If The Truth Was Told

If the truth was told, I would save more money by brown bagging it at work rather than scheming to save a few hundred or a few thousand dollars on major purchases, but that wouldn’t be any fun. I think this would be a good time to update y’all on how some of my decisions in this area are turning out.

Last October my eleven year old push lawn mower suffered a catastrophic failure. The entire front wheel assembly broke off the deck. Then at full speed the blade dug into the ground, giving it a strange new wavy shape. I expected to replace that machine after the end of the season anyway, so I wasn’t too upset. After I returned from vacation I went looking for a left over lawn mower. I thought I would buy a high quality self propelled mower from a privately owned power equipment store. I thought that self propelled mowers are notoriously unreliable. If I bought the thing from the same guy who repairs what he sells, I would receive better treatment. There was a problem with this plan. Well reviewed products by Lawn Boy, Toro, and Honda were all gone. Only a few poorly reviewed models remained in stock at the various dealers in this area. I did finally locate a Honda floor sample at a Home Depot. It was the last self propelled lawn mower in the store and it was priced to move. I was a little worried about buying a floor sample from a big box store, but it was a Honda. Yesterday, for the first time, I brought the mower out of the shed, added oil, gassed it up, and off I went. As an engineer, I found playing with my new toy extremely cool. It has two blades. I would guess they are counter rotating. Whatever they are doing down there they mulch grass like crazy. It has a hydrostatic drive system, ball bearing wheels, and a bunch of neat features---boys and their toys.

Last July I decided to pay for the 180,000 mile maintenance for my beloved 1996 Honda rather than buying a new automobile. I figured that if I could get a year out of my car without any more major repairs, I would consider that decision a win. I rolled the dice and lost. In February I blew the seal on the oil cooler. I didn’t even know the car had an oil cooler. I thought pickup trucks with towing packages had oil coolers, not passenger cars. But the Prelude is a sports car. I guess I need that oil cooler for sustained speeds in excess of 130 miles per hour. Two hundred dollars for the oil cooler is not a major repair. However, last week a rear brake caliper failed, causing about $700 worth of damage. That constitutes a major repair. I am also going to lose the use of the car for nearly a week because the car is old and rare. Finding parts is becoming a major headache. After 14 wonderful years and 189,000+ miles it is time to say goodbye to the best car I have ever owned. Putting any more money into a car with a $2,100 trade in value just doesn’t make much sense. I would like to buy a late model low mileage Acura TSX, but so would a lot of other people. There are not a lot of them available and they don’t depreciate very quickly. It looks like the best buy on my short list of desirable cars would be a used mid-model to high end Honda Accord with the four cylinder engine. They depreciate faster than they same models with the V-6. I really don’t need a sports sedan with a decent power to weight ratio. I don’t drive at speeds over 120 mph. But I want MORE POWER. I will continue to keep you informed, as my adventures with money continue to unfold.