Living Car Free - Audi Damned

Hello,

I have been living car free since i wrecked my Audi A4 New Years Morn. (don't ask)
After roughly $7,000.00 in repairs, of which I had to pay a HUGE deductible to State Farm (don't tell the insurance co. SQUAT, they will burn you), I decided to stop nagging my guilty post-war conscience and park it (it works).
Bottom line, I commute by bike, walk EPIC miles, jog, ride the rails, etc. ad nauseum. Now I am, like, one payment away from owning the Audi. Should I sell it, and take a loss ( repairs+age+carfax=0 profit), or keep it until I have a wife and kids to care for. This is not an easy decision. Thanks. :)

Peace,
(DIID,DIID)

Sell it, sell it, sell it!

If you keep it you will have to keep it insured and registered. If you don't drive it, it will start to deteriorate from lack of use. Given the high number of car owners in the USA, your future wife will probably own her own car anyway. Take whatever money you can squeeze out of it, put it in savings, and start putting the money you are saving from not owning a car into the same account. Call it your "future family" savings account. If you do get married and have kids, then you can decide what to do with this money. Maybe you won't even need a car and can spend it on something much better, like bikes for the wifey and little ankle biters.

Thor is right, it is depreciating and costing you money just sitting there. Just because you lost a lot on the deal doesn't mean you have to ride the elevator all the way to the bottom. Sell it and put the money in the bank or a nice mutual fund and it will start to grow again, instead of diminishing further.

"Audi Damned" is a great turn-of-phrase.
As for what to do with it? The way the market is setup it's almost like you're supposed to use it as a sacrifical lamb to the next rotten buggers you buy a car from. I hate the whole "car industry" vibe so much because like the housing market there doesn't seem to be any end to the mendacity. Of course with planned obsolescense it's almost an imperative to move the thing before it falls apart all on it's own. I guess it comes down to whether you're happier with a car-payment, or you know a mechanic who likes his job enough to not get "Audiacious" by using your ride to learn his trade on with unnecessary repairs and expensive phantom parts.

I just went through almost exactly the same thing (minus the wreck). I had a relatively new A4 wagon that I owned flat out, but didn't drive. I talked to my insurance agent about everything we could do to bring the insurance costs down and the end result was that I sold the car. In his words, Audi's just aren't a good deal. They're great cars (I loved, adored mine), but they cost more to insure than they should; their taxes are higher than they should be. You aren't going to get as much as you'd like on the sale, but that's just going to go down. Again, in his words, sell it, live car free. If you find that you absolutely need a car, buy a beater when you come to that point and just don't worry about it.

And remember, the "value" that a car holds is only equal to what someone is willing to pay you for it Right Now. It doesn't matter how much you've put into it if you can't possibly get it back. So, you can't think about a car as, "But it's worth N dollars," if no-one is going to pay you N dollars for it.

If you keep it you will have to keep it insured and registered. If you don't drive it, it will start to deteriorate from lack of use. Given the high number of car owners in the USA, your future wife will probably own her own car anyway. Take whatever money you can squeeze out of it, put it in savings, and start putting the money you are saving from not owning a car into the same account. Call it your "future family" savings account. If you do get married and have kids, then you can decide what to do with this money. Maybe you won't even need a car and can spend it on something much better, like bikes for the wifey and little ankle biters.

I agree with Thor on everything but one point. Sell the Audi and buy an older economy car like my 93 Toyota Corolla. There may come a point when you absolutely need a motored vehicle and the bicycle may not cut it (such as in an emergency for instance). Just spend $2000-5000 on an 8-10 year old economy car in good shape and have the minimal insurance and everything else and that way if push comes to shove you got something. This is what I do by the way. I am trying to use the bike to replace the car and so far it is going ok. I want my Trek 7500 to take over about 1/3 to 1/2 of the miles I drive in the Toyota a year.

... have the minimal insurance ....

The problem with this is that the minimal insurance may not be practical. You won't need physical damage coverages on an older car like this, but the liability/med etc. coverages you still need the amount necessary to protect your assets. For adults with houses/condos or any significant assets, this means a minimum of 100k/300k liability limits. That will still cost him ~200-400 a year for insurance, you still need to change the oil, run it occasionally and fix things if they break. Its cheaper to call a cab than keep a car.

