Buying a car, is it worth selling the bike?

[Watcher]

Ok, so my Jeep Cherokee is on it's last leg and I'm ditching it before it becomes a heap in the driveway that I am paying registration and insurance on, and so I'm in the market for a new car.

I've also recently come into some $$ from selling things I don't use anymore.  I found a car for me that I would be happy with, very happy with!  It's a late 90s VW Golf 4-door with a 5 speed and it's in my price range, but just barely!  Barely enough that if I buy it, I won't be able to afford to transfer the title and insure it.

So the question has come up, do I sell the Suzuki to make sure I have a car?


If I keep the bike and pass on the car, it would mean that I'm riding rain or shine and have no way to transport any larger items to and from places, which is a key point as I'm looking for a new place to live right now as well.  Not a huge deal since I have friends/family with cars should the need arise, but still a major annoyance.  It could also be any amount of time before I find another vehicle in good condition that strikes my fancy, and as months get colder the prices on cars will only go up.
If I flip the bike and get the car, I'll be comfortable in the rain and set for the winter and able to haul my belongings around when I find a place of my own to move into, but will spend the last few months of summer without 2 wheels to ride on which is a sad topic...


I might say I know the answer from people on a motorcycle forum (keep the bike!), but I'm in a real dilemma here and need some people to criticize my thinking that selling the bike for a car is the best thing for me right now...

[Janx101]

Keep the bike!? ....you could always pick up the transfer cash without too much drama? ... Sell your ass on street corners  ... Or see if you can drive a little harder bargain on the car? ...

Even just buy the car and let it sit for a week or two while you gain extra funds? 

... Depends really on how much it would hurt to not have the bike?!

[Malfruen]

Personally, I'd keep the bike, and either drive a hard bargain on the car to get it as well or pass on the car until something within my price range came along...and I say personally cause its what I did just recently. I still spent way too much money on a car, but if you're going to go out, go out in style!

I don't ride as much as I should, or as much as I want too, but I know I'd miss it way too much if I couldn't because I didn't have the wheels. I thought "I have a bike that works properly, hasn't blown up, doesn't melt my wallet every time I ride it and I'm happy with. Do I want to try and find something that I can enjoy this much again later?"

Think about why you want a car. If you want something that has 4 wheels and will keep you warm and dry in winter, then any old cage will do that. How big is a Golf? Is it going to fit everything you need it too? Yeah, you need to be happy with your purchase, but you gotta be happy with the whole purchase. If you're giving up something you truly enjoy to have some creature comforts, you might just regret it later.

[cbrfxr67]

I'd prob try to squeeze by and get the car and sit on it while riding the bike, waiting for my funds to replenish.  Hard decision,...if it came to whether I could get my new place or not, I'd sell the bike, get car and look for a beater bike to wrench on.

[Watcher]

...if it came to whether I could get my new place or not, I'd sell the bike, get car and look for a beater bike to wrench on.

That's where I'm at right now.  I've got about $2250 saved up and it was supposed to be for a place to live, but now I'm in a position where I kind of need a car.
If I can get  at least $1500 for the bike I'll be fine, but if I just outright buy the car I'll be stuck where I'm at for a while again...

Or I can just buy another beater for $1000 and drive it into the ground like I did my Cherokee...

[cbrfxr67]

Wait wait we can settle this right now,...new place have garage? Answer is clear,....

What's wrong with cherokee anyways?

[BockinBboy]

Use the money for a bike trailer - you keep the bike and you can haul stuff - problem solved. 

- Bboy

[Watcher]

What's wrong with cherokee anyways?

What wasn't wrong with it?!

-Bad tires
-Slipping Clutch
-Welded on drive-shaft
-Oil leak
-Coolant leak
-Swiss-cheeze body thanks to rust
-Wrecked interior
-Broken radio
-Broken AC
-Broken blower-motor resistor
-Broken rear wiper
-Nearly broken passenger door
-Crack in windshield
-Cracked exhaust manifold
-No exhaust beyond the muffler
-Worn out U-joints
-Poor alignment
-Broken hood release cable
-Wonkey headlights
-Fog lights quit working
And that's all I can think of right now.


Well, I went and bought the Golf.  Talked the guy down a little so that was able to cover the transfer fees.  I'll be living on white bread and Ramen for a while, though.  I'm going to try to keep the bike, but if I get desperate I might have to sell it.  I'm trying to stay positive, though.

[cbrfxr67]

  where pics???

[Watcher]

Where are my manners 






Looks like I can keep the bike.  All said and done I still have a couple of bills in the bank to live on and I'm getting a paycheck for a full work week on Monday.  So the future is looking bright for the first time in a long while 

[Kijona]

I was in your exact position a few years ago. I was starting a second job (my main job didn't require me to come to work in the rain or super super cold) and all I had was my bike (a 1st gen Suzuki SV650). I ended up selling the bike to someone for a bit less than it was worth because he was a friend. I bought a car with the money I got from selling the bike to facilitate my new job. A week later, the guy wrecked the bike, and the car ended up being a total piece of shaZam! (kind of knew it going in but wasn't aware of just how bad it was).

