I hate cars

I hate cars. Not because they are loud or polluting. But because they are so damn expensive and prone to breaking down. Ever since I was young cars have been the bane of both my families life and mine. In America you can't really live without a car unless you live somewhere like New York city or L.A.. Somewhere with fantastic and easy public transportation. But here's the secret for everyone who lives in big cities about us who don't: most places don't have good or sometimes any public transportation. And with everything being so spread out you need a car to get to a job so you can make money so you can buy a car, or groceries, or get medical treatment, etc. And cars are so horribly expensive, especially for people already living paycheck to paycheck. And god help you if you don't have good credit, which many who are living paycheck to paycheck don't. You can either try and save up money while your current car is holding out so you can get another crappy cheap car. Or go to a horrible used car salesman who is willing to give you a credit loan even with your bad credit so you can pay 30k over 20 years for a car that should normally cost 10k. And pray that car doesn't break down while your still paying it off.

I realize not everyone has this problem, but I certainly do and my family always has. Anyone else feel the same or had similar experiences?

I don't know about cars but I hate olives.

@MosaicM80: What kinds of cars have you been getting?

I've had the same Honda Civic for almost eighteen years. Been in five accidents and it's still working great. Looks decent, too, outside of some off-color replacement parts. If you invest in a good, solid car with nice gas mileage, they can last you for a great while and be well worth it. :)

I know right I wish there was some other thing you can use to traverse long distances.

I live in Boston so I don't need one except for work (which is out of city). Driving sucks.

I feel the same way. I have to own a car but it's just a hassle. I have been lucky enough though to not have it breaking down completely, but I'm pretty much just waiting for it to happen. I don't even like driving that much either.

Ya, I fucking hate owning a vehicle. I had to get one for work as the only work in my area is about an hour drive away so walking is out of the question. My father bought it, even though I paid for it, without my knowledge and I have been stuck with the pos since. Took me about 6 months of pay to pay off the dam car and all the repairs that have had to be done to it and the pos is still breaking down all the time. Not to mention it's a dam gas guzzler. Fuck I hate that thing.

Given up on cars. Too damn expensive. And what they're really good at, is to lead me to more spending.

Do miss my late night/early morning drives though. Roll down the window. Smoke cigarettes. Listen to good music. And enjoy the open road. Pointless - but it's what Freedom must feel like, if it came in a pill.

Living in a country with likely the best public transportation system in the world (you can pretty much get within 200m of anywhere you want to go in all of Switzerland with public transportation), nobody here needs a car - it's all frivolous spending. I guess that's the best spending there is...

If I needed a car, and struggled to maintain it - yeah, I'd be pissed. My condolences. Ever thought of 'riding a bike' instead? Also - buy Japanese, if you want lasting quality on the cheap.

I hate cars too. I wish we had trains that could help me with my every day commute in Georgia. I don't think that'll happen anytime soon though. Driving is still insane to me and an old past time that won't die.

Ever thought of going Gyrocopter instead? If I was a Mid Western American or Australian or lived in some other rural area, it'd be the only thing I'd want for me. Some kind of one/two person ultralight aircraft. At least that would be worth the hassle. These things range from 15-30k too, if you assemble it yourself. Around 50k, if you have 'em built. Just like a car. Prolly not suited to drop off your kids at school - but you can teach 'em to fly, and dream big.
 
  

@MosaicM80: yeah I agree. I've seen cars be such a huge stress source for so many friends and family members. I know people who essentially became expert mechanics because they couldn't afford to do it any other way - full engine swaps and transmission rebuilds etc. The money, the time, not having a decent garage to do the work, crappy cars always breaking.

I went the bike route. I get 45mpg+ and I've gotten used to riding in all kinds of weather. Maintenance is cheap expect the tires. Pretty simple and easy to fix - now power windows or power steering on a bike! :) The bad part is watching out for all the dumbass drivers on their cellphones.

EDIT: my sister has had really good luck with a late 90s honda. that thing just doesn't stop if you do the standard maintenance.

I'm going to be boring and say that my Honda Civic has been awesome so far, tough I haven't had it that long.

So what we're saying is, you should buy a Civic.

