Living Car Free - Sell car - Buy Bike

I recently had a discussion with my parents about the economic situation here in the US and also about my dads Civil Engineering firm. Apparently they need to drum up some new clients or they may end up in trouble. I'll save the gory details. Something that came up in the course of the discussion was possibly using my ~$5000 in savings for college to pay off a large amount remaining on my '03 Corolla. I forget how much exactly is paid off atm but I know we got it for something like $14k with 18k miles on it.

At first I wouldn't even listen to the idea. Then I thought some more. Instead of using my college savings, why not sell the car?! Here is a simple outline:

1. Sell car
2. Buy bike(s)
3.???????????
4. PROFIT!

I'm 21 and going to JC and working part-time. My job is nearby, my school is kind of far unless I configure my schedule to work with commuting by bike instead of car times. Plus I want to get into racing.

Does this seem like win/win? y/n

First don't you have to figure out if your car loan is upside down?

I don't quite understand the predicament, but I'm quite sure you're better off without a car than you would be without a degree.

If you're trying to help your family cut expenses, getting rid of your car could have a big impact. Who pays for your car insurance and what is the cost? It could be dropped if you really commit to not driving under any circumstances.

Yep. College > car.


I'm 21 and going to JC and working part-time. My job is nearby, my school is kind of far unless I configure my schedule to work with commuting by bike instead of car times. Plus I want to get into racing.

Does this seem like win/win? y/n

The schedule's the biggest change. You can get anywhere on a bike if you have the time!

I'm 21 and going to JC and working part-time. My job is nearby, my school is kind of far unless I configure my schedule to work with commuting by bike instead of car times. Plus I want to get into racing.

First take a look at Machka's thread about biking to biking events.

Next, what is "kind of far" to you? For me, a 20 mile round trip every day would be kind of far, and would take about 2 hours out of my day. Some folks around here wouldn't even notice that length of ride, and some of them would take much less time than I do. Commute time does matter, since it's time you can't use for much else besides bike riding.

And well... riding a bike everywhere is *not* the same as training for racing. And the bikes that work well for racing do not make for good car substitutes. You can train to race as a car-free person, but you wouldn't be riding your race bike a lot of the time. Mostly, the race bike would just sit.

In your position, I'd start by biking everywhere, so you can put your car on storage insurance in about 6 months. That gives you a car to finish out this semester, so if you really need it, it is available. And it gets you through most of next semester, so the habit will be solid. Then, if you've stuck with the bike for a year, getting rid of the car will be no big deal... and for that year, your main ongoing cost will be the loan payment.

You could sell the car, and buy a scooter for those times when you have to cut it closer than a bicycle-ride will allow.

As an extreme measure of course.

One reason that I held back from selling my car when I first started bike commuting was that I had 9 months of school left and it was 35 miles each way to the campus!

When I finished school, I sold the car soon after and have been happier ever since!

I have a scooter for those times when I need to take my bike to a race that is far away. I built a bike rack on it so I can take the bike =)

I have a scooter for those times when I need to take my bike to a race that is far away. I built a bike rack on it so I can take the bike =)

Do you have a picture of this bike rack, or at least a description?

Do you have a picture of this bike rack, or at least a description?

I too would be interested in seeing a scooter toting a bicycle.

You could sell the car, and buy a scooter for those times when you have to cut it closer than a bicycle-ride will allow.

As an extreme measure of course.

One reason that I held back from selling my car when I first started bike commuting was that I had 9 months of school left and it was 35 miles each way to the campus!

When I finished school, I sold the car soon after and have been happier ever since!

I have a scooter for those times when I need to take my bike to a race that is far away. I built a bike rack on it so I can take the bike =)

Sorta being there and doing that (I've still got the truck, but don't depend on it for daily travel), I totally agree with the above and will take it further:

First off, what's the distances you've got to commute? If you're talking 5 miles and under, a bicycle will work just fine and you don't need anything more. Obviously, as you're getting in better shape from cycling that distance can be extended - but at the same time budget about five minutes to go a mile. This is why I don't particularly look at a bicycle for daily use if you're talking over 5 miles. If you've got the time to commute, more power to you.

