Dahon.Steve

A new study by BankRate.com discovered that 63% of Americans cannot afford a $500.00 auto repair. How sad is that!? It’s been stated over and over on this forum, the carfree are actually too poor to afford motor transport. However, the truth is actually the opposite.

Furthermore, higher income families making over 75K are in the same predicament and don’t have an extra $500.00 dollars! Incredible. People making decent money simply go out and buy more expensive cars leaving themselves practically penniless.

The article made me laugh when it stated Americans were likely to cut back on drinking coffee or lower their cell phone bills as a solution to their lack of savings. LOL. The real problem is not the coffee, cell phone or restaurants. It’s the car that’s bleeding them dry of all their discretionary income. Here’s a crazy idea. How about selling the vehicle and giving yourself a 5K raise!

This is news that need to be told to the uninformed public. I’m wondering how we can disseminate this information to the motor centrists while giving them an alternative. I will continue to think about this but maybe we can use the internet to advocate our position. If we can convince one person to give up their car dependancy, it could be the turning point in their life.

63% of Americans Can't Afford $500 Car Repair or $1,000 Emergency Room... -- NEW YORK, Jan. 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

lasauge 

I'm uncomfortable with the idea of telling anyone how they ought to manage their money, with the assumptions and judgement that implies, but I do think it's fair to say that it's a tragedy that thrift has disappeared from the list of popular American virtues.

Specific to the car issue, we should remember that many people live places where it's tough to get by without cars because of decades of public policy favoring car-centric development. The solution isn't to berate those who are trapped, it's to get involved in efforts to reform our cities and repair them to be human-scale and more equitable for everyone.

Machka 

+1

I don't feel it is my job to "convince one person to give up their car dependency" ... I figure people are capable of making their own decisions and choices for their own situation.

chasm54

This is going to go political very fast. It isn't just a question of thrift, or of people's willingness to adopt a car-free lifestyle, it is a consequence of the fact that since the early 1980s real median incomes in the US have stagnated. People in jobs that used to offer a virtual guarantee of a comfortable lifestyle are finding that this is no longer the case, and their expectations don't adjust downwards as fast as their incomes. Easy to say that it's their fault, but they live in a society in which what they are told is normal and necessary is, increasingly, beyond their means.

Machka 

+1

CliffordK

Sometimes I wonder where all these wild statistics come from.
Are those 63% the ones who can also afford a $500 a month car payment, but can't afford to fix the car when it breaks down?

Are any of them bright enough to learn to fix their car themselves?

I have met people who would miss several days at work (hundreds of dollars of income, and possibly loosing the job) due to a flat tire which they couldn't afford to fix.

And, if they can't afford a $1000 ER bill, how are they to afford the $6000 deductable with the Affordable Care Act?

Or, perhaps rather than spending $300 for a high deductible policy (about $3600 per year), they should be spending $1000 a month for the low deductible policy (about $12,000 per year).

Of course, maybe getting on the bike will reduce the car payments, insurance, and repair bills, as well as keeping the doctor away.

Lil Bear

It would be a Herculean task to convince someone they don't need a car, when they can't even decipher the evidence that they can't afford one.

mapeiboy

Don't spend the money you don't have , to buy the things you don't need , to impress the people you don't know .

wolfchild

Yeah really, and 90% of LCF'ers can't afford a $500 bicycle.

AlmostTrick

This has little to do with cars or bikes. It's about not spending all (or more!) than one makes.

Machka 

+1

Financial management.

mconlonx

Car ownership includes maintenance. I wouldn't have a car if I couldn't afford to keep it up. Within 5k mi, I'm looking at a $1000 service bill for a new timing belt and water pump, which is a scheduled service on my car.

We should balance such people who don't have $500 for a car repair, with those who are incredulous and outraged that they are looking at a $100 bill for a new chain and cassette on their bicycle...

I-Like-To-Bike

LCFers are just like all those allegedly savings free people claimed in the so-called OP "study" and can get a personal loan from Bankrate.com, the promoter of the statistical noise that it commissioned. Promoting financial services and personal loans from Bankrate.com and its business affiliates is the real bottom line of the OP's "study" and factoids.

Double bottom line: There is a sucker born every minute. This study is all about selling financial "services"

Tundra_Man 

+2

It's not how much you make, it's how much you spend. 20 years ago I heard that a majority of people are two paychecks away from bankruptcy, regardless of income.

While being car free may eliminate a large expense and make it easier to live within a person's means, it doesn't force them to not spend money they don't have.

mconlonx

How many times have we heard, "I don't have a car, so I can afford to...":
- live in the city closer to where I work
- eat out more often
- travel more
- buy quality rather than quantity
- etc.

