Leaving the house is overrated.

And anyway, as long as you keep day shifts, and Kelly only works at night, who needs it, right?  One working car is enough.

Seriously, though, that really blows.  Are any of them at least reasonably easy to fix?

Well, Rook's car is just a dead battery due to the extreme fucking coldness we have going on ATM, but my car sounds like it's going to blow a rod at any moment and I'm anticipating major repairs if not a new engine. Brian's car has other issues. Blargh. Where's public transportation when you need it?

Hmm, my car has been rotting in front of my parent's house for the past year.  Perhaps its lonely and could join your cars. 

If public transportation in PA is as shitty as NJ that makes it ten times worse.  I've ridden the Septa.  I vaguely remember it sucking. 

Cars are a necessity not worth the hassle.  

I'd rush over and fix your cars except that once I was done with them they would not only be broken, they would also be in millions of little pieces and on fire. You see, I'm not very good with mechanical stuff.

Tis the season.  My car blew a gasket two days before ChristMyAss (or had some other failure that put water in the oil - fairly terminal either way).  Fortunately I live in a great area for public transport - bus from outside my unit either takes me to a decent sized mall with two supermarkets, or to the CBD.

Haha, God is punishing you. Either that, or weather and normal wear and tear have taken their toll on your vehicles. I would ride up there and see if I can help if I got a long weekend off without any other requirements, but that's not happening anytime soon. At least the battery should be easy. If you can give me some more precise descriptions of your other problems, I might be able to help diagnose them at least if you're not sure what's wrong. I'm pretty good with cars.

 Just did some major front end work on my own vehicle, and every time I change the oil, the wisps of smoke coming from the crankcase remind me that I'm getting blow-by. I hit a deer at low speed on New Year's Eve and broke a headlamp, dented the hood a little, and got deer snot on my windshield. It just sucks because I had almost gotten everything fixed for once. Yargh.

 Anyway, let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

Not necessarily. A head gasket is pretty easy to replace. A mechanic will charge you an arm and a leg for anything that involves pulling the head, but if you know what you're doing, it's pretty easy and the part is like $15. A cracked block is more serious, but sometimes that can be fixed too for cheap. Best of luck to ya.

I had a car with an engine that made a loud tapping sound. I started using ultra premium octane gas, heavier weight motor oil (5-40 aproximately) and it quieted down. Also put 40 lbs of air pressure in the tires to reduce the strain on the engine (it will help the gas milage too). With a little nursing, I ran it that way for 5 years. Try to avoid jack rabbit starts from stop lights and try not to drive it over 65mph.

A head gasket can be simple to replace depending on the car and the engine compartment, but they are notorious for not setting properly. A cracked block should be replaced. Period. No ifs, ands, or buts. Also, there are other gaskets and seals that could have blown resulting in the same problem. Typically, a blown head gasket will be obvious due to the copious amunts of bluish-white smoke and or liquid coming from your exhaust since the coolant leaks into the combustion chamber and is burned. 

Not doing car repairs: savings of about $1,500

Co-location service for new server: $100 per month

Volunteer time from web developers: no less than 200 hours by project end.

New high end server that kicks ass: $2,600

Providing a functional online community to the coolest people in the world: PRICELESS