Do those who decide to get a car "for occasional use"...

[Docere]

...almost inevitably become very dependent on it and use it for basically everything?

That seems to be the case in my experience.

[mthd]

Originally Posted by Docere

...almost inevitably become very dependent on it and use it for basically everything?

That seems to be the case in my experience.

we have two cars. a honda s2000 and a subaru wrx hatch. between them they are 19 years old. both purchased new. total of about 40,000 miles, or about 2,000 miles per year per vehicle. if anything, our use of the cars has gone down over the years as more transit options have appeared (bart to the airport, sf muni t-third line, caltrain baby bullet trains, etc etc.)

i love cars, and i love driving, but at this point in my life i would *NEVER* choose to live anywhere that required a car.

i'll add that most of my friends who live in san francisco have cars for surfing and skiing. people used to have cars for ikea but there are so many better options now with car sharing, TNCs, etc.

[Buckeye Native 001]

I bought a 2008 Honda Fit brand new in March of 2008 (I should've probably waited for the economy to tank even further and might've gotten a better deal). I put 20,000 miles on the car my first year of owning it (lived in Phoenix, then moved up to Flagstaff for grad school a year later) and barely drive anymore except to run errands/grocery shopping. I don't even like driving down to Phoenix from Flagstaff (take shuttles or Greyhound). I maybe drive 200 to 300 miles a month at the most and the car now has 82,500 on the odometer.

I work for a local government and can ride the bus for free, so I try to plan out my day and my activities around what's closest to bus stops around town. There's a stop across the street from my house and a stop about six or seven minutes from my office. This is particularly helpful in the winter (yes, some parts of Arizona get snow) so I don't have to worry about my car slipping around on ice.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Docere

...almost inevitably become very dependent on it and use it for basically everything?

That seems to be the case in my experience.

that's not the case in my experience.

i was a car-free bachelor for about 10 years. then about 5 years ago i met the woman who would eventually become my wife and she came bundled together with a car as a package deal.

we've been married over 3 years, we've got two little rugrats now, and we still just have the one car. i still ride my bike to work everyday, just like always. and because we live in a lovely ped-friendly urban neighborhood on the northside of chicago, i accomplish most day to day errands either on foot or with my bike. my wife works from home most days and our kids' daycare is down the street at the end of our block, so we just walk them over there each morning.

the car definitely comes in handy at times when lugging the kids around and for trips up to milwaukee to visit my wife's parents and siblings, but we are by no means anywhere close to dependent on it. most days our car just sits in the garage collecting dust.

with the proliferation of car-sharing and uber, it's tempting to think about going completely car-free, but our kids are still little and are legally required to be in child seats, and that's one area where the various car services just don't work very well.

[Insoluble]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

...with the proliferation of car-sharing and uber, it's tempting to think about going completely car-free, but our kids are still little and are legally required to be in child seats, and that's one area where the various car services just don't work very well.

We've been doing car share instead of owning a car for years and have gotten by using an alternative to the traditional bulky long term install child seats. There are probably different companies making these at this point, but this is what we've been using:

https://saferide4kids.com/product/ri...r-travel-vest/

It's essentially a safety vest you can strap your kid into that the car's seat-belt threads in and out of. It's pretty easy to use and super light so you can just stuff it in a bag and bring it around with you. Worth checking out if you are seriously considering ditching the car.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Insoluble

We've been doing car share instead of owning a car for years and have gotten by using an alternative to the traditional bulky long term install child seats. There are probably different companies making these at this point, but this is what we've been using:

https://saferide4kids.com/product/ri...r-travel-vest/

It's essentially a safety vest you can strap your kid into that the car's seat-belt threads in and out of. It's pretty easy to use and super light so you can just stuff it in a bag and bring it around with you. Worth checking out if you are seriously considering ditching the car.

So we have our first child coming, and live car-free in NYC, so we have been busy researching mobility options.

My understanding is that these safety vests are for older kids, and there is no legal product for the under-3 set outside of car seats. We have a car seat ready, just in case, and we have family, with cars, and car seats installed, in the general region.

