Cat-Sitting Doesn't Pay for Car Repairs
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My car’s been pretty good to me in the five or so years that I’ve had it. It’s a charcoal gray 2013 Subaru Legacy that I bought for $7,000 with my own money. I specify that I bought it with my own money, as I’ve owned two cars before this. The first was a 2011 Chevy Malibu that was a hand-me-down from my sister, and then a cheap 1997 Toyota Camry that my mom bought me after the engine of the Malibu gave out due to me being too depressed and anxious to get an oil change. I’ve learned my lesson since then and find the anxiety of my car breaking down a more motivating factor than the anxiety of interacting with oil change technicians and mechanics. The Camry, although two years older than me and with a little over 200,000 miles on it, lasted longer than I expected it to. It was a year or so into the pandemic that I had enough money saved from working at a fast food joint to look into upgrading.
I had a Subaru in mind immediately, not only for their reputation for being fairly reliable, but also because of their reputation for being cars mostly owned by queer folks. The latter shouldn’t have influenced me as much as it did and perhaps I should have done more research, but alas, I now own a Subaru. In the past year or more, I haven’t had to do any repairs on it, which makes it live up to the reliable reputation. In general, it drives great.
A few weeks ago, however, it started making odd noises when I was driving my girlfriend to an appointment. It seemed to squeak and rattle here and there, but I tried to ignore it at first. I mean, I still don’t have a job and have only a couple hundred dollars left to my name, so what could I even do about it?
I should have known that it would only get worse. Maybe part of me was holding onto hope that it would magically go away, but of course that wasn’t the case. Instead, the noises became louder and more frequent, as well as correlating with the car not handling and steering well. At higher speeds, such as on the highway, it seemed as if the steering wheel was loose or had a mind of its own. The car randomly drifted this way and that, and I had to jerk the steering wheel the other way to have some small amount of control. Needless to say, it became scary to drive.
I was still hesitant to take it in to get repaired. As previously stated, I’m really broke right now. But, finally, last Monday, I texted my mom and told her the situation. Of course she recommended that I get it looked at, and sent me the information of an auto repair shop that she recommended. I promptly scheduled to bring it there that evening, and was grateful that my mom agreed to meet me there and give a ride home.
The repair shop that my mom recommended was across town, and that six mile drive was one of the longest I’ve endured. I opted not to take the highway as the higher speeds seemed to make it worse, but that meant that I had to drive slowly through the downtown area. My car continued to creak and click during the drive, and far louder than it had before. I drove a bit below the speed limit, much to the frustration of those behind me. I was worried that it would breakdown on the road if I were to go any faster though. Having had that happen before with both of my previous cars, I did my best to at least make it to the repair shop. And after damn near having a panic attack, I arrived.
I parked and took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm down before going inside to drop off my key. I tend to get incredibly anxious around mechanics and the like, but the guys there seemed genuinely kind. As you may have guessed by now, I don’t know shit about cars. So I babbled to them about the noises I was hearing and the issue with the steering without knowing any technical terms and probably sounding a bit silly. The guy at the front desk, who I assume was a manager of some sort, suggested that I go on a test drive with one of the technicians so I can point out exactly what I’m hearing. Fuck, I really don’t want to be driving that thing right now, I thought. But I agreed nonetheless. The technician was equally as kind as I rehashed my car concerns to him as we walked through the parking lot to my car. He suggested that we take it on the road and go down a side street before looping back. With him in my passenger seat, I nervously began to back out of the parking space.
CREEEEEAK! SNAP!
“Oh man, I hear it!” the technician exclaimed. I felt both validated and a bit embarrased with how bad it sounded and his apparent shock at the severity.
“Yeah, it’s been getting even worse.” I said through anxiously gritted teeth before I backed up a bit further.
CREEEEEAK! SNAP, SNAP!
