In 2004 I finally sold for $5 my 86 Saab that was rusty and run down and had over 400,000 miles. But it still worked, so I think the buyer got fair value. I had to do it: my wife was getting embarassed.

Wow, learn some manners. It’s one thing to ask if someone is receiving payments for advertising within their content. It’s another to more or less accuse them of it with no evidence whatsoever, being sure to cast aspersions on the person’s ethics at the same time.
Trent is providing free advice to you and as I recall him saying elsewhere, it is your responsibility to check out other sources, especially if you feel something is suspect. Also, all sources are biased in hidden ways, many times unintentional. That (I assumed until now) is a no-brainer.
Heck, here is another source for you: I’ve used INGDirect for 6-7 years and love it–he would indeed be remiss in not mentioning it. Its rates are not always the highest of all the high-interest internet banks, but it has consistently been far above what I get at my B&M bank, and the interface (except the log-in) and reliability are great. I’ve used Sharebuilder for 4-5 and have similarly had a great experience (SB was just purchased by ING and it is even better now; before it was a bit lower budget and didn’t have all the extras like Quicken compatiblity.)

Trent, this is my first time commenting but I’ve read through a great deal of your blog…thank you for your efforts; I do hope you keep up the good work despite those who feel the need to be rude and hostile to people who give of themselves.

I save money changing my oil because I live in a rural area, and don’t have any of the chain oil change stores nearby. Don’t have the time to have the car locked up for half a day or so at a shop for an oil change. Autozone takes the used oil and recycles it for free.

If you are determinied to buy new, do a lot of research on what actual cost is. Then use fax or email to get the best offer before you ever set foot on a dealership floor – Edmunds.com did a good story on that a year or so back.

Koryo – I’ve had good experiences with two rental car purchases, both from Hertz. I purchased a one-year old Toyota Corolla and got 175,000 miles out of it before I sold it to a co-worker. Probably would have lasted even longer if the woman’s teenage daughter hadn’t wrecked it six months later. The other rental purchase was a one-year old Nissan Altima – only kept it for two years due to a divorce but had no problems with it. In both cases I did oil changes about every 3500 miles. Hertz will let you look at all the maintencance records for a vehicle prior to purchase, they also keep records of fender-benders so you can see if a vehicle was crashed, what repairs were made, etc. I’m not so sure about buying from the other car rental companies.
Usually police cars are pretty reliable, most were maintained to a pretty high degree, and the models sold as police sedans are “overbuilt” for long service – there’s a reason you see a lot of taxi companies purchase used police cars.

As for the new point to which I never made any reference to previously, does the school district you’re in not have a school bus system? If so, does it not come anywhere near to where you live? Many children ride the bus from elementary onward, and there appear to be buses for preschool as well. So again, unless your circumstances are very unusual, that is another solution.

Also you could consider arranging a carpool with any parents in your neighborhood or similar whom you know and trust. If you don’t know any people, then you could probably reasonably take action to change that. I’m sure Trent has some articles here regarding building relationships with your local community, as he is very keen on that as a personal value. If he doesn’t have any articles here I’m sure that if you requested it, he would write one or more articles on the matter. And of course you can search for ways to build local/neighborly relationships.

Also, Google searching “carpool” leads to sites that are dedicated to helping people find car pool matches for their needs and locations. That too would aid you. Unless your circumstances are very unusual, you can probably find an arrangement that will benefit you and everyone else involved.

Also, here’s some food for thought -
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/06/15/map-shows-how-kids-a.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23935873/

Ok, I’ll play…

“I am a multi-modal commuter. I live approximately 30 miles northeast of downtown Dallas. For the past three years, I have bicycle commuted the first 10 miles to the nearest DART rail station. I store my bike in a locker I rent from DART and ride the train the remaining 20 miles. And, the reverse in the evenings. I was even named the 2007 Clean Air Cyclist of the Year for the Dallas area for finding ways to make multi-modal commuting work.
It’s a hairy commute to say the least. I ride on a four-lane highway crowded with bumper to bumper traffic. The road has a shoulder for most of my ride so I have a safety buffer. Unfortunately the three miles through Sachse, TX do not. I squeak through next to the curb. I used to pass the traffic on the right, which was (1) dangerous, (2) irritating and (3) illegal. Used to: that is until I was pulled over by a motorcycle cop. So embarassing… Crossing the on/off ramps for the George Bush Freeway are the scariest parts of the ride as traffic is coming from all sorts of directions. But, I try to ride safely and clearly indicate what I’m doing.
I cool down on the DART train, shower at a health club and start my day energized. I use a backpack to carry my work clothes, my laptop, and clothes for riding home. Luckily, I see the same people most days so I seldom have issues with frustrated drivers. I wear a sign on my backpack which says “100 miles per gallon of Monster.” Which I think is pretty funny!
Hope you enjoy my story.
KSDisque, Wylie, TX”
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-27892

Now how do I get my young children to school?

