Le Woe des Autos

I love living in Washington. I love my Toyota. I do not love what happens when living in Washington + owning car = $622.06.

My apartment doesn’t have a garage so I park on the street. No problem. These past three weeks I’ve been using a temporary parking pass issued by the local police station. About two weeks ago I went to the DMV in Georgetown and said, “I’d like to get a parking permit for zone 3,” and proudly produced my lease, my license, and my car registration. “Sorry,” she said, “You need to be a DC resident. And you need to have your car inspected. And you need a DC license. And the car title. And your birth certificate or passport.” Hmm.

So I got off work a little early one day and took myself and my passport to the other DMV, the one in NE that is open until 6 pm. I paid $40 and got a shiny new DC driver’s license. Yay!

Next on the to-do list is the car inspection. No problem, I thought, I have a good little car that even has a new battery. So I went to the car inspection office and then patiently waited for their diagnosis, expecting to hear that it passed with flying colors. When it was done, I went out and the (very rude) man said, “Open this door!” so I opened the passenger side door. “You FAIL.” “…um. Why?” “That dent in your bumper. Safety hazard. You FAIL. Get it fixed and come back in 20 days.”

Granted, it’s a large dent. But I drove from California to Virginia in that car with that dent. It’s 8 months old. It hasn’t caused any accidents and I don’t expect it to spontaneously combust. But what could I do? I need to park legally! I took it to an Auto Body repair shop after work on Monday. They gave me an estimate, and it was about what I and everyone I talked to expected: Parts, labor, paint, time...it adds up. I cringed, but left the car with them.

I’ll pick it up when it’s done on Friday and fork over $582.06. Then I’ll have it re-inspected at 7 AM on Saturday (thankfully, that’s free.) Then I’ll go straight to the DMV and bring my lease and my passport and my license and my title and my inspection certificate and my credit card. Then they had better give me a parking permit