Cars are stupid.

We've gone for years without having any car troubles. Both cars are paid-off. DH's A/C died maybe a year ago, but he doesn't mind it most of the time. Luckily it doesn't get super hot in MI, but for a week or two here and there.

Today DH's car is in the shop for a new oxygen sensor, which isn't a big deal, as the car is 11 years old and stuff needs to be replaced on a car that age, but he just had his brakes replaced a week or so ago. $$. My car needs to go into the shop, since it keeps tripping the check engine light. There is a gross emissions leak that we had suspected was a faulty gas cap. We replaced the gas cap...and a week later the light is back on. So now it's time for a smoke test to see what is really leaking. My car is only 4.5, which is annoying.

If only we lived near DH's work. We're about 30 miles away by bike, so a bit far for a regular commute. The miserable thing is that for 5 years we lived, literally, down the street from his work. He was hired 2 months AFTER we moved up here.

We have said that if we lived closer we'd certainly drop down to 1 car. We could have a whole lotta nice bikes for what we spend on cars and gas. :p

That sucks! Car repairs are the worst. I've recently been considering selling our truck. We have a 2008 Subaru, and a 2002 Ford F150 that rarely gets driven as my DH has a work truck. He also has a motorcycle. Our offices are 7 miles from home, and I commute by bike regularly. Really, our truck only gets driven in winter if we arent together outside of work. Maybe 500 miles a year. Would probably save a fortune in insurance to get rid of the truck (which doesnt have a/c right now, either). Decisions, decisions....

Ugh, and yet another thing is wrong with DH's car. The parking brake no longer works...they thought the cable was just stretched-out, but that didn't fix it. It's the rear calipers that need replacing. Sheesh.

Cars...meh. :(

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Originally Posted by JennK13

That sucks! Car repairs are the worst. I've recently been considering selling our truck. We have a 2008 Subaru, and a 2002 Ford F150 that rarely gets driven as my DH has a work truck. He also has a motorcycle. Our offices are 7 miles from home, and I commute by bike regularly. Really, our truck only gets driven in winter if we arent together outside of work. Maybe 500 miles a year. Would probably save a fortune in insurance to get rid of the truck (which doesnt have a/c right now, either). Decisions, decisions....

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Sounds like a no brainer to me! Do it! :D

We also have an older Ford F150 (1998) that we may sell soon. We recently moved closer to my workplace, my DH is retired and has been biking or taking the free buses everywhere, only drives his truck about once a week. If I were to take the bus to work once a week so that he could use my car (a 2004 Honda Element), we could be a one-car family. It's hard to pull the trigger, but something I know we'd feel good about if we can do it!

Yes, it should be a no brainer!! But it is hard, especially since we're originally from Southern California, and "nobody walks in LA!" much less rides :) Fortunately, we're in CO, now, where it's "normal":p

I want to blow DH's car up. His CEL lit, again. So maybe it was the oxygen sensor, but that was replaced and now something else is flaking out. For now we're going to ignore my car's CEL. It's not a sensor or directly related to the operation of the vehicle, so it's just going to have to wait a month or two. My 60k mile tune-up is in a couple thousand miles, so it will wait until then.

Cars are not just stupid, they down-right suck.

If your car is eleven years old and is needing all of these repairs, then, it's time to buy a new one, or just get rid of it.

Ugh- cars DO suck!

I have a 2001 Camry. Great car, but things are starting to go wrong.
In December we replaced the O2 sensors and the catalytic converter (not cheap) because apparently that's what was making the check engine light come on for 6 months. Replaced it, and 2 weeks later the check engine light came back on. Ugh. Being frustrated, I just put electrical tape over it so I can't see it. It's been 7 months and I'm not taking it back in. When the engine explodes I'll do something about it. :rolleyes: With 130K miles on it, I'll take my chances.

Funny thing, tho, yesterday I noticed the check engine light magically was turned off. I think the Camry healed itself! :D

I work 3 miles from home, so if I had to- I could be car-free and only do the errands that require the car in the evenings or on weekends with DH's 1994 Ford F 150.

Sure, I would love a fancy new car, but I would not love the car payment, the insurance or the expensive car tag every year. I'm too cheap to buy a new one (or too practical).

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Originally Posted by Crankin

If your car is eleven years old and is needing all of these repairs, then, it's time to buy a new one, or just get rid of it.

