Well, after a successful eBay auction, the Volvo has been sold. For those of you who HAVEN'T been following this saga since last December, our beloved car jumped timing, and we replaced the engine. The new engine didn't work, until we replaced the timing mechanism. Even with that bit of work, the car still doesn't run right. We were as ethical as possible in our auction listing, describing every fault, as well as every highlight, of this car, which I STILL believe could be made perfect if we were at all willing to invest any more time, effort, money, or thought into it. What did it sell for? $600 smackaroos. Let's see...

+$2500 original cost
+$3000 for new engine and swap
+$1000 for misc diagnostics and repair attempts
+$800 for replacement of new timing mechanics
-$600 for final sale
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Yep, a net loss of about $6,700.

Now, whatever, money is money, and it's already gone. No sense crying over it now. But if nothing else, let's try and learn a lesson, here.

1. Think twice before buying a 14 year old car, and if you do, get it straight in your head what it is: disposable. Run it until it dies, and be done with it. Avoid emotional attachments that cause you to spend recklessly on repairs.
2. Think twice before buying a car that no one in your area seems to know how to work on. Sure, you're gonna look wicked progressive in your old Volvo, but if no one can fix it, that's not going to do you much good. You'll look just as progressive riding your ten-speed.
3. For major repairs, such as a full engine swap, do not use a chain mechanic such as Firestone. Those boys know how to change oil, and do what their diagnostic computer tells them, and that's about it. I was not encouraged when I saw them working on the car with manual printouts taped to the underside of the hood.

That is my clinical evaluation, and in the end, I am just relieved to be rid of the thing. Thinking about it constantly (not to mention hearing Jillian's constant thoughts on it) for the last six months has been exhausting, and I am happy to have the thing out of our lives. Sure, I wish we could have gotten a little more of our money back, but at the same time...I was feeling ready to pay someone to take it away from us. I am hoping Jillian will weigh in on this, as she will definitely be more able to provide the emotional side of the whole ordeal, but she has been quite blog-shy as of late. Give her a little encouragement, won't you?