I Need Car Advice pls.

“This will be bp related because the car will get me out of the city and into the wilderness...


Help. I have a car that I can bring up to the citybut the problem is this....I don't know the first thing about cars, car ownership, what expenses would be involved, etc...

So would all you car owners help me out with some wisdom?”

“I would think your biggest problem in NYC would be parking. I've heard it is very expensive. The DMV should be able to give ya the 411 on everything else.

What'd kind of car did ya get?”

“Find a bf with a car.”

“great car for city and getting to trailheads is a subaru. Forester, outback the like. good mileage, good in snow and mud.”

“I think car ownership in NYC is very expensive compared to other places because of the parking fees, if you can even find a garage nearby.

My solution: Move out of NYC.”

“Rent a car.”

“Parking, Insurance, Gas, Oil Changes, Routine Mainteinance is where you will be spending the majority of you cash.

Insurance is always high in and around cities. Parking will be difficult as well.

Do you have a car now or looking at buying one?”

“um...thanks

I'm serious here. I have a '94 Ford Escort to bring up.

What do I have to think about as far as payments go? Insurance? What else.

Regarding parking: I will find a garage.”

“Great another driver for me to be pissed at.”

“How could I go about keeping it insured in Florida?”

“Talk with your insurance company on that one.

Is the car paid off?”

“yeah”

“Do you really plan on using it often? I have friends that lived in NYC for years and never used their car except an occasional trip out of the city. In hindsight they probably should have just rented a car for those trips. Expensive to rent, but far cheaper per year than the garage, gas, insurance, headaches, etc.”

“Ask mapleleaf -- but most folks I've ever known in NYC hardly ever used their car -- except for trips OUT of the city.”

“Escorts are great cars and nice and small for dodging cabs and bike messengers. Good luck!”

“most states, (FL, SC, and NC at least for sure) require that the insurance be in the same state where the car is licensed/titled.

So, if you have an address you can use, ie. Mom and/or Dad in FL you keep the tags in FL and keep FL insurance.

Shop it in NYC though, FL is notoriously high on car insurance, so it might be that your insurance in NY is cheaper, doubtful, but worth looking at.

Only catch is that you'll have to have whomever in FL be sure to get your tags renewed each year and sending you the little stickers. If the city/county has an inspection requirement you'd have to actually drive the car down for that too.”

“OK if the car is paid off, all you have to worry about is insurance, parking and the usual I posted above.

Insurance and parking is going to be expensive. Ask you insurance provider how much. They should be able to tell you.

A few suggestions:

At every gas fill up, check the pressure in your tires. Under inflated tires cause you to use more gas. I keep mine around 35 PSI.

It is recomended to have your oil changed every 3000 miles. I usually add 1500 to this and have it changed then. Never had a problem. You could change it yourself for about half the cost. Take about 1 hour. Also, if you get you oil changed by a quick lube place, don't have your air filter changed every visit, or change it your self. They mark those thing up big time.

Have your tires rotated at least every ten thousand miles or less. This will save big time on when you have to have them replaiced.

When I think of more, I will let you know.”

“I would think a 94 Escort would get a pretty good break on insurance. And hey, if the cars not to your liking roll it into the east river and call it in as stolen. LOL!”

“Damn WK, you just described all the things I DON'T do to me Jeep.”

“Twinks - I'm a bit rusty on my property insurance laws, but (if memory serves) I don't think you should try for Florida insurance while living in NYC. It could be cheaper, but your insurance company would probably view your state of residence as a "material fact". If you have a bad accident (say, you plow into a new Mercedes), the insurance company could disavow coverage based on you misrepresenting a material fact (actual state of residence).

Of course, its been a while since I've studied insurance case law. I could be wrong... Free advice is worth exactly what you pay for it. :-)”

“now we're getting the good stuff

and yes, I will use the car only on weekends....to go backpacking! snowshoe-ing! skiing! photographing! exploring!”

