Living Car Free - My Car Died....Yay!!!
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TxBiker
10-28-05, 11:28 AM
I have taken up commuting since Aug 1 and have not looked back! So, since then, I have had an old beat up 98 Chrysler sitting in the driveway. It just died when I drove it the other day to see about selling it. A friend in the used car sales industry will buy it from me and take it off my hands. Unfortunately, we live in the burbs and my wife will still have a car for her and our two kids.
I figured it out that with car insurance, oil changes, gas, upkeep, etc, I am saving around $1,200 per year. Man! I can get a lot of stuff for my bike for that!
So...I am now moving closer to car free - just at a "car-lite" level now. Since my car is gone, I plan to slap one of those "One Less Car" stickers on my bike!
I never thought I would be so happy to see my car die and see it sold!
Chris
BenyBen
10-28-05, 12:03 PM
awesome! Glad you take it this way. And just you imagine how fast you'll be next year. :)
humancongereel
10-28-05, 04:52 PM
i wish i had a car so i could be happy about it dying. :)
A friend in the used car sales industry
I presume he was your friend *before* he became a used car salesman, right? :)
TxBiker
10-28-05, 11:14 PM
I presume he was your friend *before* he became a used car salesman, right? :)
I am still laughing from this! Thanks!
Since I started commuting, I have tried to figure out a way to get rid of my car. I am glad we both came to a mutual agreement that it sucks and I that I didn't want it anymore. It made the decision even easier.
As to my friend....well, we were college classmates. This is our first "business" interaction and it is me getting rid of the car, not buying one!
It is so good to not have a car! My desire is to see the gas issue change the layout of the suburbs. I wish to see local ma and pa stores open and people frequent these new businesses as opposed to traveling 15 miles to the Sams clubs or Walmarts of the world. A guy can dream, right?
Chris
lyeinyoureye
10-28-05, 11:55 PM
* Green: Fusion achieves very good fuel economy thanks to advanced engine
and transmission technology -- EPA estimated 29 mpg highway for V-6
models and up to 32 mpg highway for four-cylinder models.
Very good? A fully loaded semi (~40k lbs) can get ~8mpg going ~85mph on flats. That's over ten times the weight, and a third or fourth of the mileage (Plus semi's have ****ty CoD's.)... Yeah, very good, bad, fuel economy. Kinda like being the best of the worst. :rolleyes:
I am saving around $1,200 per year. Man! I can get a lot of stuff for my bike for that!
You're saving more than that, because if you hadn't decided to go car free, you'd now be having to buy a replacement car, and the basic ownership costs (amortized purchase cost, lease deposit and payments, depreciation, interest on the loan, or however you financed it) would total a couple of grand annually as well.