6/14/2011 11:02:41 PM

y0Willy dont let yo willy make the decisions use yo head boy

6/14/2011 11:17:46 PM

tell that bitch to walk or get new girlfriend

6/14/2011 11:55:54 PM

Agree with all of the above.

Also, if you're going to come to some kind of compromise here, see if they have anything used on the lot. It seems like a real kick in the dick to trade in a brand new, relatively boss truck at a depreciated value to only turn around and pay for a brand new sentra. Is there some compromise with an old 350z or maxima? But yeah, dont trade in your new car for one A-to-B brand new car while relegating yourself to a bike.

6/14/2011 11:56:04 PM

I'll be the compassionate one, love is worth more than $, he could be living rent-free or splitting living expenses, he may care for her enough, she may be doing other things for/to him, or he just may feel that it's worth it for whatever reason.

All of that aside, don't trade your truck for any new econobox.

6/15/2011 12:19:48 AM

I wouldn't buy a car for a wife, let alone a girlfriend.

[Edited on June 15, 2011 at 12:35 AM. Reason : Jesus fuck, I'm astounded that you'd even consider this ]

6/15/2011 12:33:42 AM

Quote :

"Girlfriend is responsible for buying her own car. This is 2011. Do NOT buy her shit. Don't do it man. You can sell her car on craigslist. You can give her free labor. You can buy her a car with HER money. but never sacrifice your own financial and transportational security for this girl. "

6/15/2011 1:56:24 AM

^
^^
^^^^
^^^^^
^^^^^^


etc, etc.

6/15/2011 2:04:14 AM

i'd point the girl to a nice used car. there's no point in buying her a new car just so she can neglect maintenance on it like she has the 99 accord. only reason a 99 accord would be in that shape is due to neglected maintenance.

[Edited on June 15, 2011 at 6:47 AM. Reason : damn i just don't understand the appeal of brand new cars]

6/15/2011 6:46:22 AM

i can't imagine owing $25k on a 2 year old truck, boggles my mind

6/15/2011 7:03:38 AM

Quote :

"damn i just don't understand the appeal of brand new cars"

Personally I agree, but sometimes for some people, its easier on the mind to just do the lease option for 3 years and trade up. However, if I'm going to buy something, I'll try to find a way to pay most of it off or all of it off up front to save on interest.

6/15/2011 8:14:48 AM

Anything I'd say has already been said in this thread. Just guide her in finding a new (used) car.

6/15/2011 8:44:22 AM

+1 Do not sell your car to buy your girlfriend a new car. Wife, yes. Girlfriend, no. Especially if she's the kind of driver that can kill a Honda Accord in 12 years.

On the other hand, it sounds like you've got more truck than you need. A Nissan Titan is A LOT of truck, and I don't think you would be willing to sell it for your girlfriend if you had a big boat or your job required you to own a full-size truck. Maybe downgrade to a used Frontier and use the extra money to fix or replace your girlfriend's car with an equally used vehicle.

Why don't you start telling us about the Accord's problems - maybe it can be fixed cheaper than you think.

Quote :

"transmission jerks"

Often this can be fixed by changing the fluid. When was the last time she had this done, if ever?

Quote :

"steering wheel wobbles"

When does it wobble? It could be a lot of things - bad bearings, unbalanced/unenven/damaged tires, uneven pads, warped rotors, bad CV joint, bad tie-rods, loose lug nuts

6/15/2011 9:36:40 AM

Yeah, I'm not against helping out your girlfriend but selling your vehicle to buy her a brand new one seems kinda crazy. If it were me, I would maybe help her with some repair costs if she really needed it. If you just don't need that much truck and are considering downsizing, I might do that if it was a girl I was going to marry, but I wouldn't trade my car for hers.

Can she not afford to put anything towards a car or something?

6/15/2011 9:40:41 AM

i had her transmission flushed and it seemed to help for awhile...

why would it go to shit again in less than 2 months?

