Why Cars Remain So Appealing Even in Cities With Decent Public Transit

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by Wizened Variations

If you have a safe place to park a car, and, will not use the car much, get yourself a "classic" that you like. If you have to park on the street, get a "sleeper car" that people do not notice, and, put improvements under the hood. For both classic and sleepers, do not put on either fancy tires or rims.

I like the idea of owning a car while driving 500 or less miles per month.

Good points. I have made a rule that I will only buy a new or nice car if I have access to a private garage. My last junker truck I owned got bumped into all the time on the street. I didn't mind, but it's going to be a whole lot different someday when I get something nice. I spent a lot on improving the engine but the body was all scraped until I had to replace a side panel from falling off due to salt rust.

[Wizened Variations]

Originally Posted by Hayward

Good points. I have made a rule that I will only buy a new or nice car if I have access to a private garage. My last junker truck I owned got bumped into all the time on the street. I didn't mind, but it's going to be a whole lot different someday when I get something nice. I spent a lot on improving the engine but the body was all scraped until I had to replace a side panel from falling off due to salt rust.

I understand beaters. The main problem I had was where to work on the car. Sometimes I used a friend's garage, but, when I did not have money for retail parts and was scrounging, my friends started getting less friendly. I worked at apartment parking lots, but, the problem there was having to complete the repair in one day. This involved having at least one person that could watch the car after I found out that I had to get ANOTHER PART or a DIFFERENT TOOL. And most importantly, finding a "good tool passer" was hard as H***.

I have my own house now, and, my wife does NOT like me to have car works in progress. So, I will admit that I generally pay mechanics I like the $100 per hour to get the car fixed (I have more money now that I earned myself). Of course, based upon my beater experience, I very seldom get "taken" any more as I have them evaluate the car before working on it, after which I wash the engine block, tranny, vacuum the car, etc.

Incidentally, since you have worked on cars, if you have a specific part you want changed, label the part on the engine/tranny/hoses/electronics that you think is the problem. As you know, you will save a lot of money if you actually know what you are talking about when dealing with mechanics.