Originally Posted by
linberl
Haha. My 2002 honda civic 5 speed that has long been paid off, has 134,000 miles and still has the ORIGINAL brakes and clutch, I do the oil changes and that's all it needs. No parking costs and my insurance is less than $30/month because I drive so little (MetroMile) and have a clean record. Registration is about a hundred bucks, insurance under $360, and I put $20 of gas in in every 6-8 weeks. The biggest hassle I have is remembering to drive it enough to keep the battery charged up.
How much did you pay for it, and in what year? If you bought it new for, say, $16,000, you have paid $1000/year assuming no financing costs. $360 insurance plus $120/year fuel plus $1000 for the car already adds up to $1500/year. Now what about tires? And you've never replaced the brake pads? What about tune ups? Have you replaced the timing belt? Registration is what, $100/year? Do you have to get an inspection?
$360/year for 15 years adds up to $5400. $120/year for 15 years adds up to $1800. Fifteen years of registrations adds up to $1500. So if you spent $15,000 on the car plus $8,700 for insurance, fuel, and registration, that adds up to over $20,000. How much of that would have spent on bikes and bike maintenance in that time? What would you do if you had the rest of that money in a savings account now? Buy a car to drive to the movies on rainy days?