again with the car lust
so i go back and forth on this frequently enough. i'm thinking about buying a car, again. previously i was considering buying a small hippie van, but i decided against it because it seems you need to invest quite a bit of money if you want to get anything that's reliable at all, and also gas is expensive!
i've been using zipcar for over a year now. it's come in really handy a few times but the costs ad up quite quickly, especially if you want to use the car to get yourself somewhere you'll be spending any amount of time. for example, if you wanted to drive to someone's house for dinner in say, surrey, and you're there for 6 hours, that's going to cost you over $70, even though you werent even using the car for 4/6 hours. not very economical!
there's also the car co-op, which i was considering. the billing model is different, and you pay based more on mileage rather than time. this would work for me if i was say, doing the radio show up at SFU. BUT, the reality is - i want a car for LEAVING the city.i want to explore the province and go on road trips! i want to go to seattle, portland, haida gwaii, golden, hotsprings, waterfalls, mountains, snowboarding! i get four days off a week, but i never leave the city due to the lack of car.
of course, there's always the option to rent a car, but that doesn't come cheap either. generally a four day rental is over $300, and when you think about it that way, and add in say one or two zipcar trips a month, it really doesn't seem to be as convenient as one might initially think.
i've been looking on the toyota website where you can buy 'toyota certified' used cars. being not mechanically inclined and having your dad live three provinces away makes buying a used vehicle fairly intimidating, so this seems like it might be a good option that comes with a bit more support / piece of mind for someone in my position.when i first saw a 2006 toyota yaris hatchback i was like OMG CUTE LITTLE POD CAR I WILL HAVE YOU. most people think they are hideous but i think they're cute. i know they're really good on gas and the insides of them are surprisingly spacious. so i think that's what i'll look at getting, mainly for the "it's the car i've always wanted and now i have it... i rule" factor. i can easily get one for under 10k, which i think is doable, and my plan is to coerce all my friends into coming on awesome trips with me so i'll have someone to help with paying for the gas.
and also - i can do what i want! if it's too expensive, i'll sell it and shake my fist to the sky. but honestly, i feel like i'm at a point in my life where i can own a car. i have NO INTEREST WHATSOEVER in city driving (because it's terrifying) but travel is something that i always list high up on my list of things i want to do, and this i know will be a huge step toward making this happen. there's also rad peeps who want to join me on the adventures too, so i think of this as something nice i can do for me AND my friends. it's time for me to man up and be 'the one with the car" because i CAN.
thoughts? advice? accolades? who's coming to san fran / portland / mexico / everywhere with me???
ROAD TRIP!
i've been using zipcar for over a year now. it's come in really handy a few times but the costs ad up quite quickly, especially if you want to use the car to get yourself somewhere you'll be spending any amount of time. for example, if you wanted to drive to someone's house for dinner in say, surrey, and you're there for 6 hours, that's going to cost you over $70, even though you werent even using the car for 4/6 hours. not very economical!
there's also the car co-op, which i was considering. the billing model is different, and you pay based more on mileage rather than time. this would work for me if i was say, doing the radio show up at SFU. BUT, the reality is - i want a car for LEAVING the city.i want to explore the province and go on road trips! i want to go to seattle, portland, haida gwaii, golden, hotsprings, waterfalls, mountains, snowboarding! i get four days off a week, but i never leave the city due to the lack of car.
of course, there's always the option to rent a car, but that doesn't come cheap either. generally a four day rental is over $300, and when you think about it that way, and add in say one or two zipcar trips a month, it really doesn't seem to be as convenient as one might initially think.
i've been looking on the toyota website where you can buy 'toyota certified' used cars. being not mechanically inclined and having your dad live three provinces away makes buying a used vehicle fairly intimidating, so this seems like it might be a good option that comes with a bit more support / piece of mind for someone in my position.when i first saw a 2006 toyota yaris hatchback i was like OMG CUTE LITTLE POD CAR I WILL HAVE YOU. most people think they are hideous but i think they're cute. i know they're really good on gas and the insides of them are surprisingly spacious. so i think that's what i'll look at getting, mainly for the "it's the car i've always wanted and now i have it... i rule" factor. i can easily get one for under 10k, which i think is doable, and my plan is to coerce all my friends into coming on awesome trips with me so i'll have someone to help with paying for the gas.
and also - i can do what i want! if it's too expensive, i'll sell it and shake my fist to the sky. but honestly, i feel like i'm at a point in my life where i can own a car. i have NO INTEREST WHATSOEVER in city driving (because it's terrifying) but travel is something that i always list high up on my list of things i want to do, and this i know will be a huge step toward making this happen. there's also rad peeps who want to join me on the adventures too, so i think of this as something nice i can do for me AND my friends. it's time for me to man up and be 'the one with the car" because i CAN.
thoughts? advice? accolades? who's coming to san fran / portland / mexico / everywhere with me???
ROAD TRIP!