blogONEI am quite frugal, which essentially means I try to save every dime and penny I can (ironically). So when the topic of me getting around town, there are really a few options.
I could walk…but walking to Oshawa or any place further than 5-20 minutes away is actually not something I would like to do. Interestingly enough, I’ve had a few reports it takes 30 minutes to walk to Jaffray from a place closer to the church than my house…I have yet to verify this.
I could bike…which is a good option for short to moderate distances, but isn’t too viable when the weather is horrid or the distance is too far.
I could bus…which is pretty much what I do to get to school and back. The only things that miff me are the invasion of privacy at times (which sometimes I don’t mind, providing who is invading), the erratic time schedules/delays and the overall time it takes to get from point A to point B.
This leads me to the automobile. If I ever resorted to this, and required my own automobile, I would surely look at the used car classifieds — this had always been my plan. But for all those who are thinking like me about how great it will be to save thousands of dollars on a “smashing” great vehicle, perhaps you should think twice before ever considering a used car. My dad’s Camry was pretty smashed up around 2 years ago, but it looks fine now — you wouldn’t even know it had been in a near-head-on collision! My dad is now giving the Camry back to the dealer, and some (un)lucky person will be getting a steal. In Ontario, dealers are required by law to brand cars which have been in a vehicle accident (minor or otherwise) — out-of-province cars do not. So when you purchase a used car from the dealer, there is a high chance you’re driving a car which has actually be written off and reconstructed.
A reconstructed car is something you, nor I, should ever invest our money and lives in. The frame/crumple zones may have already been compromised, and simply re-welding the frame does not provide the same safety as an original safety cage.
Below is a video from Fifth Gear, which demonstrates what happened when they collided 2 exact same cars, but one of them was a fixed-used one.