OMG I hate cars!
 

My family is car-lite. I ride my trike wherever and whenever I can; I haven't driven to work for over 18 months. The despicably ironic thing is that I have spent more on car repairs in that time than my trike cost - three or four times over! This is simply ridiculous. Car repairs have delayed the purchase of furniture we need, renovations to the backyard and basement, the list goes on and on. I'd send that damn car to the scrap yard if we didn't need it to transport our 7-week-old around town, and for making deliveries. It would be the third-happiest day in my life if we could finally, someday, go totally car-free.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to fume about cars in this corner over here. GD I hate them.

Perhaps you need a different mechanic?

I'm not sure what it is that causes some people so much trouble with cars. We typically drive our cars until they have 120K miles on them or so, and with one exception I don't think I've put over $1200 in repairs TOTAL in the cars (our minivan needed a new tranny this year, $3000).

I've been told I drive like a granny; I don't accelerate or brake hard unless it's an emergency; I slow down early if the light is red so I can hopefully coast through at 20 MPH when it goes green, I take corners slow enough that I can stay in my lane without stressing the tires and suspension, etc. But my cars last until they simply rust out without having to put much money in them.

I know some people at work who drive very hard (in fact I refuse to ride with them anymore; they're the type that always has either the gas or the brakes pressed down hard) and they spend a fortune on car repairs (one woman only gets 15K miles per set of brakes; I get about 100K+); no surprise there.

But there's another guy that I don't think drives badly, but it seems he's shelling out a couple hundred bucks every month on the thing. There must be some cause, but it's a mystery to me. Maybe it's that he's buying those crazy Japanese cars instead of good old reliable US steel :-)

yeah I have friends that are always having car trouble- I ride with them and quickly understand why :D

Perhaps I have to stop buying domestic-made cars...

Amen

Yeah +1 here, I find myself thinking of things I could do to sabatoge my car so my wife will let us make the leap from car-lite to car-free.

I've been car free for about six years now, mainly due to a combination of my van's engine eating itself and finding out my license was suspended for a bloody seatbelt ticket I thought was dealt with a year earlier.

I got my license back eventually but I'm in no hurry at all to get another car... if it comes done to it, I have a friend who will loan me a vehicle but it hasn't been necessary yet.

I hate cars too.

At least with horses you could shoot them and eat them when they acted up.

Car Costs
 

Under most circumstances when I have heard people complain about car costs there are a few factors. #1 They get into the whole car payment scandal, or even worse, a lease.

#2 They pay WAY too much for car repairs (time to find a more reasonable mechanic). Or #3, they have a crappy car that will be a money pit mainly because it is a Pontiac or a late model VW.

I paid 2 grand for a little 1987 cylinder turbo Sprint back in 92 that had 117k miles. It now has 188k miles and runs like a top with only needing a wheel bearing soon. I achieve over 40 mpg, like that of a highly touted modern day Prius with the same emissions released. Since 92 I have had a new turbo purchased for $670 plus $200 labor to install. A clutch for another $350, and some motor mounts for under $150. Timing belt for $150. Otherwise your run of the mill maintenance, tune ups, $22 a 3000 mile oil change, etc. Someday, if I do not go car free all together, I will put a brand spanken new engine in it for around $1400 plus another $300-450 labor. I drive it about 2000-3000 miles a year. Use to use it more like 8k till I had a 2nd car...

I have a 2nd car purchased in 2000. A 92 VW GTI 16v model. VW mechanics (when they are independant) tend to charge $75 a hr. I have done a radiator, a distributor, ground wire, high performance motor mount, and other than that mainly your run of the mill basics like batteries and tune ups, oil changes for $22 each time, etc. Never been a money pit and in all the yrs I have owned the vehicle I doubt it has ever exceeded $500 a yr in repairs and maintenance. Since it has cost me so little and I enjoy the -4000 miles a yr (tops) I drive it, I went a little crazy and completely had every ball joint, tie rod, and bearing replaced under neath as well as a very sporty coil over suspension put in for under 2 grand for everything.

That car could make a fab electric platform should I decide to convert it, perhaps after 3-400k miles and the mtor just goes completely. Right now at 168k it shows comprtession like that of any 50k mile car would because I care for it.

