Giving Up The Car

[barry1010]

I am thinking about not replacing my car when it is time to send it to the graveyard. I don't use it for commuting and I am using taxis more and more (when I go to the local hospitals as there are never parking spaces).
Using the bus is not an option. Is there any sort of mileage cut off point where it would be more economical to use taxis for shorter journeys and hire a car for holidays and things?
Has anyone else done this?

[Sqad]

No i haven't barry,but in my opinion it is a very good idea if you live centrally and if you only use the car on the occasions you describe.
We talked about it a lot but Mrs sqad was not convinced so we bought another quite expensive car and it has been out 3 times in the last 6 months.

[emmie]

friends gave up their car last year, they didn't use it very often and literally gave it away. They found that hiring a car for trips out is more cost effective than leaving the car to sit in the car park wasting away,
they live in central London. They use their bicyles for getting around in town though.

[jennyjoan]

My car is nearly 10 years old and has 23,000 miles so I'll be keeping mine for as long as I can.

[emmie]

and are relatively young and healthy

[barry1010]

emmie, it seems feasible. Of course, when the time comes I could try doing without the car and if it just doesn't work out I could buy another. I've had a car since I was 17 and it would seem odd not to have one. Car hire is easier than ever with it delivered to the door so it should be convenient.
Since lockdown I've been having my groceries delivered weekly and intend to carry on so I won't even need a car for that. My butcher and greengrocer are a five minute walk away.
I'm warming to the idea.

[bhg481]

Start by looking at roughly what it costs to keep your car even if you don't use it. Tax, insurance and servicing need to be paid and if you add in the cost of the occasional maintenance/repair (tyres, battery, exhaust etc) it can soon add up to £1000, depending on the age and size of your car. You can buy a lot of taxi journeys for that. The tricky bit is how you use your car for holidays. If it's just a means of transporting lots of bit to the destination and back again then hiring is OK. If you tour, hiring might work out expensive as some car hire firms have a mileage charge.

[Milo2]

A friend of mine gave up her car a while ago. She found that she was using it less and less. She used her bus pass to go to the local town and,like you, used taxis when this was difficult. She said she hasn’t missed it at all.

[emmie]

barry they seem happy enough, and get on trains to see family, adult family train tickets are quite often cost effective

[gingejbee]

It's "convenience" you're giving up....just how inconvenient it could be depends on where you live. Big city/small town/out-in-the-sticks.

[emmie]

i don't drive, its one of the reasons i haven't moved out of town.
Living in the sticks would be a crippler for me, much as i love the idea.

[Peter Pedant]

yes or no - the calculation is taught
any book keepers out there?
on variable costing
the fixed cost of a car is around £3000 per year so decide how many journey you are gonna make - train journey ticket will give you an idea

divide one into the other - or tot up the journey cost and see if it greater than 3000

fr instance for qad above on the info - each journey he has made has so far cost £1000 .

this is a recognised costing tecnic - - ish

[barry1010]

Lots of good points to consider, thanks.
Sadly the buses here are abysmal. I live under 3 miles from my local, very large teaching hospital. To get there by bus I would need to catch a bus in to town which is in the opposite direction (runs every 30 minutes but goes up and down every road and lane it can manage taking at least half an hour) then a bus to the hospital. No service after 6pm. So I would have to allow at least an hour and half - no good with leaky aged relatives in tow. A taxi is only £4 each way, a bargain.
I shall try and do my sums. I have been extremely lucky with this car. I bought it brand new for a stupidly low price, cheaper than the same dealership were selling their ex-demos and delivery mileage cars. It has always sailed through the MOT and apart from regular servicing has only cost me a new set of tyres and brakes and a battery. Insurance is under £200 a year.
Hopefully it will keep going and going but with cars you just never know.

[bhg481]

I suspect the £3000 a year includes depreciation. I am assuming barry's car is old enough for depreciation to be insignificant and is fully paid for, so there are no interest charges on a loan.

[gingejbee]

For us, the economics would be relatively unimportant...it's the convenience that matters (when you are many, many miles from a train station and there is little in the way of other public transport).

[emmie]

i would stick with it for the time being barry, it seems that you would have a horrendous journey by public transport. I am lucky that i live very central to bus, train, underground, but living in the sticks would mean a total rethink.

[New Judge]

My small car costs me £800 a year to run - double that if you include depreciation. In the past twelve months it has covered around 1,100 miles, so about 73p per mile, or almost £1.50 including depreciation. If I had the advice of an accountant he would tell me to ditch it. I could get taxis for local journeys and hire a car when I went on a longish trip. But I'm not skint and it's handy. It sits in my garage, ready to go when I need it. So you pays your money and takes your choice.

[barry1010]

bhg, I bought it cash and the current resale value is around £3k (according to webuyanycar.com) so it owes me nothing

[bhg481]

That's what I was guessing barry, hence depreciation of zero in my back-of-envelope calculation. Incidentally, car parking at our local hospital is £3 for 2 hours (if there's space available) which all-but pays for one of your taxi journeys.

[barry1010]

Yep, parking isn't cheap at our hospital, even the blue badgers have to pay

[Vagus]

We have a slightly different situation.
I got rid of my small car about six years ago, after digging my heels in for a number of years until at its last MOT it had only done 200 miles since it’s last one.
Other half has a much bigger car which is the one we used/use for long trips (family spread far and wide) and holidays. And click and collect. We both have free travel passes and used them regularly on the train.
I agreed to sell it on the understanding that if I missed it we would get me another.
I’ve never missed it, in fact it’s a relief in some ways not to have it. The only reason I’d get another is if something happened to other half as I won’t drive the big car.
As you say, you can always buy another if you want to in the future.