nostalgic

I sold my car three years ago. Though there have been times when I felt like I'd have to just surrender to the car culture, I have not. Whenever I think like that, it's always because I want the comfort and social approval that comes with having a car, not because it is the only way to get around.

Ekdog

You're not the first person who has mentioned how you are perceived by others as a reason for giving in and getting a car. I'm glad you haven't ceded to this kind of pressure, but it makes me wonder why you would give a damn what other people think anyway. Is it really that important? I think I'd laugh in the face of anyone who expressed disapproval of my car-free lifestyle.

nostalgic

I don't know how it is in Spain, but in the USA, the car culture is insane. Most people are not intelligent enough to appreciate different lifestyle choices. It's tricky. I don't care what most people think. Yet at the same time, I have to keep in mind that there are employers that are so enmeshed in the car culture that they refuse to hire someone without a car. I've been lucky enough for the past year to be able to take the university shuttle to work, but in a month, my position will expire. I am trying very hard to not buy a car for my next job, wherever that will be.

plumberroy

I owned a 1962 gravely LI for years It died about the time my job went away in 2008. gravely walking tractors ended 2004 , about the same time troybuilt was sold to MTD and have gone downhill. Used gravely are either rust buckets or anything decent they think is gold. The importor for the grillo is an hour from my house . I am hoping to start the garden work later this week . when I got back to the place to buy a walking tractor grillo made the most sense
The main road outside my neighborhood is old narrow for a 4 lane and busy only an experianced rider has any business trying to ride on it . I can cross the road and ride a 1/2 mile m.u.p. Short of winning the lottery I am stuck with having to have a car
Roy

Artkansas 

My car's been completely gone for 4 months now, and I'm surprised at how fresh the joy of not having it remains.

I only drove it 50 miles in 8 years of ownership and 30 of that were the drive home from where I bought it so not having a car to drive was not a shock. But I no longer have to worry about it and no longer feel like I have a toe in ownership.

SPECELIZEDRIDER

The car is sometime a necessary evil. I love the convenience, but hate the cost.I set my life up to where I don't need one.

gerv 

That wasn't a car... it sounds closer to a bookend or a lawn ornament.

rockmom

I've never owned a car, so I can't directly relate. But our internet connection bit the dust for a couple days and I was seriously at loose ends since I do most of my communicating/coordinating via email.

I-Like-To-Bike

Like this bike; hasn't moved more than 5 feet in the last 7 years or so. Probably ready to roll on all 3 speeds after pumping up the tires.

Roody

Well pump her up!

Roody

This is a very nice summary of the carfree experience for so many of us!

krobinson103

I feel upset when my bikes aren't all in order. The car can rust into a pile of goo for all I care about it. I hate driving the thing. We only have it because my wife wants a car.

I-Like-To-Bike

Why? It holds the flower pots just as well with flat tires. And they look just as good. It ain't going anywhere.
I've got plenty of other bikes ready to roll. Use one of 'em every day for daily stuff.

InOmaha

I was doing some remodel work on the house/yard and picked up a non running 1988 Mazda B2200 in good shape (no rust holes) with under 80,000 miles on it from a relative. They just wanted it out of their back yard. It cost $300 in parts, junkyard pieces and spray paint to get it running right and $200/year in insurance and licensing fees. I spent about $500-600/year in gas but some of that I go paid mileage for work purposes. So I had a car for 3 years that I could use to haul construction supplies and drive to work. The total cost of ownership came out pretty low after I sold it to a kid.

I doesn't cost a lot of money to find a reliable older car that you can self insure (but keep liablity/injury coverage) and have available if needed. I think this one averaged about $0.08/mile or around $1/day. I sold this one and bought a trailer because I don't have to pay seperate insurance on it.

I think of it as a form of recycling rather than buying something new.

Roody

Do you think people come to a carfree forum to learn how to buy junky cars?

