BikeManDan

Each cylinder is 1cc

crazybikerchick

Ditch owning your own car and join a car share program? They have some in KW no?

What do you deliver? Could you do it with a cargo trailer? For your 7-week-old, some people transport their kids in a car seat within a bike trailer even from a young age, others don't find it safe. If the biking with baby is not for you I'd say go for car share, (or transit but having lived in Waterloo for a while I'd say transit there is sucky)

Yeah here we go for car share:
https://www.peoplescar.org/

ItsJustMe

I've never owned anything but Fords, and never had any trouble whatsoever with them, with the exception of the aforementioned tranny going out. That can happen to anyone though. Apart from that I've put no more than about $1200 TOTAL into repairs for any car, and that's counting oil changes and tires. I have friends with Toyotas and Hondas that have WAY more trouble than I've EVER had with a domestic car.

I must admit that I've been getting new cars after about 120K, because my in-laws keep buying my wife new cars every few years and I just get her old ones (might as well; to not do so would be basically throwing away money). I now have a Taurus which I was hoping to drive into the ground; 11 years old, it has 128K on it and has never had a single problem apart from standard filter/belt/etc changes, and doesn't have a lick of rust on it, in Michigan yet (land of salty winter roads). Unfortunately my daughter is turning 16 and will be driving it, so it'll probably go to college with her in a few years. I told her when she graduates and buys her new car, I want the Taurus back. I expect it to still be fine unless it's wrecked.

For SURE don't buy an Audi. I have a friend who bought a new one which is about 5 years old now. It's costing him a FORTUNE; every month some other damn thing costs him $1000+.

mikepoole

English minor, actually- I just happen to have innate proofreading skills.

As to the OP, I've been feeling guilty about the bike upgrades- $40 handlebars, $35 stem, $25 brake pads etc., but _then_ I have to pay for the new gas lines on the BMW so that it won't explode into a ball of flames and it's f'ing $400+...

I kinda hate cars too...

chephy

I'm confused.

I thought this was Bike Forums.

MyBikeGotStolen

I cant figure it out, I used to not think anything about putting $40 in the gas tank or $30 oil change. But after 6 months and ~1500 miles on the bike, I still cant talk myself into spending $60 on a good seat (brooks). Or even a decent light.

djkenny

Oops. I guess I should have proof read. 3 cylinder. runs like a 5.0 Mustang though. with nearly 3 times the gas mileage and far better reliability.

djkenny

I had the original rotors up front until 180k. JUST replaced them, although I COULD have waited until the next brake job 40k away...

A friend helped me out replacing the rotors. They were only $13 each at Auto Zone.

These cars rock.

v1nce

Well if you must have a car, buy a Honda civic with a tow hook. Then get a large trailer. Done.

One of the most reliable cars ever made, you can still transport a lot when you need to, low mileage, cheap purchase.

And yes of course have it checked by a good mechanic and buy that mechanic a six pack now and then.

Better to do these things (which could be done in week or 3 if the need was high) than to write even one more check or post in reference to a crap car experience...

1ply

You're right. I finally broke that and bought myself a light. $120 well spent (I hope as it's not here yet).

I figure that since we're saving a bundle I can buy some stuff for the bike or for me to make my ride more comfy. So we're not quite saving the bundle I think we are since I am buying the bike stuff.

mikepoole

Ooooh get the Brooks. That's one thing I didn't feel guilty about (but I did make sure to get one for the wife as well...). The light goes under safety expenses- money well spent.

jeff-o

I deliver bikes in 5-foot-long boxes to the FedEx drop-off center about 6km away. Someday I hope to deliver them using a special-made trailer. One other problem is the winter here, which adds a whole other challenge to transporting a child (and a wife that doesn't like to be cold).

A car share might be the way to go eventually, I'll look into it.

dalmore

THANK YOU!! I can now buy those new bike shoes without guilt!!

sauerwald

Jeff-O, I can sympathize. I am in a financial position where the costs of maintaining my car do not affect spending on other things but....

