mikes Posted January 10, 2016 Posted January 10, 2016 Hi, say you have a job in a rural location that isn;t too far away by car (20 minutes), yet by bus it can take over 2 hours (once you consider the considerable waiting time due to silly timetables, weird route it takes, etc) My hours are 8-4. My car has just died and now I will have to get up at 6am and get home at 6pm. This is a big problem as all the car dealerships in my area seem to close at 6pm. What do people do in this situation? Note I am not advocating pulling a sicky to go out and buy a car, but is there a better way than sucking this up for a week? I am seriously tempted to get a 125cc bike for fun summer riding and for situations like this. As much as public transport is pushed by the government, it still seems an absolute joke. I saw a pensioner wait 30 minutes at a bus stop carrying heavy shopping, waiting for her bus; that cannot be good for her health.
DJ-1701 Posted January 10, 2016 Posted January 10, 2016 Any possibility of booking a taxi for the end of school or getting a lift from someone to a car dealership or any rental car place for the short term?
mikes Posted January 10, 2016 Author Posted January 10, 2016 yeah I'll hire a taxi. never hired one before in my life, being so used to having a car. about time i woke up to the real world. cheers
DJ-1701 Posted January 10, 2016 Posted January 10, 2016 yeah I'll hire a taxi. never hired one before in my life, being so used to having a car. about time i woke up to the real world. cheers The fact that you have a car, have a job, pay for fuel, are looking to go to a car dealership... you are certainly a lot more in the real world than some others . Also it may be worth just double checking your insurance policy in case a hire car was selected or included for a period of time.
3s-gtech Posted January 10, 2016 Posted January 10, 2016 Do you know enough about cars to avoid dealerships? You can do a lot more for your money if you use Ebay, car auctions, and even local private sales. Those can all work for you out of working hours too.
twin--turbo Posted January 10, 2016 Posted January 10, 2016 I think every car bar 4 have been from EBAY. and that's ~32 cars since 1992. My V8 Jag unfortunatly killed it's engine in october. So I picked up a 2000'W' focus 1.8 Zetec to stand in whilst I wait for the weather to fit a replacement engine to the Jag. Focus cost £300 with 6 Months MOT. Fun little car, if a tad underpowered on the open road. TT
Davit2005 Posted January 11, 2016 Posted January 11, 2016 Dead cheap hire car for the week??? I hired a VW Polo for 7 days over last xmas and it cost £140 including all the waivers.
E_G_R2 Posted January 11, 2016 Posted January 11, 2016 Bike (pedal power) you may be eligeble under the cycle to work scheme.
twin--turbo Posted January 11, 2016 Posted January 11, 2016 I cycle a lot but 20 mins by car is going to be at least an hour on dark wet roads. TT
dry Posted January 11, 2016 Posted January 11, 2016 I cycle a lot but 20 mins by car is going to be at least an hour on dark wet roads. TT My commute to work is 20 minutes by car, 15 minutes by bike- mostly down to the fact I don't sit in queues of traffic or need to find a distant parking space on my bike!
Davit2005 Posted January 11, 2016 Posted January 11, 2016 I used to walk the 5 miles each way to work quicker than waiting for Public Transport , I don't work or live in rural area either.
mthomas08 Posted January 11, 2016 Posted January 11, 2016 yeah I'll hire a taxi. never hired one before in my life, being so used to having a car. about time i woke up to the real world. cheers Ah yes the real world of Public Transport options which even for me is not the greatest idea. Taxi's are very expensive for me, about £35 a day. Trains are a nightmare because of the route, it's popular enough for trains every hour but not popular enough to make sure they are on time and working every day. And the remainder, buses which to get to work on time would require me to be 1 hour early or 1 hour or so late and likewise for Trains. What's interesting some time ago there was a discussion here about the fact people don't need cars any more and can completely rely on Public Transport. It's not the case when you have a choice of turning up 1 hour late or 1 hour earlier every morning.
Boredguy Posted January 11, 2016 Posted January 11, 2016 Most dealerships and car show rooms around here at open 7 days a week, but taxi or car rental could be short term options (with the rental maybe being cheaper and more flexible)
sted Posted January 11, 2016 Posted January 11, 2016 some garages you can arrange to have them pick the car up from where it is. The dealer I used when I had a citroen were happy to pick the car up and drop me off somewhere then return the car to me
TechMonkey Posted January 11, 2016 Posted January 11, 2016 (edited) Can you not negotiate with your line manager to have an afternoon off/leave an hour early. For a one off it seems reasonable. Alternatively can a colleague not run you to the garage and then you could drive the car back to work? Does depend on distances but I have done that here for a few people. Edited January 11, 2016 by TechMonkey
frazzlesgrant Posted January 11, 2016 Posted January 11, 2016 my commute too work is 20 mins by car (including traffic) 15 mins by my 500cc friend, but if you are going for a new car see what deals they have on and shop around different ones, see if you can get one with free insurance or free servicing, but as for getting a 125 bike it will be much much cheaper, just depends on what you want.
SteveT Posted January 11, 2016 Posted January 11, 2016 What is this "public transport" of which you speak? Not many buses left in rural areas ..... one a week for Market Day in many places!!!! 1
PrimaryTech Posted January 11, 2016 Posted January 11, 2016 Long term, if you don't have to carry vast amounts with you do a CBT and get a 125cc bike. Before darling daughter came around (3 yrs ago) I did my CBT, had a 125 for 6 months then did my DAS (Passed first time too). My commute is a16 mile round trip, I could fill the tank on my Yamaha SR125 for 7 quid, go to work all week and still have fuel left over. £16 a year RFL is ace too!
mikes Posted January 12, 2016 Author Posted January 12, 2016 (edited) Luckily my friend had a decent 2005 Skoda Fabia 1.2 for sale for £1500. OK so the ladies won't get charmed by it but if I wanted something to attract girls I'd buy a nose job. The bus timetables are a nightmare. Some of the buses have the same number but a different colour code, but nowhere does it explain the colour code! - so, if I get on the 96 to Cardiff, is it going to take me past the route I want to go, Barry Hospital, or is it going to go in the opposite direction towards Cardiff Centre! I ended up saying "this is just a joke" and ran home. I feel now why the police feel so bad taking driving licenses away from OAPs who are obvious past driving. Taking heavy shopping on those buses must be a nightmare. I live in Barry and my work is in Llantwit Major - it is an narrow NSL A road the whole way there, cycling the 10 miles of it with 60mph lorries and school buses going by (as if they stick to 50), don't fancy my chances with that! Taking public transport to work for me adds an additional 2 hours travel time to my day. I actually have a free travel card provided by the NHS (I had some neurological issues that are cleared up now with meds) - the card still lasts until 2020 - but I still prefer to pay to drive. Edited January 12, 2016 by mikes
mikes Posted January 12, 2016 Author Posted January 12, 2016 tempted to do a CBT mate. a few of my mates are bikers. One thing it could be a nice little summer ridearound, another, it could be an emergency form of transport that won't end up getting me stuck on a train to Swansea
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