PREMiERdrum Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 (edited) This was a tough pill to swallow, but here's the story: My sister's worthless (now estranged) husband lost his marbles midway though last year, went on an angry tirade, assaulting both her and our mom one night last July in front of their 2 kids. Thankfully, she's not one to stand for that and kicked him out. Unfortunately, though, he left his job, ignored the court's child and spousal support orders, and stranded her without a reliable car. He stopped making the payments on their SUV (before he left the job) so it was promptly repossessed, leaving them with only his 1954 Chevy coupe and 1998 E-Series. He traded the E-Series for a "more reliable" '94 Civic, left that for her in the driveway, and kept the Chevy (worth about $15,000) for himself. Within only a few months the Civic needed about $2,000 worth of work done to it; more than it was worth. Bad news. After months of borrowing cars, and starting a new job (she was a stay at home mom), it was time for her to get reliable transportation for her and the kids. Being the gearhead little brother that I am, I was asked for some direction, and I sent her to a couple of reputable dealers with "special finance" availability. Despite the fact that her husband handled all the money, her credit was destroyed and it wasn't looking good. Even the most flexible of dealers wanted $2,500-$3,000 down and were only offering to put her in 100,000 mile used Kias and Impalas at some ridiculous payment and interest rate. That wasn't going to work. I sent her to a local Chevy dealership, as both the dealer and GM have been heavily courting bad credit and special finance customers, to see what they could do. Unknowingly, a man we go to church with (and big fan of the band we play in [she sings, I drum]), is the dealership manager. Small world. They got her financed through the newly renamed GM Finance agency (formerly AmeriCredit) for a new Sonic at a much lower rate than the 100k beaters and with $0 down. I guided her towards a black/black 1LS hatchback, manual transmission, light on options except for an upgraded stereo. It's not a Fiesta, but it's nice. The auto was fairly lackluster, and she was excited about getting back into a stickshift. We made sure the dang thing had brakepads. While it really worked out in her favor (in such a shithole situation), knowing that GM is financing people with 500 FICO scores is outrageous. Old habits die hard, I guess. I'll get some pics and impressions up once I get some seat time in it. I'm just happy she's well on her way from being done with that idiot. Edited January 3, 2012 by PREMiERdrum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atvman Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 Brake pad jokes aside, it is one of the better cars in the segment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevys Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 Im glad she was able to get something reliable especially with kids. Nothing wrong with a Sonic especially since you made sure it had brakes on it! We have all been in difficult situations and I have bought all kinds of cars just to get me by and kept them patched up and nursed them for the last mile. I worked on a girls cars Saturday that was broke down by my house all day and missed a big basketball game I wanted to watch. She was about 17 or 18 and had nobody to help her and was out of town with a dead beat father ect... I though what if this was my daughter or niece or something. Radiator was clogged, no oil in the damn thing, had a busted hose ect... I gave her the oil, antifreeze, labor and did the best I could to get her going again but told her to take it to a mechanic asap to get it looked over. It was a Pontiac Gran Prix by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aneekr Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 PREMiERdrum- congratulations to your sister on her new car, and best wishes to her and the children for a good start to 2012 after such an unfortunate incident last year. Oh yes, smart move bypassing the overpriced garbage sold by JD Byrider () and other pre-owned car emporiums catering to the less than creditworthy crowd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CKNSLS Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 At least having a reliable car and new job is part of a move towards a positive new year! Best of luck to here and her kids in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
156n3rd Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Hooray for your sister and for you for looking out for her. The husband needs treatment and an arrest record to FIX HIS credit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PREMiERdrum Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 Hooray for your sister and for you for looking out for her. The husband needs treatment and an arrest record to FIX HIS credit. Thanks guys. No worries, he spent 3 nights rubbing elbows with Columbus' finest at the Franklin Co Jail after the first arrest, and then caught caught by a deputy violating the protection order, which put him in for another 3 nights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grbeck Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 It's good that your sister was able to get a decent vehicle. The last thing she needs to be worried about is whether her car is working, especially with children. I wonder if that 1954 Chevrolet is really worth $15,000. The collector car market has been down, too, from what I've seen. And a 1954 Chevy isn't really all that great as a daily driver...cars have come a long way in the last 50+ years. I'm not sure he got the better end of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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