Scruit

I've heard that in Russia you are effectively guilty unless proven innocent if you hit someone in your car. Accidents are much more prevalent because lane discipline is non-existent (a lot of roads don't even have individual lanes marked - cars just run 2 or 3 abreast, even if that means driving in the oncoming lane). Crosswalks are ignored. Some intersections don't have a clear priority, just a 4-way "yield" (yellow diamond sign with white border) and some people just don't slow down for them. Right-of-way goes to the drive5 who is most bold, and there are waaay too many videos out there of drivers crashing at triple-digit speeds in built-up areas. Also, the built quality of cars is lower for domestic Russian brands and some cars/trucks simply disintegrate upon impact flinging occupants into the road. Given that accidents are so common, blame is almost automatic, investigating true fault is unlikely unless it's a fatal... Cheap ebay cameras are the order of business. I have seen about a dozen accidents filmed from 2, 3 or 4 different camera angle from different cars having dashcams.

When you say "can't inspect" do you mean you can't even look around inside? Or you just can't bring in a proper inspector?

Never count your money

Walk away

Sabotage by prior owner. Get a very good inspection.

How tall is tall enough?

Or :ttiwwop: Your choice.

Zero to FABULOUS in 5.8 seconds.

The smaller packaging of components might cause higher labor costs to r&r those cheap components.

And a Mercedes Smart is cheaper?

No unusually so. Mine typically doesn't break so I don't know how much it costs to repair stuff. I've put an injector in it ($80), 2 new balljoints ($50/ea) and suspension bushings ($20 ea). Don't recall anything unusual in 5 years. It has 100k miles on it.

In for the OR show of force. I just shaved my head and my tat is all healed up.

Kia and Hyundai have come a long way in reliability. Still, for a dependable inexpensive first car with good mileage you can't go wrong with a Civic / Corolla / Altima* / Impreza. The Smart is more suited to the smaller European roads. Too many DBs driving in the US who think that having a pickup with the wheelbase of a school bus and the exhaust pipe of a Peterbilt makes them somehow better than those of us who recognize that we only need to drive used 4-cylinder sedans. Although the Smart is safe (pound for pound) than pretty much any other car, it still has to obey Newton's laws. If a Diesel Dually Douche crashed into you then the passenger compartment is gonna hold up better than most cars, but the acceleration forces caused by the size disparity between a Smart and the compensatory truck is going to be very dangerous. The only way to be relatively safe is drive a vehicle with more mass, so eventually if we keep going in the direction of "bigger is better" (A uniquely American concept that covers houses, cars and waistlines etc) then we'll all be driving around in Mack trucks. Yes I was a D*ck there because I care about everyone who drives normal cars in and around DBs who can't disassociate the size of their vehicle from their life worth. *Tbut will disagree with this and tell you how unreliable his has been. I'd prespond that my MIL has driven a couple of Altimas for years, and my Maxima was ultra reliable for 7 years despite being a 140k car that was 11 years old when I sold it.

First car was a blue version of this... I left it dead by the side of the freeway after owning it for 3 mo. By the time I got home I had to sign the title over to the tow company to avoid police prosecution. The UK police don't tolerate broken down cars - you get about an hour to move it or else. Second car was identical to this... Left it behind in the UK when I emigrated to the US. Gave my parents instructions to sell it (worth $1k) and send me the money. Instread, they drove it until the tags expired, then parked it on a public road with expired tags ("tax disc"). It was quickly ticketed, towed and ultimately crushed when my parents didn't pay the back tax to get it out of impound. Then after getting to the US I bought a Taurus identical to this. It was the biggest pile of pig excrement that a company has ever put a car badge on. I burned through three speedos, power window track, dash switched would melt randomly, blew an engine (18 mo old, but out of warranty due to miles) and eventually started eating serpentine belts every 100 miles. Traded the Taurus in on this: Loved every moment of driving it. Ultra reliable. Drove for 7 years only had to replace a caliper and a bearing. Traded it in on this: 5 years ago. Still rocking it today. The only car I ever owned where I might actually go to jail for assault if someone damaged it.

I worked to pay for my first car. It was all mine, paid for by me. Only a few hundred bucks. I sank about $1k into it and in 3mo the engine seized on the freeway in the dead of winter. Had to walk 7 miles to a train station to get home, when I got home the police were waiting for me demanding I tow it off the freeway within the hour or THEY would, and charge me towing and storage until I got it towed from the police impound. Wound up calling a junkyard and giving them the car fro the cost of the tow. Learning experience? Sure - if I have a daughter I'm not having her driving through the dead of winter in a car that cost a few hundred bucks. I will buy my son his first car. Under these conditions: It will be whatever he wants. He likes Subarus. We haven't decided yet. He will get it as a gift when he turns 14. He will need the next two years to restore it. It will be a basket case that will require him to do rebuild everything. Engine, trans, tcase, bodywork, brakes, suspension etc. I will supply parts, use of a spare a workshop bay and lift for those two years and I will always help him when he asks for help, lending my knowledge and expertise to teach him so he can do the work himself. I am not going to fix anything on that car. His car, not mine. By the time he gets his driver's license he will have a nice-as-new restored car that he has put blood sweat and tears into, so he will know the value of that car when he decides how to treat it. He will also know how every single component works inside and out, so he will always be able to fix his cars.

If she's THAT cute, step back and admire the view until she leaves.

A very good analogy. How many people waste how many dollars on scratch cards for every one person who wins? Penny auctions should be considered (and regulated as) a form of gambling. It is not skill.

$1500 restitution for medical costs, despite it being acknowledged that no medical treatment was sought?

Backstory:

More spam to up your post count?

Spamming to up his post count.

That's gambling. I said "At best a penny auction is a gamble. At worst it's an outright scam."