Lesson learned? Keep what you got and make ends meet. There's not a day that goes by that I don't regret selling that bike. Out of all the bikes I've owned (and I've owned a lot) it was by far my favorite.

Oh well.

[Watcher]

I was in your exact position a few years ago. I was starting a second job (my main job didn't require me to come to work in the rain or super super cold) and all I had was my bike (a 1st gen Suzuki SV650). I ended up selling the bike to someone for a bit less than it was worth because he was a friend. I bought a car with the money I got from selling the bike to facilitate my new job. A week later, the guy wrecked the bike, and the car ended up being a total piece of shaZam! (kind of knew it going in but wasn't aware of just how bad it was).

Lesson learned? Keep what you got and make ends meet. There's not a day that goes by that I don't regret selling that bike. Out of all the bikes I've owned (and I've owned a lot) it was by far my favorite.

Oh well.

That makes it even worse for me that my car blew both the CrankPos Sensor and the Coil just this weekend!  Literally took all my money to fix, and it's still not 100% since it also took the CamPos sensor with it.  That one does injector timing, so it just ain't running as well as it used to.  Good news is it runs, but ASAP I need a new CamPos sensor and to do a tune up.  It could use a cap and rotor, and since the CamPos is in the dizzy I was thinking of just replacing the whole unit.  There's about $300.  Also could use ignition wires and plugs, and a set of Bosch wires is around $70!  Needs a bunch of little crap, too.  It has a leaky rear main seal, needs a new dipstick, could use an oil change, the cluster is potentially bad since my gauges work when they want to (apparently a common problem for that era VWs), I need a new shifter boot, it needs at least new rear suspension and potentially the front as well, it could use a new driver seat (not a problem but the left "wing" of the bucket is collapsed so it's a little annoying when making a hard right), I still need to weed out why the horn doesn't work, and it probably could use an alignment.
None of that is major stuff, but it all adds up.  I knew the car needed some work going into it so I'm not upset by it, and in the condition it's in I am still satisfied with what I paid, I just wished I didn't have to spend all my $$ in an emergency like that!  It really screwed me over as far as paying bills goes.


So, being between a rock and a hard place I listed the bike for sale for more than it's worth in the hopes that A) I don't have to sell it and B) if I do I am getting plenty of cash to square away my car and maybe even put some away for another bike come spring time.  Or...  if it's burning a hole in my pocket I'll either dive right into the mods I wanted to do on my car or I'll see about getting a nice carbine, been wanting one of those forever...
That's IF I sell my GS...

[Electrojake]

Don't mean to be rude but...  Am I missing something here? 

How can you NOT have a car (4x4) in Chicago?

[Watcher]

Yeah, I'll miss my 4WD for sure.  But I should mention that if I'm even still around to see this Chicago winter it'll likely be the last Chicago winter I'll EVER experience.

Plans are to move west later this year or sometime next year.  Likely Arizona, possibly Utah, also possibly Wyoming/Montana.  I'm tired of Illinois weather, Chicago politics, and the lack of scenery...

I have family in Arizona so I'll probably go there but I haven't decided if desert is really my terrain, Utah would be close by but not as arid.  I vacationed in Wyoming/Montana and loved it, but I'd definitely need to sell my Golf and go back to a 4x4 there.  Its kind of a stretch, though, because I don't think work around there is up my ally.  Can't say I know of much manufacturing that goes on up there in the Rockies.

[Electrojake]

Plans are to move west later this year or sometime next year. 
Likely Arizona, possibly Utah, also possibly Wyoming/Montana. 
I'm tired of Illinois weather, Chicago politics, and the lack of scenery...

Good luck on your travels!
It sounds like you have a lot of good options.
Avoid the snow if possible. 

[Kijona]

Could move to Atlanta. Was 102° today.

[Watcher]

Could move to Atlanta. Was 102° today.

What's the humidity like down there?  That's the one thing I didn't like about Tennessee...

[yamahonkawazuki]

Could move to Atlanta. Was 102° today.

What's the humidity like down there?  That's the one thing I didn't like about Tennessee...

prolly about the same. Here outside of knoxville, sometimes humid as hell but sometimes pretty good. Good thing about living on a valley

[cWj]

Off-topic:

Good luck in the LLWS. Game just started.

(well, for the short time you have left to be associated with IL anyway...)

[Kijona]

Could move to Atlanta. Was 102° today.

What's the humidity like down there?  That's the one thing I didn't like about Tennessee...

+80% usually. Hot as hell and just humid enough to make you wish you were dead.