Posts Tagged ‘cars’

Sell My Volvo?

Friday, November 21st, 2008

I am considering selling my Volvo. I drive it perhaps two or three times a week because I ride my bike to school. Melissa has a fine automobile that she would let me use. My car is a 1997 model (it was actually sold in 1996) 850 T5 Vovlo wagon with every premium package except for the ‘winter’ and multidisc CD changer packages. Kelly Blue Book says I can sell it for between $4000 and $5000. I encourage you to tell me what do to in the comments. Here’s what I’ve got so far:

Do I sell my car?
Yes, sell it: No, keep it:

  • I hardly drive my car, but I have to pay car insurance all the time. Also, I need to register it by January ($100) and get it smogged ($30?).
  • It’s twelve years old and things are breaking: the key fob; the odometer; the backlight on the radio display; the driver-side seat is ripped. Who knows what’s next? It’s likely going to be something I can’t just live without.
  • Melissa’s car is nearly a decade newer, more fuel efficient and almost as spacious.
  • $4000+ in my pocket is nice.
  • Until I graduate, I don’t picture myself needing a car except on the weekends. And when I graduate, my new job will pay more, so if I need to commute, I will be able to afford a car more easily.
  • If I sell my car, I’ll split the car insurance costs with Melissa on her car which will save both of us money.
  • If I am going to own any car, this is just about the perfect car for me. I really like it. It’s spacious enough, but not too big. It’s got a killer roof rack system that would be hard to do on another car.
  • It’s safer than Melissa’s car, primarily because it’s heavier (gotta love Volvos!).
  • I already own the car fully, so the only recurrent costs are insurance and fuel. I could call up my insurance agent and get much lower coverage, especially collision coverage.

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Posted in Commentary | 7 Comments »

No, You Are Not Cool

Tuesday, July 29th, 2008

I’ve seen this Lotus Elise parked on campus often, but recently it got this “007″ sticker. Putting the double-oh-seven on your car is about as bad as putting random Japanese characters on your windshield. James Bond did drive a Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me, but it went underwater. This Lotus doesn’t even have a roof. And yes, this is the same parking lot where I saw the Hawaiian GT-40.

After I took this photo, the driver came up and I chatted briefly with him. I did not say to his face that he’s a doofus, but I was thinking it the whole time. Apparently he has the numbers on because he took the car to a race course, but there are 998 other three digit numbers he could have chosen that were less ridiculous than 007. He said his other car he races has “666″ on it and he calls it “The Beast.”

In the same lot today I saw this Smart Car. While I disagree with the color choice (red? on a 71 HP car?), the owner of this car is ever so much cooler.

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Posted in Commentary | 1 Comment »

Car Pit

Thursday, July 17th, 2008

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Today Steve Lynch and I did some exploring off Peñasquitos Park and came across these derelict cars dropped into a small gorge. A VW Beetle, Audi and Ford Explorer (high gas prices, you know) were ones I could identify. There were two others rusted beyond recognition. It looked like after the cars had been shoved into the pit, they had been sledgehammered, to make sure they were really dead, of course. The Beetle was missing its motor, among other things, while the Ford didn’t have any seats in it. The Audi was probably a nice car once upon a time, it had a sun roof (or moon depending on trademarks).

I like to imagine this is what might happen if the world order collapses. People just junking once useful and valuable things when you can no longer get gasoline or electricity. Kind of like Mexico.

Update: you can see the Ford on Google Maps.

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Posted in Cycling, Photos | 2 Comments »