To the original poster...sell the car and put that money into an account to buy a new one upon finding the wife. This money will appreciate in value and will not cost you anything to own. The car value will continue to decline, and in addition you will have to pay additional fees. If you really don't use the car, sell it and call a cab for emergencies.

Ironically, in this day and age, you kinda need a car in order to be elegible for marriage in the first place. Kinda hard to date when the pickup line is " I'll pick you up in my 06' Morgan Stanley" (or '93 Toyota)! :rolleyes:
Oh well, time to start training for those Triathalons and Track Sprints!
Maybe a race supporter will better understand a Green Radical, like me. :D

I can see it now..."Kids, keep peddling, this hill ain't nothin' compared to Kona!"
kids:"But dad when are we getting a car like the other kids?!?"
Me:"...You know, I met your Mother at Kona..."
kids:"We know Dad, we heard this story,like, fifty million times!"
(at top of hill)Mom:"Keep going! Need some water? Need a spray? You can do it!"
Kids:"Dad, mom is embarrassing us! Why don't you guys act normal?"
Me: "Like it's normal to pay $7.00 a gallon for gas and sit in traffic while you two
fight over the DVD player in the backseat like the other kids?"
kids: groan
Me: (whistling "My Favorite Things") Keep peddling! Keep up your cadence!
Mom:YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!
Me: "Hey one o' you pass me a gel pack...we're almost at school and I need to recover!" :)

My girlfriend owns a car. She might sell it in a couple months though.

Who knows, we may wind up being car-free with kids. Then again, maybe we'll buy a car when we have kids. There's no way to know at this point.

P.S.- hanging out with Quakers is a great way to find a girl who doesn't mind the fact that you neither have nor want a car. It worked for me. (/sarcasm) but seriously, you've got to spend some of your spare time with people who are more likely to have a view of the world such that they don't think everybody should have a car. Habitat for Humanity, bike advocacy groups, environmental groups, something like that.

Ironically, in this day and age, you kinda need a car in order to be elegible for marriage in the first place. Kinda hard to date when the pickup line is " I'll pick you up in my 06' Morgan Stanley" (or '93 Toyota)! :rolleyes:

Smartass, I have been avoiding women for years. They cost to damned much.

Thor is right, it is depreciating and costing you money just sitting there. Just because you lost a lot on the deal doesn't mean you have to ride the elevator all the way to the bottom. Sell it and put the money in the bank or a nice mutual fund and it will start to grow again, instead of diminishing further.

i agree, and if you do put it away, you'll have enough money that if you do have to buy "wifey and the little anklebiters" (great phrase, mr. thor) a car, you can. or you can buy nicer bikes for them.

Maybe someone needs to start a Car-Free Dating Service....Hmmmmmmmmm....I'll be right back! ;)

You could always rent a car to take that special person out.

I can see it now..."Kids, keep peddling, this hill ain't nothin' compared to Kona!"
kids:"But dad when are we getting a car like the other kids?!?"
Me:"...You know, I met your Mother at Kona..."
kids:"We know Dad, we heard this story,like, fifty million times!"
(at top of hill)Mom:"Keep going! Need some water? Need a spray? You can do it!"
Kids:"Dad, mom is embarrassing us! Why don't you guys act normal?"
Me: "Like it's normal to pay $7.00 a gallon for gas and sit in traffic while you two
fight over the DVD player in the backseat like the other kids?"
kids: groan
Me: (whistling "My Favorite Things") Keep peddling! Keep up your cadence!
Mom:YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!
Me: "Hey one o' you pass me a gel pack...we're almost at school and I need to recover!" :)

hahahahaha!!!! let me just say that this was <i>THE</i> best thing I have seen on the ol' intranet in a long time. Thank you.

You're welcome, Moma. I fancy myself a writer. I am currently working on a stageplay.

BTW, are you single?

(just kidding,HA HA HA :lol: ah ha ha aah ... :cry: )

Tell the truth people, I'm gonna be "the crazy old man on the bike" one day, aren't I? :o

Smartass, I have been avoiding women for years. They cost to damned much.

Well you ought to be doing all right avoiding women, living in DeSoto. Stay away from the inbred ones, the scarily large ones, and the scarily manly ones, and there's not much left.

(I grew up in the sticks in MO, lived rural/semi-rural for 25 years, then in StL for 3.)