6/15/2011 9:45:08 AM

so let me get this straight.

you wanna sell your truck so you can start making payments on a brand new car for your girlfriend, instead of of the truck?

dude, don't buy your girlfriend a car. that's beyond stupid. if you're married that's one thing, but you aren't even engaged, much less married. just stupid.


what the hell is so wrong with her that she doesn't have enough money to make a meager payment on a cheaper used car? why should you be forced to daily drive a bike + maybe a beater when she'll ride around in a new car? i don't care what she does between the sheets, this is really dumb.


was this her idea or yours?

6/15/2011 10:19:19 AM

Why can't she drive the truck? It seems like a simpler solution.

6/15/2011 11:06:31 AM

I can fully support every post in here.

6/15/2011 11:11:41 AM

my girl bought her own car.

6/15/2011 12:28:39 PM

So a 99 Accord was a good car?

Shes a decent driver, but I could see where she would definitely fall short on maintenance (none).

Changes her oil ever 5k miles- that's about it.

If a transmission flush only kept it happy for a week what would be the problem there? What do I need to look for? Tell me so I can report back?

The steering only shakes around 60mph or so... goes away as you go faster. Would just an alignment help?

Actually nvm she flies over speedbumps and shit (bad driver).

At least I've decided no new car for her?

That doesn't change that my truck is still kind of a waste. It's comfortable and powerful, handy when I need it, but that's rare this time of year. I've felt somewhat retarded driving it everywhere lately. The bike is a good commuter when it's nice out.

*sigh*

I should probably just do nothing until her car explodes and then get her a loaner from a family member...

6/15/2011 12:31:55 PM

yes, a 99 accord is a fine car, especially when you take care of it

why did you purchase a full size truck? especially a fucking titan?

6/15/2011 12:58:04 PM

"especially a titan?"

6/15/2011 1:26:38 PM

Quote :

"i had her transmission flushed and it seemed to help for awhile... why would it go to shit again in less than 2 months?"

Leaks.

6/15/2011 1:37:33 PM

Quote :

"The steering only shakes around 60mph or so... goes away as you go faster."

have you gotten the tires balanced?

6/15/2011 1:47:46 PM

i would bet the front suspension is worn in addition to poor wheel balance and maybe uneven tire wear

6/15/2011 1:56:03 PM

Quote :

""especially a titan?""

there were a lot of problems with the early models. did the newer ones get any better? primarily, did they ever figure out that a dana 44 wasn't enough for that truck?

6/15/2011 2:38:15 PM

if you are upside down on the truck loan then keep it, park it, ride the harley as much as you can. basically try to keep as many miles off the truck until you can make money or break even when you sell it.

as far as the girl situation goes. the shaking steering wheel could be a number of things but first thing to do is have the wheels balanced. concerning the tranny, if she needs a new tranny it might be time to stat looking for a new to her used car but let her buy that shit herself. don't co-sign anything and don't trade your truck in for her to have a car.

6/15/2011 3:14:08 PM

what does she like so much about a sentra that she can't get for under $10k on craigslist?

6/15/2011 3:16:19 PM

bad idea for sure....unless your married don't risk it.

6/15/2011 3:25:58 PM

To be fair, the V6 accords from 98-00 had serious transmission issues. Is it a V6?

6/15/2011 5:56:13 PM

be sure to show her this thread, though

6/15/2011 7:53:35 PM

You're dating a girl who's broke AND a bad driver? Damn.

So how did she take it when you told her she couldn't use your truck? Or are you just going to get new shocks for the titan?

6/16/2011 12:25:23 AM

Quote :

"To be fair, the V6 accords from 98-00 had serious transmission issues. Is it a V6?"

V6 honda automatics with the "manual gear selection" also had their problems through my Acura 2003 TL. Provided you manually down shift at at a high rpm either between 2-1 or 3-2, it was guaranteed to fail after 6-7 repetitions of that action.

6/16/2011 2:37:22 AM

Quote :

"Actually nvm she flies over speedbumps and shit (bad driver)."

