I don't hate the car, but I have always hated needing the car. Mostly it's financial. I've owned a car since I was about 19, but they've always been older, with some being more reliable than others. I've been in situations a few times where the car was my only way to work, and it wears on my nerves knowing that something could go wrong, costing me hundreds of dollars, and I'd just have to roll over and pay it because I still had to get to work. I actually quit one job because my car broke down, I had no other way to get there, didn't want to fix the car, and had a 2nd job within easy biking distance. I also hated that job, so that was certainly a factor, but I remember the surprise in my bosses voice when I explained that I had to resign because my car broke. It's just difficult to pour money into something you really don't enjoy.

When I have had complete control over my living situation, my housing and job have always been planned to be close enough together to make the car optional. For about a year when I first moved in with my wife, we were out in the 'burbs, and I had to drive into town daily. Traffic and anxiety over car repairs drove me to find us a place to live closer to work.

I know where you're coming from. My car just limped back from a NC-to-OH-and-back trip. It did not perform well, and I really want to ditch it. My wife likes the security of having a back-up car, so we'll see, but the car is really in no shape to serve as a back-up right now.

My plan is to take it to the shop for an estimate. If the estimate is for more than it would cost to fly roundtrip to Ohio once and take the train roundtrip to Charlotte three times (those for trips accounting for 90% of my annual car use), then I'm going to argue for it being "put down." Humanely, of course. Or, more likely, Craigslisted for someone who doesn't mind putting the money into it.

It's been a good, little car. I don't hate it, but I don't like worrying about it. I don't like washing it (or driving it around filthy) because it sits under sap-filled trees in our parking lot for weeks at a time. I don't like tracking when I last drove it, so I remember to drive it often enough to keep the battery charged. I don't like the fact that it now smells musty and has become a home for ants. In many ways, having a car that I don't drive seems like more trouble than having a car that I drive daily. But both options are lately sounding like more trouble than not having a car at all. I'm getting there.