I Hate Cars


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Yesterday, I had to drop down a chunk of change into our car. First, we had the window replaced that was smashed last week. That set us back a little more than $150. After that I took the car in to get new break pads put on. The back wheels were making a horrible grinding sound, so we had some definite metal-on-metal action going on. Because of the grindage, we also had to replace the passenger side rear rotor. Total cost plus labor: $430.

The worst part was the amount of time I had to spend. I probably sat in that place for 5 hours. Not only did I have enough time to watch World’s Most Amazing Videos, I was also able to watch Dances With Wolves in its entirety.

Needless to say, I was ready to leave when they finally finished with my car. However, when I put the car in reverse, the stick shift was making this horrible grinding noise and wouldn’t let me change gears. I went in to tell the mechanic dudes and they said I had to wait until the manager got back. Commence waiting 20 minutes.

Mr. Manager got back and took a look at it. His diagnosis was the clutch must have snapped and I would have to take it somewhere else to get fixed. Meanwhile, my wife had to be at work in half an hour. I was pretty livid by this time and started to raise some hell. Mr. Manager said it was just a coincidence that the clutch went out while it was here. Right… I continued my needling. Because the place didn’t do clutches, they had to tow my car down the street. Mr. Manager paid for a tow truck to come pick up my car.

We took my car to some Podunk car shop. KC, the old shop owner, took a look at my car. Apparently, on my car, the break system is somehow connected with the transmission. When the first place replaced some tubing, they forgot to make a connection for fluid to get to the clutch. All they had to do was make a cut. It took KC 5 minutes to fix it, plus it was on the house. I was back on the road.

By now, I had been out doing car stuff for about 7 hours. Mr. Manager from the first shop called me to apologize again. He’s offered to give me a bunch of coupons for free oil changes at any of the chain’s locations in the Tulsa area to make up for the inconvenience. That’s pretty awesome.

I hate cars. They’re the biggest money pits. If it were feasible to get rid of ours I would. Alas, Tulsa has a crappy public transit system, so we’re stuck with it. Now we have to go pay to renew our registration. That’s another $80. Did I mention how I hate cars?

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Brett McKay | 22 Jun 07 | Cars

21 Comments

PiggyBank Raider on 22.06.2007 at 10:50 (Reply)

We live in the middle of almost-nowhere, and a car is an absolute necessity. (Public transportation does not exist in my town.) In the past, I’ve used public transportation when I lived in other cities. But I confess… I love my car. Although I prefer to be eco-friendly whenever possible, I don’t like waiting for a bus or a train, and I don’t like being crammed close to strangers like sardines in a big metal can.

Car repairs can be expensive, but generally speaking regular and preventative maintenance can help avoid big problems.
Helen on 22.06.2007 at 12:26 (Reply)

Ah, with cars, it’s never any thing simple when we take them to the garage. I went in to get an oil change and have them look at why my engine was running rough when the air conditioner was on…I left with a $1400.00 bill!! I hate cars too!!
Brett McKay on 22.06.2007 at 13:37 (Reply)

PiggyBank Raider-
I totally understand where you’re coming from about the convenience of a car. When I lived in Tijuana for a while, I just used public transportation. I hated having to wait in the rain. However, I kind of miss riding around buses. It was a nice way to catch up on sleep.
Mike on 22.06.2007 at 14:57 (Reply)

yeah, I’m hating cars right now too.

I am needing to drop 3 grand on a new transmission. In a car that’s really only worth 6 grand in good condition that seems absurd- but what’s the other option? A used car in decent condition would cost me more than that and would potentially have problems soon as well. So… I spend the 3 grad and plan on having this car for another 4 or 5 years or so.
Claire on 23.06.2007 at 10:16 (Reply)

I’ve always found it facinating how people describe “waiting” for public transportation (like Raider). It is just a different use of your time–since that same time would still be devoted to transportation if you were working to get the money for it (and its repairs and its insurance, etc.). Those hours that I spend waiting of for the bus each week pale in comparison to the hours people sit at a desk earning the money needed to drive their car home.
Chris on 23.06.2007 at 13:28 (Reply)

I like Claire’s comment. I just read a book (very quick read) called Mastery and part of it talks about using and enjoying the inbetween time to practice mastery…for example driving from homw to work or taking the bus from home to work. We get so caught up in the start and where we want to get to that we miss out on all the in between stuff. We spend most of our lives in between yet we don’t try to enjoy it.

On the topic in general of this blog, before I buy a car I try to research it as much as possible looking for reliability…you know the old saying Pay me now or pay me later.

Sometimes saving money now will creep up on us and sometimes we overanalyze stuff…I am guilty. Quality is defineitely worth it even if you end up paying more because turning the ignition and hearing that engine start smoothly is worth more than we realize. Same with a lot of things.

It helps us enjoy the in between time. In any case if you in between time ends up being waiting for your car to get fixed…enjoy it…at least you have a choice.

Be safe and get it fixed right okay. I really enjoy your blog.
Brett McKay on 23.06.2007 at 21:04 (Reply)

Claire-
Thanks for your comment. You make a good point. Like I said earlier, I spent two years taking public transportation. While at times it would have been more convenient to have a car, overall I really enjoyed the experience. Some of the moments I remember the most was waiting for the bus. I would usually just spend time talking to other people waiting for the bus. Now I hardly ever speak to complete strangers, well, not as much as I used to anyway.
Brett McKay on 23.06.2007 at 21:06 (Reply)

Chris-
I’ll have to check that book out it looks interesting. You’re right about researching before you make big purchases. I’m willing to fork over more money for a product that will last me years than save money for something that I’ll have to replace in a few months.

