Quote:
Originally Posted by t vago
Also take into account the cost of workable beaters of at least $1000, and that would all-but-require a trip to a relatively expensive auto mechanic for repairs. Combine that with what I perceive to be an aversion to getting one's hands dirty/injured in the process of fixing said beater by one's self in order to avoid the trip to that auto mechanic. Factor in gasoline at $3+ per gallon.
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Except that $1000 isn't all that much different, in terms of hours worked, from the $200 I paid for my first car. And $3.50/gal gas isn't much different from $0.70.
I do somewhat agree about the hands-dirty thing, but the flip side of it is that there is just so much less to go wrong with today's cars - or maybe I should say the 10-20 year old cars of today - at least as long as you stick to Hondas, Toyotas, &c. With my first cars, you had to adjust points, carbs, valves, clean spark plugs and change them every 10K miles or so, and it wasn't unusual to burn and/or leak a quart of oil every thousand miles. My current Honda (2000 Insight) is pushing 175K miles, doesn't leak or burn a drop of oil, doesn't have points or a carb, and I've changed plugs & adjusted the valves once, at the recommended 100K miles.