Should I get a Scooter or another Car?

[joelbct]

Thinking of getting a Honda Metropolitan. My commute is 2.5 miles, most of my trips are local, there is a train to the city, and I can probably work from home if weather is terrible.

Pro's:
Only costs 2K, so I could get a new one instead of a used car for more money.
No insurance necessary.
70-90 mpg, so gas would be 1/3 of a small car.
Scooters = Green, less carbon emission.
Kind of cool looking. For a scooter...

Cons:
Not as safe.
Can't go on highway or travel in bad weather.
Can't have passengers.
Not as much Cargo space.

I dunno, any thoughts?

[Mary R]

Good Gods, I just read about your accident. What's this about Geico not dealing with the claim? Is that your company or hers?

Geico's known in the industry for being pretty shitty to deal with once you have a claim. They've gotten so big so quick that they don't have diversified investments to the level of, say, a State Farm or Nationwide. Their profit margins have been so thin compared to the other big name insurance companies over the past 5 years that their standard claims practice has become "deny, deny, deny."

If a) she has admitted fault and/or b) the police report indicates her being at fault, the easiest thing to do at this point is to call a claim in to *her* insurance company. I hope she doesn't have Geico.

As far as what you should get...my feelings are that a scooter should augment car transport, not replace it. Even if you can do 99% of normal stuff with your scooter, the day will come when you will need the car. My brother, 1.0, tried to go scooter-only and it lasted about 3 months. I think his breaking point came when he realized he'd need to borrow my car to take this girl on a date.

[joelbct]

If a) she has admitted fault and/or b) the police report indicates her being at fault, the easiest thing to do at this point is to call a claim in to *her* insurance company. I hope she doesn't have Geico.

Unfortunately, Geico is her insurance company, they are the ones claiming it is "shared liability" and not 100% her fault, even though she was going the wrong way down a one way road, and the cops and she both said it was her fault 100% without a doubt.

As for the scooter, I can prob borrow a car from housemates/friends if i absolutely need one... but we have tons of public transport around here too. Just a thought though!

[Ed]

A guy I work with has a girlfriend that has a scooter just like that one. It looks like fun. It's not good year round transportation though, like Mary said.

[Mary R]

Hrm. At that point, I would suggest contacting your insurance agent and asking him/her about 'shared liability.'

I got pinned with that a couple years ago, and I wasn't even driving. My best friend took my keys while I was in a class and drove to her bank to cash a check. A stupid freshman whipped out of a parallel parking situation without looking, sideswiped my car and totaled it.

Her insurance company said it was 80% idiot freshman's fault and 20% MY fault because my friend mentioned that she'd looked down for a second to change the radio. As pissed off as I was, I had to deal with it because *technically* they were right. (Ethically...aw hellz no.)

So that's how I got an at-fault accident on my record even though I wasn't driving.

But...if you don't admit to being anything less than a stellar driver who was completely aware of the road and had your hands at 10 and 2, they don't really have much of a case for the shared liability. The whole thing about her backing out of a 1 way street should help matters. Call your agent and see what they say.

[Proinsias]

Bike?

costs less than 2k
no insurance necessary
gas would be around zero as much as a car or a scooter
Bike = green, very green
can be kind of cooler looking than scooter
safer than a scooter, maybe

For 2k could you get a cheap car and a decent bike?

[Ed]

Very good points, Proinsias. I <3 my bike.

[Chip]

Insurance laws seem so arbitrary and UNFAIR sometimes. And little Joe Insured can really do nothing about it unless he is already wealthy and wants to sue. But laws are tough in this regard, often penalizing the innocent. Like in a chain reaction accident, if het from behind, and you slide into the car in front of you, you are liable for damages to that car (and maybe even the damages to the front of your car). This is at least the way it was in greater PA.

The scooter is cool and "green." Shoot, I wish I could sell my car and ride my bicycle everywhere.

[Sydney]

I was T-boned by an uninsured truck driver who drove through a stop sign to plow into me last year.

I have uninsured motorist insurance and everything, but my insurance company basically refused to pay me a dime. There turned out to be nothing much I could do about it.

[Space Samurai]

I say get the scooter. I was looking at the Honda Ruckus myself. I am in the same boat you are; everything I need any given week is only a few miles away. I have a truck, but she's getting up their in years, and sooner or later is going to die on me.

[Wesli]

If you're not dealing with Oregon rain, it can't be that bad, can it?

Riding with a passenger isn't a problem on most of them. When I went to Spain, almost every gent had one of those, and they would always have their hairy Spanish women clutching their stringy Spanish waists when they went anywhere.

[Ed]

lol @ hairy Spanish women

[joelbct]

and they would always have their hairy Spanish women clutching their stringy Spanish waists when they went anywhere.

An image of Lucy riding a Vespa popped into my mind. No offense to Spanish Women nor to our hominid forebears




or maybe



better yet:

[chamekke]

Well, there you go. It's clearly the epitome of cool to drive a Vespa. Even Lucy would look great on one.

I voted for the scooter, mainly because it's more environmentally sound. The only problem is that you are more vulnerable on those things (as with bicycles), so defensive driving is a must. But as a passionate cyclist, you already know that.

[joelbct]

But as a passionate cyclist, you already know that.

You've got the wrong guy, I'm not a passionate cyclist While I do enjoy a good bike ride, I usually jog, seems easier to get my heart rate up that way.