Bad, meet worse...

[dalekboy]

So, it's been a nuts day. Painter arrived first thing to deal with the damage from a leak we had a while back. However, unlike we'd been told, he wasn't going to just touch up the damaged area over the kitchen table, he was going to paint the entire ceiling of the kitchen and lounge area. So much moving of crap had to take place in a very short space of time. That knocked me around a fair bit.

Then I had to take my car down to the mechanic's for roadworthy looksee and a major service. And brain-damaged cripple-old-man had to walk an hour to get home. Think that didn't take a toll?

And I've just had a call from the mechanic... He doesn't think the car can possibly pass ACT standards to get a roadworthy. We were warned about this before we moved up here - ACT regs on cars are exceptionally strict, way harder than the regs in the various states - so even with tonnes of work done to it, it may be impossible to get it to pass a roadworthy here. The mechanic suggested I try to keep it registered in Victoria, that way I bypass the problem.

Of course, it causes other issues, and opens a can of worms if I have an accident.

I love my old car, as anyone who has read my 100 Days Post on The Belwood would know. I've been driving it... well, bits of it... on and off... for twenty years. It is a large part of my identity, my past - droving, my dad, etc.

At the same time it's just a car.

So, do we throw money at it and hope to get it to a point where the ACT would let me have it registered here? If so, how much do we spend before it's a case of diminishing returns? And what if we spend the money and it still won't pass muster? Do we simply leave it registered in Victoria? With all the potential for problems down the track? Do we get rid of it (could possibly get between $1500 and $2500 for it, depending on buyer) and purchase another car? I could look for a similar one, but unless I find one already in the ACT, and roadworthy, I'm likely to strike the same problem. We would only ever be likely to buy a second hand car of any type, old or new, and even with a roadworthy and a check-out you don't know what you're going to get. So do we buy a new car that may be reliable, would likely be more environmentally friendly, but also may not be any of these things?

I love my car, I get happy just walking out and seeing the damned thing on the street. I love that it's been driven by people who I love, admire, and who are important to me. I enjoy driving it, even if it's just down the road.

The biggest problem is, my car, rough though it is, works. It can run when it's low on oil, it's still not too hard to get parts for, and it can be fixed by any mechanic around, without the need for a computer or specialised parts. Plus, it's a tough old thing, it's literally done thousands of kilometres on dirt tracks and corrugated roads. It's been through potholes that drove my head down through my pelvis. Other cars hit it and they get dented.

It makes me feel, in some small way, like I'm still out and about droving with my dad.

But it's still just a car.

There's a point where I have to be practical, and this may well be it.

Comments

[tikiwanderer.livejournal.com]

This may be the point where you have to be practical, but you've spent years being unpractical about that car. How many years did you wait to get it back on the road in Vic?

I vote keep the car. It's too you. Spend some of this dead time you have now learning car mechanics, take over the driveway and shed space and annoy Sharon by doing the Aussie male thing and spending every spare minute working on the car so that if she wants to find you, she has to bend down under the car and fish you out on your skateboard. Make sure she's wearing a short skirt at the time. And once you've buggerised around with the engine as much as you can, start adding Dalekanium panels to the doors.

If you need an address to keep it registered in Vic, you're always welcome to use mine (though I know you have two of your own to play with as well). That way you get to keep the Type 40 plates as well...

[dcrisp.livejournal.com]

What Actually needs done to the car to get it Road Worthied? This is probably the important question.

We could say "Keep the car, dude" but if they say "it needs a catylitic converter and it needs airbags" then theres no way that you can do that.

[bigevilogre.livejournal.com]

What is it that's making it tough to pass?
They tried to make a law out here where if there had been any modifications done to a car's suspension it would be considered unroadworthy and not allowed to be driven. It doesn't matter if it was a safety upgrade. The big problem I face is exhaust emissions. My Camaro is highly modified. The thing is when it's hooked up to the emissions tester it does fine. But that doesn't matter. It will fail because it doesn't have this, or that, or whatever. I am required to have a smog pump and those are expensive little buggars.

