Vehicle advice

[RandyRhoads]

So I bought this 2001 Infiniti for $4k, even though it blue booked at around $3,100. Kind of sucked but was extremely well kept, service records etc... I was in a hurry and needed a vehicle after a friend totaled mine. 2 weeks left to finally get nationally registered as a Paramedic and I absolutely needed a reliable vehicle. I did not want a 13MPG vehicle but I needed one now.

As soon as I get on the highway to drive home it starts shaking like mad, felt like I was going to wreck. Take it in, right off the bat $1,200 estimate. Say give me a day or two. Then the fire happens. I cannot lose my only wheels/home for 3 days in a shop so I wait.

Driving up to look for a house check engine light comes on and it feels like it's going to blow up. Barely make it to a shop. $1,200 for some coils, new plugs etc. Had to do it.

Going back down, check engine light again. Take it in, needs new solenoid and some other doodad estimate $350.

All this for a gas hog I didn't want in the first place. Needed it for my paramedic licensing which now due to the fire and relocating I could not complete anyway. 3 years and over $20,000.00 not including gas and side certs of my life wasted. Not only can I not get nationally registered after all the schooling and training, but I find out I don't get the AA degree out of it I was supposed to because I technically didn't finish. Oh yeah, and received the bill of what I still owe them. Not even a single college credit.


Anyway, sorry ranting... So right now i'm $5,200 into a car that blue books for $3,200 max, and it still needs all the other work. What should I do? Scrap it? Complete loss? Who would even buy it for blue book when it needs $1,550 in work still? Do I really go to $6,750 into a car that's worth less than HALF of that?

FML....

[1stimestar]

My first thought is cut your losses and start over. I don't know what your resources are at this point though.

[RandyRhoads]

Cut my loses as in scrap metal?? Or sell it? I mean what would I even list it at, Blue book minus the cost of work? I have grown accustomed to being able to comfortable sleep in the back, and the gas doesn't bother me as much as I thought.

Resources are, very bad. With the down payment/closing costs of the house I am really struggling right now. But payday is the 1st and hopefully soon insurance pays up for the items inside that were covered.

[Rick]

First, your accreditation should still be attainable. I don't understand why you think it's wasted. Your degree credits are still valid. All you have to do is pick up the classes you are short. If it's an accredited college or university you should even be able to transfer some if not all of your credits. If it's not accredited then you might have to finish your classes at that same school. Either way, you should be able to pick up where you left off. I've never seen a school, trade or otherwise, where you lost all of your credits because you couldn't finish straight through. 3/4 of America would be out of luck if that were the case.

As to the vehicle, I don't know what to tell you. Find a mechanic you trust and pay them $50 to check it over. Perhaps you've put in it all you need to. Perhaps it's a junker. If it's not worth it then trade it in for something else. The only way you'll know is for an unbiased mechanic you trust to look it over.

[RandyRhoads]

Rick it was a technical school, and the AA was a relatively new thing. In order for you to get credit you had to take your completion certificate to some special place in another state and have them sign something saying "We equate this to such and such credit". I've already checked with them and without the completion they will not do anything. The course itself did not go by credits. Basically Pass/fail, if you pass you can trade in the cert for college credits. I figured since I did ALL classroom and bookwork and PASSED, the knowledge would at least be looked at. I don't see how 2 weeks of extra field experience really should screw me over but ok...


I've already had 3 different mechanics check it out and tell me the same thing. It for sure needs to work, they pulled me under and showed me cracks in the bushings etc. I guess that's a good idea, didn't think of trading in. Normally I go through Craiglist but maybe a dealer would be good for once.

[Rick]

Check with your technical school. You should still be good on the classes you've completed. Find out what you need to do to complete your certificate. I'm sure they will work with you. It's to their advantage, or any schools' for that matter, to get you certified/graduated. Even more so if they accept federal funding.

[RandyRhoads]

I've already done all that... in a perfect world it would.

it's not "classes" it is a single technical program. They said sorry tough S. I cannot complete it now..i've already done all that, it's not going to happen. And it is not to their advantage. There are no grants or anything. It's all out of pocket. You fork up the money for school or you don't go. It would be to their advantage to have students fail as quickly as possible. They get your money regardless, seen it happen to a few early off...

Here's the email...

"I just spoke with the person that does all our college credit reviews up in our Oregon school, and he stated that students must complete the entire paramedic program and be issued a completion certificate in order to get college credits through NCTI. "

[crashdive123]

Since you need a vehicle be sure that any additional needed repairs will fix it completely. If it is less expensive to do that than to sell it (be realistic as to what you can get for it) and buy another, then you have your answer.

