Can't believe nobody has pulled OP up on the horrible AI-generated writing.
But that aside, it's true workers have been getting shafted for years. Particularly since 2010 and labour have sadly only carried on the attacks, but the real damage is done by right wing rhetoric which convinces people we can't tax the rich or big business, leading many workers to actually vote for this very outcome.
Where it all ends I don't know but surely the squeeze on workers can't go on for much longer. Surely people will wake up and see that they're being taken for a ride soon.
we can't tax the rich or big business
If it was that easy or consequences free it would have been done by now. The really damaging right wing (and left wing) rhetoric was the Brexit nonsense, if we want to seriously tax the rich and big international companies being part of a bigger trading block would have been a major advantage.
Surely people will wake up and see that they're being taken for a ride soon
Nope, as demonstrated in many elections over the last 15 years. A huge percentage of people are just very not bright. The rich own most of the news/ communications channels and can get the herd to vote as they tell them to by lying and blaming some other random group
> delete <
we can't tax the rich or big business
If it was that easy or consequences free it would have been done by now.
If the government were interested in actually solving the problem it would have been done by now. But they're not.
The tories literally exist to serve the interests of the rich so they're never going to do it, and Labour in their current form don't appear to have the balls to do anything but maintain the status quo.
Meanwhile other comparable countries manage to achieve much lower rates of inequality just fine.
Surely people will wake up and see that they're being taken for a ride soon
Had a similar discussion many times about what it would take for people on mass to say **** this bullshit and stop playing ball. Not happened yet!
Anyway we can all sit back and watch celebrities going on holiday (when you can't afford to). Celebrities lecturing us on what's right, wrong and reasonable, while they get chauffeured to and from work all expenses covered. Celebrities doing jobs/businesses paid for by production companies for fake jeopardy entertainment purposes. Showing us how to do shopping properly (coz too thick to do it right). Martin dodge the bullets, 4d chess, purchasing strategy, saving show is actually considered entertainment/a necessity (I know who would have thought it). Millionaires let's play house. The worlds best hotels/houses/holidays/holiday homes/cars with a celebrity host to show you what you could aspire to/could of won. Middle class/celebrity how to tidy your house for working class thickos.
Got the measure I'd say. Good old fashioned condescending with a dash of contempt and I've not even mentioned the everything's fine people who help to keep the wheels greased.
I need to call Sky.
No you need to get with the fast broadband age and get a dodgy firestick/android box. No one I know pays for Sky any more. Mine costs me 40 quid a year for everything. Sky, TNT, Netflix, prime, Disney and everything else.
Water has definitely gone through he roof.
Had my bill recently, April 2026 - March 2027, £775.63! I live on my own, but as I don’t have a water meter, it’s apparently based on the rateable value of the house, set in the 1990’s… 🤷🏼♂️
Fuel now at $3 / Litre for diesel at some places and not far off for petrol. I just stuck $50 in to get me into work but there was no 91 so 95 - quarter of a tank (90l main tank, 45l sub). Chance in hell I'm gonna fill both tanks full!!! (Previously a full main tank for be in the region of $140!). 91 is currently around 2.40 so a dollar more per L than it was a couple of weeks back.
Guinness is $16 a pint (or 6 cans for $29)
The butcher's bacon I usually buy (smoked, nitrate free) used to be around $12 a pack. Now $30.
Lindt Chocolate Easter bunny's..... On sale. $20 each.
Think I'll be cycling in to work for the next few weeks.... And some!
Bit of a panic as the farmers have little fuel and rapidly declining fertilisers and need to start planting or next year we're going to be ordering in fruit and veg from across the world.
we're going to be ordering in fruit and veg from across the world.
And if there's a massive shortage of fuel how's it going to get to you?
Had to fill the car up yesterday. Diesel was until recently around £1.40 / litre here. Went to one place and it was £1.70 !
Ended up going to Tesco where I paid only £1.62 😰
Drove past the same petrol station later in the day and they'd upped it to £1.67 😭
Its also worth mentioning you cannot have a good secondhand car market when spare parts are so expensive or parts cannot be repaired. Which where the evolution idea goes wrong, the throw away society.
