Anyone want to lend someone they don't know a car

[Stroller133]

Enterprise, Hertz etc, they will loan out cars!

[Richard]

Surely this just reeks of carpet-bombing the job ads without thinking what it means.

 

If you don't carpet-bomb the job ads now you don't get any unemployment benefit.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

What a miserable bunch of shitehawks you lot are. If I'd been out of work for 15 months then got offered a job, I'd say yes first then worry about the transport arrangements afterwards. OK asking for a free car on moneysaving expert isnt exactly an inspired strategy but why the fuck not eh.

[Taff]

That's a bit harsh, the guy doesn't come across as one of those freecycle "wanted : free car, must have full t&t, no older than 56 plate" types.

 

I suppose the question is : what is the least amount of money that one needs for a road legal car ? A new classic policy is at least £200, one month's tax by DD is a tenner and a tested shitter would be at least £200, so we're looking at £410 as a bare minimum ?

 

ten blokes, £41 each? 100 blokes, £4.10 each?

 

what price a leg up when your fuct?

[Bobthebeard]

I would lend him a car if I had one spare.... But then, I am a sucker for a hard luck story and a soft bastard. If he then sold it/wrecked it/scrapped it and took the piss I would be on here moaning like fuck.

[wuvvum]

I've read the entire thread (I'm bored) and nowhere does the bloke ask for a free car.  And I agree with Bo11ox - in this day and age, if you're offered a job anywhere - especially if you're 53 and been out of work for a while - you grab it and worry about the intricacies later.  Apart from anything else, if you don't you're liable to see your dole money stopped for a couple of weeks at least.

 

I wasn't so impressed with the way he immediately dismissed cycling though.  53 isn't that old (my grandad was still cycling to work at 77), and if he's out of shape, what better way to get back in?  OK I'm only 35, but I'm no athlete (especially since I buggered my leg in a motorbike accident) and I regularly cycle to Norwich and back (about 30 miles return).  I don't go tearing down the road like the lycra twats, I trundle along lost in my thoughts and usually take just over an hour each way.  In fact it's quite enjoyable if it's not pissing down.

[M'coli]

There is a lot of shit posted on that thread, and none of them have congratulated the guy on finally finding work, so much for "the big society" and "we're all in it together" - someone long-term unemployed finds a job and he gets criticism for his choice of job and the distance he has to travel - do these detractors know nothing of the rules the Jobcentre have on what the ong-term have to look for?  I suspect not.

 

I can sort-of see where he's coming from with the cycling thing - to cycle 15 miles when you're unfit is one thing, but to cycle back after a day's work is another thing too.  The cost of preparing a bike for shift work isn't going to be pennies, either, as he'll still need lights that will keep going for a minimum of an hour and a half each way, then there's storage of your lights and wet gear at the other end.  The shift that ends at 2am - this means a start at 6pm, which is a commute through the evening rush-hour in failing light too - if you're not used to cycling any distance at all I'd be pretty daunted by the idea of that level of risk.

 

Good luck to him, but it does show up just how much we take for granted, doesn't it?

[Sigmund Fraud]

In all seriousness, how about an electric bike? 

 

I used to work with an old chap who rode one of those electric bicycles to work. He would finish his shift at midnight, put his waterproofs on and ride the ten miles back home. I thought it was a good idea when he began in September, especially as he reckoned the thing was even cheaper than walking. But come December, when he would turn up with a thick layer of frost on his clothes, I realised I wasn't enough of a miser to exchange the soft, velour seats of my 213 for that cold, plastic saddle...

 

Now, would I do it if I was really, properly skint ? I suppose I would, but I would first make sure I had explored every other alternative.

[plasticvandan]

I had a Honda C90 as a stopgap last year,the gap ended up lasting a whole year.I had a 36 mile round trip each day to get to work for nigh on min wage,as such i couldnt afford to run any sort of car. Rode it all through the winter,had a screen which combined with legshields made it tolerable. 162mpg,£17 tax,£86 insurance.total reliability and it got me on my feet again.

no one NEEDS a car.people think they do though.