Did anyone else give up there car for a bike?

[monnet]

I got my first ever car last year, at the grand old age of 31. It's uses are glorified shopping trolley, a cheaper way of visiting family and friends than the train.

It gets its most use moving the bike about though. Useful for races taking to family and friends so I can get a few miles in. For the pleasure those things give me, it's just about worth it. If there were races on my doorstep every other week and I didn't live over 100miles from my folks I'd get rid of it - it's almost as big a money pit as the bikes but without the pleasure.

 

[cyberknight]

I think it also depends on where you live, in rural locations the public transport can be so bad that if you do need to get somewhere and carry a load then you motorbike/ cycle can be hard to do .

I live in rural location, work is in the middle of nowhere with no public transport and no easy access to a cycle shop for repairs during work hours without taking time off , we have a 4 year old and another baby on the way so it makes sense for us to run a car .
The wife uses the car and i cycle commute but on the odd occasion i do need transport like today as my bike is at the LBS as it needs a new headset and rear wheel rebuild .

 

[sabian92]

I can drive but as an unemployed student, I simply cannot afford the running costs. I don't see the point in owning one - I don't actually need to go anywhere that I need a car for anyway.

 

[sparkyman]

3 Years ago, save's me loads of money not driving to work and even better no more midnight calls from the KIds looking for a ride home..

Sparkyman

 

[Flying Dodo]

I've been car free nearly a month (gave it to my soon to be ex-wife). I hardly used it anyway, as you can pack a lot of shopping into 2 panniers.

If I wasn't in the south-east with a relatively good bus service and easy access to trains both into London and north, I could see problems trying to go car free.

 

[Holdsworth]

I have had my licence for a year now but no car as the costs are just too much, especially for insurance. It is just way too much over what a 19 year old male with 0 year's no claims, it is over £2500 for me to be insured on anything. At the moment I am only on £145 a week on average due to being agency and only working part-time.

TBH the licence hasn't benefited me in any way apart from being a little smug about passing 1st time and being able to have ID for buying booze (no passport either). It is then a rather good thing that I paid nothing for the 35 lessons it took and the £100 test fees and test car rental

(although I did pay the £31 for my theory and luckily passed 1st time despite only revising for 2 days!)

 

[Allirog]

I gave up driving a car in 1996 when I realised I was working one day a week just to keep it on the road. Now I work four days a week and enjoy an extra morning lying in my pit, snuggled up to Mavis, my Tesco Value inflatable bed companion that I managed to buy with the money I saved by cycling.



.

 

[derrick]

I gave up using the car a few years ago, only use it weekends for my other hobby, don't know if i would get rid of it even though the wife has her own motor. it's always handy to have even though i hate driving now, if i could lug all my gear around on the bike i might consider it.

 

[J's TSR]

I would so love to give up my car, but my job means that I need to have one, though when the occasion presents I use my brompton/train and feel so much better when I get to work, than having sat in a traffic queue for nearly an hour! I wish there were more cycle paths around the Hampshire/West Sussex area though!

 

[Sheepy1209]

I gave up the car six years ago, after I got my motorbike licence - for the few occasions I need a car I can hire one, and the fixed costs running the motorbike are so low that there's no point getting rid of it. I've done 1400 miles on it so far this year, including 500 over a single weekend.

Daft thing is, I found cars were money pits because I got suckered into the whole image thing, and wouldn't make do with a basic runabout - I could run something cheap for peanuts but I'd want 'better'. With the motorbike there's less of that pathetic status symbol thing - like cycling, you can kind of jump off the treadmill, and even buying the very best is much cheaper than doing the same where cars are concerned.

 

[gavroche]

Need my car for work. would still have one anyway as cars are essential for carrying and holidays. Couldn't do without one. Road tax only 30 pounds

 

[HJ]

I sold my last car in 1994 to go to university as a mature student, I had every intention of buying another one once I had graduated. However, after four years enjoying the freedom of not owning a car, I found that I really didn't want to buy another one. You don't realise just how much a millstone around your neck car ownership is until you have lived with out one. There is no way I want to go back!

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

yep,

gave up my beloved landrover defender county 90 with cab heater on 4th jan 2009, i loved it. i the aa website said at the time i would save approx £13,000 (inc finance) per year. wife has small car and we manage just fine.

never missed her once, especially as i pass petrol stations and see the price of diesel.

 

[cycleruk]

i did at the start of the year, usual story, insurance, petrol prices going up meant i was leaving the car at home, in the end got rid of it, now do every thing i can by .... so much more fun!

 

[Dave W]

i did at the start of the year, usual story, insurance, petrol prices going up meant i was leaving the car at home, in the end got rid of it, now do every thing i can by .... so much more fun!

Scrapped my motor a few weeks ago. Still got the family bus but I hardly ever use it.

Seemed pointless having a car sitting there doinb nowt so I got me a new bike and got rid of the car.