Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

[PyTom]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!

Sorry, just venting, in much the same way that my car vented coolant all over the ground on the navy base where I'm working. And the best part is I won't be able to get the tow truck to take it out before tomorrow.

(Well, things aren't all bad... I have a friend of mine living nearby that can give me a lift in and out of the base. And so on. But it's just a bit of an annoyance I didn't need.)

[Twar3Draconis]

Get a moped. Or motorcycle. Then you can just walk it out of there.

[rocket]

Sorry, just venting, in much the same way that my car vented coolant all over the ground on the navy base where I'm working. And the best part is I won't be able to get the tow truck to take it out before tomorrow.

Ouch, that sucks. Even worse is the repair bill. Anybody else but me feels like it two pieces of bad news when your car breaks down and then when you get the bill. Logically it's part of the same event, but it feels like I've been stung twice!

Bright side is friends, which are way better than walking around in muggy VA summers.

[Blue Lemma]

Hmm... not much to say about that people haven't already said...
Guess I just wanted to Aaaaacknowledge your frustration

[mikey]

my car vented coolant all over the ground on the navy base

Bad car! No waxing for a whole month for you!

Oh well, maybe that leak is a subtle hint from your preferred divine entity for buying a new car?

[F.I.A]

Reminded me of the time when I took a 6 hours bus ride back to my hometown, only to be stuck somewhere in between when it was involved in a car accident. Due to the wreck and also since we were in a middle of nowhere(No telephone lines, no nothing), I was stuck in that place for around 4 hours, till another bus came to our aid. That was how a usual 6 hours bus ride ended up being 10 hours bus ride. Ack.

Well, I guess we all need to get stuck into something once in a while to at least make it some sort of weird experience. Of course, the experience is not always good.

[DaFool]

Hmmm... this reminds me since I've been thinking of getting a car to cut down on my 1.5 hour commute (one way).

This formula has been hanging around my head for a long time now:

Cheap first-hand compact car OR 2nd-hand bigger car VS availability of cheap parts.

The funny thing is that when I was 5 years old the family was able to afford a FULL-SIZE Ford for around $15,000. The last car we had from the previous decade was an Accord (~$16,000).

Now? With that kind of budget ($16K or PHP800K) you can only buy a B-segment Yaris or Jazz/Fit. I just looked at the prices for the 2nd generation Vios... the highest end model cost as much as an Accord used to, for what is essentially a Yaris with a freakin' trunk!

Grumble grumble. If I stretch the budget I might be able to afford a Civic. No way I am going to spend upwards of $20K for a compact anything. I don't think any automobile is worth more than the late teens in thousands of dollars. Jeez. Forget about the compact SUVs that cost a MINIMUM of over 20 grand. And we're talking locally-assembled or Thai-imported autos (to take advantage of ASEAN tariff rules. Made in Japan? P-lease.) Fucking expensive machines nowadays.

Probably why I'm still taking the bus.

[DaFool]

It could be worse...

like if you had this car overheating due to tropical climate:

The kind of stuff you would only expect to see on the Autobahn.

(seriously I have no idea how some people get the funds for such things, especially in a developing country)

[mikey]

Hmmm... this reminds me since I've been thinking of getting a car to cut down on my 1.5 hour commute (one way).

Grumble grumble. If I stretch the budget I might be able to afford a Civic. No way I am going to spend upwards of $20K for
a compact anything. I don't think any automobile is worth more than the late teens in thousands of dollars.

Well, we spent just about EUR 20k (which is a bit more than the same in $) on our new Civic, after having a pre-owned Accord, and surely that was borderline to what we wanted to spend.

But after going through car shows and trying everything from the C segment, I think that the little extra was worth it. We were actually extremely disappointed by the offerings, in terms of quality - there is a lot on offer that looks good, but the plastics are cheap and the whole thing just doesn't seem like a good product, or the interior is uninviting - and so the only other candidates would have been the Golf and Audi A3, and they are more expensive and don't have that certain something. In the end, we did spend a bit more than we wanted, but in retrospect we're really happy about it. So well, that's our experience.

Plus, there is the looks (of the European model) Lookie look! (our looks just the same, a red one, only we don't have satnav in the interrior) It's a year old, but there is still nothing like it ^_^

[Jake]

Well, we spent just about EUR 20k (which is a bit more than the same in $) on our new Civic

...and when I bought mine (previous model, 2003) it cost me £10k, which translates to around US$20k today - I think it was more like $18500 at the time. I'm kind of curious as to what the rate of inflation/change to GDP/exchange rate/etc. of the Philippines' currency has been since DaFool's family got a full-size Ford for the same cash he can only get a Yaris for today.

In a similar situation, when I was twelve my parents bought a 5-bedroom house in a village with a double garage and a large garden for £90k; last year I paid £130k (well, my mortgage provider did...) for a 3-bedroom semi-detached in the suburbs with a tiny garden. I mean, I don't want a huge garden anyway, but without looking at the rest of the market and seeing that it was actually relatively cheap, and remembering that it's been fifteen years since I was twelve, it looked like a terrible price.