RubeRad

Some of us commute only occasionally, some of us commute enough to drop to N-1 cars, but my solution has been to park "my" car at work indefinitely.

It prevents me from wussing out and driving on those days where I feel lazy, or don't want to get wet (not often in San Diego), and I can still pop out for mid-day errands, or pick up the kids after school if something comes up with the wife (I joke that I would use the bike, but I can't get more than two of them on there with me). Very occasionally, the wife & I need to be in very different places at the same time, in which case I drive "my" car home and leave the bike at work overnight, and we've got two cars to get things done. But otherwise, it lives in the parking deck for months at a time, and the family gets by with the minivan.

Today a friend of mine that often bikes to work told me he liked the idea and started keeping his car at work, so that makes the second person I've ever heard of doing this.

Anybody else keep a car at work instead of keeping it at home?

KenshiBiker

I don't even feel safe with my car parked at my office during the day (and I have a window that overlooks the parking lot where I park it). The only time I will consider leaving it unattended overnight will be when I want to get rid of it (and collect on the insurance).

RubeRad

I am fortunate that my whole work, including our private parking deck, is inside a fence, with 24hr security, and even that is within a quiet suburban office park.

metz1295

having a secure lot makes a world of difference. i do like your point of view though.

hsh101

I do, on occasion. We have security cameras and my car is 11 years old, so not too worried about someone taking it. We have two offices ~10 miles apart, so sometimes I get a request to head from one building to the other. Having the car there helps in those situations.

Leebo

Yes, I keep my car at work sometimes. I need it to do my job, so I pedal home and then pedal back to work in the AM. It is a late model corrolla, not much to worry about someone stealing it.

ThermionicScott 

I don't, but I like your thinking.

RubeRad

Thx, we bought a house closer to work specifically so I could bike commute. We thought we would actually sell the car and get down to just one, but practically speaking, it just wouldn't work out. With the insurance and registration and virtually no gas, I guess we're paying a few hundred a year to have a second car we can use occasionally, rather than borrowing or renting a car.

PatrickGSR94

I used to leave my car overnight and split my commute between days. But that required keeping the bike rack on the car ALL THE TIME which sucks on the gas mileage and stuff. For nearly a year now I've been doing my full commute each day, twice a week. Car stays at home. I do stuff sometimes on the weekends that requires use of my car so I can't really leave it at work.

My car is 20 years old but it's still one of the top stolen cars in the nation so I don't like leaving it unattended for long periods of time. I *never* take my car to the mall or movie theaters, we always take my wife's car.

We have a few company-owned vehicles so I can easily go to meetings or job sites, etc. on days I ride the bike to work.

Squeeze

Apparently there are people where I work that do the opposite and leave their bikes at work. We have a covered, chain-link fenced bike cage that requires an access badge to open. There are about ten bikes down there that never move! Can't figure it out.

gsa103

I leave my car to split the commute. I'm working up to commuting more regularly, but really need a better shower situation.

Parking lot isn't covered, but well secured. Bike fits in the trunk, so I just load/unload the bike when needed.

ThermionicScott 

Very Mustachian! Would it be possible to sell/trade your car for a smaller one that might have cheaper insurance, or did you already take care of that?

RubeRad

Nice one I was indeed influenced by MMM... (that was the only emoticon I could find with a mustache...). We live pretty frugally in general (the house move was a downsize from 4br detached to 3br townhome, less sqft). But I haven't given up cable TV yet, and I won't be retiring early.

The car is a 2002 VW GTI, so it's already small, and old (by American ******wagon standards). I don't know the exact numbers but we got the insurance as low as possible by reporting the truly miniscule annual mileage. (Not sure where I'm at so far, but I bet less than 1000mi this year)