Do you or don't you need a car?

[Max Rockatansky]

My most expensive monthly car payment was the $363 I paid for my 2010 Camaro SS (about $510 adjusted for inflation).  The Impreza I just paid off two months ago was $343 a month.  There is probably something to be said about the average person often buying more car than they needed and being burdened by it. 

[Bruce]

How did the bus run if the only highway was cut off?

It went around the long way (via SR 20) and was given priority access when the temporary detour opened near the slide zone.

[Rothman]

How did the bus run if the only highway was cut off?

It went around the long way (via SR 20) and was given priority access when the temporary detour opened near the slide zone.

So, it went the way others would have gone?

Were trips increased?

[Bruce]

How did the bus run if the only highway was cut off?

It went around the long way (via SR 20) and was given priority access when the temporary detour opened near the slide zone.

So, it went the way others would have gone?

Were trips increased?

The long way was an extra 80 miles (2+ hours) to reach the nearest grocery stores, pharmacies, and other essential services. Bus service was increased and people did use it because it just made more sense to not waste so much extra money on gas.

Before the Great Recession (which majorly reduced bus service county-wide), there were eight daily round trips to Darrington.

[michravera]

In theory, I "could" function without a car, but as a practical matter it would make life difficult and I would not "want" to do so. Among other things, I'm not willing to rely on buses and the Metrorail to get me somewhere when I need to be there at a particular time, given that outside rush hour the bus comes once an hour. It also takes substantially longer to get to, say, Dulles Airport on the subway than it does by car. Sure, things like taxis and Uber are theoretically an option, but not one I view as a viable choice as a mode of everyday transportation. We also make reasonably regular trips to some more rural places where having your own car is pretty much a necessity unless you were to rent a car for the day (which likewise doesn't appeal to me). I know there are some younger people in the DC area who want to pretend this is New York by living in a small apartment located right on a subway line and trying to use public transportation to go everywhere, but I'm not willing to limit my life in that way. No doubt the fact that I grew up here, living outside the Beltway, factors into my outlook there, but I have a life beyond the immediate DC urban core.

I don't view grocery shopping as too much of an inconvenience because in theory I could walk to any of three nearby grocery stores if I were to buy what I call a "Grandma-style" cart, one of those two-wheeled vertical basket-type carts that all the old ladies in Brooklyn used when I was a kid (I'm sure nowadays they've evolved to collapsible plastic instead of the metal wire design that prevailed in the 1970s). On the other hand, we prefer to go to Wegmans and it's not within easy walking distance (close to five miles). Usually the grocery shopping uses four full reusable bags. I don't know whether that would be viable to transport using a bike. Maybe a bike with a trailer.

With all that said, I certainly appreciate having options. If I have to leave the car at the mechanic for them to get parts, it's nice to have the option of taking the bus from the nearest subway station (as long as it isn't pouring down rain, as it's a half-mile walk from the bus stop). Having the Virginia Railway Express commuter rail as an alternate to the Metrorail when I worked downtown was useful the day a subway train broke down at precisely the wrong spot and turned a 35-minute train ride into over an hour and a half—I saw the advisories online and took the VRE instead.

In most of California, it only rains 20-50 days per year, maybe pours on 5-10 (it doesn't take much pouring to get to 400 ml/m^2 = 17 in.). You car ONLY needs repairs on those days!

[NWI_Irish96]

Our son turns 16 next year. We were originally planning on getting a 3rd car, but now we aren't. Once both kids are out of the house, we will likely downsize from two cars to one. It's very rare that my wife and I need to drive somewhere at the same time.

[kphoger]

Our son turns 16 next year. We were originally planning on getting a 3rd car, but now we aren't. Once both kids are out of the house, we will likely downsize from two cars to one. It's very rare that my wife and I need to drive somewhere at the same time.

Completely unheard of for my wife and me.  She works from home, and we never have separate errands to run.  I'm now 42 years old, we've been married for 17½ years, and we've never owned two cars.  I'm actually considering a cheap used sedan to use as my daily driver, and only use our current vehicle when we need the extra space—but that's only because I've lost confidence in our current vehicle's reliability.

[Rothman]

How did the bus run if the only highway was cut off?

It went around the long way (via SR 20) and was given priority access when the temporary detour opened near the slide zone.

So, it went the way others would have gone?

Were trips increased?

The long way was an extra 80 miles (2+ hours) to reach the nearest grocery stores, pharmacies, and other essential services. Bus service was increased and people did use it because it just made more sense to not waste so much extra money on gas.

Before the Great Recession (which majorly reduced bus service county-wide), there were eight daily round trips to Darrington.

Show us the numbers!

[ZLoth]

This is going to be a probable discussion point between my mother and myself. Both my mother's and my vehicles are paid off and are well maintained, and my mother's vehicle was "gifted" to me after she was told she could no longer drive. Right now, if I'm driving alone, I'm driving my own vehicle, and if I'm chauffeuring my mother, I'm using "her" vehicle just to make sure both vehicles are seeing usage every week. A year or so ago, we agreed to keep both vehicles because of the new vehicle shortage due to components and the available vehicles were selling above MSRP. That appears to have passed, so the question will now be discussed once we receive the auto insurance bills.

