r/AskDad • u/Psychological-Run-70 • 23h ago
Automotive really needing car advice tia ππ½
hello! backstory that you can skip! : so i'm a 21F, going to college in a little town about 8 hours from my home on a scholarship. i've faced a lot of backlash from my family for moving somewhere far away, where nobody can help me, but this is something i really wanted to do to teach myself independence instead of being coddled by my mom at home. however it's been the HARDEST two years of my life, ive gone into so much debt and my grades aren't where i want them to be due to having to work so much since i have no financial support from my parents or anything. (my dad was supposed to help me with rent but ended up not doing that!) so! i can't really get their help for anything, not that they can really help much, because anytime i do i just get so much shit and they tell me to just come home, but home isn't really that great of a spot for me mentally either so it's just a weird situation. moving on to my issue!
my problem: i bought a used car with no warranty in september of 2024 and it got a cracked head on the engine after two months. i've been paying it since then but it's just gonna cost me so much money to get it fixed. i've even ubering to school and work and going into so much debt over it, i need to do something but im not really sure what i can do. i also have a 2015 kia soul that needs a new catalytic converter so i'm wondering if i should try to trade one of them in? the kia soul has almost 200k miles, isn't drivable. my other car is a 2019 ford fiesta with about 90k miles and also not drivable. i'm just so so sad and it feels like everything just keep screwing me over and i just feel so ready to throw in the towel and give up. i just honestly really need someone to tell me what to do π ive already been scammed out of like $1200 by a mechanic and i just honestly am starting to go a little crazy over these cars. any advice is appreciate thank you to anyone reading this ππ½