Simple English for Daily Life Beginner English Speaking Practice

Come on! Come on! Start! What's wrong? It won't start. Nothing. Not even a click. Did you leave the lights on overnight? No. I checked. Everything was off. Try again. Nothing. The dashboard lit up for a second, then died. Tom, this car has been giving us problems for months. I know. Brakes in January. Battery in March. Now this. How much have we spent on repairs this year? At least a thousand. We need to call a tow truck. Get it to Eddie's Auto Shop. I'll look up the number. I can't believe this. I'll call you an Uber for work. Don't be late. What a great way to start the week. Morning. You called for a tow? Yes. It won't start at all. We need it towed to Eddie's Auto Shop on 5th Street. No problem. Let me take a look first. Pop the hood? It's already popped. Hmm. This doesn't look like a battery issue. It could be the starter or the transmission. How far is Eddie's from here? About 3 miles. Standard tow within 5 miles is $75. $75 just to tow it? That's actually pretty standard. Some places charge over $100. Does our car insurance cover towing? If you have roadside assistance on your policy, yes. You can file for reimbursement. I'll have to check. Let's just get it there. I'll hook it up. Takes about 10 minutes. You can ride with me or meet me there. I'll ride with you. I want to talk to the mechanic. Hi, Eddie. Thanks for seeing us so quickly. No problem. I put it on the lift and checked everything. Not great news, I'm afraid. What's wrong with it? Your transmission is failing. That's why it wouldn't start. The gears aren't engaging. Can you fix it? I can, but it's going to cost between $1,800 and $2,000. $2,000 for this car? That's the problem. Your car has 160,000 miles on it. According to Kelley Blue Book, the car itself is only worth about $1,500. Kelley Blue Book? What's that? It's the Standard Pricing Guide for used cars. It tells you how much a car is worth based on the year, mileage, and condition. Dealers and banks all use it. So the repair costs more than the car is worth. Exactly. My honest advice? It's time to start looking for a new car. What about trading this one in? Even with the transmission issue, you can still trade it in. A dealer might give you $500 to $800 for parts value. $500 to $800? Better than nothing. If you want, I can write up a condition report. It'll help when you negotiate at the dealership. That would be great. Thanks, Eddie. Welcome to Greenfield Motors. I'm Jason. Looking for anything in particular? We need a reliable, fuel-efficient car. Our old one just died. Sorry to hear that. What's your budget? We'd like to stay around $20,000 to $25,000. In that range, let me show you our most popular model, the new Greenfield Civic. Just redesigned this year. What's the starting price? The base model starts at $24,990. But this one on the floor has the upgraded package. Sunroof, leather seats, adaptive cruise control. How much for this one? Sticker price is $28,500. $28,500? That's over our budget. The sticker price is just the starting point. We can talk numbers. What about the base model? Can we see that one? Sure. It's right outside. Same engine, same reliability, just fewer extras. And what kind of warranty does it come with? Three years or 36,000 miles bumper-to-bumper. Powertrain warranty is five years. That's reassuring. Can we test drive the base model? Absolutely. I just need a copy of your license. Let me grab the keys. Oh, wow. Feel how smooth this is. The engine is so quiet, I can barely hear it. And the steering, so responsive. Try the brakes at the next light. Yep, stops perfectly. No squeaking, no pulling. Check the backup camera. Crystal clear. Guidelines and everything. This has Apple CarPlay, too. And Blind Spot Monitoring. Sarah, this car is amazing. I want this one. I love it, too, but... But? Even the base model is almost $25,000. Plus tax, title, and fees, we're probably looking at $27,000 out the door. That is a lot. Let's not decide today. Let's go home and think about it. You're right. No impulse buying. Let's go home and crunch the numbers. Okay, let's look at the numbers. New car, about $27,000 out the door. With $4,000 down, that's $23,000 to finance. At 5% interest for 60 months, that's about $434 a month. $434 plus insurance? Full coverage on a new car, probably $140 a month. So about $574 a month total. That's tight. Really tight. What if we looked at used cars, too? We might find something just as reliable but cheaper. Used? I don't want someone else's problems. There's something called CPO, Certified Pre-Owned. It means the car passed a full inspection and comes with a manufacturer warranty. A warranty on a used car? Yes, usually two years. It's like buying used with new car protection. That doesn't sound bad. Where do we find those? There's a place called AutoMax on Route 9. They specialize in CPO