Do you have a car or have use of a car?

[lulubel]

Since we've moved into town, I've been seriously considering whether we should sell our car.

We barely use it now. In fact, it's currently sitting in the garage with a flat battery because I left the interior light on, and it hasn't been used for 3 weeks. We can get everything we need on a day to day basis in town, and we've spent the last 2 months doing bits of shopping most days so we can carry it rather than bothering to get the car out.

We very rarely go anywhere that needs the car. If we go shopping in Malaga or Marbella, we drive. If we go to Ikea or a big DIY store, we drive. We *could* cycle to any of these, but I can see problems with it.

If you're going out for lunch and a shopping trip, you don't want to spend the whole trip wearing sweaty cycling gear. If you're going to Ikea or a DIY store, you generally have things to transport that won't easily fit in a rucksack or panniers.

If we get rid of our car, we'll fall into the have to hire a car if we need one category.

I thought it would be interesting to find out about other people's situations and views on going car free.

 

[Theseus]

As a family we have 1 (one) car that is used all the time by Mrs T. I only drive it when on DadTaxi duty or going somewhere on our hols. We used to have 2 (his & hers) but I dropped mine as it was no longer needed.

 

[MattHB]

I had a motorbike that I sold 2 weeks ago. I went to use it just before that to find the clock still on BST! That was enough for me

 

[BrumJim]

I was carless for about 4 months. Would be tempted to stay that way, but my wife isn't as mobile as the average person, and therefore needs one more often than she would like.

When you look at the cost of owning a car, in particular depreciation, it is much better to hire one, as long as you need it 1 weekend in 2 or less. And its great fun driving a different car every time. Sometimes they upgrade you to something very nice indeed.

 

[AlexTheory]

I voted Other - Yes, I have a car but my girlfriend uses it for her commute during the week.

 

[lulubel]

When you look at the cost of owning a car, in particular depreciation, it is much better to hire one, as long as you need it 1 weekend in 2 or less. And its great fun driving a different car every time.

That's interesting. I thought it would work out less often than that - well, I suppose it does if you have an older car that isn't depreciating much. Anyway, I had considered the convenience of not having to worry about getting it serviced, MOTed, taxed, etc, as well as the cost. There's definitely an appeal to being able to just pick up a car, drive it, and then just give it back again.

 

[Pottsy]

I'm in London and use Zipcar (was streetcar.co.uk) so I have use of a car or van when I need it, just don't own one. Works excellently if you're in an appropriate area and are an occasional car user.

So I voted other...

 

[numbnuts]

I have a car and last year I only did 1588 miles mainly for shopping once a month and for carrying my kayak.

 

[HLaB]

I put my car off the road at the start of the year, so technically I have a car but I wouldn't say I had immediate access to a car. IIRC my 1997 car has 33,000 miles on the clock (when I bought it, it had 7,000 or 8,000) and in the last 5 years I've cycled over 37,000miles. If I ever need to move something too large for the bike, I can always hire/borrow a car or driver.

 

[BrumJim]

That's interesting. I thought it would work out less often than that - well, I suppose it does if you have an older car that isn't depreciating much. Anyway, I had considered the convenience of not having to worry about getting it serviced, MOTed, taxed, etc, as well as the cost. There's definitely an appeal to being able to just pick up a car, drive it, and then just give it back again.

Yes, I think my calculation did consider that the car I'd want to buy would be one with a £1,000/year depreciation.

 

[LCpl Boiled Egg]

We got rid of ours a few years back and we worked out that we'd only used it 5 or 6 times between MoTs for about 40-50 miles per journey. It turned out that if you don't drive regularly then a particular part of the catalytic converter corrodes due to non-use (don't ask me - I know nothing about engines ) and this was going to cost a few hundred pounds to replace. This was on a car only worth £600 that we hardly used, so we decided to sell it and see how long we could go without getting a replacement. We always said we could get another one if we felt we needed to, but it's not happened yet.

We've saved money over the last few years - we get taxis when we need them and have hired cars a couple of times for longer distances. The advantage of a hire car is that it's newer than anything I'd ever own, has been checked over before I have to drive it and if it breaks down it's someone else's problem.

If you can do without it, my advice would be to get rid and see if you miss it. You can always get another car if you change your mind.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Yes - and I will stop using it when it dies or fails an MoT

 

[snorri]

If you're going out for lunch and a shopping trip, you don't want to spend the whole trip wearing sweaty cycling gear.

A self inflicted problem surely?
Apply less effort, and travel a little slower in ordinary clothes.

 

[HLaB]

Yes - and I will stop using it when it dies or fails an MoT

I kept on saying that and it never did in 14 years!

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I kept on saying that and it never did in 14 years!

Cooling system is in its death throes after SWMBO drove from Worthing to Horsham with the "Oh ****!" light on most of the way. Suspect a small hole in the head gasket as she consumes a header tank of water a week. Thinks.... and has no antifreeze in at all as a result! Of course, if she passes the MoT in April I may just stick some magic potion in to seal her up. Only got 47k on the clock.