I run 2x Porsches, an old Peugeot and a Volvo. The key to cheap reliable sustainable long term motoring is to fix and maintain them yourself. Your father's did.
Learn who OEM is for your car (ATE - Volvo brakes, TRW - Porsche control arms, Valeo - Peugeot clutches etc etc).
Buy parts from Autodoc.
Some cars are just plain crap so do your research.
And if there's a massive shortage of fuel how's it going to get to you?
Ordering it, isn't the same as it being delivered. 😉
Anyway in 12 months time I'm sure this will have all blown over and although we haven't grown anything in the forthcoming 12 months.... We will be able to order bland tasteless out of season veg from some other countries poly-tunnels. Yay.
Had to fill the car up yesterday. Diesel was until recently around £1.40 / litre here. Went to one place and it was £1.70 !
Ended up going to Tesco where I paid only £1.62
Drove past the same petrol station later in the day and they'd upped it to £1.67
I'm working on a road race this weekend, had to fill up the race convoy vehicle I'm driving. OK, I'll get a refund from the race organiser in a couple of weeks but the upfront costs for volunteers in terms of travelling to the race, evening meal, fuelling the car etc are becoming insane.
I'm out of pocket nearly £250 across 3 races (one I'm on now plus two forthcoming races that I've booked train travel to and from).
Diesel was £1.72/l.
It is quite hard to 'cut back' when you've never had to do it. However This is where we are headed. Spend wisely, reduce, reuse and recycle is coming back into fashion. Grow your own, walk, cycle, take a bus (here in the Greater Manchester area it's £2 per journey).
I should write a book on how to make ends meet/How to still have a decent life with very little money. It's not easy giving up small luxuries, but it's amazing at freeing it can be.
Most of the wealthy people I know aren't particularly happy.
Most of the wealthy people I know aren't particularly happy.
True. This doesn't mean entering into food and heating poverty is the route to happiness.
I need to call Sky. Bill is pushing £120 p/m
Bloody hell!
Called Friday, lost my rag with the fella in India reading from a script so asked for them to cancel my subscription. Got passed to a very pleasant welsh chap and for the sake of 30 minutes on the phone, got the bill reduced to £80p/m. Shouldn't have to jump through those hoops every single time though - its almost an annual thing to call them and complain followed by the little dance about leaving them followed by an amazing cost save coming out of nowhere which they've "managed to do for me".
So yep, anyone with Sky, phone, threaten to leave, get a better deal. £440 p/a saving.
Shouldn't have to jump through those hoops every single time though - its almost an annual thing to call them and complain followed by the little dance about leaving them followed by an amazing cost save coming out of nowhere which they've "managed to do for me".
See also, car insurance.
My Mum had something similar with TalkTalk and after a load of round the houses with bills, technical info etc, she eventually got out through to someone who clocked her age and identified her as vulnerable or worthy of special care or something and from then it just clicked.
Bill reductions, free engineer visits if there's ever a fault. Now it all just works and she's gone from frustration at having to deal with them to praising how good they are!
I also think that SM is very good at skewing your world-view. Conspicuous consumption is very very prevalent on things like Insta and Tik-Tok, as well as the high street. Creators are paid well by companies and countries desperate to promote a thing, and look like it's the answer to all life's ills. It's very easy to be sucked into believing a world where everyone else seems to having everything sorted.
The key to cheap reliable sustainable long term motoring is to fix and maintain them yourself.
Assumes that you have time, space, knowledge tools, and ability.
Assumes that you have time, space, knowledge tools, and ability.
Or indeed the will. I have things I much prefer doing with my life - like maintain my bikes.
There's also safety to consider. Plenty of people shouldn't be trusted to take on safety critical jobs one their cars. Myself included.
Last time I phoned sky, I also got a Welsh lad, there was no nonsense, I just said my bills gone way more expensive recently and he said "yeah it always does that, I'll just make it the same as last year for you."
The key to cheap reliable sustainable long term motoring is to fix and maintain them yourself.
this would result in zero cost motoring for me, on account of my untimely demise after the wheels fall off
Or indeed the will. I have things I much prefer doing with my life - like maintain my bikes.
You don't sound like the people seriously impacted by rises in cost of living as a) they probably won't even have a car to maintain and b) if they have a bike they would have just one very cheap one.
