repechage

The transaxle, differential fluid change in an Audi S4.... stupid money. It is essentially a powerflush with very expensive fluid.
The Germans are diabolical. I'm sure on purpose.

miamijim

$437ea. for my Dodge. Eh.

StillBiking@71

How about Continental Grand Sports for $24.99 at CompetitiveCyclist.com? Most of their Continental and Vittoria tires are under $50. Gatorskins are $38.97, GP5000s are $56, Check it out.

iab

Young. Just out of school. Working 4 jobs, all of which suck. I was your archetypical gen x slacker. Did that for 15 months before I got a "real" job. I wonder what things would be like if I didn't accept that job. Certainly I wouldn't be wasting my time here.

repechage

when I applied for a Visa card at 18, I could truthfully submit I had the same employer for four years. Card approved. Then, within the next few months, got a higher paying job scooping ice cream. Gobsmacked the bike shop owners. I ended up with both jobs after a $1.50 per hour raise from the bike shop - they asked why I did not quit the ice cream store, “ well, the co- workers are cuter there”.

madpogue 

Years ago a freelance mechanic lived a couple doors down. One day I stopped by, she had an Audi (or maybe a VW) in for something simple way up front -- radiator hose, maybe just a coolant flush, some such. She had to loosen (just enough) a bunch of bolts and slide (just enough) the whole front clip forward a few inches just to gain access. Took a while, but it eventually dawned on me -- why didn't they just make the front end that long in the first place?

Took a while longer, but then it hit me -- of course, function is now the slave to form.

sunburst

I bought 3 of these at Walmart a few months ago for $8.95 each. Sure wish I had bought more! Don't know how/why they went to $22.33. Amazon sells them too. Prices fluctuate based on supply/demand on both sites so I'm hoping to get more at the lower price. They are good for the 70's era bikes I tend to restore. Lots of rubber, good thread pattern, and an anti-puncture belt. Lots of complaints about hard to mount, but I've mounted worse.
Bell Air Guard

My favorite inexpensive 27" is the Schwalbe HS159. I've bought 3 sets now. Lighter weight and lower price than the Marathon (I've got two sets of these).
schwalbe hs159

sunburst

btw, if anyone sees a decent sale on Michelin Pro4 700x28, please quote this post so I'll get a notification. I've got a newish set of 700x25 on my road bike but want to go wider on the rear.

Bob

ramzilla

I know how late I am to this argument, But....................we're all idiots. Complete idiots. Oh well. That's it. That's all. Done deal...............................................

thook

just a buncha cosmic clowns at the cosmic fair grounds.....whoohoo

acm

I hear that! I've been waiting close to five months for some rims I ordered thru LBS to build around my old hubs. 36h front 40h rear, in silver. The 700c conversion I had planned to be done by this spring might be done by next spring, if I'm lucky.

blacknbluebikes 

Strangely, I've never been barreling down a hill at 45mph thinking "wow, I wish I had bought the cheap tires..."

squirtdad

but you love how it drives what got me was $600 to replace a battery on my A4 (six speed quattro thank you) as you have to code the battery to the car

SkinGriz

My brother had an AWD Passat wagon (I think). I remember driving it thinking “what a POS.” Handled funny, wore the tires out funny. Cat went out and it was cheaper to get rid of the car.
Then he got an A8. Drove it for awhile. Some kind of problem with center injection. Warranty covered it. He knew where this was going so he traded it in before warranty expired.

My thoughts on modern German cars?

Greater than Honda or Toyota prices. Dodge reliability/durability. But hey! As long as they look cool and the body panels fit tight, right?

Drove some new smaller Mercedes off the ship a couple years ago. Weird cars. Fancy badges and trim, but a cheaper ride quality than a Corolla or Subaru. Could never figure out how to get the seat adjusted back. Turns out they were made in Mexico by Oompa Loompas (or maybe child labor).

SkinGriz

It’s the tires. Everything drives better because tires are so much better than 20-30 years ago.

Drive any other car with similar hp/wheelbase/and cog... it might have less road noise or a different steering ratio or whatever, but I don’t know how much of a quantifiable difference without doing something like autocross and driving the **** out of it.

In my brothers defense, around the time he sold his R6 he was like “I don’t understand waiting until I’m to old and my reflexes are to slow to drive the **** out of a fast car.” That was a fair enough statement.

SkinGriz

YES YES YES. But has been for a while, and we are all a little guilty.

Are all the curves on a tri 5 Chevy helpful for function? Are K cars probably the ugliest cars ever?
If it was all function, keep figuring out how to make a Kcar cheaper and cheaper, and more and more reliable and durable.

My guess is it takes 250-300,000 miles for the mpg of the fancier, rounded, DGI newer car to make the difference through MPG in total cost ownership.

ramzilla

Michelin makes a cheap tire called " Dynamic Sport" that's basically a racing slick. You can get them for about $20 or $30 on sale. I've used them on a couple of bikes and, they're excellent. Fast and smooth. I will only use them for track bikes on smooth pavement. Beware using these fine tires out on the highway. One little piece of glass or steel will blow everything to h__l and leave you cussing. (Better get Continental Gatorskins). Be good. Have fun.

gios

They're tied to the gasoline price biorhythm.

JaccoW

The problem with virtually all German cars sold in the US is that they were made in the US or North America. And most modern American car makers don't have the greatest track record for reliability or quality. Might be a management thing with a tendency to keep prices as low as possible as their primary concern.
But let's be honest, cars sold to a pricepoint are probably comparable in quality unless they can source their parts cheaper for some reason. Add to that the fact that a lot of parts have to be imported when they wear out and you get to an expensive vehicle to ride over its lifetime.

I still think one of the nicer cars I have driven in the US was a Hyundai Sonata.
Big sedan, plenty of trunk space and pretty sporty if you wanted to. Then again, it had a 2.0 or 2.4 Liter, 4 cilinder engine so it better perform well.
Decent mileage by American standards but I wouldn't drive this in the Netherlands with fuel prices at €1.85/L ($8.44/gal).

Classtime 

Hand Made.

SkinGriz

I wonder if it isn’t tires going up, rather fiat currencies losing value.

SkinGriz

Do you live in the city or country? If I lived in the city, I’m not positive I would even own a car. Never been to Rotterdam. Been to Amsterdam twice, interesting place, would go again. Definitely a city laid out before automobiles.

My in laws went on some European trip to visit friends. I recommended renting a car only for the days they were visiting rural friends (a cab would work just fine). They didn’t listen, came back super early and frustrated.

Germany_chris

I don’t buy cheap tires for my car or my bike.

robertj298 

Most Japanese cars are made in the US and their track record isn't too shabby when it comes to quality and reliability.

JaccoW

I live in Rotterdam just outside the city center but still in an area where most buildings are 3-5 stories high. It's one of the more car-centric cities in the Netherlands but that has been changing in the past decades too.
Whenever I really need a car I will rent one but other than that I have a metro, tram, train station and plenty of cycle paths nearby to get me around the country. It's one of the more expensive places to own a car and I will need a permit to park a car around here. It just doesn't make sense.
Doesn't mean I don't like driving one though. But I will reserver that for vacations.

Now I'm curious, where did they go to? What were they frustrated about?
I think a lot of people that have never been to Europe underestimate the difference between distance and travel time, especially by car. And then we are even forgetting about parking.