Re: Cheaper to keep and maintain 2 very old cars (vs 1 newer one?)

> >
> > Say, on a given day there's a 1% chance of either car failing. For 2 cars,
> > the chance it will fail on getting you to work is .01 x .01 =  .0001
> 
> The point you made elsewhere in this thread, about cars being most likely
> not to be operational at the end of a weekend, is a good one.  Most of the
> warning-less non-start's I've ever encountered occurred after a period of
> inactivity. So, in additon to the two-car swticheroo, I might suggest Dr.
> Yang:
> 
> 1.  start each car each night before bed
> 2.  keep an extra battery and the tools to change it on hand

Hi,
Not a problem... I've been carrying an 18-amp-hour portable car
battery jumper in the trunk for the past couple years.  It gets
charged regularly as it's supposed to.  I've never needed it myself
before, but in the past year I've jumped 2 cars I saw disabled on the
street:  a semi-dead Nissan Maxima (took 2 seconds) as well as a
stone-dead Crown Victoria (keys left in ignition for a week), so the
it definitely does work.  It did cost $60 back then though, and takes
up a lot of trunk space, so it's not without its drawbacks.

Take care,
John