Originally Posted by
PaulRivers
Wait, wait - you paid less than $400 for your first *car*??
What are you leaving out? Did you buy it in 1940?
Did you then spend overa thousand dollars in repair work for it? Is the trick that your dad sold it to you or something?
I've been car shopping - there's no way you're going to buy something reliable for $400 unless you buy it from a relative or something.
Paid $500 for it in 1995, actually, from a guy I didn't know. It ran fine, had a dent in the hood where the previous owner had hit a deer with it (still worked fine). I put a total of about $100 in keeping it up (put a used radiator in it and a timing belt, replaced them myself) and then an old lady ran a stop sign, hit me and totalled it. All the cars I've bought since then have been paid for, too. Let's just say I have a knack for finding good deals out of necessity. I don't condone cheaping out on everything, don't get me wrong. But why pay full price for anything in today's age of information? With a little leg work, you can really find some deals if you know what you're looking for.
And no, I don't expect the wife to maintain the bike, but the LBS bike would have to be taken in for service as well. If you get it initially adjusted properly and don't abuse it, it should last several years, long enough to get her cycling and having more of an idea of what she wants in a bike, which she could then spend more money on later.