My recent posts related my Financial Grownup moment and the lessons learned as a result, specifically my “buy (used) and hold” strategy of car ownership. This included a comment about the possible downside of this strategy: higher maintenance costs. But I observed, in general, that the impact of this downside was modest. It seems that was enough to provoke instant karma to come looking for me.
It started a week or so ago when a piece of black rubber molding around the driver side door started flapping in the breeze. Then, yesterday, the “check oil” light lit up on the dashboard, even though I only had my oil changed a short time ago. It joined the tire pressure sensor, which I’ve accepted as permanently lit, having relegated it to the category of “cosmetic issue sufficiently expensive to fix that I can deal with the annoyance”. Together with the “low fuel” light indicating I needed to get gas, my dashboard was a veritable Christmas in August.
Finally, this morning I went out to the car to discover the pièce de résistance. The rearview mirror was laying in the center console, rather than affixed to the windshield where one might normally expect to see it. A recent move has me parking the car outside instead of in a garage. A persistent heat wave has the car regularly enduring 97° temperatures. Now I’m no mechanic, but I’m going to guess that the glue holding the rearview mirror on was perhaps not designed for such conditions.
Or considering the timing – immediately following my Financial Grownup posts about the few downsides to buying used – it could be instant karma. I think I’ll save the final judgment until after I get the repair bill. The car goes in the shop tomorrow. I’ll keep you posted!