Well, my wife and i are changing the starter in our car today. Saving about 300 bucks by doing it ourselves. It's 2002 camry and it's been great, only had to do a few things over the years. @RVonE I love olives :(

@Rolyatkcinmai: plus it's driving in and out of fucking boston! Shit sucks. I usually park at alewife and take a train in, and that's as far as I'll go with my car.

Get a motorcycle.

I don't like cars either, I bike everywhere, heck most distances are easy with bikes + its healthy for you. If its too far to bike, I take the train, if its too far to take the train, I take the plane. Cars nowadays(in the UK) are that intermediary thing, like the IPAD(between phone and computer), and I know I don't need no intermediary.

I hate that gas is so expensive, in the US it's 4 times what it was a little more than a decade ago but our driving habits really haven't changed all that much.

Where I live you really need a car to function, there's public transport but you really have to go out of your way to make it work for you. I should bike more though.

I feel ya. I was backing my car into my driveway just a few min ago and it just up and died. Now I'm wondering if the fuel pump is on its last legs or what. Man, the extra money I would have if I didn't have to pay car insurance every month.

That's why you have to bring someone with you who knows enough about cars to look for the best one that's going to have as least amount of problems as possible. That's not always gonna work though and of course cars will sometimes just break out of the blue. Another good thing when you're buying used, take the car to a mechanic before you buy it. A lot of dealers will let you do this. We know a guy with a garage and a lift so he can get under the car and check everything out before we purchase.

I have a 99 Toyota Camry. People give me shit and say, "it's foreign," but lets dissect your "American" made car and see where all the parts come from... 80% of the Camry's parts are from the USA anyway and most of them are sold in America. I bring this up OP because when you select a car again in the future, don't let people who are essentially fans of a certain brand talk you into anything. I mean, sometimes those "foreign" cars are cheaper and break less (in my experience with my car and the cars my family owns, the foreign cars end up being better). I mean, for a 99, my car is doing great and I've only had two problems. 1. The battery was losing connection and needed cleaned, which can happen to every car eventually I'm assuming. 1. The trunk leaked because the previous owner tore the trunk seal. I went to a junk yard and took a trunk seal off one of those cars for dirt cheap; my car no longer leaks.

Also, I need a car because I don't live in biking distance of anything. Unless you expect me to bike 45 minutes to nearest store and then another 45 minutes back for a bottle of ice tea or something...

I could take the bus to work but that would cost me 2hours more every day and i value that time more then the cost of owning a car. I also love my car :D

Yes, that can apply to any country that's mostly rural. It's not just America. Public transportation sucks, that's hardly a secret. How old are you? This sounds like a rant a 12 year-old would write

Get a Hippie van with a bed in it, so you can sex up questionable women.

Cars and computers. I love 'em both for obvious reasons but hate them so much when they break down.

@MosaicM80: What kind of freaking cars are you getting used for 30k? My friends been living from car to car the past 8 years and never paid over $1000 for one. Of course he's an idiot and never wants a mechanic to check it out. His most recent one he finally broke down and got a $6000 sedan. I think it's a volvo but I can't remember. It's a nice luxury looking car and runs great and had only something like 60k miles on it.

They have Ford fiestas you can get new for something like $13k if you want a new car that would probably last a long long time. You just don't get all the features with it.

I've never seen anyone stuck with having to pay 30k plus on a used car.

Just don't buy American-made cars. Problem solved!

I love having a car but I hate the costs incurred with ownership. I just bought a used car off a family friend and when I went to get the title the state wanted $1000. That coupled with stupid high insurance costs, gas, and general maintenance makes me wish there were other viable travel options where I live.

@Demoskinos said:

@deathstriker666 How the hell is this something a 12yr old would write? A 12yr old couldn't possibly begin to fathom the expense that a car is. Its a legitimate complaint and it sucks dumping money into something that you dont want too.

Maybe I expected more from the Giantbomb community, but this doesn't even begin to cover all the problems of America's dependence on cars and all the problems associated with that. It's simple and introverted nature pulls me back into reminding myself of all those crappy essays I had to write in elementary school.

No, 12 year-old's aren't that naive. Remember that's 2/3 of their childhood already lived. Most 12 year-old's wouldn't even have enough money to buy a car let alone be actually able to own one and I'm sure they themselves are aware of that. But I'm sure most wouldn't be able to comprehend what owning a car signifies to the materialistic nature of first-world societies and what the sociological pressures it generates.

