Recently our 2002 Impala with 135,000ish miles took a long route into the ditch. We had to summon a wrecker as our truck could not get enough traction to pull the car out. The wrecker had a hard time as well, the car was stuck good and the road was slick. The wrecker at first was pulling itself into the ditch!

Eventually, Brandon from John’s Towing got the car out. However, things were immediately noticeably wrong with the car.

Quite simply, the car lost its power steering assist and while it was drivable and steerable, it took a lot of effort to turn the steering wheel past 30° from its neutral position.

Unfortunately, most of the money we have in savings is tasked to something or another. Yes the repair needs to happen and yes it needs to be paid for.

In the past, we have had money saved and allocated specifically to car repairs and routine car maintenance, let me tell you what a feeling that is to have real cash on hand for such purchases. It stinks to have to pay for repairs but lets face it — they are inevitable.

Therefore, not only do I think it wise to have an emergency fund, but to have one specifically for your cars. I believe a level of about $2,000 is good as that is about the most expensive auto repair I have had to pay for (transmission), make sure to set aside extra for tires (remember though, tires are not an every year purchase), insurance, and registration.

Pretty soon, we will be able to start doing this again.