Yesterday I gave our local Nissan dealer over $850 for a standard maintenance visit, including inspection, labor, and parts. $850! What do a get in return? A car that allows me to pump over 9 tons CO2 a year into the atmosphere at about $3/gallon now. What a deal!
In comparison, for $850 dollars I could have:
- Driven a Flexcar for over 94 hours
- Rented a compact car from Enterprise for 15 weekends
- Taken unlimited trips on Metro for 15 months
- Taken a cab for 425 miles
Cars suck. I’m almost morally opposed to them in an urban setting. Almost.
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$850 would buy you quite a nice bicycle, providing you with years of inexpensive travel, improve your fitness levels, improve the environment, let you see the world instead of just whizzing past it, let you travel from door to door without parking hassles …. I could go on but you get the idea.
So, will the car go after the move? All the money could buy a lot of baby stuff as well?
Lots of people in Taipei don’t drive cars: gas and parking is too expensive, and the public transit rocks. Their subway system makes Vancouver’s “Skytrain” look like a toy. We use the public system all the time and haven’t hurt for a car yet.
But they do drive scooters. You could get a scooter. Gas for scooters is cheaper than the subway. Would you like me to pick you out a ‘fashionable’ one with a great chinglish slogan?
btw - we’re reading the challenge of Jesus. Sounds great so far.
I don’t know how old your car is, but $850 for anything short of a transmission overhaul is ridiculous. I never, ever, ever take my car to the dealer for routine maintenance. Most of the crap they do is unecessary. Next time, try an independent mechanic.
Joel-
Careful talking to Aaron about getting a scooter…:)
Rodney - True! I’ve thought about trying to bike but I’m too freaked out driving with Seattle traffice. We’ll see if Greg Nickels, our mayor, can follow through with adding more bike lanes as promised.
Christian - That is not entirely my decision to make. But I do have a preference.
I think we’re going to try it out for at least a few months after our baby is born (emphasis to not freak out my wife or in-laws). 
Joel - We tried the scooter thing and it just didn’t work for us (to say the least). I think it’s similar to being freaked out by driving so exposed in Seattle traffic.
Erik - Agreed. This was an experiment on my part. I’d never taken a car to the dealership so I figured I’d give it a try, especially since I don’t know of any reputable mechanics in the city. They did a good job, but I paid for it.
Justin -
The two questions on ’scheduled maintenance’ at the dealer (or any mechanic) is:
What are they going to do?
What does the manufacturer say to do?
I bet if you open you owners manual and check the list of items to be done and compare it to what they actually did you’d be even more annoyed that you paid for more than you needed.
One of the best things to do is get that list from the owners manual and start calling shops and ask how much to do A, B & C. DON”T ask about the 80K service, because many mechanics take that to mean “What ever I can get them to pay for.” I know, where was I 2 days ago?
Another thing to look at in your owner’s manual is the oil change interval. Most cars are not 3,000 miles but at least 5,000 if not 7,500. Changing it more often might help a little, and it certainly won’t hurt anything - except your wallet.
I know what you mean.
Every time I get some extra money, be it commissions, consulting work, or IRS refunds, I wonder, “How is God going to take this away from me now?”
Usually, before the check is in my hand, something goes wrong with the car. I then have my answer.
I was carless for my four-and-a-half years of city living post-high school graduation, and it was grand. I’m looking forward to getting rid of my car as soon as I move to Milwaukee this summer. As far as cars go, it’s okay - it’s been pretty reliable and all, and it’s kind of cute - but I really dislike having it.
Sharing more. More friends could share cars. At our church , cars are shared a lot. Have your own flex serve in your church family. Everyone pays IN-to a “maintainance pool” account. Someone may own the car already and that person gets to determine the parameters of use : who , what , why, where , when. It is just like having renters in your house. You would not want irresponsible people , people you could not trust “using” your real estate. The person generous enough to provide this could make a little money and should…the users would have to have insurance and be “of age”…check with a lawyer in your circle. Anyway, I have no problem letting someone I know well use my car to go to the doctor while I am at school and them returning it to the parking lot in time for me to take it home. If everyone in a group did this , then people without cars and who would suffer to buy one,could rely on you and you could have them help you some too. FLex probably, however, has all of the legalities in place , which might be best. I think you would have to have a small circle sharing the car, but it could be as financially beneficial for all as , say, Justin having renters in his house who are brothers and sisters .
I also hate cars..I am a American expat relocated to Ukraine.Have not had a car in 3 years..I have a scooter…A Honda Dio and I plan to upgrade to a Yamaha Grand Axis 100cc 2 stroke…My scooter Dio cost 600 dollars and get 70 mile per gallon and goe 40 mile per hors..its all I need..i drive it rains, sun, winter etc…
For 1,250 USD I get my Grand Axis super gas miles and goes 60 miles hr..
I hate car..The alienta people and people become asses when in them…Bring on peak oil I say!