InOmaha

Probably not. But there seems to be several including the OP that are "carfree" yet somehow own cars. Even mentioning how little they drive them so I added. No need to have GM churn out a new one to park in your garage, driveway, or street and not use. I tend to own older cars (not junk) instead of spending 10s of thousands on newer ones.

If someone wanted, they could have a car and hardly use it for a relatively low yearly cost of roughly the cost of renting a car during the holidays. Out here, living totally car free is probably not the option it is in the denser cities. If you need a security blanket, you might as well buy a cheaper one.

I-Like-To-Bike

No more than those who come to a carfree forum to discuss how much it costs to operate a car, junky or new.

chewybrian 

Everyone has a story about Uncle Joe who smoked two packs a day and lived to be 90...

But, your claims are more like "he smoked twelve packs a day and lived to a hundred and forty-six."

Your numbers don't exist where I live. Liability insurance is at least $50 a month, or $1.50 a day, which knocks you out without turning the key (Different states can have very different costs for these kinds of policies; Florida has 'no fault' insurance, where I can sue my own insurance company for at least $10,000(wtf?)). 8 cents a mile, at 30 mpg is $2.40. Did you get out and push every other mile? If you buy a clunker, there is still a bit of depreciation, opportunity cost, maintenance, registration, etc. Did you account for your time repairing it, or do you enjoy getting greasy more than playing golf?

The IRS says it costs something like 52 cents a mile. If you want to say that a regular person could cut that in half with a few smart choices, I will not argue with that. But, if you want to say 8 cents, you are trying way too hard to 'prove' something that is not true.

InOmaha

I'll give you that. I got the car for free and my company paid for the gas to go to and from a project site for a couple of years so my commute costs were zero. The overall cost was higher but not to me. I sold it for what I spent on repairs and some of the insurance. 8 cents a mile at 15,000 miles was roughly $1,200. That was my out of pocket non recouped cost of ownership for 3 years.

However, I'm not here to pursuade anyone to get a car, so I'll stop. $1,200 would buy a nice bike.

In my absolute best case scenario, we'd still need a car (or to rent one) and drive 2 to 3 thousand miles a year based on how we travel to see family. But there isn't a living car lite forum.

no1mad 

True. I do consider car lite to fall under car free, though, as most people under normal circumstances will go car lite before making the transition to car free.

chewybrian 

Well, I give you credit for your heroic thrift. I'm not here to persuade anyone to give up their car, either (it wouldn't help to preach to the choir, and ILTB, anyway). I'd just like to poke people into looking at the true cost, and considering that their budget might be freed to do more important things for them without a car, or with one instead of two. It's pretty much impossible, though. You might as well tell them to live in the woods and eat berries.

I have a $1200 bike. I don't know if it's nice, but it serves me well, and has for many thousands of miles (300 in one day last year!).

I-Like-To-Bike

Are you not preaching to the choir by posting your "pokes" here on a car lite or car free list?

If you really wish to poke people who are not already in the choir to reconsider their transportation mode, why not try poking the gospel to the heathen on lists like Road Cycling where no one has taken the car free pledge?

no1mad 

Simple- he'd be called a troll.

Seems that people choose to be car lite or LCF for a variety reasons, but one main 'selling' point is the financial one. Sometimes, doing the 'soft sell' about the economics sways people to make the transition to change their transportation situation or at the very least open their minds to doing so.

I-Like-To-Bike

I agree, but who is this soft cell directed at, since this list members for the most part are already sold on the idea?

My contention is that the numerous "cars cost too much, kill too much, wreck the environment, etc" threads that are started on this list are nothing but trolls for "car bashing" with little or no information or relevance to living car free for those already sold on that idea.

Artkansas 

I moved it around the parking lot as the landlord demanded and I used it to keep track of how often Google maps updated their satellite photos.

The car has gone to a better place. body straightened, new paint, body mods, new wheels. Its looking good.