Keep in mind that cars are modules and can be kept and replaced of necessary parts for pretty much a lifetime. Only thing that really should keep a car off the road are road salt (salty areas) creating rust, or a accident totalling the car.

Many people put 2 grand "down" on a car that depeciates as soon as they drive it. I tend to just hold on to good older cars that I plan to keep until they no longer make sense to own. When $5 a gallon roles around I will likely sell them. At least I didnt pay for a new car every 5 yrs or just because it had a few miles on the clock.

120k miles should be 1/4 of what a reasonably well engineered car that has been cared for satisfactory can manage. We trade a car WAY before they reach maximum use.

If I was buying something every 5 -10 yrs only because it had 100-150k miles on it...I would almost certainly complain a LOT more about car expense.

There is another area that should be covered in the discussion. That is in the area of environmental concern. Making and manufacturing a car takes an enormous amount of resources. In fact, about 40% of a car's total pollution emitted is at time of manufacturing.

My advice after much thought on the matter is simply #1 Buy a decent car that serves your needs best in life and should handle being kept up with occasional repair for at least 15 + years, and get it pre owned so you do not get the massive depreciation hit, 10 yrs is a good age for optiumum value just make sure to see the records and get it chacked out by a mechanic before buying. #2 For God's sake find a trustworthy mechanic that doesnt charge $95-130 an hr! They are out there, takes some searching. Change the oil every 3500-4k miles, or every 6 months & keep up on maintenance per the owner's manual. If it is Turbo or diesel it will need to be the 3k mark. Go to a cheap place for oil changes. $25 should be maximum.

Most importantly if you cannot (ideally) go car-free...drive as little as you can trading cycling and mass trans whenever humanely possible. Under any circumstance other than heavy loads beyond what you can put in your arms one should not drive a car under 5 miles. These short drives will shorten the lifespan of the vehicles components. Your car also pollutes far more on short trips due to the catalytic converter not fully warming up. If and when you drive, plan to take care of any odds and ends along the way like a Costco trip or what not to avoid any willy nilly drives another day following for something you could have done while on a prior day's trip.

Just some thoughts.

Cheers,

Kenny

We bought a used 2003 Chevy Venture from a reputable dealer 8 weeks ago. Apparently the radiator coolant leaked into the transmission, and the transmission fluid leaked back into the radiator, and it killed 'em both. The only sign of trouble as an overflowing coolant reservoir, and transmission fluid levels a bit below the half-way mark. Despite the fact that there is still 20,000 km left on the powertrain warranty, no-one will fix the transmission because it was the radiator that did the damage. It's gonna cost us $3k to fix the piece of ****. I'm just glad we didn't buy the extended warranty, because it wouldn't have covered this!

Bought domestic. Somebody has to :)

Edit - you came out and admitted it.

I'm not in a mood for jokes just yet...

Boy glad I didn't stop by today.

(FYI Jeff-o and I are the only freaks that ride daily in this building)

Actually I'm an aspiring freak - I haven't ridden through a winter yet.



$3k eh - just one more reason to.. a hell you probably don't want to hear it.

Like the Honda Civic or the Toyota Corolla?

Wow, that really sucks! I love my car, but I hate that Venture too, and I've never even seen it. ;)

I can't figure out how coolant can leak into a transmission...

Fine; domestic-designed cars. You knew what I meant.

On some vehicles the transmission fluid cooler is part of the radiator, so a leak in one can screw them both up.

Ahh, gotcha...

*knocking on wood right now!*

Quality engineering at its finest.

Well hey, it's efficient if it doesn't break.

This describes me. I drive like I bike; I take advantage of inertia when ever I can. My old 91 Toyota truck has 238K miles on it... and it just keeps on truckin'

This is like my wife... new set of brakes every year. Sigh.

Doesn't that run a little rough with the odd cylinder count? And replacing the plugs must be a b****.

Nope. I used to have the non turbo version about 10 years ago. Second best car I ever had. Spark plugs can be purchased in packs of 2 or 4 (and probably singles too) so it's not a big deal. Besides how many times in the life of a car do you replace them? Thought so.

The worst part of the car was the brakes. It had solid discs at the front. I kept warping them. Not very expensive, but annoying. I'm sure if it wasn't for rust that car would still be going strong today.

I think the english major is pointing out that technically this states the car has one thousand nine hundred and eighty seven cylinders.