Well from what we've already heard about her, now that you factor in a nice dose of irresponsibly that completes the picture. Not sure why you feel/felt the need to bail her out since it sounds like she destroyed a perfectly good car by driving horribly...

Quote :

"At least I've decided no new car for her? "

I should hope so...She'd destroy that one too.

Quote :

"I should probably just do nothing until her car explodes and then get her a loaner from a family member..."

Yep, although make sure she doesn't destroy a 'loaner' too

6/16/2011 9:49:29 AM

[Edited on June 16, 2011 at 11:35 AM. Reason : nvm, dont feed the trolls]

6/16/2011 11:35:12 AM

who's trolling? everyone in this thread is saying the same thing...

6/16/2011 11:51:46 AM

I'm sure you can come up with an option that suits both of you. It's not your responsbility to buy her a new car just because hers is in bad shape and you live together now. Even if marriage is a possibility "likely in a couple years". I feel your situation--my girlfriend has a 163k mile Olds Alero that is slowly falling apart and leaks coolant like a sieve, and working part-time while going back to grad school she can't afford to do anything about it--but what you are proposing is both asking too much of yourself, and giving her an easier situation than she perhaps deserves, especially considering that if a 1999 Accord is in that bad condition she has to be at least partially responsible. Also be aware that if you make such a large personal sacrifice on her behalf, even with the best of intentions, that opens up the door to resentment later on when she is riding around in a nice shiny new car on your dime while you're rolling in a borrowed car or beater. And that's not something you want to introduce into your relationship voluntarily.

Even if the transmission is at death's door, the Accord may not be worth giving up on, especially if the suspension issue isn't a horrendously expensive fix. I tend to be of the "fix it and keep driving it" mentality on a fundamentally solid car like an Accord, so that may be the best bet. Perhaps you could help her pay for the repairs, or loan her some money, if she can't afford to take care of it? I think that's not out of the question if you're in the financial position to do so. Or, help her tie it together for the time being and get it sold, and help her find a replacement. Again, a small contribution may not be out of line if you feel so inclined, but you're not making a huge personal sacrifice and she is still the primary funding on the deal. It comes down to the difference between giving her a hand, and handing her something.

6/16/2011 2:40:23 PM

I've got this sinking feeling that y0willy0 made this whole thing up to troll The Garage

6/16/2011 2:54:56 PM

why, youre the troll synapse. although ill admit i havent been around long enough to know if this is your reputation.


refrain from using the phrase "let me get this straight" on a messageboard; it only paints you as a huge douche. the reason being if you actually wanted to "get it straight" you would simply read the OP; taking the time to type it only implies that youre about to be a fuckhead (which you are).

and yes, eventually everyone in this thread did say the same thing. the difference between them and you is youre simply angry (and lacking in original thoughts)

all you had to do was suggest this isnt the type of situation you would get yourself into and be done with it.

i actually appreciated everything said in this thread (save synapse's drivel). several points i hadnt considered were brought to my attention and im considering helping her out with a USED car at the end of august.

6/16/2011 4:09:58 PM

[Edited on June 16, 2011 at 4:40 PM. Reason : havent seen this in a while]

6/16/2011 4:39:51 PM

Quote :

"and yes, eventually everyone in this thread did say the same thing."

Quote :

"(save synapse's drivel)"

so let me get this straight:

1) everyone in the thread said the same thing as me
2) i posted drivel

so transitively speaking, everyone in this thread posted drivel?

...which you just thanked them for?

6/16/2011 4:49:55 PM

your unoriginal thoughts contained personal attacks not in good humor, henceforth, they shall be known as drivel.

[Edited on June 16, 2011 at 5:59 PM. Reason : ...]

6/16/2011 5:40:27 PM

since my question is answered and there is no point in being nasty, i submit this video for the garage's approval:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pcRRk0msas&feature=related

[Edited on June 16, 2011 at 6:33 PM. Reason : ']

6/16/2011 6:27:16 PM