So maybe the wording should have been "The key to cheap reliable sustainable long term transport is to fix and maintain a bike yourself.
That's the problem with modern cars though.
I could do most of the things on my mid nineties hatchback myself. I can do simple things, like a basic service, on my 2013 van. I wouldn't have the foggiest on a new car, far too complicated, far too many gadgets. My mate even had to take his new-ish Citroen to a main dealer after a tyre change as he needed the tyre pressure sensors resetting, even changing a wheel is no longer DIYable, madness.
My fibre broadband was about to go up to £55 per month. 5 minute phone call to the the provider, and they increased me from 300-500 mbps and got two year contract at £25 per month.
I'm a big fan of GoFibre. A bit of a shame that we had to the do the whole customer retention dance but they provide a decent service, good value and straight forward customer service. If you have them in your area I would recommend.
That's the problem with modern cars though.
On the other hand, they go wrong far less frequently than older cars. Arguably, cars need all this modern stuff around sensors etc precisely because the vast majority of people never do any maintenance, wouldn't have the first clue about it and often lack the tools, time, resources etc mentioned above.
They also spend too much time watching tiktoksArguably, cars need all this modern stuff around sensors etc precisely because the vast majority of people never do any maintenance,
Doing your own motor maintenance is all well and good in theory but it's becoming increasingly difficult as time goes on. My first three cars were respectively from 1977, 1985 and 1991 and I spent half my life under the bonnet. About the only thing I used a mechanic for when I was in my teens/twenties was an oil change because for the price of over-the-counter oil and filter the cost difference to pay someone else to do it was negligible (and it's a shitty job). Oh, that and when I needed a complete engine swap.
Today though... I'm not entirely convinced that I'd know where to start unless it was something simple. Half the engine bays in modern motors are big plastic slabs that say "go away" and the clearance is so tight that even my girlie wrists would struggle. The bay in my mk1 Fiesta was more air than engine. (Not a security question)
[EDIT: apologies, I've just seen that andrewh said much the same thing. I'm playing catchup.]
Shouldn't have to jump through those hoops every single time though - its almost an annual thing to call them and complain followed by the little dance about leaving them followed by an amazing cost save coming out of nowhere which they've "managed to do for me".
So yep, anyone with Sky, phone, threaten to leave, get a better deal. £440 p/a saving.
Back when I was with Sky, I did this merry dance with them (the key is to ask to speak to Retentions) and she explicitly told me to ring back next year to push for a better deal again when her offer runs out.
I have a theory that your deal price is secretly their standard price and that extra £440 is apathy tax.
The satellite TV and broadband service was generally pretty good for its time, but I do not miss having to deal with Sky as a company one jot. It was always a bloody trauma.
You can wax lyricall you like but they came with a 2 year warranty rusted like heck and broke down a lot.
Now 5+ years is normal, and theyre a lot less flaky
and theyre a lot less flaky
Yeah I dunno about that actually.
The things that can go wrong are more numerous. Nothing, but nothing, is designed for easy maintenance or simplicity. Literally the last car that ever applied to was the Ford Sierra, which was 1982.
So. When they do go wrong, and they do go wrong, often you're not stranded... you receive the orange mystery dashboard light telling you something isn't right, what will it cost, pick a number between 1 and 10... multiply by £1k... And you don't get the MOT ticket without that fix.
If you drive it for ages, maybe that takes out another part too. For a second four figure hit.
Different days.
"Extended" service intervals are total BS, too. Cast iron way to increase the repairs that are needed around year 5 when the guarantee runs out.
You can wax lyricall you like but they came with a 2 year warranty rusted like heck and broke down a lot.
I've got the owners manual for my motorbike of 1981 vintage - just 6 month warranty & only on the parts made by the bike manufacturer, so not the brakes, suspension, lights, switchgear, Speedo, rev counter, wheels & tyres - mind you there was no mileage limit 😃
Would it be cynical of me to wonder whether a warranty was just a way of tying you into overpriced dealer-only servicing?
Another thing with modern cars is how fuel efficient they are. a lot of that is down to fuel injection and its associated electronics
Would it be cynical of me to wonder whether a warranty was just a way of tying you into overpriced dealer-only servicing?