But baby is going to be riding the subway and bus, mostly. Wife works heavy hours and we'll have a nanny, who also doesn't have a car.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Insoluble

We've been doing car share instead of owning a car for years and have gotten by using an alternative to the traditional bulky long term install child seats. There are probably different companies making these at this point, but this is what we've been using:

https://saferide4kids.com/product/ri...r-travel-vest/

It's essentially a safety vest you can strap your kid into that the car's seat-belt threads in and out of. It's pretty easy to use and super light so you can just stuff it in a bag and bring it around with you. Worth checking out if you are seriously considering ditching the car.

neat.

but it looks like it's only for kids age 3 and up, and our two little ones are only 2 and 8 months respectively.

so that wouldn't work for us right now, but it's something to think about for the future.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

that's not the case in my experience.

i was a car-free bachelor for about 10 years. then about 5 years ago i met the woman who would eventually become my wife and she came bundled together with a car as a package deal.

Ahh, the old Comcast girlfriend/car bundle. Let me guess, she talked you into the having a baby Triple Play deal? That's how they getcha.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

Ahh, the old Comcast girlfriend/car bundle. Let me guess, she talked you into the having a baby Triple Play deal?

LOL

Originally Posted by Austinlee

That's how they getcha.

oh, she got me good alright. wholeheartedly smitten right from our very first date.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

LOL




oh, she got me good alright. wholeheartedly smitten right from our very first date.

Shush. I just broke up with my gf 4 days ago. I don't want to hear about how happy you are.

[Steely Dan]

^ oh, sorry about that, man. that sucks.

but plenty of fish in the sea and all of that stuff.

[davytudope]

I use to live in the suburbs, so I always had a car. Then I moved to Chicago. Now most of my driving is because of street sweeping.

[240glt]

We have cars (one SUV and a Toyota truck) but we really only ever drive the SUV, the truck sits behind the garage, sometimes for week on end without moving

Having said that I like the convenience of having the truck for the trip to the garden centre or the dump or Home Depot (our house is from the late 60's and our rental property is from the 40's, so having a truck is really convenient)

[Hatman]

We have one car for my family. It sits unused most days as I bike to work and my wife and kids like to walk to most places they need to go. But 1 or 2 days a week it is used for things like grocery shopping and family outings.

I've ordered a Tesla Model 3 because, if I have to have a car, it should at least be electric. And since we can't justify spending the $35,000+ on a car that sits idle most days a week, we'll recoup some of that cost by renting the car out using the Tesla Shared Fleet (once the full-autonomy software is released). That way, we'll have a car around when we need it (because we own it) but when we don't need it, it will be out making money for us as a taxi.

That's the plan, anyway.

[mthd]

Originally Posted by Hatman

We have one car for my family. It sits unused most days as I bike to work and my wife and kids like to walk to most places they need to go. But 1 or 2 days a week it is used for things like grocery shopping and family outings.

I've ordered a Tesla Model 3 because, if I have to have a car, it should at least be electric. And since we can't justify spending the $35,000+ on a car that sits idle most days a week, we'll recoup some of that cost by renting the car out using the Tesla Shared Fleet (once the full-autonomy software is released). That way, we'll have a car around when we need it (because we own it) but when we don't need it, it will be out making money for us as a taxi.

That's the plan, anyway.

great plan

and even more great to hear about it from someone outside the "traditional" possibly-car-free cities of the northeast corridor, chicago, and san francisco.

[M II A II R II K]

And then there's car sharing.

[mrnyc]

naah. we had free, garaged cars from work for years in manhattan and never used it all that much, outside of work that is. a few trips and occasional errands, but that was about it. didnt really miss it.

[Ryanrule]

my car is for big/far grocery/ikea runs, and visiting family.
live downtown chicago.

[Mr Downtown]

No. People tend to make rational choices.

I finally realized that, at $200/month for garaging, the car was costing me about $300 per trip taken. Plus, Chicago's South Loop had finally gotten pretty much all the retail categories (except an Aldi and good bagels) that I ever went to.

I really haven't missed it. I thought I would want to rent a car about once a month for suburban excursions, but the hassle involved in doing that makes it more like twice a year. With BusTracker, I find using even Pace buses almost as convenient.