See details of the drawn out experience in “How to Deal With a Bad Deal“. To see how it turned out in the end, read comment 17 of that post.

Most of all, I felt trapped by it. I love to walk and I don’t mind a bike ride, and I’m no stranger to the bus, but I was trapped. There are places I could get to without a car, but I couldn’t get to any of the places that mattered to me. Every visit to my mum’s or my best friend’s had to be carefully choreographed. If I wanted to go to X, he had to give up Y. It would be great to save the money, but having tried it, I just consider it the price of freedom.

Making payments on a “car mortgage” is really questionable. But leasing is simply insane – a big payment up front, monthly payments for years, and in the end you own nothing. It drives me nuts to see the statement “Leasing allows you to drive a car you couldn’t otherwise afford.” No, leasing burdens you with a car you can’t afford – period.

The judgment of whether you can afford something is always a bit subjective. Our culture is so car-centric that it seems a given that there must be (at least) one car per licensed driver in the household.

The car purchase is especially driven by emotion and satisfying the underlying “fact” that you must have a car to go anywhere, never looking at true cost. The purchase and resultant cost of ownership is always seen as a one-time thing, a stroke to your ego, disconnected from the cost of each mile we drive.

Hubby and I both grew up in rural areas with no public transportation and no sidewalks for biking, so our families were highly skeptical that we would make it long with only one car. A little extra coordination (and his willingness to drive me to the airport at o’dark-30 for early work flights) has worked well, and we hope to remain a one car family for at least the next 3 years, allowing us to pay for the next car in cash!

That said, I do think this can be a good idea if implemented correctly… another idea is to get a scotter!

There may be one or two times a year that I might need to use a cab- certainly way cheaper than the upkeep of a car would have been. (Last time about a year ago, it cost $6.50 and tip to get home).

One thing though- when I was laid off from my job in February- obviously, priority of who gets the car needs to be fluid. I certainly needed it for getting to interviews, appointments, etc in a punctual manner when the city bus schedule might not necessarily comply with my needs.

It is all about the willingness to sacrifice in one aspect of life in order to realize more personally desirable results in another.

A friend ALWAYS used to grumble at me that I only worked part time (4 days/32 hours a week) during those years while she worked full time. I finally pointed out to her that I could afford to do so because I didn’t have to shell out $400 a month or so for a new car payment/ gas/etc. like she did. Never heard another peep!

As for the mechanic– he should be drawn and quartered– I mean come on!

So our insurance and maintenance on the car cost less than $1k/year for it. We kept it for when I want to drive or need to drive. It came in especially useful when my DH had night classes.

Now due to circumstances we need two cars again. So I’m glad we kept them. We had thought 4 years ago about selling, now it’s impossible.

We might actually be getting a new car.

We live and he works in a town that has good, free-to-the-ridership (!) public transport, so he could easily get to & from work without a car (but he won’t do it). My commute goes from 1 hr. r/t to 4 r/t if I use public transport, so it’s just not practical for me (though I do it, very rarely). Oh … his workplace also has zipcars.

We did manage car sharing (not public transport) one summer, but he was a complete pill about it, i.e., it only worked if I dropped him off when he wanted to be and picked him up ditto with no flexibility for my needs (and note that I have the longer commute but was somehow having to get my work done in the same amount of time as he did).

If I sound irritated, I am, a bit, but the flip side of that is that the extra cost of our second car (it’s paid for) is certainly no more than $100/month, and in the end the convenience is worth it. I’m sure marital counseling would cost more! With a toddler in our home and limited use of paid daycare, we do a lot of juggling already, so there’s no need to add more for what we’d save.

Zipcar was part of the equation – walk a block or two to a spot in a corner of a fastfood parking lot, lay his member card over a sensor in the corner of the windshield and the doors open for him. The per-trip cost might seem high, overall on a yearly basis he’s way ahead of the game, can select a car appropriate to the nature of the trip (Mini to pickup truck), and enjoys some neat high-tech benefits. Leave your lights on? The car “phones home” and you get a call on your cell.

@BrianG: I was doing that too, before my motorcycle broke down just a few weeks into the warm season (we live in Michigan). This idea works because, in most circumstances, a bike is less expensive than a car; and you’re right… if you have the right gear you can ride in most conditions w/o a problem.

I use the motorcycle to go to and from work. Everything else that involves needing carrying space we coordinate with the car.

With the right gear, commuting in the rain on the motorcycle isn’t a problem, but if you live where it snows, it would be difficult and you can’t ride on ice. But then you do have the bus option when it’s cold.

We have rarely had any conflicts thus far – we just compromise during the rare occassions we both need to use the car for different purposes.

We are both teachers. My husband’s job is about 10 miles closer to home than mine, but he is a traveling teacher, so he needs transportation in the middle of the day (not enough time to use the bus system if he’s going to be on time).

My job is almost 20 miles from home and is in a very very poor neighborhood with a lot of crime. I’m not comfortable walking from the train station (18 blocks) or biking through the ‘hood. I am able to carpool on average 3 times a week. Other teachers who live near me are the 7-7 people (they’re constantly at work), and carpooling isn’t worth spending an extra 3-5 hours at work every day.

So for now, we’re a two-car family. Maybe someday we’ll be able to chop that down…

I learned long ago… when it comes down to business – always get a receipt and never pay in full up front.

We’re back to a 2-car family, but we are comforted by the fact that if anything happens, we can always get rid of one.

My wife and I live in a major city with a decent subway/Metro system. We haven’t own a car since 2001. We use public transit only. Occasionally, we’ll ride with friends somewhere (often we pick up gas), but we haven’t really missed the car. And we love saving a couple hundred bucks a month from not paying car payments, gas, insurance, maintenance, etc.