I agree with Rick (comment #29). If the statistics Johanna listed are correct, only 1 in 5 Americans have access to public transportation. That alone makes access not an option for most Americans. Access is not defined, therefore it is difficult to ascertain who is considered to have access.

Interestingly, ridership is up substantially in many metropolitan areas, which is causing a space issue on trains and buses. I attempted to take the train about a year ago and there was literally no room for anyone to get on the train at my particular stop. We had to wait 10 minutes for the next train. I can’t even imagine how bad it must be now.

You’ve clearly put little thought into a solution to the problem you present. A cursory google search for “biking to work” or similar will return results from people who have.

Well, usually you only need to change one of them. And for the house, there again it’s a choice to own rather than to rent.
Of course there are cases where it’s just not possible, but the statement was “for most people”.

While I can’t tell you about a major metropolitan area with no transit-accessible programming jobs, I did once work in a large industrial park near an international airport that had no transit anywhere near it. You had to have a car to get to work and companies in the area even included that fact in job ads.

And, no, I couldn’t have obtained another job back then. I was pregnant and this was at a time when you could be fired for being pregnant. I needed to get a minimum of 26 weeks in so I could qualify for maternity benefits.

Sometimes people have personsal circumstances that tie them to certain places or jobs for a period of time. What about a person with fantastic health benefits and a critically ill family member? He or she wouldn’t quit that job just to be able to use public transit!

It is not entirely false. He qualified it with “almost” meaning it does not apply to everyone. Saying “anyone with access to public transportation can commute” is over-inclusive. Without a clear definition of what “access” means, it is difficult to quantify who this even affects. Technically, I have access if I drive 10 miles to a park and ride facility. This increases my commute time from 40 minutes to over an hour.

Changing jobs would not make a bit of difference as the train stops outside my office. Changing houses might be a viable option if I didn’t have to take a hit due to a soft market and I was willing to spend $100,000 more to get into an equivalent house closer to the rail line. I would still need a car to get to the park and ride facility and my car would have to sit outside and be exposed to the elements.

Riding a bike to the park and ride facility is not an option since showing up all sweaty in a suit does not really inspire confidence with my clients. That alone may produce a vast decrease in my earnings potential.

Certainly, this is the exception and there are people who could easily make public transporation work, but claiming “anyone” can make that shift and implying that it is an easy decision is grossly over-simplified.

Most auto parts stores (and some mechanics, junk yards and haz mats) will let you drop off used oil for free. Buy an oil drain pan with a lid ($5), fill it up, and take it with you the next time you go by the auto parts store.

RE: it’s cheaper/faster to pay someone to change your oil instead of doing it yourself

I find those 15-min oil change places usually completely overfill my oil, which can damage your car. After you learn how to change your own oil, it usually takes about a half hour. Most of the time spent changing your own oil is waiting for the oil to drain into the pan, so while you’re waiting you can clean the inside of your car, clean the air filter, and do other chores and maintenance. All you need is the oil, the oil filter, a drain pan, rags, a socket wrench, and an oil filter wrench (another $5). Depending how high your car is off the ground and where the oil drain plug is located, you might need to buy a jack and stands or drive-up ramps.

If changing the oil really does only save you a measly $5 instead of the $20 or $30 Trent suggested, then you just saved $5 for about 15 extra minutes of your time. That’s $20 an hour. I doubt you can recoup that money while waiting in Jiffy Lube, reading back issues of Time magazine.

If there is a metropolitan area that lacks any transit-accessible programming jobs, I’d like to know where it is.

Are those really good numbers to aim for? The 14 year old bottom of the range Ford I just got rid of got 30-35 miles per (British) gallon. My parents two year old diesel Renault gets 50+ mpg

I still know three people who have had nothing but repair after repair with their old rental/police cars. Maybe a highway patrol car, which is what you sound like you got, is different. City police cars…..no way, Jose.

I found your comment regarding brand reliability very interesting – Honda, Toyota & VW. Japanese cars are certainly reknowned for their reliability. Yet I an amazed VW scored poorly! It makes me wonder where that leaves the mass market brands, including Ford that was mentioned shortly after? Or maybe something like a Ford scores well on reliability but not so well on other important factors such as safety and quality of build. Having had one Ford and three VW’s so far, one is a much more enjoyable and high quality car brand to drive than the other!

Ultimately one looks at a car satisfying a whole host of criteria. Safety is high up my list, especially now that I have children.

German & Italian cars are reknowned for quality (unlike Japanese brands) and thus VW, Audi & BMW are my brands of choice for cars. But not cheap admittedly.