Remember the thread on here about Giant warranty? (as in, the bicycle company, not an enormous huge warranty, the biggest warranty of all...)
Basically in their T&C's, if you did almost any work on the bike yourself, it voided the warranty.
My local garage is one of those rare things in the car world, a garage with a conscience and good mechanical skills. They don't have very good things to say about dealer servicing, they apparently see a lot of cars that have been "serviced" which translates to "we plugged it in, it said it was fine, we charged £300 and the customer drove off again". They'd done no actual work to detect filthy oil or worn pads or corroded shocks.
They don't have very good things to say about dealer servicing
I think nearly every independent garage has to say that as part of their trading standards. I've used indys that are shite and very good dealers and vice versa.
Would it be cynical of me to wonder whether a warranty was just a way of tying you into overpriced dealer-only servicing?
From RAC
i certainly don't find my more modern vehicles any more difficult to work on. but then i didn't stop so my skills and tool sets developed along with the vehicles.
Fwwi I've vehicles from 1987 to 2016 that i work on regularly , Changed the alternator on the 2016 last month and access was some of the best I've seen took 15 minutes to change.- I've not yet had to touch my 2025 car but from a cursory glance access looks good and there's minimal parts to change anyway.
I will admit it hits me on dealer resale but i rarely sell anything that isn't within an inch of a scrap yard - although when i do i end up going to private sale as they appreciate the documented service history i supply (receipts, photos and specs of what's fitted and why i fitted it ) more than a stamped book.
My take on it is the only person invested in ensuring its done right is me - and if i do it wrong then that's my issue - not going to tempt fate by talking about number of times any of my vehicles have left me stranded*
*came close with a fuel cooler being ripped off on a snow drift in January , but some butchering with a Stanley knife and a jubilee clip fitted and i was rolling again.
Usually $120 gets me close to a full main tank.
Today, $120 got me under 3/4 of a tank.
Diesel is $3+ / litre now. Petrol (91) up from $1.56 to $2.50+
Even Waitrose sell toothpaste at £1.35...
But the identical toothpaste is £1.25 in Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury's and £1.24 in ASDA and Aldi.
i certainly don't find my more modern vehicles any more difficult to work on. but then i didn't stop so my skills and tool sets developed along with the vehicles.
You can be immediately stopped in your tracks by the wrong type of fault code though. Plenty that don't show up on normal ODB readers and need a full workshop setup instead. Starts getting pricey at that point. Never mind modern stuff like replacing LED lights that might need setup to communicate with the car
Just got the new Severn Trent bill for the year. That's piss-taking. 15% increase. Just so they can still pay their fines for pumping shit into the rivers and still give bonuses out. If ever there was a useless bording on corrupt regulator, water is it.
i certainly don't find my more modern vehicles any more difficult to work on. but then i didn't stop so my skills and tool sets developed along with the vehicles.
You can be immediately stopped in your tracks by the wrong type of fault code though. Plenty that don't show up on normal ODB readers and need a full workshop setup instead. Starts getting pricey at that point. Never mind modern stuff like replacing LED lights that might need setup to communicate with the car
A £150 Foxwell can deeply diagnose and code modules on both of my Porsches, cloned Volvo Dice (dongles) are on Aliexpress - the Vida software (parts id, factory level diagnosis and workshop manauls) happily runs on a £100 second hand laptop via VM, PP2000 dongles are on eBay for Peugeot diagnosis.
I also have the PDF (just under 1000 page) Porsche factory manuals for both of mine.
There has never been more information or factory level grey/cloned diagnostics available. There are companies out there repairing ABS/CEM/ECU/Haldex etc etc modules.
Portable Fluke style oscilloscopes are available for less than £100
The world has moved on from Whitworth spanner’s and feeler gauges.
Exactly. Investing in a diag for your specific cars is invaluable.
Generic readers are often leading folks up the garden path and as pointed out earlier you can't code ancillaries . You cannot beat live data. In ways modern cars can be easier to diagnose than the cars I started on..... Early canbus with flashy dash lights codes "you have a sensor out but I'm not telling you which" ..... Out with the multimeter.
