Living Car Free - $900 Volvo Fuel Pump!

Does thirdgenbird refer to the '61-'63 Thunderbirds?

Does thirdgenbird refer to the '61-'63 Thunderbirds?
nope, it was a third generation firebird i drove and modified a little in college. i think i bought it for $3,500 and outside of oil and filters, did not spend a dime on maintenance in 3 years.
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk177/thirdgenbird/DSC00271.jpg

in the end it was too nose heavy and big for what i wanted so i sold for about what i had in it and replaced it with a porsche 924s.

i have essentially upgraded the entire suspension system. wheels, tires, brakes, struts, springs, coilover conversion, suspension mounts, sway bars, bushings, the whole 9. yes it was expensive, but to me its a labor of love and my only other real hobby outside of cycling.
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk177/thirdgenbird/black%20friday/DSC00765.jpg
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk177/thirdgenbird/black%20friday/DSC00774.jpg

can i leave now :)

I have a '93 Volvo wagon with 223,000 miles on it. The original fuel pump finally went out, and I soon learrned Volvos have TWO fuel pumps, one in the tank and one under the car. So I replaced both of them. $900 later, I was back on the road. I could have gotten a hell of a nice new bike for $900. Volvos are great cars, but when they break, they are mucho expensivo.

Excuse me for being so direct, but isn't this a bike forum? I have an old Volvo myself, but I can well understand that most readers don't really need to know how much I have to pay for repairs for a car.

Cars suck. They suck BIG. I f****** hate cars. Not only do they cost large amounts of money for individuals; they also take up huge amounts of public resources including space, they're disastrous for the environment, and they damage the quality of life in urban areas. Are they useful in rural areas, and for specific uses that require large amounts of force? Absolutely. Does everyone need to have one to get to the mall or take the kids to soccer practice? Absolutely not.


Excuse me for being so direct, but isn't this a bike forum? I have an old Volvo myself, but I can well understand that most readers don't really need to know how much I have to pay for repairs for a car.

you seemed in support of this thread several years ago. has seattle become a rural area since then or have you started warming up to the internal combustion engine?

edit:
i am trying to ignore the structure of your last sentence, but the last part really bother me.

the same mindset that says you dont need a car should also tell you that if you have a car, you dont need to spend a lot on maintenance. there are plenty of cars/truck available that require very little upkeep, and the maintenance that is necessary can be done in a garage or parking lot, often times with less sacrifice than not having a car.

sure cars are more expensive than bikes, but they also have a lot more potential. its like trying to compare a car to a plane. sure a plane is really expensive, but my truck sure as hell wont get me to china.

you seemed in support of this thread several years ago. has seattle become a rural area since then or have you started warming up to the internal combustion engine?
The bottom line is the only car related topic that is approved/blessed by the self appointed guardians of LCF etiquette is KAR Kulture Bashing.That subject apparently is NEVER boring or yawn inducing, and endless preaching to the choir is welcome.

Of course ILTB. This IS the Living Car Free forum. There are plenty of other places on the web to praise a car. And few places that you can share information about living car free with other like-minded people. The garden must be cultivated if it is not to become infested with weeds. A meeting must have an agenda if its to be effective. :p

Of course ILTB. This IS the Living Car Free forum. There are plenty of other places on the web to praise a car. And few places that you can share information about living car free with other like-minded people. The garden must be cultivated if it is not to become infested with weeds. A meeting must have an agenda if its to be effective. :p
I agree, this is the Living Car Free forum. How the weary gratuitous KAR Kulture bashing that is the long playing subject of so many posts from the "Regulars" contributes to their LIVING car free has never been adequately explained.

Of course ILTB. This IS the Living Car Free forum. There are plenty of other places on the web to praise a car. And few places that you can share information about living car free with other like-minded people. The garden must be cultivated if it is not to become infested with weeds. A meeting must have an agenda if its to be effective. :p

This thread just shows how expensive running a car can be.
I own a car which i rarely use but i'll keep it for the times i can't cycle somewhere (for example, my sister lives 200 kilometres away, bit far for me to bike although i would like to ride it by bike once) . Maintenance and ownership is expensive when you don't drive regularly but using public transport is also very expensive where i live (the Netherlands).
And while this is the car free forum it doesn't mean you have to hate cars... ALthough i HATE the way people threat their cars. Not thinking about transport, they ALWAYS use the car, even if they have to drive 500 meters... And some people seem to think driving a car is some sort of right. It's a luxury! I wish some people would see that.

last summer I did some field work for my company, partly for the mileage $. well, it turns out I put on so many miles that I made $500. in mileage, but because of all that mileage I had to replace my battery and alternator for $700.


hmmm .... :(

I have a '93 Volvo wagon with 223,000 miles on it. The original fuel pump finally went out, and I soon learrned Volvos have TWO fuel pumps, one in the tank and one under the car. So I replaced both of them. $900 later, I was back on the road. I could have gotten a hell of a nice new bike for $900. Volvos are great cars, but when they break, they are mucho expensivo.
Well, we have a supposedly cheap to fix Pontiac but I haven't found it any cheaper than my previous Volvo. $3000 to fix the gasket last fall. And it's only a 2002. Luckily I save thousands a year biking, so I can fix my wife's car when it needs it!

have you ever considered the urban sprawl that would take place if cars all the sudden disappeared? cities would become huge and commutes would get longer and longer.You got that part backwards. Cars have given us urban sprawl and long commutes. If our society weren't structured around cars, cities would be much more concentrated like Hong, Kong, New York and Chicago (and less like Kansas City or LA) with dense, mixed business and residential downtowns, where it would be easy to walk or cycle to work along with excellent public transit. Suburbs would be a chain of dense, walkable nodes strung along rail lines, or located around mills and factories, as they were in the 19th century.


you are forgeting about millions of americans that live in rural areas being car free here is not practical. if cars disapeared, small town usa would likely die and cities would over populate.

Again, the opposite. There would be rural hamlets every couple of miles in agricultural areas, with a general store to meet the needs of the farm workers.

What would be missing, would be the huge suburban malls and the late 20th century style ranch bungalow suburbs.

Wonderful. the worst thread in the history of the forum has been dug up from the grave...again! :(

http://neuronarrative.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/zombie2.jpg

One thing it shows however is that even those who are not "carfree" are interested enough in the concept to visit the sight. It sounds to me like some of those browsers (yes I am one of them) have found a thread to which they feel they can respond to. Perhaps some of them will someday find themselves in situations in which embracing a car free lifestyle will be possible and this sight will have been their inspiration.

This thread is a disgrace. Why doesn't someone put it out of its misery? Mods...!!

This thread is a disgrace. Why doesn't someone put it out of its misery? Mods...!!
Pot; kettle, eh? http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?624552-Hurray%21%21%21-Another-Tank-Car-%28The-Hummer%29-Is-No-Longer-Made&p=10456732&viewfull=1#post10456732