vehicles. Good reviews online. Let's go tomorrow. And if we don't find anything good, we can always come back to the new car. Deal. Keep our options open. Welcome to AutoMax. I'm Maria. What are you looking for today? We're looking for a reliable sedan. Budget is around $16,000 to $18,000. Great range. Are you interested in our CPO vehicles? They come with a factory warranty. Yes, that's exactly why we came here. Let me show you something that just came in yesterday. A 2022 model. Only 32,000 miles. One owner. Accident-free. 32,000 miles? That's really low for a 3-year-old car. The previous owner mostly worked from home. Barely drove it. How much? Listed at $17,400. It's got everything. Backup camera, lane assist, car play. That's basically the same features as the new one we drove yesterday, but $10,000 less. And it comes with a 2-year, 24,000 miles CPO warranty. Can we test drive it? Of course. Let me get the keys. Just need a copy of your license. This might be the one, Sarah. So, Maria tells me you're interested in the CPO. Great choice. How was the test drive? We love it, but we need to talk about the price. $17,400 is a little high for us. What number works for you? I've done my research. Similar CPO models with this mileage are going for $16,000 to $17,000 online. That's fair, but this one has lower miles and a clean history. That adds value. We also have a trade-in. Our current car. What's the car? A 2012 sedan. 160,000 miles. It has a transmission issue. Our mechanic wrote a condition report. With a transmission issue, trade-in value would be around $500 to $700. Our mechanic estimated the same. I'd like $700. I can do $650 on the trade-in, and I'll bring the CPO price down to $16,900. So, $16,900 minus $650. That's $16,250 before tax and fees. Plus tax, title, registration, and dock fee, about $1,300 total. Can you waive the dock fee? The dock fee is $200. I can cut it to $100. Deal. So, out the door, about $17,450? That's right. A lot less than a new car. How are you planning to pay? Cash or financing? We'll put $4,000 down and finance the rest. So, you'd finance about $13,450. Let me run the numbers. What's the interest rate? Depends on your credit score. With good credit, we can get you around 5%. And the monthly payments? For 60 months, that's about $254 a month. For 48 months, about $310. What's the total interest difference? With 60 months, you'd pay about $1,800 in total interest. With 48 months, about $1,400. So, you'd save about $400 by going shorter. Shorter saves money, but higher monthly payments. Exactly. Most people go with $60 for the breathing room. We'll do $48. I don't like paying extra interest. Monthly payment will be about $310. We can handle that. Good afternoon. Lakeside Insurance. How can I help you? Hi. I'm about to buy a car and need an insurance quote. Can you help? Of course. What's the year, make, and model? 2022 Honda Civic. CPO certified. And it's for personal use? Yes. Commuting and errands. About 12,000 miles a year. Any accidents or tickets in the last three years? Clean record. Great. For full coverage, your monthly premium would be about $135. $135? What if I raise the deductible? With a $1,000 deductible instead of $500, it drops to about $110. What's the difference between full coverage and liability only? Liability covers damage you cause to others. Full coverage also covers your own car. Theft, vandalism, weather damage. Since we're still paying it off, I should go with full coverage, right? Yes. Your lender will actually require it. Okay. $110 a month with the higher deductible. Let's do that. I'll have the policy ready to activate as soon as you finalize the purchase. Okay. I've read every line of this contract. Every line? Even the small print? Especially the small print. That's where they hide the extra fees. Find anything? They tried to add paint protection for $300 and fabric coating for $200. Do we need those? No. They're add-ons. I had them removed. Good catch. Total matches what we agreed on? $17,450 out the door, including everything. Let's sign. And done. Here are the keys. Should we say goodbye to the old car? You want to say goodbye to a car? We drove it on our first date, our first road trip, our move to this city. Okay. You're making me emotional. Goodbye, old friend. You were great. All right. Let's go home in our new ride. Feel that? No weird noises. No warning lights. The air conditioning actually works. And the radio doesn't cut out. I forgot what a normal car feels like. Let's go over our monthly costs. $310 for the car payment. Plus $110 for insurance. $420 a month total. Compare that to the new car. That would have been $574. Remember this morning? Car wouldn't even start. And now look at us. No weird noises. No warning lights. No check engine light. We should do a road trip. Test it out. Where? Anywhere. This car can take us there. This weekend? This weekend.