cycling to have new car

[DRHysted]

[QUOTE 5439226, member: 9609"]there just seems something disproportionate in the obsession with cars though. So many people devoting so much of their lives and money to the car they drive, nothing wrong with hobbies and pass times but for so many people to be obsessed with cars - I'm curious as to why.

Is it all about the drive or is it more about giving the impression of success? so few places you can drive now and think wow that was fun. It just seems to be a tedious frustrating experience on over crowed roads surrounded by bad tempered numpties and muppets. There can be no pleasure in driving now, so what's it all about?[/QUOTE]

My car is freedom to escape.
It spends over 50% of its time parked up in the garden. It doesn’t get wasted on commuting (that’s what the bikes are for). Once a year it gets loaded to the roof (and beyond thanks to a roof box), has a lead weight hitched to the back and travels the length of the country to an area without power TV or radio, so I can refresh. Twice a year it gets fully loaded and travels half the country to visit friends.
This enables me to continue.

 

[theclaud]

[QUOTE 5439226, member: 9609"]there just seems something disproportionate in the obsession with cars though. So many people devoting so much of their lives and money to the car they drive, nothing wrong with hobbies and pass times but for so many people to be obsessed with cars - I'm curious as to why.[/QUOTE]

Indeed.

The model American male devotes more than 1600 hours a year to his car. He sits in it while it goes and while it stands idling. He parks it and searches for it. He earns the money to put down on it and to meet the monthly installments. He works to pay for gasoline, tolls, insurance, taxes, and tickets. He spends four of his sixteen waking hours on the road or gathering his resources for it. And this figure does not take into account the time consumed by other activities dictated by transport: time spent in hospitals, traffic courts, and garages; time spent watching automobile commercials or attending consumer education meetings to improve the quality of the next buy. The model American puts in 1600 hours to get 7500 miles: less than five miles per hour.

(Ivan Illich, Energy & Equity)​

 

[jonnysnorocket]

And you know what? I haven't had so much fun with my clothes on. It's so terrifying it's hilarious.[/QUOTE]

Are they really that good?

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Are they really that good?

His clothes? yeah 1970's flares are hilarious

 

[NorthernSky]

i'd love to cycle to work more but it's just a stretch too far at 40mile round trip and some hazardous cycling in traffic for part of it.
i did it once during the summer. i really enjoyed it so might try and do it more often next summer
but as a regular trip it won't happen

 

[icowden]

I did the same as some others on here. Got rid of the second car after I realised I was just using it as an excuse not to cycle to the station, and paying for parking. Now we just have the children transporter. Need Tesla to bring out the equivalent of an affordable Grand Scenic!

 

[Drago]

Mr Money Mustache's thoughts on motoring and cars are closely alighed with my own. An itneresting read:

"When it comes to the Automobile, you really have a choice between two possible relationships.

You can be the Master, and thoughtfully use cars as a tool as needed to reach your goals. Or you can be a Slave to the auto – worshiping it, allowing it to steal your money, your physical fitness, and your sense of control over your life.

The Master sees the Auto for what it really is: A very elaborate and heavy gas-powered wheelchair. There is no shame in using a wheelchair to get around if you need one. But it’s obviously counterproductive to do so when you don’t. So the Master chooses the most efficient model he can find, keeps it in good condition and uses it only when necessary.

The Slave finds the very definition of the Master to be insulting. “I need my car!”, “And maintaining a certain image is important in my lifestyle and profession!”

So he buys wheelchairs so expensive that he has to borrow money from a bank for them, and so enormous and complex that the ongoing fuel and maintenance costs are more than what he even manages to put into long-term investments each month.

Slaves make up the overwhelming majority of auto users here in the United States. Our irrational habit of spending virtually all of our income on the constant driving of cars we can’t afford is so common that people offer only a speechless dull stare if you mention you don’t do the same thing yourself.

So until recently, I thought I was doing pretty well in the auto department because I get plenty of blank stares. Walking my son to the school in the morning, we notice the zoo-like roads from the comfort of our powerful sidewalk. Junior office workers swipe on smartphones while idling in BMW M3s. Teachers on $45,000 salaries show up at school in $42,000 Honda Pilots. Young fathers rip the breathable air to shreds as they spool up the turbos in their jacked up Diesel farm trucks after dropping off a 60-pound child.

Meanwhile, my car and van sit in the driveway waiting for the monthly trip to another city or a haul of building materials, burning just a few tanks of gas per year. It’s a complete luxury that I even own these things, but at least the cost is kept down to a reasonable percentage of my income: a hundred or two bucks of fuel, $400 of insurance and registration, and under $1000 of combined depreciation and maintenance per year.

When you compare this spending of $1500 per year with the average two-car family’s spending of over $9000 and assume I invest the surplus, after 10 years you end up with a wealth difference of $104,751.

That’s 104 grand. Every. Ten. Years. Just by having slightly less new (and slightly more efficient) cars and being slightly less ridiculous about the amount of Car Clown driving we do"

OK, it's dollars and all, but the principle holds true. A very interesting website to browse if you get some time.

 

[clockworksimon]

Why can't there be, I still enjoy driving, but I really enjoy driving on a track

I recently switched my lease car from a deisel to plug in hybrid. Whooshing around town in electric mode really makes me smile and always impresses new passengers (obviously only on journeys not suitable for biking!). I’m not embarrassed to admit it can be fun. Happy that with folder in the boot (to allow out of town parking) and obsessive attention to fuel economy this isn’t irresponsible. On the rare occasion when it is safe to do so, it goes like a bat out of hell, particularly when accelerating! Oh yes, it’s a BMW........,


Edit - not sure what went wrong with quote - was meant to respond to why can’t driving be enjoyable?

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

I was car free for over 30 years, I drove hire cars company vans and small lorries, these days I run a 7 year old Suzuki Swift, 45-50mpg most of the time and enough urge to keep up with traffic, a good pensioners run about.

That's my next entry for the 'getting old' thread. I've got a Suzuki Swift, think it's ace... and I'm 50!

 

[rogerzilla]

If you're a cyclist buying a car, at least get something that will swallow a full-size bike with mudguards.

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

If you're a cyclist buying a car, at least get something that will swallow a full-size bike with mudguards.

My now rebranded 'pensioner-mobile' can do that - I put the bikes on the roof.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

That's my next entry for the 'getting old' thread. I've got a Suzuki Swift, think it's ace... and I'm 50!

I've just bought a Volvo

 

[Salar]

I've just bought a Volvo

I must be seriously old then, I've had 5 Volvos, mind you, one was a C30 T5 Turbo

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I must be seriously old then, I've had 5 Volvos, mind you, one was a C30 T5 Turbo

It's a lowly C30 1.6D the T5 Turbo must be a complete hoot, although I suspect as thirsty as previously mentioned cars

 

[Jody]

So have gone and brought myself a new 1 series M140i it really is a wolf in sheeps clothing, r

Nice looking motor. 410BHP from a stage one remap