I broke down...bought a car.

[RVD]

the 1994 maxima? those were pretty nice and fast.

i remember in college, i bought one of those for my brother when he was shopping around for a car. i think his was a 1986 though. it was way ahead of its time. it had an adjustable suspension (sport mode, normal, comfort) and it talked to you. it would say "left door is open", etc.

 

[neptronix]

It's a pretty nippy car with a DOHC 3.0L and sort of a pseudo-vtec variable intake. Definitely enough power to get in trouble in such a light chassis.

It will run until the end of days but it's ugly as hell, but i put most of my mileage on the eBike now, so i care a lot less about what 4 wheeler i have. If i did more driving, maybe the BMW would be more appealing, but that payment would scare me off even if i had the cash.

I suppose everyone is not as ultra cheap as i am. I have a friend who also has the BMW fever. He spends over half of his expendable income on making payments on a M3.

 

[RVD]

half his expendable income on a car? i guess the scary thing is that it's fairly normal for LA probably...after paying rent/mortgage.

although i have seen some couples live in a crappy 2 bedroom apartment for $1k/month but then have car leases on nice luxury cars for $1k each.

 

[veloman]

To each there own...but-

I've got a hot gf who doesn't mind my 14yr old Honda civic or my ebike/bike obsession. Money = freedom, to me. The less I spend, the less I'm forced into a crappy job I don't like, if I ever lose my current one. Splurging to me was buying a $450 high speed Mac motor/controller setup and being able to go 37 vs 17mph. I'm also a complete value nut.

 

[Hillhater]

I dont know, but strongly suspect, the Aptera was not tested against the same requirements as production 4 wheel ICE's
( possibly tested to motorbike regs ??)

I choose to know before I comment. Research the Aptera's construction, and you will dispel your concerns about crash worthiness.

Well, this doesnt help dispell my concerns..
http://evworld.com/currents.cfm?jid=221

Aptera, ...
.... Designed as a three-wheeler, in part to avoid costly government crash certification as an "automobile,"

 

[grindz145]

half his expendable income on a car? i guess the scary thing is that it's fairly normal for LA probably...after paying rent/mortgage.

although i have seen some couples live in a crappy 2 bedroom apartment for $1k/month but then have car leases on nice luxury cars for $1k each.

This is exactly the point. Somebody has to believe in bikes as transportation. If you went without a car for that long, you probably don't need one. You'd be alot happier with a motorbike of some sort.

I didn't mean to be as harsh as I sounded, just meant to rag on one of the bike fraternity for going to the darkside.

I'm sure if I was in your shoes I'd be really excited about the car too. It's amazing how the mass market engineering makes an amazing product, and I love the design of BMWs.

I guess I just really truly subscribe to the idea that we will all be happier without relying on cars. I'm in upstate new york, I live 15 miles outside the city, and I still don't have a car on road yet. That being said, continuing to ride your bike will allow you to keep your car for a long time, without having to dump as much money into it. There's always that hope.

 

[REdiculous]

I initially expected the thread to be about something else...

I thought, "I broke down...bought a car" was going to be expanded with, "a used car...for an EV conversion."

If you're into ebikes, it makes sense to at least think about a car conversion. It doesn't make much sense to "break down" and get a BMW hybrid that's worth more than my house ($64k new, not counting land). For the same money, you could probably have a shop do 2 EV conversions.....just sayin'. :|

 

[o00scorpion00o]

I initially expected the thread to be about something else...

I thought, "I broke down...bought a car" was going to be expanded with, "a used car...for an EV conversion."

If you're into ebikes, it makes sense to at least think about a car conversion. It doesn't make much sense to "break down" and get a BMW hybrid that's worth more than my house ($64k new, not counting land). For the same money, you could probably have a shop do 2 EV conversions.....just sayin'. :|

Of course it makes sense, he can afford it, he obviously likes BMW's, so why not?

I would have bought the tesla though without doubt! but its his choice!

 

[RVD]

heck, i'd rather get a tesla too.

but the last time i checked...a lease on a tesla is around $1700/month while this lease on the bmw is $650/month. is the tesla worth 3X 750i activehybrids?

i actually don't buy cars...i just lease them. have fun for 2-3 years and then return them and either get something else, ride my bike more, etc.

 

[o00scorpion00o]

heck, i'd rather get a tesla too.

but the last time i checked...a lease on a tesla is around $1700/month while this lease on the bmw is $650/month. is the tesla worth 3X 750i activehybrids?

i actually don't buy cars...i just lease them. have fun for 2-3 years and then return them and either get something else, ride my bike more, etc.

Yeah I never got the whole leasing thing ? But that seems a high lease price for the Tesla especially for the American market!

It's not a popular option here at all, here you get a bank loan and buy the car and pay off the loan, and you are not restricted to 10,000 miles per year.

I suppose one of the good things about leasing is you need little cash in the beginning, but you might have a balloon payment in the end!

Then if you scratch it or run over the mileage you get screwed!

You can't even lease a Nissan Leaf here, I think they would have sold better if there was a leasing package because you don't have to worry about battery life.

The Renault Fluence on the other hand ONLY has a battery leasing option, but you have to buy the car. I can see that selling better because you won't have to worry about battery life, it should improve resale value too!