If you're talking 5-10 mile distances, consider a 50cc scooter. Most likely your state does not demand any form of licensing, registration, insurance. Good Chinese scooters (buy from a dealer, not the Internet, you're going to need parts and service support) run about $1000.00, a Honda Metropolitan 50 is about $1800, a Ruckus about $2300.00. Realistic top speed is about 25-30mph (forget those 35+mph claims, that's running the scooter flat out, sorta like driving your car at 100 everywhere), that's about 2-1/2 minutes per mile. Don't even look at a used Chinese job. My experience here at the Honda shop is that most people who buy the 50's beat the daylights out of them - the scooters themselves aren't a problem, the owners are. At least a Honda (or other Japanese make) has full parts and service support equal to their motorcycles.

Over 10 miles, you want 125-150cc's. I bought mine (Chinese Qingqi) for $1500.00. However, you will need registration, insurance, and a motorcycle endorsement on your driver's license. Legally it's a motorcycle in (almost?) all states. At this point, cruising at 50mph is no problem, so you're talking the same kind of time constraints as an automobile.

Next, DO NOT get rid of your car before spring. Winter is the worst time of all for commuting by bicycle. I didn't notice your location listing before writing this, but be sure you can ride two wheels between November and March without dumping. Also, there's this matter of wind chill. While I still bicycle the 20 miles to work on Saturdays, it's going to stop in the next couple of weeks. A scooter is way more comfortable to ride in the winter than a bicycle, since you can just bundle on the clothes. On a scooter, you just sit there, and the only things that have to move are your neck, wrists and fingers. On a bicycle you have to dress lightly enough to be able to pedal. Hint: You want a full face helmet on a scooter, so it's like a car's windshield in the winter.

Make sure this plan works before you commit to it completely. Besides, given the current economic situation, you're probably going to have to give that car away to sell it in the next month or two. Used cars sell better in the spring in a good economic climate, so you can imagine what your up against now.

I'd say your best course of immediate action is to pick up a good second hand bicycle for $100.00 or less. Try the idea out. If it doesn't work, you can always resell it on Craigslist for what you paid for it. And figure that you're going to need a few weeks of riding to get in shape to the point that doing this kind of commute becomes ordinary.

The other reason why I consider it necessary to have some form of internal combustion engined backup? There's nothing more disheartening than realizing it's 0800, cold and raining outside, and you have to bicycle to wherever your going - right now. Yeah, the true believer hard-a**es do it daily, but they're far and few between compared to the general population; and odds are you're not going to turn out to be one of them.

First take a look at Machka's thread about biking to biking events.

Next, what is "kind of far" to you? For me, a 20 mile round trip every day would be kind of far, and would take about 2 hours out of my day. Some folks around here wouldn't even notice that length of ride, and some of them would take much less time than I do. Commute time does matter, since it's time you can't use for much else besides bike riding.

And well... riding a bike everywhere is *not* the same as training for racing. And the bikes that work well for racing do not make for good car substitutes. You can train to race as a car-free person, but you wouldn't be riding your race bike a lot of the time. Mostly, the race bike would just sit.

In your position, I'd start by biking everywhere, so you can put your car on storage insurance in about 6 months. That gives you a car to finish out this semester, so if you really need it, it is available. And it gets you through most of next semester, so the habit will be solid. Then, if you've stuck with the bike for a year, getting rid of the car will be no big deal... and for that year, your main ongoing cost will be the loan payment.

I thought this thread might have died from a lack of interest but I found it again. First of all, thanks for so much input.

As to the question on the loan being upside down (?) I know I have about $8k left on on it. The car itself is between $10 and $9k Bluebooked. Granted, I should try to be realistic and assume that it will not sell for exactly those numbers.

I definitely feel like spring would be a better time to be looking for a buyer for the car and will look into acquiring more foul-weather gear. California and the East Bay in particular is not the worst place to ride either, but we definitely have weeks where all it does is rain.

The distance from my house to school is 14.5 miles so I suppose that would be a realistic commute. I make my normal ride distances between 30 and 50 mi. But definitely agreed on the issue of scheduling. There is a bus service that connects from my town up to the school, but it may just be faster to ride my bike, idk.

I suppose I could always get some nice waterproof panniers and add a rear rack to my bike.