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How to prepare for the end of the road?
How to prepare for the end of the road?
Four times each week I drive my 1988 Chevrolet Cavalier to work from Harris County to College Station, Texas, 67 miles each way. As a devoted and attentive (but technically unskilled) owner and with the lightest possible touch and step behind the wheel (to the displeasure of some fellow drivers), I now approach an odometer reading of 150,000 and gaze with unease from a car that is the last of its kind on the roads I travel.
I know I was not supposed to get this far in a Chevrolet Cavalier. Each day as I set out, often before or after dark, I wonder if I will meet the end this time, somewhere among those countless head of cattle there in that tangled country between home and desk. I shudder at the grotesquely indifferent stares of the cattle that may then be my only company.
How should I prepare for the end of the road? What will the state demand of me? What arrangements might I be prudent to make now for my Chevy Cavalier?
David Chroust
Four times each week I drive my 1988 Chevrolet Cavalier to work from Harris County to College Station, Texas, 67 miles each way. As a devoted and attentive (but technically unskilled) owner and with the lightest possible touch and step behind the wheel (to the displeasure of some fellow drivers), I now approach an odometer reading of 150,000 and gaze with unease from a car that is the last of its kind on the roads I travel.
I know I was not supposed to get this far in a Chevrolet Cavalier. Each day as I set out, often before or after dark, I wonder if I will meet the end this time, somewhere among those countless head of cattle there in that tangled country between home and desk. I shudder at the grotesquely indifferent stares of the cattle that may then be my only company.
How should I prepare for the end of the road? What will the state demand of me? What arrangements might I be prudent to make now for my Chevy Cavalier?
David Chroust
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Comments
Jim
If you've been gentle enough on that car, and kept up on maintenance, even a Cavalier should last. I could see something like a bad starter or alternator, or fuel pump leaving you stranded. You can make it for awhile with no alternator, but the starter or fuel pump can end it right then and there! Or electrical problems. Any of these could leave you stranded, but aren't that big of an expense to repair.
Still, if you're starting to feel uneasy about the car, with that age and mileage, I'd suggest donating it for a tax writeoff. Even if the car's been running flawlessly, I don't think there'd be much demand for it selling it outright, so that might be a hassle. If you trade it in, the dealer would basically take it off your hands, since he's probably going to wholesale it anyway. And a junkyard might only give you $50-100 for it. If you donate it though, you can write off its blue book retail value, presuming you itemize on your income taxes.
As for preparing for the car's final destination, just make sure that you turn in the tags and registration to the DMV before you cancel the insurance, and keep the receipt that they give you, just in case they later try to say you didn't turn 'em in. If the thing breaks down on the side of the road, it may be tempting to just leave it there and let the state take it. However, I think they'll try to fine you, and make your life a living hell.
Good luck