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My car is 4.5 and what's wrong with mine is a relatively stupid, minor thing. Hubby's car, less so. I agree that buying new or newer might make more sense, but a car payment would likely cost more than what we're putting into that car, now (and the bulk of what we're spending on his car is brake-related, which will happen to any car at regular intervals...like replacing tires). I think we got spoiled by the last 5 years not having to spend much at all on car maintenance.

11 years really isn't THAT old for a car, either, IMO (though the "disposable" nature of some cars in recent years would have us thinking that). Especially not a car with a Japanese engine. We've been known to drive cars for quite a bit longer than that. Hubby's '89 Honda Civic was closing-in on 20 when we sold it to a neighbor kid. We mainly sold it because DH's mother gave him his current car (Mazda 626) when his dad died. And the Civic was just a 2-door and not practical with a growing kid.

We went through a similar thing with our 1998 Subaru a couple of months ago--engine light came on, car kept hesitating and was slow to start, so we took it to the mechanic. After three weeks, two garages, some DIY work, and roughly $2,000 it's more or less fixed. I hate cars. And yes, I kept thinking "I could get a new bike for this." OTOH, my bike is 20 years old and has no mechanical problems. What's wrong with this picture?

We'd love to replace the car--it's at the point where we know that ongoing repairs are going to start being more expensive than a car payment. But we're not quite there yet, and DH has been unemployed for over a year so there's no way we can afford (or qualify for) a car loan, and no way we can scrape together the cash to pay for a used car that's any better or more reliable than what we have.

Sarah

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Originally Posted by emily_in_nc

If I were to take the bus to work once a week so that he could use my car (a 2004 Honda Element), we could be a one-car family. It's hard to pull the trigger, but something I know we'd feel good about if we can do it!

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At the beginning of June 2009, my husband and I decided to see how it would be if we went down to one car. We agreed to park my car in the driveway for a month. I rode my bike or took the bus. I think he might have driven it to work one or two days just to keep the battery charged and such.

We did the one month trial because he was very nervous about going down to one car. Watching it depreciate, unused and unneeded, in the driveway helped him a lot.

I was lazy about cleaning it up for sale, so I didn't get around to selling it until July 17. One year later, I'm so glad that I sold it.

AAA, which by definition is a pro-driving organization, says that here in the US we spend between $7K and $12K per vehicle per year. You can read their detailed report here. After I sold my car, I ran the numbers over the lifetime of that car, and found that my car had cost an average of $8K/year. I owned that car, an Olds Alero, for 9 years and 160K miles. There was almost always something broken or wrong with it. (I got a flat in the first 50 miles on that car!) After I sold it, it was like a big weight lifted off my shoulders.

Not having a second car has put a lot of money back into our annual budget. I do still have *some* transportation cost. I bought and outfitted a touring bike this year, which was not cheap. Riding the bus costs money, and I occasionally rent a car or use the carshare, which also adds up. Also, our insurance bill only went down by about 30% - it turns out that the second-car discount was substantial.

If you're having trouble pulling the trigger, I strongly recommend parking it for some period of time and seeing how you do. Figure out how you are going to handle bulky loads and groceries and how you're going to get to the doctor if you're too sick to ride or stand at the bus stop. Proving to yourself that you don't need the car is very different from thinking that you might be able to get along with out it, and it makes the decision easier.

I guess that's what I meant; when the cost of fixing starts being more than the cost of a new or new/used car, it's time to start thinking about what's cost effective. Also, the pure pain in the azz aspect of having to take a car in for repairs frequently is something to consider. I find that cars are much more reliable today, than say, 20 years ago. The last 2 cars I've had required almost no repairs, except for regular maintenance. I find that a lot of people do not maintain their cars, and then end up paying more in the end. Not saying that you do that, but, around here, it seems common.
My car is 7.5 years old and since it only has about 60K miles on it, I'll probably keep it for another couple of years. I am not "enamored" of cars the way I am with bikes, but I like to have a nice one. My next car will probably be more utilitarian. DH, on the other hand, loves car stuff as much as his bike. He has 2 cars...

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Originally Posted by zoom-zoom

I want to blow DH's car up. His CEL lit, again. So maybe it was the oxygen sensor, but that was replaced and now something else is flaking out.

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It's not uncommon for there to be a "knock sensor" downstream from the O2 sensor. According to my mechanic, they throw the same error code on the diagnostic computer, at least for a 1997 Subaru. My last car needed both and, since they're buried in the engine, it was only marginally more expensive to do both than it was to do one.

I'm not saying that the O2 sensor didn't need replacing, just that the knock sensor may be shot too.

Our CE light comes on when the O2 sensor gets wet.

