This whole car-thing is really getting on my nerves. Especially since I'm so bloody indecisive! But I think I have come to a decision now - at least temporarily.

I found out that if I was to buy a proper car from a dealer, then I'd loose something like 2.500 or 3.000 dollars if I wanted to resell it on the eastcoast. Part of this is because of the profit the dealer will obviously expect but part of it is also because dealers have to pay GST (a tax) when selling you a car. I.e.: You pay that tax and not the dealer but there is of cours eno way I could make that money back. And in the cars I was looking at that tax would be around 1.000 AUD. So buying from a dealer started to be out of the question.

The perils of private purchase

The alternative idea was to buy the car from a private owner. The problem is however that there are simply not a lot of station wagons on the market and they'd cost around 6.000 AUD and you wouldn't get any warranty with it. Of course I'd have it inspected by the RAC, so the car should be alright. But at that price I'd have problems selling it on the eastcoast. Besides, buying a car privately is pretty time consuming. After all the person you'd buy it from has a real life, i.e. a job which make sit much more difficult to arrange for test-drives, an inspection and a time where you can go to the licensing office together. I reckon I'd be in Perth until next week if I was gonna do that.

Hoping and praying

So does that mean I'm seriously considering sticking to my car? As a matter of fact it does. That I'm considering it has a lot to with how the dealer I bought it from reacted when I showed up. He had the car all day and exchanged fuel filters and will get a new distributor cap tomorrow - and he said he'd pay for it. He also gave me another car for tomorrow (and that's a very nice car!) when I mentioned that I have to drive to Scarborough in the morning to see the dentist. So all in all, he is behaving quite decent about it. And to me that suggests that he did not know that the car he sold me had as many problems as it did. I mean, if he had knowingly sold me a bad car then he'd simply say: "Bad luck mate, it's you car and your problem." But he's not doing that, instead he is being decent about it. (Reality check, please: Am I clinging to a straw here?) And I started to think: I already had the carby exchanged, have new leads and plugs, have the fueltank fixed and various leaks in the motor fixed as well. If he does the distributor, the fuel pipes and looks at the fuel pump as well - how much more can there possibly be that can go wrong?
I mean, I pretty much repaired and exchanged everything on the car - and I had three mechanics look it over and testdrive it! So I'm thinking that maybe I should just risk it and stick with it. After all, if it breaks down, then I'd loose 2.400 AUD so far - but I might very well loose this amount as well, if I was to buy a car from a private owner or a dealer. And if the car dies on me, then I'll just get rid of it at a wreckers. As a matter of fact, if that happens then I'll think I'll just tell Australia to fuck off and will fly to Bali, lie on the beach and recoup my losses by staying there. And if the car survives I'll be able to sell it. So doing this, my risk is 2.400 AUD with the chance to not loose this money, whereas I will loose a few thousand anyway if I do something different. And actually, if the car dies and I feel like it I'll still be able to buy a different one for a backpacker. But of course I'm hoping that we actually have found all problems by now. And who knows - it might just be true.

Travel companions

It also looks as if I have found some travel companions. Actually I have the problem that I've found too many! You see, this afternoon I had tea with a very nice (and very cute) Canadian girl whom I'd just love to travel with. But in the evening I had a tea and a pizza with two German girls who'd also be great fun to travel with. What I'd really like to do is travel with all three of them. But I'm afraid that it'd actually be a bit too crowded in the car if we travelled with three - unless I use the roof rack. On the other hand - isn't that what a roof rack is for? Since I hadn't decided to stick with my car when I spoke to the Canadian, I now told the Germans that they could definitely come. And I think I'll think it over and maybe talk to the Canadian again tomorrow. How do you fit things to a roof rack anyhow?