Thanks for the compliment on the blog. I hope I can continue to provide worthwhile content for you and the other readers.
Brett McKay on 23.06.2007 at 21:09 (Reply)

Mike-
That sucks man. But I think you’re right about it replacing the transmission being the best option. OKC Metro area needs to get a better public transportation system. Of course leaders will never fork over the money for it.
Gloria on 24.06.2007 at 09:14 (Reply)

I agree with Claire too. I don’t mind driving, I just don’t like the complications of budgeting for the payment + insurance + fuel + maintainence. I love the public transport though. I find out I have more time with it. A lot can be done while waiting for the bus, and while in the bus.
Anon on 24.06.2007 at 12:03 (Reply)

“He’s offered to give me a bunch of coupons for free oil changes at any of the chain’s locations in the Tulsa area to make up for the inconvenience.”

Never, ever take your car to one of the chain oil change places. I had my car screwed up twice before I stopped going - plus they always try to upsell you (it about made me sick when I saw them doing it once to an elderly lady who had no clue, surely didn’t have the money to spare, but went along with all their suggested (and probably unneeded) repairs. It’s much better in the long run to find a regular, all-round mechanic place, look for ‘good old boys’ who know it’s better for them in the long run for you to keep coming back for years than screw you all in one go.
Chris on 24.06.2007 at 12:59 (Reply)

Great catch Anon. I have had similar problems…one time they did not put on my oil plug properly and screwed it up. Then one day I was in a parking lot and my oil light came on….I cehcked my oil and it was empty.

I could have seized up my engine which would have cost me big $.

It always amazed me when I would go to a chain like you describe and the guy under the car would be yelling check, check, check…do you think he is really checking anything??

I bet there are good ones and bad one just like anything else and yes I too bought an air filter I did not need. However do not think your local mechanic may not try this as well in some cases…really depends…but remember you can always say no and you can also always go elsewhere…

Be careful with your oil changes…it may be a simple procedure but it can simply screw up your car as well.
Glen on 24.06.2007 at 13:29 (Reply)

Brett,
I wish I’d known you were having brake problems. I have learned to do most of the maintenance on my cars in order to save money. Last fall I changed the brake pads and rotors on my car (it was making the awful metal on metal schreeching noise). I had some problems getting one of the rotors off, but was finally able to get it changed. I spent $120 in parts and got it done on a Friday when I didn’t have class. I also had to fix a anti-freeze leak in my car right after spring finals. It cost me $24 for the part, and 30 minutes of my time.

Since this is the frugal law student blog, I’ve saved close to $1000 this past year simply from doing my own mechanic work. Most of it I really didn’t know how to do until I needed to do it!

Glen
Brett McKay on 24.06.2007 at 19:26 (Reply)

Glen-
Hey thanks for stopping by and commenting! I love it when people I know personally drop by. That’s awesome you’ve been able to save so much money doing repairs. I really want to learn how to do more of my car repairs. That will definitely save me some money. At least now I know someone who can teach me!
Retire Young and Wealthy » Blog Archives » Carnival of Money Stories #15 on 24.06.2007 at 22:25

[…] Brett McKay has a funny article on why he hates cars: I Hate Cars […]
InvestEveryMonth.com on 25.06.2007 at 11:27 (Reply)

I have been searching for a shop to use and I have had no luck. All the shops in my city seem like scam artists who want to take my money while making me sit for hours in their waiting rooms.

Is leasing a car a good option? I figure it would take the whole maintenance aspect of cars out of my hands, but I’m not sure if it is a good financial decision.
Dee on 26.06.2007 at 07:22 (Reply)

I hate cars, and I don’t really enjoy driving much either, that might be because I’m a girl though.
But I just had to pay the annual registration which in New Zealand is $180.
Brett McKay on 27.06.2007 at 13:40 (Reply)

Dee-
I don’t really like driving, and I’m a guy. Yike! $180 to drive? Boo to registration fees.
Merlin on 08.07.2007 at 05:26 (Reply)

I might consider moving to NZ if it wasn’t so cold - $180 for a year??? In Australia, even for my little 4cylinder car [the cheapest rego available] it’s $535.10 for a year, or $282.85 for 6 months. Petrol is through the roof too, mainly due to excessive taxes yet the roads are a in a terrible state. Public transport is nearly non-existant, and would be no help to me anyway as I usually have to be carrying stuff around with me to go to jobs etc.

Car costs are all made up by the big companies and the governments are in their pockets - they screw you all the way as much as they rekon they can get away with. It’s just taxation by stealth.
Merlin on 08.07.2007 at 05:56 (Reply)

Oh, and I just remembered something else I wanted to say: if you let the brakes get to the point of metal on metal then you’ve obviously neglected an essential bit of normal maintainance. If you regularly check the depth of the brake pads you will know that they need replacing way before you get to the stage of damaging the rotors. Quite aside from the cost [$30 - 40 for a set of pads, and an hour’s work, vs a few hundred dollars for rotors alone…] it’s just plain dangerous to drive a car with brakes that dodgy - and illegal too. Just think about it, the pads are wafer thin and the one time you need to do a panic stop to avoid hitting a mum and her baby, you slam your foot on the pedal and put all that extra stress on that already worn out part? Is that the time you want your brakes to fail? Saving money is fine, but if you can’t afford to do normal maintainance on a car, then you can’t afford to drive it.
Denise on 21.06.2008 at 06:21 (Reply)

Well old things need repairs. And smashed window or a lil scratch here and there are minor accidents which can also happen to any human being. Anyone can have a fall and break a bone or two. Cars can be the best way to move and fun to drive as well.