As far as the school - I would schedule a meeting with the head of that school or the owner of the chain of schools they run. Calmly explain the situation with the fire and loss of everything. Suggest that since all that is lacking is the final two weeks - that you come to terms to complete that final two weeks and gain your accreditation/certification. If that does not work, I would make them famous on the local news. If they are a national company I would do my best to spread that fame until I was on The Today Show or other national shows explaining my plight and how they operate.

[RandyRhoads]

Since you need a vehicle be sure that any additional needed repairs will fix it completely. If it is less expensive to do that than to sell it (be realistic as to what you can get for it) and buy another, then you have your answer.
.

That's where I can't tell. I was ok with paying the $1,200 for the steering because I would have a good reliable car after. Then the coils and plugs went bad, and now the solenoid. I could fix it all and something else could blow up. But I guess that's with any car. Well, except new ones....

[hunter63]

.................As far as the school - I would schedule a meeting with the head of that school or the owner of the chain of schools they run. Calmly explain the situation with the fire and loss of everything. Suggest that since all that is lacking is the final two weeks - that you come to terms to complete that final two weeks and gain your accreditation/certification. If that does not work, I would make them famous on the local news. If they are a national company I would do my best to spread that fame until I was on The Today Show or other national shows explaining my plight and how they operate.

Randy.... I have to agree....there is something really wrong with this picture, and a call to a TV station may be in order......
That just sucks......screwing over a vet like that.
Good luck.

[RandyRhoads]

They are too well covered. Many have tried suing and doing what you suggest with no luck.

And they have an out. The reason I can't do it is because I ONLY have 2 weeks left to complete it. I was right at the end of acting as a Paramedic under supervision, Basically on the final all eyes on field testing. By the time I could get in a position to get back on the ambulance, I would need 2 weeks just to get into the swing of running calls again, especially being so new. I can't come back a month (or several) later and mentally and physically jump back in like I never left at the final worst time. Had the fire happened at the beginning or half way through it would have been fine. They can not extend me beyond 2 weeks, state law. There was a time when I didn't make it in for a week and it took me an entire week to get back to where I was before.

Too much working against me. Even if I was awesome and could pull that off, I now live hundreds of miles away from where our AO was, have tons of missing burned paperwork, uniforms etc, and other things I don't want to discuss on a public forum even before the fire.

[crashdive123]

Well, a few things that cannot be taken away from you are the knowledge you gained, experience and a determination to move forward. Only you can get in the way of those things.

I think I speak for everybody here - we are truly wishing you good luck.

[RandyRhoads]

Well, a few things that cannot be taken away from you are the knowledge you gained, experience and a determination to move forward. Only you can get in the way of those things.

I think I speak for everybody here - we are truly wishing you good luck.

Thank you. As for the car I think i'll do what Rick thought of and check out what kind of trade in value I can get. Doesn't hurt to see.

[Rick]

Randy - They still have reporting requirements to be licensed to operate. Part of that is their graduation rate. How many folks actually complete the program. So they DO have an incentive to have as many complete their program as possible. You can't just start a school on your own. You have to pass state requirements and provide ongoing reporting to the state. I think Crash was spot on. Schedule a meeting with the schools owner/president or whatever their title is. They should be able to drop you in an ongoing class at the point you had to leave and let you complete it. Offer to work something out with them. Don't just take some counselor's word for it. The President can and will do things a counselor can't or won't.

[RandyRhoads]

Welder guy maybe you can help explain this....

It doesn't work like that Rick. It's not just a class I get dumped in. It took me a year and a half to find a qualified paramedic in the field to supervise me to gain my hours. Not only did half the logged hand written accounts for those hours burn, but that paramedic is not involved with me anymore. I can try to ***** to more people but its not that easy. Best case scenario that miraculously find me another one in a month or two. I get on the ambulance. Two week go by and in starting to get back in the groove a bit. Times up too late.. Especially if it was in another county with all new protocols.

The only thing I think could possibly work would be some type of credit to do the whole thing again but that won't happen. There were people who at the end got half a percent under the required minimum and were told to try again no discount or anything.

[WolfVanZandt]

What about an apprenticeship? There's an outfit that offers apprenticeships in Sacramento listed on ONet Online. They may or may not have an opening at the present time.

[RandyRhoads]

No idea what you're talking about.....


Like I said, I can't start over. No matter where I go I have about 2 weeks maximum left.