Originally Posted by
noglider
I think the costs of purchasing a car might be inflated, especially if you accept the vehicle replacement rate of 5 years. That interval is crazy. I've owned a few vehicles, and I always bought them used. I kept them until they were older than 10 years, so replacement every 5 years is silly. Still, the cost of ownership is proportional to distance driven. Vehicles don't rot from disuse unless they're driven less than 1,000 miles a year, and I just made that number up, so if you want to adjust it, please do.
So if we've discussed this in the past, I have not come to agree that vehicle costs are nonlinear. There are fixed costs, but they are smaller than the marginal costs.
my vehicle was rotting from disuse after I started primarily commuting by bike. It had to live outside in Wisconsin and the brakes were not happy. My work commute at the time was only about 4 miles each way, so even when it was used, it usually wasn’t for long. Having to replace underused brake pads and rotors for a trip about 5 highway hours away was pretty much the last straw. Belts and oil deteriorate with age even if not used, as does any other rubber on the car. And above 100k miles, even on a good car, things start breaking or wearing out. I’m in a condo complex and am not allowed to work on cars in the parking lot. Even if I was, keeping all the tools on hand isn’t realistic. Good luck finding a used car with fewer miles than that that’s not so expensive a bike isn’t obviously cheaper. Plus insurance and registration. Registration alone covers a good bike tune-up with some new bits. 1 oil change a year can still be in $100 territory. Tires also die with age, and winters are savage on a car that lives outside in Wisconsin (or Indiana). A “cheap” car is still expensive to keep running safely and legally and sometimes even running at all.