As it is now, I'm WFHing, and it's about a month and some change between fillups for the vehicles. If I wasn't WFHing, I would be walking to work. The main usage is for shopping, running errands, and doctors appointments. Weekend road trips are out of the question at this time. I certainly don't want to try juggling financing a new vehicle while paying off my home, and when the only good reason to upgrade is "I want Android Auto", that is also a extremely weak reason.

One of the things these studies tend to miss is that car ownership costs varies considerably. Those with less to spend do spend less on cars. I don't spend anywhere close to what these studies claim is the cost of car ownership even though I could if I wanted to.

Reminds me of this clip from The Simpsons Season 7 Episode 21 - 22 Short Films About Springfield (Originally aired April 14th, 1996):

[HighwayStar]

I certainly don't want to try juggling financing a new vehicle while paying off my home, and when the only good reason to upgrade is "I want Android Auto", that is also a extremely weak reason.

Given that Android Auto can be added to a vehicle aftermarket, often for $300 or less, I am often confused by people buying a new car just to get that feature. So I would agree it is extremely weak or non-existent.

[ZLoth]

I certainly don't want to try juggling financing a new vehicle while paying off my home, and when the only good reason to upgrade is "I want Android Auto", that is also a extremely weak reason.

Given that Android Auto can be added to a vehicle aftermarket, often for $300 or less, I am often confused by people buying a new car just to get that feature. So I would agree it is extremely weak or non-existent.

Given how little I'm driving at this time, I'm even having trouble finding a compelling reason to even spend the money to perform even that aftermarket upgrade at this time. A quick and casual Google search shows that the upgrade is $600-$700 at the moment for my vehicles. And who can perform it in the DFW area? I can live with Bluetooth at this time. One very weak yet compelling reason "for" upgrading, and a dozen and a half reasons why I should keep my current vehicles.

[kphoger]

I know people who live in DC without a car and their lives are pretty confined to areas with a Metro stop or where their bikes can take them, which seems pretty limiting.

I lived in the western suburbs of Chicago without a car for several years, and I can definitely confirm that relying on public transit limits the places one can go.  It can also take a lot longer to get from A to B, especially on week-end schedules.

I had a somewhat broader range during that time than most people would, because of (a) a level of physical fitness that thought nothing of walking two miles to or from a bus stop or train station and (b) my willingness to hitchhike, even in urban or suburban settings.  But even so, there were wide swaths of Chicagoland that were basically off the map for me.

The counterintuitive truth is that it's often more convenient to go somewhere far away than to somewhere much closer.  For example, I lived one mile from a grocery store, but I would usually do my grocery shopping four miles away, just because there was a bus that could take me there.  I could get pretty much anywhere in the city limits of Chicago faster than I could get some places just two suburbs away, and somwhere like Wayne or Oswego might as well have been on the Moon.

[Dough4872]

I wish I had a car, not having a car my transportation options are limited to public transit, Uber, and other people and it severely limits the places I can go. A lot of places, especially outside of cities and suburbs, are inaccessible to me.

[J N Winkler]

This is going to be a probable discussion point between my mother and myself. Both my mother's and my vehicles are paid off and are well maintained, and my mother's vehicle was "gifted" to me after she was told she could no longer drive. Right now, if I'm driving alone, I'm driving my own vehicle, and if I'm chauffeuring my mother, I'm using "her" vehicle just to make sure both vehicles are seeing usage every week. A year or so ago, we agreed to keep both vehicles because of the new vehicle shortage due to components and the available vehicles were selling above MSRP. That appears to have passed, so the question will now be discussed once we receive the auto insurance bills.

As it is now, I'm WFHing, and it's about a month and some change between fillups for the vehicles. If I wasn't WFHing, I would be walking to work. The main usage is for shopping, running errands, and doctors appointments. Weekend road trips are out of the question at this time. I certainly don't want to try juggling financing a new vehicle while paying off my home, and when the only good reason to upgrade is "I want Android Auto", that is also a extremely weak reason.

As long as it is kept garaged and on a battery maintainer, the ongoing cost of keeping your mother's old car in the family fleet will be pretty minimal aside from insurance, and in terms of depreciation it represents a large sum already spent.  I am sure there are people who would cite continuing to keep it as an instance of the sunk cost fallacy, and auto insurance does tend to be more expensive in major metropolitan areas.  All I can say is that for a driver here in Wichita with a long and clean history, the initial purchase price of a new car is equal to many years of insurance payments once the car reaches about 15 years of age.

[HighwayStar]

As long as it is kept garaged and on a battery maintainer, the ongoing cost of keeping your mother's old car in the family fleet will be pretty minimal aside from insurance, and in terms of depreciation it represents a large sum already spent.  I am sure there are people who would cite continuing to keep it as an instance of the sunk cost fallacy, and auto insurance does tend to be more expensive in major metropolitan areas.  All I can say is that for a driver here in Wichita with a long and clean history, the initial purchase price of a new car is equal to many years of insurance payments once the car reaches about 15 years of age.

I would say the sunk cost fallacy does not really apply here. The reason to keep it is based on the value it has in prolonging the need for another vehicle entirely. If you get rid of it today in x years you will need another car as opposed to x+y years if you kept it and spread the depreciation around. Its cost for those y years is likely lower than a new car.

[kkt]

I could get along without a car if I had to, but I still like having one.  I am close enough to grocery stores, bank, pharmacy, and light rail that goes downtown that I could get by without it.  But it's sure nice to be able to take home a few bags of groceries in the car instead of on foot.  Also good for trips outside the city.