Living Car Free - Anyone stuck with a car?

I want to know if anyone else is in the same boat...

I've been commuting by bike for a couple months now for all my needs and I love it :thumb: I have only driven my car on rare occasions since. Very rare occasions. After some thinking, I'm pretty sure I could get by without the car at all and just rely on my bike. I could even pick up a scooter if I need to make longer trips or need to get somewhere when time is a factor since they are so cheap compared to a car. If I needed to travel to another city, getting bus / train / plane tickets would be much cheaper than paying a car payment, insurance, a place to park and gas each month! Not to mention registration fees, maintenance, car washes, etc.

However the value of my car sank considerably thanks to gas prices. I have a 2006 Pontiac GTO, and while it is fun and sporty to drive, it is not a sipper by any means. I'm seeing my year car sell for around $15k, less than half what I bought it for two years ago! Needless to say I'm upside down now :notamused:

I think I'll have to hold onto it for another two years, and by then I will pretty much own the thing and can sell it for whatever it's worth. But for now I'll keep the miles off to keep it new and save tons on gas and keep in shape. The situation I'm in may stink, but this life change now will save me thousands later on in my life...just not for now. Anyone else in the same boat?

While I'm not exactly in your boat, I just sold my car for about 70% of its blue book value. Demand for cars is down all around. My car was a gas saver (a Saturn SL2) but I still found limited demand for it and had to keep dropping the price until the market responded.

My brother-in-law, however, is in exactly your position. He bought a used BMW for 20,000 6 months ago and suddenly now realizes what a bad idea that was. Why he didn't see the flaw in his purchase when gas was at 3.20 a gallon 6 months ago is beyond me but now he's upside down in his loan and wishing he could sell the car and cut his losses. He told me that the market is pricing his car at 12,000 just six months after he paid 20,000.

I don't know what I'd recommend for you or him. The question one has to answer is "will things get better or worse." If the car pricing currently is an overreaction to gas prices, then sit it out and things will rebound.

Careful about letting the car just seat there. Bad things start to happen.

Don't forget, you can 'take the car off the road' and call the insurance company, keeping only insurance only for damage incurred while parked. That should reduce one expense.

I just gave mine away to the metal scrap yard! got a cool $50.

I had been wanting to get rid of it for years and I couldn't take it anymore. Needed it out ASAP!

While I'm not exactly in your boat, I just sold my car for about 70% of its blue book value. Demand for cars is down all around. My car was a gas saver (a Saturn SL2) but I still found limited demand for it and had to keep dropping the price until the market responded.

A Dutch auction. The same thing is happening with real estate in this area. You see the thing advertised at a late 2005 price, next week its a little lower, and on and one until you see the real estate agent flyers reading "Price Reduced! 20% off" or whatever.

My daughter's got an OLD Tercel to unload. She's moving to Southern California. As soon as
we put the word out that it's for sale there was a line of people waiting to buy it. It's a '94 that
I paid $1800 for five years ago...she may get as much as $1000 to $1400 for it now. Not exactly High Finance, but it sure will help her get settled into her new place untill the regular checks start rolling in.

My daughter's got an OLD Tercel to unload. She's moving to Southern California.

Thanks for the warning :lol: Seriously; all the auto exhaust emmission/smog test/registration costs didn't slow down 34 million people. Adding more and more lanes has made it a crowded nightmare to those on pedals.

I want to know if anyone else is in the same boat...

I've been commuting by bike for a couple months now for all my needs and I love it :thumb: I have only driven my car on rare occasions since. Very rare occasions. After some thinking, I'm pretty sure I could get by without the car at all and just rely on my bike. I could even pick up a scooter if I need to make longer trips or need to get somewhere when time is a factor since they are so cheap compared to a car. If I needed to travel to another city, getting bus / train / plane tickets would be much cheaper than paying a car payment, insurance, a place to park and gas each month! Not to mention registration fees, maintenance, car washes, etc.

However the value of my car sank considerably thanks to gas prices. I have a 2006 Pontiac GTO, and while it is fun and sporty to drive, it is not a sipper by any means. I'm seeing my year car sell for around $15k, less than half what I bought it for two years ago! Needless to say I'm upside down now :notamused:

I think I'll have to hold onto it for another two years, and by then I will pretty much own the thing and can sell it for whatever it's worth. But for now I'll keep the miles off to keep it new and save tons on gas and keep in shape. The situation I'm in may stink, but this life change now will save me thousands later on in my life...just not for now. Anyone else in the same boat?



You should sell it and take out a loan for the difference then pay it off as quickly as possible.

Pick up "The Total Money Makeover" and never borrow another cent.

I just gave mine away to the metal scrap yard! got a cool $50.

I had been wanting to get rid of it for years and I couldn't take it anymore. Needed it out ASAP!

Strapped my bike to the back of my old '91 Buick Regal (nice car) and got $200 at the auto scrap yard! :)

Stopped off at LBS and had a nice lunch on my ride home.

It's nice to have that weight lifted off your shouders isn't it?

You should sell it and take out a loan for the difference then pay it off as quickly as possible.

Pick up "The Total Money Makeover" and never borrow another cent.

+1

That's really good advice..the longer you wait the more you'll owe. Start digging your way out of that hole now!

We just park ours out behind the barn and wait until the scrap prices go up:lol:

Aaron:)

Careful about letting the car just seat there. Bad things start to happen.

True, but you would also have a vehicle that is low-mileage, for what that's worth. It would probably be good to go out for a little bit once a month or so just to keep things working.

Not that I am thinking about selling my car, but I have a VW diesel. I just got back from a trip from home in Virginia to Toronto and back - I was *nearly* able to do it on a single tank of fuel (the low-fuel light came on after 802 miles of driving - I might have been able to squeeze another 100 miles before it was empty). 55mpg for the trip in all highway driving. Cars like this seem to be in high demand these days :D.