The world has moved on from Whitworth spanner’s and feeler gauges.
But paradoxically you've stumbled upon the reason most folks don't work on their own cars. As you suggested, the route to cheap motoring is DIY, if cars were still spanners and feelers gauges more people would probably have a go.
The route to cheap motoring sounds like it requires a significant investment in tools and facilities. Not to mention the time or inclination.
if cars were still parts darts more people would probably have a go.
The route to cheap motoring sounds like it requires a significant investment in tools and facilities. Not to mention the time or inclination.
Invest in the tools as you need them.
Front discs and pads on one of our cars last weekend, parts ordered online for £60. Job took under an hour to complete, I'd have lost more time sorting out dropping the car at a garage and either have to wait around for most of the day or inconvenience others to pick me up/drop me off. I'd have paid in the region of £2-300 for the privilege too.
I could do the front discs and pads on my 1995 Proton Persona, my 1993 Peugeot 306 and my 1998 Ford Mondeo.
On my, current, 2013 Transit the discs are behind the front hubs. I can do the pads easily enough but the hub bolt is 450Nm, plus rust, and getting it off usually destroys the wheel bearings. That's a garage job. Not a problem specifically of it being modern, but an example of how modern ones aren't designed with the DIY mechanic in mind
I don't have a garage to work in.
I can absolutely guarantee that it would take me far longer than an hour to change a set of discs and pads.
On my, current, 2013 Transit the discs are behind the front hubs. I can do the pads easily enough but the hub bolt is 450Nm, plus rust, and getting it off usually destroys the wheel bearings. That's a garage job. Not a problem specifically of it being modern, but an example of how modern ones aren't designed with the DIY mechanic in mind
thats not a car problem thats a transit problem that is as old as time its self. stupid design.
as for it taking more than an hour - yes most likely the first time this is true- but subsequent time less so.
But paradoxically you've stumbled upon the reason most folks don't work on their own cars. As you suggested, the route to cheap motoring is DIY, if cars were still spanners and feelers gauges more people would probably have a go.
Most people don't "have a go" because they don't have the tools, time, space, knowledge or inclination.
Sure, you can buy a Haynes manual (or these days look it up on YouTube), go and buy the tools then lie on your back in the road trying to fix whatever is wrong but it's time consuming, unpleasant, potentially dangerous and there's no guarantee it'll work anyway.
Also, most people are thoroughly lazy. Part of the reason that old cars were so poor on safety (other than the lack of crumple zones, airbags etc) was because they'd be driven for miles with under inflated tyres or low oil because there were no sensors to say "this is faulty, get it serviced" and most people would never think to look or even know what they were looking for.
hard to moan about the cost of motoring at that point though .
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSaop7N0KOQznAHXsYnUcpUSGBHHs8ZU6z6kg&s
I could do the front discs and pads on my 1995 Proton Persona, my 1993 Peugeot 306 and my 1998 Ford Mondeo.
On my, current, 2013 Transit the discs are behind the front hubs. I can do the pads easily enough but the hub bolt is 450Nm, plus rust, and getting it off usually destroys the wheel bearings. That's a garage job. Not a problem specifically of it being modern, but an example of how modern ones aren't designed with the DIY mechanic in mind
Yeah, that job would probably get sent to my local garage. Depends on the job whether I take it or not (time of the year matters too)
The car needed new brake lines front to rear a couple of years back, I've never done them before but happy to have a go. Tools and the parts were almost as much as the £120 I was quoted, local garage got that job.
My van needs a new air con condenser, £80 part, £600 quoted from my local garage as it's a bumper, headlights, slam panel etc off job, for a £500 saving I'll be doing that myself. You tube video found, probably a morning's work.
i made the mistake of thinking a 15 quid handbrake cable wouldn't be "too" expensive on a new to me vehicle last summer - with alot of other stuff going on it just let the garage do it with the MOT .
430 quid + vat later ..... it works and it works well but dear lord i can see why people are fearful of putting their car in to get fixed and would rather long term rent something
Ouch, glad I did my own now but my van is 23 years old so pretty simple. Most jobs still go to garage as I would rather spend the money and have my weekend free and working on the van is not something I enjoy. Plus my garage is reasonable back street set up, drop van off play with mechanics dog, have a moan and a laugh with them.