We generally make it a priority to take care of the CE light immediately, since it indicates an emissions fault. But considering that it seems to work fine when it's dry - and that the exhaust heat keeps it dry unless we're driving in snow or deep puddles - we're choosing to ignore this one for the time being.

DH is talking about a new car. I am totally not ready for one yet. He grew up in a self-made family where waste seemed to be a way of proving to themselves that they were no longer struggling. I've been working on bringing him 'round to my family's way of thinking :rolleyes::cool:

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Originally Posted by Becky

I'm not saying that the O2 sensor didn't need replacing, just that the knock sensor may be shot too.

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Yeah, that's our guess, too...another sensor. Since he had the O2 replaced the car has run better, so that definitely seemed to be an issue, too.

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Originally Posted by soprano

If you're having trouble pulling the trigger, I strongly recommend parking it for some period of time and seeing how you do. Figure out how you are going to handle bulky loads and groceries and how you're going to get to the doctor if you're too sick to ride or stand at the bus stop. Proving to yourself that you don't need the car is very different from thinking that you might be able to get along with out it, and it makes the decision easier.

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For us the issue is living in BFE. DH has to have a car to get to work a half hour away and we have no public trans. We don't need 2 cars every day, but I'd say we need 2 at least a third of the time. If we were close to his work and our kid's school (which is near his work) it would be a non-issue. We could definitely live with just one, then.

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Originally Posted by Crankin

I find that cars are much more reliable today, than say, 20 years ago. The last 2 cars I've had required almost no repairs, except for regular maintenance. I find that a lot of people do not maintain their cars, and then end up paying more in the end. Not saying that you do that, but, around here, it seems common.

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My last car was the most reliable car ever to sit in our driveway--a '97 Ford Escort. When it was about 9 years old the A/C died...which was partly a design flaw. Ford had some sort of thermostat that prevented the A/C from being used if it was <50º, which meant that it went unused for months at a time in MI. An unused A/C system ends up with seals that don't get lubricated from use.

That was the ONLY issue we had with that car in over 200k miles of use. When we sold it it was ~11 and we really only got rid of it because it was becoming too small as our kid grew. We essentially gave it to a friend who hit hard times as both she and her hubby were in college.

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Originally Posted by emily_in_nc

Sounds like a no brainer to me! Do it! :D

We also have an older Ford F150 (1998) that we may sell soon. We recently moved closer to my workplace, my DH is retired and has been biking or taking the free buses everywhere, only drives his truck about once a week. If I were to take the bus to work once a week so that he could use my car (a 2004 Honda Element), we could be a one-car family. It's hard to pull the trigger, but something I know we'd feel good about if we can do it!

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There are Zipcars where you live...that would make it easier to have just one car.

[QUOTE=zoom-zoom;524888]My last car was the most reliable car ever to sit in our driveway--a '97 Ford Escort."

I have to say that was a pretty good car, I had one of those too! LOVED that little wagon, unfortunately my ex got it when we went our separate ways. I took the Saturn which was newer and imploded about a year later, ugh. Since becoming a frugal college student I now have a 1990 Honda Civic and strangely it hasn't had any issues since I bought it about 4 years ago. I expect it's planning something catastrophic! Little does it know, I have a kick a$$ commuter bike to take it's place when it does. :D

Zoom sometimes cars are just insane, I feel your pain. It's like you want them to just freaking do what they are supposed to and inevitably something else goes wrong. I'd say if you can consider doing without the extra car then you probably don't really need it anyway. You may have to plan grocery and errand buying a little more carefully but that's not so bad is it?

Try being a 1-car family for a few months and then decide. If you hate it, you can always buy a 2nd car.

As much as we'd LIKE to go down to 1 car, it's just not possible at this time. DH works a half hour away and our kid goes to a charter school without transportation. So I am either driving carpool or having to drop-off/pick-up at the carpool meeting point when DH is already at work or not yet home.

Our mechanic's shop is right across the street. :)
Because of this, I hate our cars much less.

Our clutch has been worked on 5 times in 2 years. Last time was 4 months ago. AAAAnd we have to take it in because it's doing that thing again. Bah. I mean, I planned to replace it this year because my daughter is learning how to drive on it, but sheesh, 4 months? And she hasn't really driven it all that much either, so I don't think it's her, I think it's that the parts are made in a country renowned for shoddy parts.

Wish we'd go all the way car free, instead of just me car free!

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Originally Posted by Melalvai

I think it's that the parts are made in a country renowned for shoddy parts.

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Here...? ;)