sixtydays

Went for a ride today, and caught myself thinking. Anyone have a nice new expensive car sitting at home getting no love? I was really excited getting my new nice car about a year ago, but I find myself getting the bike for just about everything. I'm starting to feel like an idiot for spending the money on a car im not using. Oh well, I guess it will be worth more in the future!'


To be totally honest, I havn't even started my car in a few months. And I love it.

gmule

No new car for me. My car turned 20 this year and I think it will be around for several more years since I don't drive it. At least I don't have a payment every month on it and insurance runs me $17.00 a month.

mesasone

I hope it gets good milage!

Personally, I decided that while I could, just barely, fit a new car (as in off lease or a few years old) into the budget (or a much older used vechile), I couldn't truly afford it unless I wanted to live paycheck to paycheck.

dolcegirl

This is my car. I have had it since July of 2004 and it has about 12,000 on it. That is not because I ride my bike, because I only just bought my bike last summer. It was not until recently that I ride to work on occasion, but I live close to work and just don't put a lot of miles on it. I will now put even less miles on it, as I use my bike to take movies back, etc., but mostly for fitness.

madcow_number_6

my 39 year old beetle gets me around just fine on the occasion i need to go out of town. To me a new car (unless its a hybrid or other such low impact vehicle) is just a waste of metal. Think about it... The very instant you drive your new pride and joy off the lot the value starts to depreciate. Within the time it takes to pay your loan off, say 4 years, even if you didn't drive it a lick, the value has gone down at least 10k.

Just doesn't make sense enough to me to justify the payment. The wife on the other hand.....

d2create

Yup, picked this up in October.
Been riding my scooter a lot (pics below the car) so the car is only getting driven about once or twice a week plus some on the weekends.

chephy

I don't live in poverty by any stretch of imagination, but I don't have a car, and honestly can't get excited about any car. I just don't like them, don't distinguish between good and lousy ones. They are all the same to me: just loud, smelly, annoying objects to avoid on the road.

cradduck

exactly.

although, that scooter is pretty darn sweet.

ShadowGray

Holy snap.. G35 and A3...

My bike is right now to hold me off until I graduate and then I can get a job and maybe afford myself an evo or sti...

UmneyDurak

Ehh, you might want to at least start it and let it run for a while. Otherwise you might find yourself with dead battery, and other fun side effects of letting a car just seat there.

tekknoschtev

That's the car that's been sitting in the driveway, sad that I don't drive 'er as much as I used to. But its all for the better as she has turned more into weekend cruiser and it saves wear and tear on 'er. I've had the Sebring since Feb '07, and used to be driving daily. Now, I try to ride the bike during the week. Its getting harder now that its warming up!

Sammyboy

My newest car is 16 years old, and the oldest was built in 1966! This is not because I don't drive - my job requires me to do quite a lot of mileage; 1700 last month. Instead, it's because they were cheap to buy, and are cheap to run (large and small diesel Citroens which do 50+ and 60+ mpg on the motorway respectively), and because they're so cool! I love cars, and used to write for a classic car mag, but I also love my bikes,commute on them whenever I can, and can see the writing on the wall for cars.

maximan1

Whats wrong with a car that will get you there (in style and comfort)?



Not mine, but I will have one this winter.

Rex G

Fuel deteriorates over time! Old gasoline can really gum up the works, as the more volatile compounds evaporate. People who intentionally store vehicles for a season, such as cars or motorcycles over the winter, or snowmobiles over the summer, routinely add fuel stabilizer to the tank. Longer-term storage requires other steps.

ban guzzi

yeah...

made the mistake of buying a newer Lincoln Ls V8. Drove everyday for about 4 months then parked it when I found bicycles again. I was told to drive it once a week by the dealer. I let it sit for too long without even starting it and the fuel system got gummed up...
That was an expensive lesson.

Anyone interested in a nice, fast-ish Lincoln?

didn't think so..

Michael H

My Honda Element has seen a lot less duty these days, but going camping and band rehearsals dictate that it gets used a few times a week.

DataJunkie

I am not poor either but a car for me is simply utility. Occasionally, I see an older muscle car that I find interesting but on the whole they are unexciting. My wife finds it odd that you can put a $1000 bike next to a $60,000 car and I will not notice the car. Even without a bike that holds true most of the time.
I do not understand why anyone would drop quite a bit of money into something that will depreciate in value. I would rather spend that on my house.

My choice in cars reflects that mindset. A cheap ford windstar.

climbhoser

Just bought an '07 Jeep Commander to sit next to my '01 Jeep Cherokee. Actually, the Commander is officially mine, but both are my wife's

They have a certain utility to them. As for depreciation, the Commander we found with 16K miles on it (low enough it qualified for a factory warranty, so we got one, and a good one at that), but because it had been a fleet vehicle sent to auction we got it for about half the new car cost. Deals like this abound! Since it's already lost half it's value, it won't lose that much over the next few years. In fact, if we went to sell it on CL right now we would make money on it. The dealer made money on it, so he was happy not to put it up high with the rest of the low mileage, year old vehicles of it's ilk.

And definitely a certain utility, too. We have a 1 year old, and while trailer transport is great, sometimes you just need to go places. We like to go to Moab, the Sand Dunes, skiing, etc...and while I'm rarely in a car excepting those occasions, I'm sure glad we have a car FOR those occasions. Other thing is safety. I like my wife driving our daughter in a protective vehicle...I do.

Oh, and did you know that EVERY car is convertible to flex fuel? Seriously. There are problems with getting it past legislation, as they have to do it for every model in every year, but the technology is there. That would at least reduce a significant portion of our dependence on foreign oil. Not sure how much more corn would need to grow for everybody to do it, but it couldn't hurt!

bdinger

Well to do = having a new car? Huh.. guess I'm poor then.

CliftonGK1

I've got a 2000 XJ that spends most of its life in my garage, but it does see weekly use as I have to drive to work one day a week for inter-facility meetings, and I drive to most of my century rides.

JeffS

Not nearly as much as buying a vehicle that got better than 14/19 mpg would.

Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather not increase the cost of my heating fuel (natural gas) and all of my food so others could feel better about driving their cars.

climbhoser

Call me to stupid, but it'd be nice if you explained...

ronsmithjunior

My car is a Prius, and gets around 50 mpg. These days I only use it for work one day a week. Round trip is about 45-50 miles. One gallon of gas a week is not bad. Sometimes my wife will drive my car instead of her gas guzzling Honda Civic (35 mpg). She says it is easier to get stuff in and out of my car, but I think she just doesn't want to admit that I get much better mileage.

jgedwa

Perfectly put. I do have a car, and I do use it. But I do not like them at all.

BroadSTPhilly

My wife drives a Taurus Wagon that could eat that gas mileage without breaking stride. Gas guzzling
you don't know the meaning of gas guzzling.