Living Car Free - Does It Make More Sense to Get Rid of Your Car, or Just Wait Until It Dies?

I was just curious what everyones take on this might be. I've been car free for about 5 years now. Prior to being car free, I had a old piece-of-crap my mom gave me after she got a newer car. When I got the car, it wasn't worth selling or repairing (it was worth maybe $400/tops, and fixing it would cost 3x that), so I just took it, knowing it would last about a year or so. Sure enough, I had it about a year, and it died, and I sent it to the wrecking yard.

So I'm just wondering about this issue for people who might be in a similar situation. If a person has an older car that isn't worth much and is interested in going car free, is there anything wrong with just keeping the car and only using it sporadically until it dies, or do you think it's better to get rid of it immediately?

My thought is, why not just keep it until it dies. Since it's a used vehicle, it's not like you're consuming resources to have a new car built. And if you only drive it occasionally, you aren't consuming much oil/gas, or causing much pollution. So why not just use it as long as it works, then send it to the grave after it dies?

Being mostly car-free will make it last longer too.

I am betting on using it less
(Car Lite) til it just dies and
I sell it for parts. But with
so many Honda Accords having
been built in 90-91 I will be in
junk parts for some time I imagine
so I may hang onto it for a while.

I'd like to ditch it tho, for the $2K
it would save me every year. Hell
I could take a couple of decent
vacations each year for that, via
rail and bike.

If the car's knocking on heaven's door, then it probably pumps out some really nasty crap on the occasions that it does run. I'd say that running a poorly tuned car is never a good idea. Perhaps the best idea is to let it get chopped and recycled properly.

I agree with Brian. If it isn't dirtier than a newer car, drive it sparingly until it quits running. Maybe reserve it for "emergencies only." Another thought, if you're carlite, and you really don't need it, donate it to somebody who does.

If your car is that old, giving it to charity is a good idea, for a number of reasons: 1. you could write it off for as much as you could sell it for; 2. Maintenance would still be an issue even as it slowly decayed; 3. If you're like me, you'll still find plenty of lame excuses to jump in the car (I used to drive 10 blocks to get espresso); 4.The damn thing might simply refuse to die.

It's really easy to give a car away. They even come and pick it up, and you'll be rid of the thing in less than 24 hours. They drive up, you hand them the keys and the title, they give you some tax forms, and they're gone. I've had more trouble trying to get rid of an old coffee table...

If the car's knocking on heaven's door, then it probably pumps out some really nasty crap on the occasions that it does run. I'd say that running a poorly tuned car is never a good idea. Perhaps the best idea is to let it get chopped and recycled properly.

No, the exhaust system wasn't the problem - it was a mid 80s model, so it had a cattylitic converter and didn't spew out black exhaust. It's problems were related to the engine (worn strike plate) and suspension (ie it needed a new one).

I actually looked at giving it to a couple non-profits, but after I described the condition, they weren't that interested.

By donate i was also thinking about giving it to somebody you know who really needs a car. If you don't know anybody, try giving it away on Freecycle or Craigslist.

I'm pretty anti-car, but even i recognize that some people do need cars but don't have one. An example would be a single mom or somebody who is in danger of losing a job because they don't have a car. If you really need it yourself--keep it, but make a promise to yourself that you'll figure out ways to use it less and less.

I'm not sure what a strike plate is, but I had an old Chevy S-10 pickup that burned what it burned fairly cleanly, however it spewed oil all over the known universe. Cars pollute in many more ways than exhaust.

Anyway, if it's tight with respect to fluids and clean with respect to burning, then my earlier comments are probably adequately mediated.

If you're not driving to save money, ditch the thing. Insurance adds up, quick! I'm married, in my thirties, with a perfect record, and insurance is still about $40 a month for a Volvo 240 station wagon.

If you're not driving in order to reduce emissions, keep track of when you use a car. Maybe even keep a log, and look it over after a year to see what kind of options you have. Ideally, drive it to the scrappers and walk away with some money!

In any case, if you don't completely destroy it... Escort the new owners to the licensing office, and pay to change the title over. Where I live, we have a "change of ownership" form, which I can turn in to get a nice paper which proves that it is not my car. I've had three people fail to change the title over after selling a car, and get the car impounded a year or two later. The first time, it cost me almost $400 to get the broken thing out of impound and disposed of, after driving 250 miles from home. Every time after that, I faxed my paperwork over, and that was it. Yet another reason to avoid cars.

Cars don't die, just like bikes don't die... They're killed by cruel humans who don't spend the time to fix them! I use mine for weight training sometimes! Seriously, you can just mothball it, kill the insurance, and non-op it if you think it might be useful later. And if you don't think you'll ever need it and don't want it, then sell or donate it. After all, it's a tool just like any other contraption... There's no point in keeping it around if it has no potential use.

Whatever you decide, don't junk it. Use donatecarusa.com (http://www.donatecarusa.com/), pick a charity for the proceeds to benefit.

Make sure to render an unused car undriveable, or else keep it insured. I know a guy who abandoned a car. Some friends of his were driving it and had a serious accident. Now he is being sued for the costs of the accident--already over $1,000,000!

My Honda Accord is far from junkable.
While the AC doesn't work, it is in good
running condition as I spend about $750
a year in maintenance.

If I do decide to stop using it I will
definitely sell it. I had an unsolicitied
request for sale about 2 months ago
for about $2K.

But I agree, if you take a car off the road
you need to disable it if there is a concern
that some ***** might use it illegally and
have an accident.

+1 on the insurance! Some time back, I had a 1970 Datsun 510 station wagon which lost all of the glass to some kid with a five iron. Glass and seals were no longer available, so this totaled the car. (yet another reason to not own a car) For my next car, I asked my insurance agent how much it would be to cover theft and vandalism, but not collision. $4.50 a month. Boy, was I kicking myself for not having that earlier. Even if it was a cheap car.
It paid off a few years later, when I had a car stolen. $3000 in my pocket, and the insurance provider took possession on the title, so I'll never have to worry about it again; like if the state wants to charge the registered owner for dragging it out of the river... My rates didn't go up, either. Funny part is, BP tried to bill me five years later for driving off with a fuel pump nozzle still in the tank at an Arco station. The thief never even changed the license plates!

I'd say sell it now. The better it runs the more money you get for it. The shorter you have it, the less you spend on it.

I'd keep it. I kept my old '88 BMW and it still runs just fine. No need to buy anything else.