But that’s not all. We’ve made not having a car pay. We rent our our parking space for $200 a month AND use pre-tax dollars to purchase credits on the Metro system.

We’ve given up some freedom, but we believe it is absolutely worth it.

It is a great system for people who only need to use a car once in awhile.

Despite the wide availability of public transportation, most people just assume you need a car to get by.

What is zipcar? I could look it up on the web, but can anyone offer the Cliffs Notes version???

Thanks!

@Brian: Yeah, the zipcar thing is a neat idea. Like the contents of this post… it isn’t a good (or available) solution for everyone, but it great for some. Although the $20-30/game sounds like a lot I’m sure your friend added it all up & found he will be saving a boat load of money.

Food for thought… the average person spends less than an hour a day in their vehicles but spend an average of around $25,000 for a new one. In contrast, the average person spends 7 hours a day in their bed but only spend an average of $800 for a new one!

His only need is to use it to get to and from his hockey games and he is willing to pay an extra $20-$30 a game to take the zipcar as opposed to owning an extra vehicle for him and his wife.

It’s easy because we planned around it – we both prefer to bike or bus – but doing what you did is really admirable, Matt. The transitions are what’s hard.

We’ve never had more than one car, and sometimes have had no car. The hardest thing to do with no car is shop for a car – all the dealerships are out in the boonies!

We do have four bikes, a stuff trailer and a 2-kid burley even though we only have one kid, but it cost about $2K total, way less than a second car and with no ongoing insurance or registration costs. Not to mention never paying for parking!

This much I can do!

I’m a cyclist and read plenty of cycling and ‘car-free’ blogs and such. Its just a bummer that I don’t follow it much myself. I do ride to work (10 miles), but not very often. I’ve got two cars for myself, though one is non-operational and waiting for work (1971 Dodge), so not costing me anything.

But it gets better. I’m currently housesitting for my parents while they’re working out of state, so I have two more cars. Their daily driver, and my dad’s old collector car. One person, four cars, two of which are really ‘driveable’.

But no, it really gets even better. I mentioned I’m a cyclist. Yup. With a total of six different bikes in the garage, three of which work just fine for commuting. But no… I keep on driving. Because I’m lazy.

I’ve had folks say I should get rid of my second car, but its not costing me anything other than storage space in the driveway right now. My daily driver (‘99 Audi) was paid for with cash and insured with a high premium, so not much to save there.

But yeah… really should be riding my bike more. I too get to ‘feeling sorry for the drivers’ when I’m riding.

I think it is possible for anyone to be a single car family as long as you plan your day and are willing to walk, bike, and ride. Now we are considering selling our car because we moved to an even more connected part of town and have put a grand total of 100 miles in the past 6 weeks on the car.

Kids apart, the biggest issue I would foresee is scheduling. If you can make the scheduling work (like you have), then its a great way to save.

My wife and I have two kids and live in a suburban area that is not served by public transportation. Translation: we have to drive everywhere, especially with the kids being involved in extra curricular activities, so the one car option isn’t an option in our world. In fact next year when our son turns 16, we’ll likely become a three car household!

(The kids have bikes but most places they need to go are several miles in one direction, and most streets in the area have no sidewalks or paved shoulders.)

But here’s what we’ve found to be a major help on the expense side–if you have to have a second car, make it a “beater”. That’s an older car that’s paid for, requires minimal insurance coverage and ad valorem tax, costs only gas and repairs, and doesn’t cause emotional disturbance when ever it gets new scratches, dings and dents.

It should go without saying that the beater is the car you use for close in travel, such as chauffeuring the kids, or as the car to be used by the spouse with the shorter work commute. If you have to have two cars, a beater can save thousands. Your only major cost is repairs, which for the most part will still be a lot less than the cost of monthly payments and premium insurance. And if the beater craps out, you replace it with… another beater!

We were a one car family for about 2 years when we had one child, and then again when my hubby’s paid for car died and we couldn’t afford to replace it.

Unfortunately since then we made bad decisions in regards to car buying, so we’re still paying off a loan on my newer model minivan.

I am considering getting rid of one car, though I have yet to get my hubby on board!

With 3 of the kids being at schools within walking distance it hardly makes sense for me to use a car most of the time. I think it would require more planning and time on my part, but it could be worth it.

The one day a week I need the car I figure hubby can either work from home (since we’ll be gone all day), or we can drop him off.

I’ll have to draw up the numbers to show him how much we could save.

This post is more an expression of the fact that cars may not be as necessary as society has made them seem.

Here in the great mid-Atlantic megopolis around Washington, DC, we’ve found it more difficult. My husband had a half-hour drive to the train station, without a viable alternative, and just keeping the family functioning required that I have a car, too.

Hopefully our next move will let us shed a car and go one-car again.

But at some point that $180/mo payment goes away, right? I think that’s Leslnk’s point – if you keep cars 10 years (I drove my ‘86 until 2004, my current ‘93 is 16 years old) you enjoy a long stretch of no payments, and at some point, dropping collision insurance is a no-brainer. Registration fees also fade to near zero in some states.

With parking being so expensive, we practically have to only have one car. Unfortunately, going car-free is not yet an option due to work locations (through a not-so-nice neighborhood).

We now have a second vehicle – 1998 Jeep Wrangler – which he bought with cash. It’s a 6-cyl./4-wheel drive vehicle with a hitch; since we both love to garden, that’ll come in handy when towing a trailer used for the occasional run to Lowe’s.

But, in the meantime, neither of us believe in going somewhere just for the sake of going. When I have a day off, I want to stay home. No errands, no appointments, nada! My job is centrally located in a shopping complex that allows me to run my errands in one trip. Planning and organization is key.