Cars are expensive

Last fall, we had a visitor at our house, who had driven there. She had a little accident backing up in our driveway, resulting in a crunched fender on her car and a crunched door on our car.

The total cost of repair? $2,400

Sometimes people ask me how much my bike costs. When I tell them (some number > $1k), they often seem aghast that I would spend that much on a bike. How can bikes be that expensive?

Some people don't seem to realize that bikes are inexpensive compared to cars. This accident is case in point. The cost of that one little fender bender is more than my whole bike, motor kit and all. Our insurance has a $500 deductible. So our out of pocket cost, if we cause the accident, is that much. That is less than $2,400, but it still isn't cheap. Plus those insurance bills keep coming, every 6 months. And if someone has an accident? Rates go up.

It is interesting to observe the psychology behind this. I think that because people get used to just regularly paying that insurance bill, paying for gas, paying for tune ups, paying for tires, paying for oil, and so on, that the familiarity leads to people ignoring the true costs. The true costs of a good, reliable bike are not tiny, but they are only a fraction of the true costs of a good, reliable car.