“Okay! Let’s not take it on the road.” the technician guy stated with wide eyes. I appreciated him having safety in mind, even if it was only an act of self preservation. Part of me was grateful that I didn’t have to drive it further as I pulled back into the parking space I was only partially backed out of. Another part of me was thinking, fuck, even the car guy thinks it sounds awful. That certainly can’t be good when it comes to the repair costs, huh?
And it wasn’t. The next day, they emailed me a report of the things they found wrong with the car. The main issue was the suspension control arm and ball joints were rusted out and they recommended to remove and replace the subframe. Of course this means nothing to me and I waited with bated breath for them to send the cost estimate. A few minutes later, it came through. Three. Thousand. Dollars. More than ten times the amount I have left in my bank account. I cried when I read that number. I figured it would be somewhat expensive, but thought it would maybe be a little over a thousand. I thought that could be doable – maybe there would be someone in my family that could loan me the money. But triple that? No way.
Then we get to the part of the story where I feel perhaps a bit guilty for how much support I have from the people in my life. First, my girlfriend’s mom, who we both live with, offered to let me borrow her car until I got mine back. It takes a lot of trust to let someone else drive your vehicle, so I’m extremely grateful to her for that. I used it a few times last week – to take my girlfriend to another appointment, to meet my dad at the bookstore, and to pick up a prescription.
Even more surprisingly, my mom agreed to loan me the money to get my car fixed. “You don’t really have a choice, you need a car,” she told me over the phone after I asked if I approve the repairs the shop recommended. She’s right. While I hate America’s over dependence on cars, I fear there’s not much I can do to combat it. It’s either I’m essentially house bound or I get my car fixed.
I’m incredibly fortunate that my mom was willing and able to loan me the money for the repair costs. I’m surprised that she even had enough to do so, to be frank. While she has a steady job at a factory, I understand from previous conversations with her that money is still very tight. She’s even wary of planning for retirement as she’s not sure if she’ll be able to make it happen.
These acts of support from both my mom and my girlfriend’s mom have me wondering if I’m even deserving of the help. I mean, I’m almost twenty-seven for god’s sake, shouldn’t I be able to take care of myself? At least if I’d been working the past couple of months, I’d have some money to my name. Instead, I’ve been avoiding looking for employment because I’m depressed and exhausted. But, aren’t we all? Sure, not working is pretty great, but I can’t put all of the financial pressure on my loved ones to support me. Maybe this is the kick in the ass I needed to finally get a job.
I did sign up for an app called Meowtel after quitting my last job in early June. It’s a cat-sitting app, and since I worked for a year at an animal shelter a few years back, I figured I’m at least somewhat qualified. After paying the $25 for the background check and getting my cat-sitting profile verified, it kind of fell silent. I was just losing hope when I got a message on the app a few weeks ago. I met the guy and his adorable cat a few days later, and thankfully got hired to cat-sit for him this weekend. I started the job on Friday evening, six hours after getting my car back from the shop. I’m enjoying spending time with the little guy, and am grateful to have some income lined up for the first time in weeks. However, as the title of this post states, cat sitting doesn’t pay for car repairs. I’ll make about $100 for watching this little guy for the weekend. Maybe I'll get lucky and the owner will tip me with a bit more, but I think it’s wise to not go in expecting that. That $100 will most likely go towards medical bills or food and not towards paying my mom back.
So, I’ve been looking for jobs. I have two interviews lined up for this week: one at a gas station and the other at a fast food place. God, I don't really want either of these jobs. I suppose beggars can’t be choosers though. I also applied at the animal shelter I used to work at, but to work as a receptionist rather than in the kennels. I quit that job in 2023 in the midst of a mental health crisis, however, so I’m not sure if they’d want to hire me back. Worth a shot I guess.
I’ll also keep my profile on Meowtel up. Maybe more cat sitting jobs will come in, who knows. Hopefully the owner of the cat I'm watching this weekend leaves me a five star review on the app and that encourages more folks to book me. Maybe I’ll try dog sitting on Rover or something too. I hope to eventually find a job that I don’t hate and pays the bills, but for now, I at least need to find the latter.