22,000 for the Fluence here and around 75-80 Euro's per month to lease the battery.

Renault make out that the Fluence will cost no more than a Diesel Fluence to run, but they should be making it that it's cheaper because people won't buy a car that has a 100 mile range and takes 8 hours to charge that costs the same as a regular car!

 

[RVD]

The last car that I actually bought was in 2003. I bought a Mercedes Benz E320. I loved the car when I got it. But a few years later, the battery died. I got it jumpstarted. Then I drove about 40 miles to get the battery charged up when all of a sudden...the brakes stopped working!

Turns out that the car uses an electronic braking system so when the battery is dead, it uses the backup battery. When the backup battery dies, no more electric power to the brakes.

The brakes have a mechanical portion but it's only about 20% as strong as the full braking system (which is why it seemed to me like it just plain didn't work).

I used the emergency brake to stop and luckily didn't rear end the guy in front of me.

The dealership towed the car and fixed it but I didn't really feel too good about the car. I owned it so I didn't really have any recourse but to sell it. I wish I had leased it so that I can just give it back.

In today's day and age, these cars are so modern with so many electrical components and computerized components that only the dealer can fix most of the problems that the cars have. In addition, with technology changing every day, I doubt that even the dealer will have that much expertise on these cars in 20 years, etc.

Hence my logic for leasing. Cars have problems and after 2-3 years I generally don't want the car anymore. Leasing is cheaper than buying and the selling after 3 years.

 

[o00scorpion00o]

Ah I love Audi's, these days they are really good. My brother has an A5 and I love it, a gorgeous car to sit in! I wish I had money!

Sure it's not got a BMW or Mercedes badge, but I think they are far nicer these days!

The problem with Tesla is fear of battery life, what type of batteries do they use ?

But the Tesla sure is a gorgeous car and of course an E.V with 300 mile range, I really hope they stay in business!

Don't Tesla have a U.K factory or will have ?

 

[Hillhater]

....Turns out that the car uses an electronic braking system so when the battery is dead, it uses the backup battery. When the backup battery dies, no more electric power to the brakes.

I am sure a Merc tech' will step in to confirm this, ...but there is NO WAY a system with a potential failure like that would be allowed on a mass retailed car !
I dont doubt you had a brake problem, but that was not the cause !

.....Hence my logic for leasing. Cars have problems and after 2-3 years I generally don't want the car anymore.

Maybe you should get better advice on the cars you buy ! ... after 3 years most modern cars are hardly warmed up !

Leasing is cheaper than buying and the selling after 3 years.

Well here's my logic on your logic ...
1).. If that were true, EVERYBODY would be leasing cars...i wonder why the majority dont !??
2) ..also , by implication , the Leasing companies must lose money over the lease period ( and yes, i know they get discounted prices !) ..otherwise your cost model doesnt balance.
So why do the lease Co's stay in the business ?? ( Answer: .. because they are making money from you. !)

 

[neptronix]

The last car that I actually bought was in 2003. I bought a Mercedes Benz E320. I loved the car when I got it. But a few years later, the battery died. I got it jumpstarted. Then I drove about 40 miles to get the battery charged up when all of a sudden...the brakes stopped working!

....

The dealership towed the car and fixed it but I didn't really feel too good about the car. I owned it so I didn't really have any recourse but to sell it. I wish I had leased it so that I can just give it back.

Didn't even try to fix it, huh?
( man... you have bad luck don't you.. bad brakes on a Benz.. stuck throttle on an eBike.. maybe there is a curse.. lol )

.... see, this is why automakers would rather continue to pump out cars that are junk and lease them ( thus making more money off the same car ), rather than sell you something that will last you 10-20 years. I think they discovered this some time in the 1980's-1990's when the bean counters and financial industry folks started getting involved.

I can't believe the Mercedes was set up that way. They also had wiring harnesses with biodegradeable insulation, that would degrade within 5-10 years and create alllll sorts of problems from shorts.

BMW also started doing nasty stuff in the 1990's. Plastic water pump and thermostat housing. The belt driven cooling fan would also shatter itself eventually, cutting the water hoses around it. Talk about designing an intentional self destruct into an otherwise flawless car.

As for leasing, it only makes sense if you're talking about a car that depreciates like a freakin' stone. You are in essence paying extra for depreciation. You'd be REALLY retarded to do something like lease a Prius or Civic.

 

[RVD]

I actually did get the mercedes fixed and drove it around for a few more months. The mercedes tech at the dealership said that it uses brake by wire so it's an electrical braking system that uses the battery. However, there is also a backup battery for situations where the main battery dies. The problem in my case was that the main battery died and was faulty so it wouldn't charge up via alternator so it was using the backup battery but the backup battery died.

He also said that it's generally not that unsafe because ou still have some braking power but the braking power is just greatly reduced. This is a problem though because if you're on a freeway or any major road and you expect your brakes to work a certain way with stopping distance and that distance all of a sudden doubles, you'll probably rear end the guy in front of you.

Since google and wikipedia are our friends: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake-by-wire

I don't know if it's just bad luck or what...but I haven't had a lipo explosion yet...knock on wood.

They just don't make luxury sports cars the way they used to...at least IMO. A 1995 Porsche 911 in manual would be great but the wife unfortunately vetoed that one.