[bigevilogre.livejournal.com]

Also believe me when I say I understand your love for your car. It's not just a car. There is an old saying that you leave an imprint on things like that. It becomes part of you. When I drive the Camaro it's an extension of my body. If a rocker comes loose I can tell you what side and sometimes what piston. I know where the wheels are at all times. I know if I'm going to slide or slip. I think if you had to sell your car it would be very hard on you. It isn't just a car, it's part of you. The memories can never be replaced.

[sjkasabi.livejournal.com]

omg. Keep. The. Car. Don't be fooled by the bullshit artists who tell you that caring about symbols and thinking symbolically isn't practical.

And if you keep it registered in Victoria, you get to keep the type 40 plates, yes? That's a reason in itself, never mind the rest of it.

And *hugs* for your bad day.

[mondyboy.livejournal.com]

Putting my VicRoads cap on, I say keep the car. You may decide to leave the ACT tomorrow... and you'd be without the car and that would be a shame.

It is always better to transfer registration and license to the place your living. And you're right, it would be a pain in the arse. But somehow, I think it would be a very worthy pain in the arse.

Keep the car.

[mireille21.livejournal.com]

As someone (who out of laziness admittedly) kept her car registered to her old address (where her parents lived) for 6 years whilst moving about and interstate a lot, leave the rego as is and keep the car. I presume you're the owner of the address where the rego papers would go?

The only trouble I had was with a couple of car accidents. At the first one the cops kind of asked me why I had Vic plates, and I said I'd just moved to Brisbane and hadn't got around to changing them over yet (which was pretty much true), the second accident my car was written off anyway so it didn't really matter.

[(Anonymous)]

I only know you on livejournal but you without that car is like Doctor Who without his police box. Keep it.

-phil

[mynxii.livejournal.com]

The Belwood!!!! I'm also for keeping it - i liked Tiki's idea :P

What do you want? and how much do you want to spend?

[magnapops.livejournal.com]

I can understand the reticence in selling the Belwood, the way I see it your choices are: 1) you may need to go down the path of sticking it up on bricks and holding onto it until you can afford to do a proper rebuild and buying a cheap second hand car to get you around in the meantime or 2) keeping it and getting it done up.

With option 1) you have the additional cost of rego for the car you have on bricks, unless you let the rego lapse. But to keep the number plates you would need to keep paying the rego so that is at least $400+/year that you could save by not having to do that

By the sounds of it and looking at the car recently, the minimum that would need to be done would be:
- New or reco engine, anything up to $2500
- New suspension and steering rack or parts , maybe $1000 or a bit over
- Transmission? If you are doing everything else then you might as well get that fixed or replaced. who knows could be another $1000

So for around $4500 you would have the beast back and roadworthy.

Could you get another car for that money?

As much as I am a revhead I know that a car is not much more than a financial arrangement. What can you afford, what can you afford to run etc.... Are you just going to be throwing good money after bad. There are lots of resources on the web oldholden.com etc... that have a lot of information to help make your decision but in the end it is down to you and Shaz as to what you can do financially.

I and by the looks of it a lot of your friends would like to see it saved and res erected but it is whether you could a) find someone reasonably local to do a good job of it and b) does it make good financial sense?

[battblush.livejournal.com]

Sweetheart, you've lost enough in the past few months. Don't do this to yourself. Keep your car, make the situation work for you.

[thinarthur.livejournal.com]

Re painting, it's very difficult to match an old paint job. Even if you can get the same official shade (and they channge them every few years) manufacturing variation and/or wear & tear on the original finish (interior or exterior) will show. As a result trying to fix up the slightly cruddy bit turns into a major project.

Re the car, for many years I drove 2nd hand ones until the repair costs exceeded the value but our last one was shiny and new. If you can afford it get a new one, it's like going from biplanes to jets, remember you're driving an old bomb, not the Cutty Sark. An old car is only worth having if it's a restored classic (and I'd kill for a '57 Chevrolet or the Holden knock off of it) that you can look after and maintain yourself, otherwise it's a money pit.