“More insurance ramblings. If you're going to use the car only on weekends, make sure your potential insurance agents know this when you ask for quotes. "Recreational use" rates are often cheaper than general use rates. You will probably have to ask around, but I expect you could find a weekends only policy somewhere.

My finance professors would be proud! :)”

“Car in a city, very costly luxury.

To put it in perspective the insurance cost alone is equivalent to a high end piece of B/Pking equipment every quarter.

If you can weasel free parking by leaving at a friends house accessible by public transport it may be worth it.

Changing oil, filter and air filter is pretty cheap and with weekend driving will not happen often enough to be a major cost.

'94 car, expect $700 a year in some sort of repairs/ maintenance, about the cost of a Bibler Eldorado single wall tent.”

“Dang Manuka when ya put it in those terms I'm not sure I even want to drive anymore.”

“Twinks,
I have a 94 Ford Escsort wagon, as you should know. My rates are now cheaper in Staten Island (with a garage) than it was in Brooklyn last year. I was paying about 14 to 15 hundred yearly with GEICO and now i am down to about 1100. My neighborhood was very close to yours. Tell them that you are using it for weekends and not for work. See what kind of a quote you get. Shop a few of them, but GEICO always did the best when I shopped around. You should be able to get at least 20, maybe 25 MPG in the city and 30 - 35 on the highway in gas mileage, so the car is good for that. Registration was only about 15 bucks a year, give or take a few dollars. Inspections in NYS are a flat 35 dollars.

Oh, and forget the garage! It may cost you as much as your apartment. Park it on the street, watch for alternated side parking days, and don't leave your valuables in it overnight...”

“my friends had a garage for about 100 to 150 a month near Hoyt-Schermmerhorn”

“that was an exaggeration, Twinks. And your friends DID get away cheap! But, I, personally could never justify paying that for a parking space. It just goes against my grain...”

“can i leave at your house then?


LOL!”

“Well, Maple has too many boats in the garage to even think about getting a car in there. But, if you leave it on the street next to the house, it will be as safe as can be. It's a nice, quiet neighborhood!”

“"But, I, personally could never justify paying that for a parking space. It just goes against my grain..."

That's like paying for bottled water...oh wait.”

“Sounds like Mapleleaf is to boats what Imelda Marcos was to shoes.”

“lmao, manuka! you said it, man!”

“speaking of boats - you think she & I will end up in Nova Scotia this weekend?”

“It's possible, Twinks!”

“T Mac makes a good point about finagling the insurance states.”

“How come insurance is so cheap in NYC????????

Off-St parking - I pay $130/mo for a reserved spot outside my apt. I've seen too many cars vandalized or become victims of hit & runs outside my building.

Changing your own oil - in a city? Forgit about it! Maybe NYC is different but working on cars in DC is strictly a no no.”

“If I lived in NY city, There'd be no way on earth I'd own a car.”

“Hell, for $16.95, get your oil changed and let them worry about disposing of it.”

“As a graduate student in in Chicago I was able to pull off the lower insurance rate, but once we got a different car....oopps.

Also, heard from friends who lived on the other side of the viaduct (6 blocks away) they got a lower rate. "ZIP CODE MATTERS!" For car and housing/rental insurance.”

“just get a vespa. you'll look so cute riding it too!”

“Vespa's are easy to steal and it happens quite often here.”

“When my wife and I got married, SHE had a '94. Keep tabs on the timing belt and the computer--esp if it's a snowy Winter New Years evening near Crandon WI! (Those 'points of interest' were not included in the pre-nup, let along the owners manual.)”

“And at least get all season tires!

I prefer v-rated but I don't like to slow down on interstate curves if I don't have to...”

“While NYC probably doesn't have the cheapest insurance in the country, I know plenty of people with cars in NYC, and it's not too bad, especially if you car is all paid off and you're only looking for basic liability coverage.

What's probably more of a concern is parking. One option is to just park on the street, but the Manhattan streets get crowded and people often have to park blocks away from the apartment. In this case, you'd also have to move the car around at least a couple times a week for street cleaning, etc.

