I bought my car brand new in 2009. I aggressively paid it off because I hated the idea of having yet another bill.
I fondly remember shredding all the car payment booklets that the bank periodically sent, encouraging me to make regular payments.
As a matter of fact, I’ll never forget the time I proudly told one of the bank administrators that I was paying more than double in car payments to be out of debt faster.
She looked at me sternly and said, “We want you to make your regular payments.”
The bank lost money in the form of interest every time I made an overpayment. The most memorable detail about interaction was that the banker was another Black woman, who I foolishly thought would celebrate with me.
All skinfolk ain’t kinfolk. She was first and foremost a banker and wanted all the money. Well, so did I. Plus, fuck the bank.
I don’t remember the year the radio stopped working, but it was long after I’d paid the car off. Even so, I refused to spend nearly a thousand dollars to replace it. Instead, I started listening to audiobooks on my phone while driving.
At one point, perhaps when my car was about 15 years old, the dealership, where I got the oil changed, started telling me that I could get a great deal on a newer car. I informed them that unless they guaranteed that the newer car came with no payments like the one I had, I didn’t want it.
After all, I only paid for occasional maintenance, which was much cheaper than a regular payment.
I always joked that I’d drive my car until the tires fell off. I discovered another situation which motivated me to contemplate buying a preowned car: the car itself had locked me out.
Do you know how it feels to have your car keys in your hand and STILL not able to unlock the door? It’s like the car is rebuking you.
My work around was to unlock the front passenger’s door, then reach over to unlock the driver’s door. OK, so that got me in the car, but was embarrassing enough to start me researching preowned cars. That hourlong exercise led me to call the dealership to see how much fixing the door would cost.
What? Around $400? Done!
Once again, I spared myself from returning to the car payment hamster wheel. For now.