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[veleda]

I need some help sorting out a money/car/house predicament.

This is convoluted, but here are the pieces:
Right now, I rent an apartment about a 5 minute drive from the train station, and can walk if I don't have much to carry. I go into the city by train 3-4 days a week to adjunct. This is a perfect location for two reasons: one, I don't put much wear and tear on my high-mileage 1995 junker (paid off), and two, most importantly, it solves the problem of the severe night blindness I have (I *never* drive at night), by allowing me to get home quickly on a well it road, or walk.

However, I am house hunting right now, in a location that will require me to drive about 10 miles further to get to the train station...which means driving in the dark...which means I have to solve the problem of my car. My car lights are very, very dim. I can see if I drive with my high beams on but that's obviously not a solution. I have looked into getting brighter lights for my car, which is the first thing I want to ask about...anyone with any experience adding bright new lights to an old car?

Last weekend I drove my son's Jeep and it was a thing of beauty! I could see really well, even on the darkest back roads. I drove a road that I haven't driven in 6 years. It was amazing. So now I want a (used) Jeep. His thought is that the height of the vehicle and the angle of the lights just work for me. I've tested a few SUVs before, and didn't have the visibility I have with the Wrangler. So now I'm all about getting the Jeep. I would put this off, with no problem, except my poor car is on it's last legs. I have dragged it through two winters longer than I intended, and it's rusting out along the bottom of the doors and making a weird clunking sound when I make a left turn. So I feel like this is the time to get the Jeep.

But herein lies the rub: I spoke with my mortgage broker and he said if I got the Jeep now, I would "crush" (his word) any chances of getting a mortgage.

So...I can't seem to get a handle on this. I suppose in a way the problem is solved...if I don't get the mortgage, I don't get the house, if I don't get the house, I don't need the Jeep right away. I could just drive my car into the ground. Or I get the Jeep now and forget about the house, and just keep renting. The ideal would be to get the house first, then get the Jeep, but what if my car doesn't last? Should I spend money on my current car to keep it on the road as long as I can, and hope the right house appears really soon, before my car dies (I think yes?)?

I need help sorting out wants and needs. Or a different way to think about this, that I'm missing. Thoughts?

V.

[hegemony]

The very first thing I'd do is to take the car to a good mechanic and get the problem of the headlights sorted out.  They should never be dim; that suggests that something's wrong.  If you can get them back to normal, that buys you time.  And presumably you are putting a down payment on the house?  This means that you have savings?  (If not, then maybe this is not the time for a house.) 

I would start looking for a good used car sold by a private seller.  (Those are typically cheaper than a used car from dealers, who take their customary cut.)  Take your time because you want a good deal. Take each possible car to get checked out by your reliable mechanic before you buy. And test each one at night to see if you can see by the headlights. Just because one style of car had headlights you can see by doesn't mean that that's the only style of car with headlights you can see by.  There may be many. 

Ultimately I would suggest putting a little less down on the house and buying a good used car with cash.  If it takes a while to find the right house (and the right car), that's more time to save up more money.

Another option would be to get a house somewhere that has good transportation to the train station -- or even near the train station itself.

[zuzu_]

I used to work at a car dealer, and oftentimes, dim headlights means they aren't aimed correctly and they are pointing down. You can adjust this yourself. Check your owner's manual or google how to do it.

[glowdart]

I would also get the headlights looked at.  The lamps could just be old and dim because they're dying, or the lenses could need a good thorough cleaning, or they could be focused wrong, or the wires could be corroding, or the housings could be loose, or... all of which are cheaper than a Jeep. 

[veleda]

OK, thanks, you're right. I need to slow down, and focus on the issue of the lights on the current car. This could be a cheap fix, and would allow me to keep the car indefinitely. I think I just got so excited about the Jeep. I'll get my car to the mechanic ASAP.

[alto_stratus]

Yes, I would see if you can fix the lights first.  Also, the clunking when you turn is probably a worn CV joint.

If you do go for the mortgage and something happens to your car, could you rent one for a short time until the deal goes through?  I'm not sure what impact it might have with respect to the mortgage, but maybe it's an option (hopefully you won't need it).

[veleda]

alto, I just googled CV joint symptoms and I think you're right. I'll get the car in this week if I can. And renting a car could actually work if the timing works. Good thinking, thanks.

[spork]

If you are adjuncting, why are you thinking of buying a house?

[pedanterast]

You can live in a car but you can't drive a house.  Do not try to aim your own headlights as you will likely mess this up the first time you try it.  You could have your headlights replaced with halogen headlights if they aren't already; those are much better.  Have them aimed at the same time. 

CV joint replacement is expensive, though.

[veleda]

Spork, I'm adjuncting because I'm heading toward retirement. College teaching is my second career; I've never intended it to be full-time or T-T. I also do other work in my field. I'm house hunting because I want to move closer to my son and DIL ("my children are my retirement").

Pedanterast, I would never attempt to do my own headlights! I'm ashamed to admit that I basically know nothing about cars beyond insert key, step on gas, go. Yeah, I'm afraid of what the mechanic is going to say.

V.

[clean]

When did you last replace the lights?  They dont burn out so much anymore as they just get dim.  I replace mine every few years... it is about time again, and I m going to see about those lens restoring kits too... when I have some time to play with that.

[anon99]

Spork, I'm adjuncting because I'm heading toward retirement. College teaching is my second career; I've never intended it to be full-time or T-T. I also do other work in my field. I'm house hunting because I want to move closer to my son and DIL ("my children are my retirement").

You said you are renting, but have you owned a home in the recent past such that you are taking out a small mortgage to buy a new place closer to your son?  If not, taking out a large mortgage when you are planning on retiring sounds like a bit of a risk especially if (and this is a judgement call on my part) you have been driving a '1995 junker'.  Don't get me wrong, I don't think people need to buy a new car every few years.  I would say move close to your son, but continue to rent.  If you need a car other than getting to and from the train station and changing the headlights doesn't help nighttime driving, buy a 'new' car.

[biomancer]

I'd fix the car and keep renting for a while.  If you're that close to retiring, then wait until you're actually retired so you can live really close to your family without having to worry about the commute to work.  I say this as someone who's 36, tenure-track, bought a house because I could not find a place that would rent to us with our large dog, and is having a bad time of the finances trying to keep up with fixing the house as well as keeping the old cars in good shape.

That said, in addition to changing out the light bulbs as Clean wisely suggests, it's probably worth getting a headlight buffing kit (or having a detail shop do this for you if you're not mechanically inclined like I am).   This $20 kit plus half an hour working with its buffer attached to my cordless drill made an absolutely stunning difference on the headlights of both our cars (a 1999 sedan with nearly 100K miles on it, and a 2001 small sedan with nearly 200K miles).   I've now decided to make buffing the headlights a regular part of car maintenance, especially with all the cinders on the roads around here putting fresh scratches on the headlight lenses.

[scampster]

You guys are changing my world right now - I didn't realize headlights just got dimmer with time and that there are solutions to this! I have had my car almost ten years and haven't done anything about the headlights. I have always assumed that my night vision has just been getting worse. Seriously, I sometimes wonder if my lights are even on.

[spork]

Headlights get dirty, both inside and outside, over time, which dims the light coming out of them.