For the record, I officially regret purchasing my 2003 Mazda6.  For the record, I wish I plunked down the $1,500 last year, and replaced the O2 sensor on my prior SR20 Sentra, and probably kept driving it for at least another 20,000 miles, without any car payments, to this point.  But I was cash-strapped and foolish back then.  And compared to now, when I’m still cash-strapped, but feeling more foolish, and factually handcuffed to the remainder of my car loan that I will have the uphill battle in trying to eliminate before seeking out a new car.

If all goes well, this weekend, I’ll test drive a car, that isn’t too expensive, has anywhere from 50-62% of the power output of the lemon, but 25% better fuel economy, and isn’t, well, the lemon.  And then hopefully sooner, rather than later, I’ll sign my balls away for 60 months, but at least have a brand new car, that I won’t have to fret and worry about, for at least one full year, hopefully.

But for the record, the acquisition of the lemon, certainly goes up on the list as one of the biggest mistakes of my life, and I’m not just being dramatic.  I consider it an invaluable lesson learned –  that mechanics are incompetent, CarFaxes are bullshit, and strange haji Middle-Eastern rock-lot dealers have the power of the genie’s lamp to make any car seem better than it really is for at least a few months, before it turns back into putrid garbage.  For the record, I wish I plunked down the money to fix my old car, and kept it, or at least used it then, to have acquired a brand new, reliable car, that I’d have already paid 15 months of my car loan off by now, instead of the lemon.

I don’t often have many regrets, but damn is this certainly one of the biggest.