My works van goes to a dealership and the firm I work for gets an absolute spanking for anything that needs doing.
Anyone seen the update on plug in and play solar panels at last, not huge savings but it will reduce costs in the long term, available from July I think.
Related to the above but also more generally the cost of living, I'm without a car at the moment (mine failed MOT in late January) so I'm trying to work out what to do. I rarely use a car for day-to-day stuff but it's really handy for weekends, spur of the moment stuff and so on.
Do I:
accept the loss of "I'll just drive to Llandegla / Dalby / etc" whims and use hire cars on a more planned-for basis accepting the occasional hire bill against the otherwise much reduced costs of not owning a car
buy a cheap car and accept the inevitable garage bills (plus insurance / tax / fuel etc)
borrow enough money to get a more up-to-date S/H car and accept the higher initial payment against hopefully much reduced garage costs
get a lease car through work and accept a regular bill of £400 a month for 3 years but with zero other ownership costs (other than fuel)
???
And that's all against a backdrop of all the other costs going up. Also, what idiot decided that 2-3yr old S/H cars should now be £12,000 and upwards?! Bloody hell, that's twice what I paid for my old car (bought outright at 2yrs old in 2011).
buy a cheap car and accept the inevitable garage bills (plus insurance / tax / fuel etc)
I'd do this one, making it a £20 or £35 a year duty one (petrol ideally which might make things tricky) and presumably slightly lower insurance due to low annual mileage. Garage bills almost certainly pale into insignificance compared to chunking up lease or low mileage second hand car prices.
But yes, the price of second hand cars now is making Bangernomics feel quite tricky.
My van needs a new air con condenser, £80 part, £600 quoted from my local garage as it's a bumper, headlights, slam panel etc off job, for a £500 saving I'll be doing that myself. You tube video found, probably a morning's work.
How do your propose to capture the refrigerant and re-charge it back into the system in DIY land?
Also, what idiot decided that 2-3yr old S/H cars should now be £12,000 and upwards?!
Even small new cars are £25k+ now so £12k is about right!
You need to be looking at 10 year old plus to get down to the £5k ish bracket.
Couple of examples from a dealer in my town (they've often got stuff from £2.5k)...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/366300388543
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/366253182218
My van needs a new air con condenser, £80 part, £600 quoted from my local garage as it's a bumper, headlights, slam panel etc off job, for a £500 saving I'll be doing that myself. You tube video found, probably a morning's work.
How do your propose to capture the refrigerant and re-charge it back into the system in DIY land?
On this occasion I don't need to, the gas left the chat several years ago. Common problem on the Vito, the condenser rots through behind the fans and falls to pieces.
Local garage will be leak testing and charging the system.
You need to be looking at 10 year old plus to get down to the £5k ish bracket.
for sure - i was shocked i sold my 10 year old 108 recently . 50k miles GTLine - dealer price was 7grand. i sold for 4.4k privately
in 2005 i bought a similar 1995 40k miles 1.6 Ghia Spec Escort for 600 quid.... my gast was flabbered at someone paying 4.4k for a 1.2 buzz box.
I rarely use a car for day-to-day stuff but it's really handy for weekends, spur of the moment stuff and so on.
Do I:
accept the loss of "I'll just drive to Llandegla / Dalby / etc" whims and use hire cars on a more planned-for basis accepting the occasional hire bill against the otherwise much reduced costs of not owning a car
yes! if a car is not needed don't get one, they're just money pits, if hiring occasionally for trips does the job--I did this back in the 90s for a few years when my car failed its MOT then and I had no spare £££ and learned to live without the car--it was quite liberating really, I cycled to the office and got really fit. If we wanted to head to the hills we hired for the weekend or used a train.