...none of which indicates that LCF people manage their money much differently than car owners, or are not living paycheck to paycheck. Especially among those who do not own or drive cars, but who do not even realize that they are LCF...

andr0id

Unexpected expenses can be a pain.

For example, I recently saw a used PowerTap wheel on Craig's List for $40. I knew the electronics would be out of date, but I immediately contacted the seller and arranged to buy it.

Darn, where was I going to get $40 and how would I get to his house. Thinking about my predicament, I realized I could hop in my car and stop by the ATM on the way. I withdrew $100 since I needed some cash for my daughter and to carry around, looked at my transaction receipt and observed a healthy balance still remaining in my account.

Then I continued to the seller's house. He had PowerTap Comp laced to a Mavic Open Pro (32 hole, not my favorite, but... $40!!!)
But this is the prettiest one, silver with the carbon fiber insert. The new G3 hubs are black and very ugly.

I examine the wheel, flashed a pair of $20 bills at him and we concluded the deal.

Now I have to get this wheel upgraded. The next day, while at work, I find a box that's the right size and some foam and pack it up and drive to the Post Office to get it sent off to Wheelbuilder.com. They will completely service it and update it to G3 electronics for $250. There's a catch though... I have to ship it to them and that cost almost $10.

But wait, my travails are not over. The hub only had a 10 speed cassette body on it, so I had to buy an 11 speed cassette body also which tacked another $90 onto the deal.

so for about $400, I had a like new PT hub with a year warranty. The downside is I have to put off getting my Omega Seamaster cleaned for another month. That cost $525 and is long overdue.

I-Like-To-Bike

Could be some of them are "addicted" to walking or cycling for no specific transportation purpose and with no destination in mind, or taking the bus just to see where it goes.

CliffordK

So, your car must have 95,000 or so miles.

$30 belt
$100 water pump.

Some of the belts are designed so they can't be gotten off without also taking off the water pump, so while the pump may still be good, it isn't a bad idea to replace it while it is already off.

So, you're at $130 service. Not bad considering you've driven 100,000 miles.

It is up to you if you wish to pay someone $870 to do that $130 worth of service.

Roody

I think it's a shame that so many people feel they must have a car in order to survive in our current society. If carfree infrastructure were widespread, I'm convinced that many more people would choose LCF as a way to save money and spend it on something more enjoyable than overpriced personal transportation, which is all that a car is.

Something else that's very unfortunate is that there is no encouragement here on the internet for those who are trying to rely less on cars--whether to save money or for some other reasons. This forum is almost totally dominated now by trolls who actually despise carfree living. They send out these hateful vibes to those who would try to become more carfree, in wave after wave of hateful, disrespectful posts.

R.I.P. LCF!

mconlonx

115k, service is due at 120k. Timing belt, not serpentine belt. Lots of stuff has to come off to get to the timing belt, and it involves... wait for it... timing. I.e. crank and cam linking up at the correct spot. Getting it wrong would either mean having to get back into it to fix it or engine destruction. Not something I want to do for the first time on my daily driver, I prefer to trust and support my local indy service shop.

But like I said, I am anticipating this service, have cash set aside for it, accounted for it previously, no big deal.

mconlonx

What I find unfortunate are those LCF proselytizers who see this forum more as the car-bashing forum than a "what's awesome about LCF" forum. They send out these hateful vibes to those who happen to own cars in wave after wave of hateful, disrespectful posts...

Roody

Why would car lovers even be reading this forum? Let alone making almost all of the posts on it? Why should a "LCF proselytizer" have to apologize for daring to post on an LCF forum?

mconlonx

It's an open forum. Some car owners may be LCF-curious. Some car owners maybe car-lite. Some car owners may be living an otherwise frugal lifestyle which sometimes overlaps with topics in LCF. Who knows?

The title of the sub-forum is Living Car-Free, not The He/She-Person's Car Hater Club. Which is sometimes how it comes across. Especially in posts by said proselytizers... It shouldn't be too hard to post positive things about LCF without denigrating those who own cars and drive. Heck, I think you are guilty of such, much of the time...

joao_pimentel

Living car free may save you, on average, around $8,600 per year, finds AAA. Repairs are just a small portion of the true cost of owning a car. You may check your case on: Automobile costs calculator

joao_pimentel

I doubt that auto-lover-forum-members, in auto-forums, have the slightest tolerance to those that show any animosity towards cars, demonstrating the benefits of cycling. I confess sometimes it doesn't seem that this is a car-free subforum of a bicycle forum. Consequences of being the minority.