Living Car Free - Put the "For Sale" sign up last night...

Well, after weeks of hinting to the wife that my Jeep should be sold and that we should sell her Jeep too, and just get one New, more economical car, she finally went for it last night. So I posted mine online and put a sign on it last night. I can go without a car, as mine sits there 90% of the time anyway, and the only time I do drive is if I am tired, or making some other excuse.

So I have had one call, and after mine sells we will put hers on the market and decide what we are going to buy. We are hoping to get enough from both to just buy a new car with cash...and cut our gas expenditure by 2/3s at least...

So I will basically be car lite while she drives most of the time, and I guess I will have to drive some times just because we live in a crap-hole that is not super conducive to biking 'everywhere'...anyway, just wanted to say hey and share my excitement, wish me luck on the selling of the two cars.

Awesome. I did something similar except that my wife and I had the exact same car.... I sold mine and we kept hers.

I am a die-hard commuter and she drives 50 miles a day to work (job change closer to home next year for her will help with this) but otherwise I only use the car for few and far-between errands/utility reasons.

One tip for you when going to buy the replacement car.... don't let the salesman in on the fact that you plan to pay cash for the car. You are very well likely to get a better deal if the salesman thinks you are going to finance the car entirely because in most cases the dealer owns the finance company and they get more commission from a finance job.

Once you get the car, and the finance deal, wait for the payment book to arrive in the mail and simply mail a check for the full balance ! You will not pay a cent of interest, and you'll get a lower price on the car to boot !!!!!!


good luck.

Awesome. I did something similar except that my wife and I had the exact same car.... I sold mine and we kept hers.

I am a die-hard commuter and she drives 50 miles a day to work (job change closer to home next year for her will help with this) but otherwise I only use the car for few and far-between errands/utility reasons.

One tip for you when going to buy the replacement car.... don't let the salesman in on the fact that you plan to pay cash for the car. You are very well likely to get a better deal if the salesman thinks you are going to finance the car entirely because in most cases the dealer owns the finance company and they get more commission from a finance job.

Once you get the car, and the finance deal, wait for the payment book to arrive in the mail and simply mail a check for the full balance ! You will not pay a cent of interest, and you'll get a lower price on the car to boot !!!!!!


good luck.

No need to play that trick though. Just settle on the price first (provided you've done your home work and got the invoice price), no need to tell him upfront whether it'll be finacing or cash. Just reassure the seller you are serious and there to buy a car today. Once the price you are willing to pay is settle, tell them you're paying cash. If the back off on the price, then walk out. You gotta be willing to walk out.

Corsaire

But, but, but. A Jeep is not a car. It's a Jeep.

Going car-free is one thing, but a Jeep?

But, but, but. A Jeep is not a car. It's a Jeep.

Going car-free is one thing, but a Jeep?

It all depends on whether you need a 4wd or not. I'm car lite, and my XJ sits in the garage 6 days a week most of the time. But when I need to get to a remote trailhead over seriously chuck-holed dirt track, or 3000' up a mountain on a forestry trail in a couple feet of snow, the Jeep is nice to have. (Until I have to gas it up on the way home.)

One tip for you when going to buy the replacement car.... don't let the salesman in on the fact that you plan to pay cash for the car. You are very well likely to get a better deal if the salesman thinks you are going to finance the car entirely because in most cases the dealer owns the finance company and they get more commission from a finance job.

Once you get the car, and the finance deal, wait for the payment book to arrive in the mail and simply mail a check for the full balance ! You will not pay a cent of interest, and you'll get a lower price on the car to boot !!!!!

I did this on the one car I ever bought new. I was going to walk out then the salesman told me just pay it all off on the first installment. My insurance company had this pre-neogtiated deal with a competitor farther away so this guy was only willing to match the competitor if I financed. It worked out like you say, lower price. Why do the car-free know more about buying cars than the car dependent?

Well car free does not mean we have not driven or bought our share of cars, heck I have been care free a few times and owned many vehicles and I am still young.

Within the last few years we went from:
2 trucks -> car/truck -> car/motorcycle -> car -> car/bike -> bike/bike
We had to move twice to be in an area that is better for the car free thing though.

Congrats! Cleaning my car out this weekend and it's up for sale in another month, when I move into the new apartment.

In three weeks I am putting my car up for sale and am also going to be homeless for six months! I just graduated college where I had free room and board. Now I will be joining the Peace Corps in Asia but not until january. Not worth signing a lease for 6 months and moving all my crap only to have to box it all up again or sell most of it when i go into service for the next two years. So I guess I will be car free and home free? I know a lot of people have at one point or another lived out of their cars for a short period of time, but have any of you ever lived out of your bike? Should make for some interesting times!