Think of the cost of owning a car? Several thousand pounds a year. Put that money mentally aside to use for trains, hire cars and taxis. If you do not uswe a car every day its almost certainly cheaper not to own one. Its just a mental switch to be paying taxis and hire cars as that cost seems a lot - but you just pay £100 to fill the tank or £300 for tyres / servicing without thinking of it
accept the loss of "I'll just drive to Llandegla / Dalby / etc" whims and use hire cars on a more planned-for basis accepting the occasional hire bill against the otherwise much reduced costs of not owning a car
I didn't have a car for many years, just a few years ago I got one as the osteoarthritis in my knees began to become a bit debilitating. I was a member of a car club, and used hire cars for the occasional weekend trip. each trip with the car club, hire car seems expensive, but when you work out the sunk cost of a car, the maintenance, insurance, tax and fuel etc which for me is currently about 6k a year, that's not really thought about when I just have the car ready at home.
The one thing with car ownership though is the small spontaneous trips, say going to the swimming pool on a Sunday morning when its raining and I don't fancy riding in the rain, with a car I just go, without one it would be go on public transport, the car club cars were parked about 10-15 mins walk from my apartment, which I would have to do at each end of the trip. So realistically I would just sack te day off without a car, so there are advantages to owing a car, just not as much and advantage as we are often conditioned to think.
Car maintenance. I'd love to have the time, experience, tools etc. to do my own car maintenance but realistically it just isn't going to happen.
We generally have pretty busy weekends and the thought of several hours underneath a car doesn't really appeal.
The thought of DIY car maintenance is even less appealing without a back-up car to use should the repair take longer than expected or I don't have quite the right thingummy to finish the job.
I remember helping a housemate change the brake master cylinder in his Peugeot 405 estate one weekend years ago. I think he thought it would take him half a day and was still at it well into the evening, and needed the car for work the next day. I ended up giving him a hand and we ended up working well past sunset to get it all sorted & back together with stress levels rising.
We own both our cars & so have no monthly repayment costs. I put £200 a month into a car maintenance account which covers both cars for MOT, insurance, tax and all servicing costs. It's slowly been accumulating money & currently sitting a a whisker under £5k although the Leon is booked in for a cambelt next Monday so that will dent it a little.
I figure when we replace my Wife's Ibiza, we can use a chunk of the savings to put towards the replacement.
For me, having some kind of savings to pay for car maintenance means it takes the sting out of any unexpected bills.
Think of the cost of owning a car? Several thousand pounds a year. Put that money mentally aside to use for trains, hire cars and taxis. If you do not uswe a car every day its almost certainly cheaper not to own one. Its just a mental switch to be paying taxis and hire cars as that cost seems a lot - but you just pay £100 to fill the tank or £300 for tyres / servicing without thinking of it
I agree. I was even doing the maths on my lads paying for a taxi contract instead of buying cheap commuter car. It is surprisingly close run...
But, the convenience of having a car for nipping out to social events, heading out to countryside at weekends on a whim won out.
Put that money mentally aside to use for trains, hire cars and taxis. If you do not uswe a car every day its almost certainly cheaper not to own one.
Holds true if you live in a city. I know a few folk who manage just fine on this basis. Not an option for everyone though.
I've been without for a while, six weeks when the gearbox died, a couple of months unable to drive due to a broken arm, currently in the garage again as it's got a hydraulic leak. Right pain in the bum. Trying to sort this weekend away out at the moment, got to ride fifteen miles with all my kit and then stay over at my friend's house to get a lift, so that's an evening gone, albeit quite sociable in this case. Any savings on not driving have been more than wiped out by not having a van to stay in and having to get accommodation. Running a van actually saves a fortune in accommodation costs, especially on days when I really, really don't fancy a tent
Trying to sort this weekend away out at the moment, got to ride fifteen miles with all my kit and then stay over at my friend's house to get a lift
I'd reconsider the "friend" status if they won't pick you up at just 15 miles away!
For me, having some kind of savings to pay for car maintenance means it takes the sting out of any unexpected bills.
Your entire post says you absolutely consider maintenance bills to be expected.
Your entire post says you absolutely consider maintenance bills to be expected.
Yeah, exactly. That's the point of having a savings account specifically for car maintenance.
Not being funny, but I must have missed something as I'm not sure what your point is?
Put that money mentally aside to use for trains, hire cars and taxis. If you do not uswe a car every day its almost certainly cheaper not to own one.
Holds true if you live in a city. I know a few folk who manage just fine on this basis. Not an option for everyone though.
No hire cars and taxis in aviemore? 🙂