I ride my bike more than I drive my car, but still have both.
I drive a newish car (2005 model year), and a couple of months ago it started to make a bad sounding noise, and when I brought it in to the dealer I found out that the noise was $600 that the dealer found in my wheel bearing. Once they extracted the $600, the noise went away. Compared to other expenses that I have had with cars, that seemed to be about typical. It also seemed typical that the noise would start just after the warranty expired.

At about the same time my bike started to make some bad noises too, and I brought it into the LBS. Turns out my BB needed some help, and while it was in they replaced a worn out chainring, and put a new chain and new brake pads on the bike - total bill was $125. I started to think about how outrageous the $125 was, and then put it in perspective. It costs me $50 just to fill the tank on the car.

Nachoman

The problem is your mechanic. Search around for a good inexpensive one. I just got a quote to fix the front end of my vehicle. The estimate was for over $1,200.00. I went to another mechanic and he charged me less than $500.00

dobber

1) Research and buy quality.
2) Don't buy more car then you actually need
3) Do the routine maintenance
4) Drive it like you want it to last forever

bac

It doesn't seem like you "hate cars". It seems that you "hate crappy cars" that don't run well. There is a difference!

... Brad

dobber

That works to some extent. Then again, the shade tree mechanic may not know what he's doing or use inferior parts.

jeff-o

No, I'm pretty sure I hate them all now. Before I was... tolerant. But this latest incident was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Or perhaps it was 3000 pieces of straw.

bac

That straw adds up!

... Brad

WhiteRabbit

A couple I'm good friends with has one vehicle pretty much in the the shop all the time. At first I couldn't figure out how they were so rough on them, but after a while I figured it out.
1) They tend to put off routine maintenance as much as possible
2) They ignore small problems until they become big problems
3) They buy the cheapest used cars they can find, rather than the highest quality they can afford.

Personally, I've had mixed experiences with my vehicles, but much better with "foreign":
A 2WD Ford Ranger, needed a new clutch at 40k due to a manufacturing defect, dropped its driveshaft at 80k due to a bad carrier bearing. I sold it after that, but noticed a recall for the driveshaft issue six month later.
A 2WD Toyota SR5 pickup, bought it at 40k, cruise control cable broke at 120k, replaced the clutch at 150k, sold it at 200k after the electrical was fritzed in a hailstorm the shattered all of the glass and melted into the dash.
A Toyota Matrix - Bought new, now has 50k on it. The AC compressor broke at 40k, but was under warranty. So far so good.

1ply

You mean inferior parts like those they use at the GM factory?

ghettocruiser

Yup. There are good low-cost mechanics around, there just aren't too many of them.

Although I'm more accustomed to being hosed at the dealership these days. Now that the warranties up those guy's gravy-train is over.

MyBikeGotStolen

I hate to say it, but in my experiences Toyota, Honda, Nissans are the way to go. I currently have a 92 Nissan Stanza take I bought for $700 (im in school, what can I say )a year and a half ago and it has close to 197,000 miles on it. The only thing I have done to the car mechanically wise is I have to buy a new battery today for it bacause the battery has went bad from not using the car much these past 6 months.

I have owned Fords and Chevys and this is the oldest (except a '51 Plymounth), junkiest car I have owned and so far it has given me the least amount of trouble. Same with my girlfriends Nissan Altima that she has put over 150,000 miles on in 4 year. With no trouble what so ever, except for damage we did in our "drinking days"

ItsJustMe

Yeah, I don't do that. There are several things on my car that are not exactly right, but nothing that's going to really cause anything else to break. Example:
If an O2 sensor goes, I replace it right away, because it'll wreck the converter.
My Taurus has been throwing "bank A lean, bank B lean" diag codes for 4 years. It's got a little vacuum leak. I know what it is, it's not hurting anything, and I just recheck the codes once in a while and make sure it hasn't started throwing any other codes that are actually serious.

I have to admit, I've had nothing but new cars since I've been driving. I've never owned a foreign car so I can't really comment on that, but since I've never had any trouble with a domestic car, I'm not sure a foreign car can get better than "zero problems"