Ah well, who I am kidding? What did I expect from a thread titled "i hate cars"

I fucking love cars.

You don't need a car in LA because of their fantastic public transportation system? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH

Man, you are funny.

Seriously though, just do more research a get a car that you can run into the ground...

@deathstriker666: Pretentious much?

Buying and owning a car is something that can be a giant hassle if you don't put the time into research and learning about cars. If you want to buy a car, you should spend about 3 months looking and doing research in your area to figure out what to buy, and then you will get a good deal with little hassle. I got a 2001 Jetta with around 100000 miles on it about a year and a half ago for $5000. In that year and a half I only had to do one small thing to it that cost me about $60 (other than oil, gas, and basic inspection cost), and I don't foresee anything bad happening with this car in the near future. Get a car you can tell has been taken care of by previous owners, and get something like a VW or Honda that will very easily last over 200000 miles if you take care of it. I only spent $5000 on this car, and it could last me the next 10 years if I really needed it to.

I like my car.

@deathstriker666: This thread is about personal grievances on car ownership that is shared by many people including myself. If anything this thread can be seen as the plea of the working and middle classes of the United States, if you want to get all "deep" about it.

Your post on the other hand, as well as being off-topic and not making much sense, sounds like a pretentious college student who just learned the concepts of materialism and sociological pressures and wants to show off

I agree with the other Civic owners. my parents had a Civic that had 280,000km on it and it was still working fine with the exception that the transmission was getting a bit rough. They sold it to get a newer one and that one has been doing great so far.

@hoossy said:

You don't need a car in LA because of their fantastic public transportation system? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH

I'm surprised that it took until the 2nd page for someone to mention this, I live in Canada and even I know that you can't live in L.A. without a car.

but yea cars are pretty expensive along with gas. i try to bike/walk as much as possible

That's why you have to bring someone with you who knows enough about cars to look for the best one that's going to have as least amount of problems as possible. That's not always gonna work though and of course cars will sometimes just break out of the blue. Another good thing when you're buying used, take the car to a mechanic before you buy it. A lot of dealers will let you do this. We know a guy with a garage and a lift so he can get under the car and check everything out before we purchase.

I have a 99 Toyota Camry. People give me shit and say, "it's foreign," but lets dissect your "American" made car and see where all the parts come from... 80% of the Camry's parts are from the USA anyway and most of them are sold in America. I bring this up OP because when you select a car again in the future, don't let people who are essentially fans of a certain brand talk you into anything. I mean, sometimes those "foreign" cars are cheaper and break less (in my experience with my car and the cars my family owns, the foreign cars end up being better). I mean, for a 99, my car is doing great and I've only had two problems. 1. The battery was losing connection and needed cleaned, which can happen to every car eventually I'm assuming. 1. The trunk leaked because the previous owner tore the trunk seal. I went to a junk yard and took a trunk seal off one of those cars for dirt cheap; my car no longer leaks.

Also, I need a car because I don't live in biking distance of anything. Unless you expect me to bike 45 minutes to nearest store and then another 45 minutes back for a bottle of ice tea or something...

Ever step on a lego?

Buy a kit car, build it yourself and if anything goes wrong you will know how to fix it :D

@RollingZeppelin said:

@hoossy said:

You don't need a car in LA because of their fantastic public transportation system? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH

I'm surprised that it took until the 2nd page for someone to mention this, I live in Canada and even I know that you can't live in L.A. without a car.

You don't need a car if you live in L.A/

Trains, buses, taxis... This is how I roll.

And the traffic sucks ass. No way in hell I want or need a car here. Same with Vegas.

I'm with you. I wish we had more options for public transit. I live in Chicago and think our transportation system is pretty good, but I also predicate where I look for places to live based on how close they are to a train. I'll avoid getting a car as long as I can. It's fine when they are running well, but if you need a few repairs, prices can go through the roof pretty fast.

Everything is prone to breaking down, but whatever you say, buddy.

I love cars with a passion. You gotta know which cars are worth the cost though.

Just don't buy american, that fixed all my dad's car troubles. Luckily by the time I got my first car I knew what was up.

Buy a scooter, those things are great.

Im not a huge fan of driving cars but I like looking at them

Japanese and German cars last forever.

Prone to breaking down?

I don't really travel so my feet do me.