Anyone Ditched their Car Completely for a Bike?

[itaa]

I live near a semi-large city so everything I need is roughly 3-4miles away, with plenty of bike paths as well.
My current car isn't the freshest or anything special and I just use it as an appliance - for getting to places and transporting stuff, so no hard feelings about it and it's not worth anything. However... with all the Insurance/upkeep/servicing/fuel/tax/tyres/occasional part /depreciation etc.. costs me roughly £3000/year. And that's for a super reliable/economic car that needs almost nothing and has no real deprecation etc.. Mainly due to expensive insurance.

I'm sure I could do my grocery shopping with a bike+few racks as the shop which I visit the most is just a mile away anyway. For rest of the stuff I'm sure I could just pay for the shipping costs or when I need something larger transported could ask someone for a favor. Combined with the fact there aren't much parking spaces where I live makes it even more attractive choice.

+ I hate the damn traffic, and to get to my work it takes roughly the same time with bike than with a car and I can cycle through woods instead of sitting in traffic feeling miserable.

Has anyone done something like this? How did it went?

 

[GlenBen]

I did once and ended up getting another car.

But my situation was quite different. I live more rural and its about 8 miles to my nearest shop, which was getting a bit much for me really. It was also 17 miles each way for my commute, which I mostly did on the bike, but I did like having the option of a car if i was in a hurry as it saved me about 45 mins each way.

Why not try just not using the car for a few months and see how you get on? Put the money you save on fuel to one side and if you think its working, use that to buy some extra things to aid your cycling. If its more trouble than you think, just keep hold of the car, nothing lost.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

When I moved to Edinburgh I found myself using the car so little that it wasn't worth having. I sold it and lived car free for about 10 years. Used buses/the occasional taxi/the occasional lift/the occasional borrow of my MiL's car/ the occasional car or van hire instead. When the council started a car club I tried that too, used it a few times.
In the end though we bought another car simply for convenience and because by then we could easily afford it. If we had to go back to carless we could, but we'd prefer not to.

 

[Effyb4]

We gave up the car in July 2015 and sold it in December 2015. We get around by bike, bus and train. It helps that we live close to bus and train routes and that the closest shop is only a mile away. We bought a trailer for the bike to help with things like shopping and taking things to the tip. There are very few times that we have missed having a car.

It does make some journeys more difficult. For example, we have an invitation to a wedding coming up, that is not easily accessible by public transport. We shall be cycling there and staying overnight in the hotel. It is around 35 miles away. That has just made it more of an adventure however. Overall it has definitely saved us money.

 

[Drago]

I'll be binning my car once this painful shoulder injury I have is fixed. Mrs D will keep her car as she's disabled and has mobility needs a bike can't meet, but for my own use a bike and trailer will be the way forward, and I live in the countryside 7 and 9 miles from the nearest towns.

 

[gavroche]

No, I need my car as it is used daily. Bike would not be convenient or practical. My bike is for leisure only.

 

[johnnyb47]

I would love to ditch my car as i look at it as dead end money ,but because of were i live I depend quite heavily on it. Living out in the middle of nowhere i have no choice...

 

[growingvegetables]

I gave up owning a car 20 years ago. I live in Leeds, but work on short contracts all over West Yorkshire - using bike and train to get around, very rarely a bus, and even more rarely, hiring a van or car for the odd family wedding in Scotland or flitting a student child to Chichester.

Just can't imagine going back to owning one.

Give it a go - try six months or something? Give yourself enough time to "settle into" a different routine.

Especially for things like shopping? (No weekly supermarket visit? I probably go to a supermarket once in 3 or 4 weeks, just for "stock dry goods" (like coffee, flour, pasta, rice, beans, tins). And the rest? I'm only a couple of miles from Leeds Market, so can get brilliant quality veg, fruit and fish as and when I need, cheaper, fresher, seasonal, with no parking problems. And meat from a good local butcher. All of a sudden, "doing it by bike" means I'm eating far better and far more varied ....... than my son and daughter who do are stuck in the weekly, car-based, supermarket shop.

 

[si_c]

To ditch the car I would have to have one in the first place. Never needed one as until recently i lived in the city centre and was no more than a half mile from anything. Now I'm just used to doing without, daily shopping can be done with a bike, Mrs C has panniers and I use a 25L backpack, but aldi is ten mins walk so can often walk.

For larger items, supermarkets often have delivery for £1 if you pick a late slot. Asda deliver up til 10 here.

Amazon prime for most other things.

 

[Tin Pot]

I lived car free until I was 31. Now I'm making up for lost time, I drive to the Alps each year at least once, driving to Spain this Easter, drive to time trials and long distance triathlons, race at Brands Hatch sometimes, other times just a boring motorway commute.

The other day I was cruising around Fulham in the sunshine - it was great.

I don't need to be zealous about not driving, but others need to break the addiction.

The times to save on driving are shopping (Tesco annual delivery subs), almost all other shopping online, all local trips on foot or bike and cycle to work.

 

[growingvegetables]

... other times just a boring motorway commute ...

The only bit of being car-free that I AM evangelical about. NO MORE MOTORWAYS! Yippee!

I love driving ......... but hate motorways with a passion. Hour after hour of highly regulated lock-step, shoulder-crunching boredom.

 

[raleighnut]

Never had one, when my Dad died Mum tried giving me his car but I declined.

 

[Joffey]

You can always get your shopping delivered and for the odd time you need a car just hire one - you'll spend no where near £3000.

TBH if it was costing me £250 a month to keep my car on the road (excluding any lease / loan repayments) I'd get rid.

 

[Haitch]

flitting

Word!

 

[fossyant]

I was quite happy to consider ditching the car, and almost did a couple of times (my wife has a car) but I sustained a serious injury whilst cycling to work, which has meant I need to drive now as either cycling or public transport will cause me too much back pain (badly fractured spine). I still cycle, but no longer near traffic as my back wouldn't take another accident, and my employers would be non-too impressed (I was off work 8 months).

Shoot happens sometimes, and cycling into a City Centre has major challenges - I'd been hit quite a few times in the last 5 years by poor drivers, and this was the end.