QOTD: Torn Between Two Terrible Options?

It’s a situation a good many of us have found ourselves in — and one we’d all like to avoid going forward, if at all possible. Alas, fate isn’t known for its even-handed distribution of fairness.

Sometimes we’re forced to make a painful choice concerning something we love, with neither outcome a good one. In the case of aging vehicles, that choice is one repair bill away.

Speaking to a friend last night, I heard a familiar story. (I’ll have to keep things vague out of respect for their privacy.)

This friend owns a workhorse of a pickup. It’s a loyal, noble vehicle that soaks up everything thrown at it, and make no mistake, it gets a lot thrown at it. But time and wear has taken its toll, and, while still functional, it needs considerable work.

Seems the jurisdiction where said friend lives requires safety inspections every two years to keep a vehicle plated and on the road, something yours truly finds horrifying. Nevertheless, that’s the situation. And in these fraught financial times, money’s tight. Fixing the laundry list of defects (steering, suspension, brakes, tires) on this vehicle would probably cost what the vehicle could fetch as a safetied used vehicle, even with a “friend’s coworker’s brother” kind of mechanic on the job.

Thing is, my friend uses this vehicle for truck things. Its absence will be felt, and getting into something new? That’s a laugh. Meanwhile, offloading it for a song as an as-is parts vehicle/fixer-upper prevents my friend from recouping (or retaining) its true value. Yet sadly, financial considerations mean the repairs that could keep the relationship alive for another two years (or more) just isn’t a viable option.

You have to feel for someone in such a situation. This writer harbors fond memories of that vehicle — a plucky pickup that never shrugged off an assignment, even if we sometimes asked it to bite off more than it could chew.

Have you ever found yourself in possession of a good vehicle, with basic bones and drivetrain still in good shape, but with a financial situation and a repair bill that forced you into a choice? What was the outcome — offload it for whatever (still useful) peanuts you could get, or keep it around, collecting dust and rust under a tarp, until happier days returned?

[Image: Murilee Martin]