This day 12 months ago.

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paul04

Über Member
This day 12 months ago I sold the car,
And to be honest, the best thing I have done.
The car never really got used,(It had done 250 miles in 6 months)

So I sold it, the money I got for it covered the finance, (sold it back to the garage I got it from) so I owed nothing on it.

Last year I cycled every day to work, did not miss 1 day, if I need shopping I just call in to the local shops on the way home.

At the moment I don't need a car, work is only 5 miles away, if circumstances change, And I need a car, I will get another one.
I enjoy cycling, I can cycle to work faster than driving, I see people in cars stuck in traffic jams, thinking to myself, that could have been me.

And you do save quite a bit of money by not having a car.
 

Saluki

World class procrastinator
I would like to do the same thing. Once my part time, office manager job goes full time, I'll not need the car. Hubster needs it for his renal clinics in Cambridgeshire though. We are only doing about 40 miles a week in it at the moment. Happily, it's relatively cheap to run and handy if we want to get away anywhere.

I'm a little envious of you though.
 

Shortmember

Bickerton Cyclocross Racing Team groupie
I gave up car ownership in 1998 because the old heaps that I could afford were too expensive to run and maintain and parking,even in my own street, was difficult. My bank balance started to improve almost immediately after I ditched the car, and I shed a lot of poundage when I started cycling full time. I wouldn't run a car now even if I was given one.
 

Sandra6

Veteran
Location
Cumbria
I don't drive, but I wouldn't like to be without a car completely so mr6 has one. Well done to you though, sounds like it was definitely the right choice for you
 

Brandane

Legendary Member
Location
Costa Clyde
I don't think I will bother to replace my current car, a 9 year old Toyota Corolla. I only need it to get to and from a part time job, so to buy another one wouldn't make financial sense in my particular circumstances.

I have nowhere private to keep the car, so it sometimes sits in the street outside my house, where it has been vandalised several times. I therefore usually park it in a car park a few minutes walk away. More inconvenience.

I look forward to the day when I go carless. I could actually still do my job but would have to rely on public transport to get to clients premises. No more stupidly early starts then :thumbsup:, but it would restrict the amount of work I would be able to accept.
 

Hill Wimp

Fair weathered,fair minded but easily persuaded.
My car does very little mileage. I now walk the 3 miles to the station and home 4 days a week unless its pouring down and at the weekends i use my bike for local stuff. I am not sure i could go the whole hog and get rid of it though as i wouldnt be able to travel to see friends which would involve a right palavar on public transport. If my financial situation changed though it would go even though it is fairly cheap to run.

Well done for giving your car up though, just shows it can be done if the will or need is there.
 
This day 12 months ago I sold the car,
And to be honest, the best thing I have done.
The car never really got used,(It had done 250 miles in 6 months)

So I sold it, the money I got for it covered the finance, (sold it back to the garage I got it from) so I owed nothing on it.

Last year I cycled every day to work, did not miss 1 day, if I need shopping I just call in to the local shops on the way home.

At the moment I don't need a car, work is only 5 miles away, if circumstances change, And I need a car, I will get another one.
I enjoy cycling, I can cycle to work faster than driving, I see people in cars stuck in traffic jams, thinking to myself, that could have been me.

And you do save quite a bit of money by not having a car.

Interesting angle on things.
I have a car BUT I work from home - so no travel to work and we get our weekly supermarket shop delivered. So have I got the same bases covered?

I somehow still do about 8,000 miles in the car. When I can I do avoid using it and certainly do at least two things with a journey out (not just pottering around for the sake of it).
Today went to the swimming pool - guess I could have cycled it.
Yesterday went to pick up two chairs I bought on ebay - impossible without a car.
Holidays are a car full of people and luggage, mainly in the UK but still difficult by public transport.
Days out quite often - a 30 mile drive to the coast or New Forest.
Then there are the shopping trips to B and Q etc that involve bringing something large home.
Plus Dad's taxi to take teenagers to parties and nights out. (Evening public transport is non existent).
How do you deal with that sort of thing?
 

screenman

Legendary Member
I saw a bus in our village one night, it had broken down in the afternoon and they had not moved it though.The skip load of rubbish I took to the tip 13 miles away today would have been fun on the bike. I would like to be without the expense of running a car though, that would be nice.
 
After moving to Edinburgh I found I wasn't using the car very much, after a few months I sold it and lived without for next 10 years or so. If we needed a car we'd sometimes borrow from my wife's parents, sometimes hire, we tried the City Car Club for a year. But gradually got fed up with the inconvenience and decided to allow ourselves one as a luxury, we don't use it much, less than 3, 000 miles a year, but wouldn't be without now.
 

400bhp

Guru
Interesting angle on things.
I have a car BUT I work from home - so no travel to work and we get our weekly supermarket shop delivered. So have I got the same bases covered?

I somehow still do about 8,000 miles in the car. When I can I do avoid using it and certainly do at least two things with a journey out (not just pottering around for the sake of it).
Today went to the swimming pool - guess I could have cycled it.
Yesterday went to pick up two chairs I bought on ebay - impossible without a car.
Holidays are a car full of people and luggage, mainly in the UK but still difficult by public transport.
Days out quite often - a 30 mile drive to the coast or New Forest.
Then there are the shopping trips to B and Q etc that involve bringing something large home.
Plus Dad's taxi to take teenagers to parties and nights out. (Evening public transport is non existent).
How do you deal with that sort of thing?

Taxis, man & van I guess.

I hate driving these days, it's right down there as one of my least favourite things to do. For example I take my daughter swimming on tuesday evenings. The 8 mile drive takes c. 45 mins FFS. On one occasion, because the traffic was so bad I had to turn around and go home. As soon as my daughter is capable of doing 10 miles an hour on a bike the car won't be used for swimming.

I got rid of my car over 2 years ago. Never looked back. We do have a car in the family though and do about 5k miles a year in it. Most of the miles will be for holidays & day trips.

Shopping is done either in the car or on the bike. Luckily we live within a mile of 2 supermarkets.

We are fortunate in S Manchester as all amenities (including access to the city centre) are easily accessible by bicycle, tram or bus.
 
OP
OP
paul04

paul04

Über Member
Interesting angle on things.

Today went to the swimming pool - guess I could have cycled it.
Yesterday went to pick up two chairs I bought on ebay - impossible without a car.
Holidays are a car full of people and luggage, mainly in the UK but still difficult by public transport.
Days out quite often - a 30 mile drive to the coast or New Forest.
Then there are the shopping trips to B and Q etc that involve bringing something large home.
Plus Dad's taxi to take teenagers to parties and nights out. (Evening public transport is non existent).
How do you deal with that sort of thing?


You learn how to adapt, my son has a car, so just give him some petrol money and he picks up anything big for me. at work I do have access to a van if needed, so could use that as well.
 

biggs682

Touch it up and ride it
Location
Northamptonshire
well done @paul04 , its a shame more people dont use bikes for commuting short distances , i work in an office where 75% of us live within 4 miles of work and i am the only one who rides in
 
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