giving up the car altogether?

[maverick]

hi folks,

i’m contemplating selling my car and relying on my bike and, when necessary, the metro as my means of transportation. certainly, i could rent a car when i need one.

i’m contemplating whether this makes sense practically and financially, and i’d appreciate your input on this.

when the weather is good, i love the idea of commuting to work on my bike! it actually takes me less time to ride home (about 45 minutes for a 12 mile commute) than i’ve spent driving home some days.

i am about a mile and a half from west falls church metro, so if need be, i can ride there and take my bike on the fairfax connector bus to work if the weather is bad.

i don’t know how i’m going to like riding once it gets cold.

also, my neighborhood is not one of the first to get plowed when it snows.

i do some running around on weekends, where a car is awfully convenient. so on those occasions, i could rent one.

my home has a two car garage, and the car is paid for, so it is more so a matter of holding on to a depreciating asset and paying for insurance – as opposed to a monthly payment. of course, there is dealing with selling your car – listed on craigslist, and no real buyers yet.

have you chosen to get rid of your car? how has it worked out for you?

thanks!

Topic

[DaveK]

We’re also a one-car family. My wife drives to work out in Maryland every day and I ride. I can take Metro if I need to, and I have a Zipcar membership for things that come up. If I really need to I just rent a car from DCA for a day or two – it’s usually very cheap through hotwire.com. It’s only every happened twice that I can think of though. We don’t have kids though.

[pfunkallstar]

I would highly recommend autoslash.com – it was put together by a group of forum members from the flyertalk forums. I got a week long rental in Cali for something like $60.

[maverick]

i sold the subaru! the new owners are picking her up this evening.

my wife has a toyota sienna, so if she isn’t using the car and i need to get somewhere in a vehicle in the evening, i do have that option. and of course there are different car rental options if we both need a vehicle to go in different directions.

[rcannon100]

Congratulations!!!

We went to one car probably 5 years ago. We live in N Arlington on a decent bus run, can schlep to the metro (about a mile), and have a zipcar membership. Mainly, I bike.

We have saved an insane amount of money. And by saved, I mean I never see it as it all vanishes into the dark hole known as a 529.

The only condition? Can you and your spouse play nicely? It requires logistical planning, and not scheduling conflicting car demands. Google Calendars for the family calendar is very good for this – every can see it and add to it, everyone can have their own calendar / color – and hopefully the family can be coordinated. Some couples can, others (like the men out their who drive useless sports cars) cant.

[consularrider]

@rcannon100 25044 wrote:

Congratulations!!!

We went to one car probably 5 years ago. We live in N Arlington on a decent bus run, can schlep to the metro (about a mile), and have a zipcar membership. Mainly, I bike.

We have saved an insane amount of money. And by saved, I mean I never see it as it all vanishes into the dark hole known as a 529.

The only condition? Can you and your spouse play nicely? It requires logistical planning, and not scheduling conflicting car demands. Google Calendars for the family calendar is very good for this – every can see it and add to it, everyone can have their own calendar / color – and hopefully the family can be coordinated. Some couples can, others (like the men out their who drive useless sports cars) cant.

Play nicely? Our default is that my wife has the car period and I have to ask very nicely if I want to drive to an out of area cycling event on a weekend. Of course, I’m still expected to do the weekly major grocery schleping with said car.

[maverick]

@rcannon100 25044 wrote:

Congratulations!!!

We went to one car probably 5 years ago. We live in N Arlington on a decent bus run, can schlep to the metro (about a mile), and have a zipcar membership. Mainly, I bike.

We have saved an insane amount of money. And by saved, I mean I never see it as it all vanishes into the dark hole known as a 529.

The only condition? Can you and your spouse play nicely? It requires logistical planning, and not scheduling conflicting car demands. Google Calendars for the family calendar is very good for this – every can see it and add to it, everyone can have their own calendar / color – and hopefully the family can be coordinated. Some couples can, others (like the men out their who drive useless sports cars) cant.

i think the weekdays will be fine. we’ll see how the weekends play out.

i don’t mind hopping on my bike to go shopping or to run an errand.

we’re a mile and a bit from east falls church and west falls church. so the metro isn’t far. these are also zip car locations. we have an enterprise rent-a-car in falls church, but their weekend hours are limited to 9am to noon on saturday morning. so if you rent from them on saturday, you’re renting the car for two days.

the only challenge i have is visiting my dad. actually, he’s not far from the four mile run trail at george mason drive – it’s very easy for me to get there by bike from my place, because we’re half a mile from the w&od in falls church.

i rode my bike over one day, and was surprised and disappointed when the lobby staff would not allow me to bring my bike into the building. they allow owners to lock their bikes in a cage they provide. but i don’t live there – i’m visiting. so i can’t park my bike there. and they won’t allow me to take the bike to my dad’s condo.

i probably could have gone through the service elevator if i had entered through the loading dock door. but he ended up calling security when i insisted that he explain to my why i can’t take my bike into my dad’s condo or into my dad’s cage. maybe he didn’t like that i unknowingly entered the lobby with my bike, or didn’t like that i was asking for a logical explanation for their arbitrary condo rules.

maybe next time, i can just try entering through the loading dock door, and we’ll see what happens! ha!

[KLizotte]

Huh, I just realized the last time I commuted to work by car was 1998 and I’ve had a total of five jobs during that time.

My apartment building now has at least one zipcar on the property, an electric car charging station, and I read recently that management is now thinking about installing a bike maintenance room (!) and improving the bike storage facility (badly needed). I’m an 8 minute walk to metro and 1.7 miles from the MVT, and 2 miles to FMR. Buses stop outside my front door and the Columbia Pike street car will be nearby if it ever gets built. And I have CaBi station right across the street too. Yes, I am spoiled but I do pay my dues in rent.

I really should sell my car; it is rotting away from lack of use. I think I’m only keeping it because it’s paid off and is useful for hauling my bike around.

That reminds me, I have to send a note to management telling them a maintenance room would be a simply awesome idea provided it is heated/air-conditioned.

[maverick]

@KLizotte 25076 wrote:

I really should sell my car; it is rotting away from lack of use. I think I’m only keeping it because it’s paid off and is useful for hauling my bike around.

my car was paid off, but i am happy to use the $17k from the sale to pay down my mortgage!

but i like the toyota sienna my wife drives for that very reason – my bike fits nicely in the back!

[dasgeh]

@KLizotte 25076 wrote:

I really should sell my car; it is rotting away from lack of use. I think I’m only keeping it because it’s paid off and is useful for hauling my bike around.

I wonder if you (and others in a similar situation) could find someone to do a car-share with. My brother did it in NYC and in London (before they had 3 kids, and bought the bullet and bought their own car). It works well if you set out the rules clearly ahead of time.

[maverick]

so, my choice to sell the car has had some influence on my wife.

no, she isn’t going to be commuting by bike to work. but she wants to get rid of the minivan and get a prius!

it means that i lose a very convenient way of transporting my bike, but the prius will be far more fuel economical and have less of an impact on the environment.

we’re trying to decide between the plugin prius and the regular prius. i think the plugin is the way to go. at least on her commute to work, she should be able to travel purely on the electrical (without using any gas). there isn’t a place to plug in (yet) when she gets to work, so she’ll be operating in hybrid mode on the way back. the chevy volt would allow her to avoid using any gas on most days, but it’s more than we can spend right now.

actually, i thought my selling the subaru was to pay down the home mortgage. it turns out that it was more so to help fund the replacement for her minivan! ha!

[Author]

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