The other option is to get a garage, which will cost extra, but at least you'll have a parking spot. Also, depending on garage availablility, you may or may not get one close your apt -- especially in Manhattan.

It seems to me that if you plan on bringing a car, you might be better off getting a place in either Queens or Brooklyn, as connections to Manhattan are still pretty good, but it's much easier to park your car there...

Oh yeah, and there's the part about New York having the most expensive gas in the Northeast, but you can fill up in NJ when you're out there like most New Yorkers do. You'll even get free full service...”

“Oh yeah, and get EZ Pass, or you will be hanging out in line for long amounts of time at the tolls for all the bridges and tunnels...”

“Automotive Techie person here to toss in my two cents. Like a few posted already. Sounds like a car up there isnt worth the hassle to most people. I would highly reccommend moving to Atlanta, just so happens that I have a place you can crash. How about that?

Some of the earlier posts seem to be a little over the top as far as maintaining a car goes. I change my oil every 4000 miles, sometimes. I haven't rotated my tires in 57K miles and all four are wearing pretty evenly. Oil change and car wash/vac is $28.00 here. Ford Escort is a pretty easy car to get parts for so #&%!$ that breaks shouldnt be too expensive. Im not a service mechanic so I wouldn't know too much about letting cars sit up for extended periods of time. Other than you're battery will probably be dead on occasion, unless its unhooked when not in use.

PAYING FOR A PARKING SPACE IS FOR WANKERS!!! GET REAL!!! MOVE AWAY!!! My truck is paid for and I spend $150/month on full coverage for a 2001 4-door tacoma. Not that bad if you ask me. Of course I used to pay over $4000 a year for insurance on my Legend.

Point is maintaining a car is only as difficult as you make it.

This was a pretty poinless post wasnt it?”

“Automotive Techie person here to toss in my two cents. Like a few posted already. Sounds like a car up there isnt worth the hassle to most people. I would highly reccommend moving to Atlanta, just so happens that I have a place you can crash. How about that?

Some of the earlier posts seem to be a little over the top as far as maintaining a car goes. I change my oil every 4000 miles, sometimes. I haven't rotated my tires in 57K miles and all four are wearing pretty evenly. Oil change and car wash/vac is $28.00 here. Ford Escort is a pretty easy car to get parts for so #&%!$ that breaks shouldnt be too expensive. Im not a service mechanic so I wouldn't know too much about letting cars sit up for extended periods of time. Other than you're battery will probably be dead on occasion, unless its unhooked when not in use.

PAYING FOR A PARKING SPACE IS FOR WANKERS!!! GET REAL!!! MOVE AWAY!!! My truck is paid for and I spend $150/month on full coverage for a 2001 4-door tacoma. Not that bad if you ask me. Of course I used to pay over $4000 a year for insurance on my Legend.

Point is maintaining a car is only as difficult as you make it.

This was a pretty pointless post wasnt it?”

“A '94, I would figure on somewhere around $75 a month on average over the year for repairs. Not every month but a timing belt and brakes or tires, front axles/bearings, etc, all the stuff that is 10 years old will need work at some point and parts and labor in the city are what they are.
At a $100 each for parking and insurance I think you should at least check the car rental places and look at your calander. Are you going to get out of the city more than 2-3 weekends a month? The rental thing might not be a bad idea.

On the other hand if you have your own car you might get out more so all of those things will be worth it. Pick me up on the way to the White Mountains?”

“thanks gang for all th egood advice

Shep - seems like your hell bent on getting me to GA! That was a very entertaining post :)

Pepsi - when I get this car up here (my best friend offered to do the drive up with me - yey!) you and I will most definately have to go to the Whites.

PS - no Saturday class means a trip to the Whites and soon is in order if you've got no classes :)

What say you?”

“www.autozone.com has a pretty 'exhaustive' car repair guide/diagnostics facility on their website.”