This is what worries me. My insurer offered me an incentive for adding a black box to my car two years ago. I declined, figuring that was the carrot and higher rates would be the stick.
It seems like auto manufacturers, banks, and insurance companies won’t be happy until the majority of consumers have loans and policies for newer vehicles that cost at least $50K. Of course, a percentage of that group would have to live in those vehicles since they’d be more affordable than an apartment or house. Once that percentage becomes the majority, the world might start to look like the Doctor Who episode “Gridlock,” and… I really need to consider this again :
My insurance is currently $1600/year CDN; that’s 1/2 the market value of the car and 70% of the ICBC replacement valuation. Add in the relatively small amount of gas I use and regular maintenance costs and it puts me close to $2K per year for a car I use no more than twice a week on average. An EVO or similar car share would cost me the same or less. ICBC (Insurance Corp. of British Columbia) insurance is going to take a big jump this Spring and will push the cost/benefit ratio into getting rid of the car.
I used to work at a local greenhouse where about 6 1947-48 Ford tractors were converted to propane and used to haul wagonloads of flats and filled pots around to their transplant/growing areas. Can’t remember if they were 3 or 4 speed but, they were a lot of fun and I really miss the ‘put-pa-put-put-put’ of the idle.
Time to crunch the numbers and figure out if a similar change makes sense for me. I don’t drive often, so it took 16 years to put 60K miles on my car. I drive much less now than in the first ten years, too.
If no one offers a DRM-free tractor, they can all make a mint.
If someone offers a DRM free tractor and everyone buys it they won’t make as much as if it had the DRM lock but if more people buy it… 20% of 100 is better than 100% of 10.
And you can still sell parts and service and maintenance, you just have to be more reasonable on it, and you have to provide good enough service that they don’t want to go elsewhere. Most cars aren’t DRM locked but the service bay is where the dealer makes most of the money. (And commits most of the fraud, but that is neither here nor there…)
a policy of producing consumer goods that rapidly become obsolete and so require replacing, achieved by frequent changes in design, termination of the supply of spare parts, and the use of nondurable materials.
still driving a 1995 corolla here. about 190k miles (which is low for its age and probably helps). my car has an antiquated computer diagnostic system and when i had a problem with it no one had the equipment any more. one mechanic said he might have it in his storage somewhere. in general all the problems with this car have been easy to fix mechanical things. but i worry all these new cars will eventually just be impossible to repair. like how i have 10 year old apps on my mac that wont work with the new operating system…
I would happily buy a car that was fully serviceable without special tools/equipment/software, as long as it had the full current safety repertoire. So just buying an older vehicle isn’t really an option. I don’t know what I, as a consumer, could have done to disincentivise car manufacturers from producing cars that defy user maintenance. All I know is that my dealer wants to charge me $150 for a software update. Sigh.
i assume you mean sell it and just not have a car anymore? cuz i dont think insurance would be much cheaper on a newer car. im lucky that for now my car is registered in iowa and pay about 27 bucks a month!
I don’t think it was until 1996 that OBD II was standardized as an on-board diagnostic port. Before then, each manufacturer had its own diagnostic port.
To be absolutely honest, I’d be a bit wary of relying on car share services. It seems like they go out of business with very little warning. Car2Go gave our market like a week notice that they were eliminating our service, and they went out of business in the United States with a week’s notice, immediately after rebranding.
It would suck immensely to have like a week’s notice that you were going to have to come up with enough money for a car… and operating a 25 year old vehicle that you have maintained for at least the last 10-15 years or since new feels a lot less risky than operating one that you just bought.
You might want to shop your auto policy around; and see if you can drop to liability only; for older people (over 30) with clean driving records insurance should be fairly inexpensive, although it does vary considerably from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. If you’re in a no-fault jurisdiction then I’m sorry for you, it’s not fair.
My old 1996 Ford Taurus was the last vehicle I owned where I could actually get at almost anything I needed to fix; my newer cars were really poorly designed for user maintenance, probably on purpose. My Neon needed to have the alternator replaced, which either meant taking the old one out with a blowtorch, lifting the engine, or taking off the front quarterpanel I have a 2013 base model Fit which I will keep running as long as I can.
Exactly. If I assume the car will mostly be used for grocery runs (avg. 1-1/4 hrs. wk.) with use for work, to visit someone or other needs (avg. 1 hr. wk.) and a rate of $15/hr. plus 5% GST for car share, I’d pay a total of $1842 annually instead of at least $2K in total for my 1993 Corolla.
Picked up this 1988 Deere 855 almost 8 years ago. I was never a “car fixin’ guy” but this thing is actually repairable, and I’ve been able to get every part I’ve needed. Would be nice to get a muffler, though, since I’m pretty sure I lose a couple hundred hertz at the top of my hearing range every time I use it, despite both plugs and muffs.
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I have a 2013 base model Fit which I will keep running as long as I can.
