Giving up the car completely?

[TrishE]

About 10 miles from the city, Bardney to be precise.

Nice ride to and from Lincoln to Bardney. Not far at all my mum lives in metheringham I stay at hers part of the week but live in Newark at the mo

 

[MichaelW2]

Rarely used cars still have the same fixed costs of tax, insurance, MOT, annual maintenance. cars generally work better when used regularly. I use my local car club when I need 4 wheels.

 

[StaffCycler]

Thanks all for the replies, everyone. You make some great points. When I first started working at home (starting a new business) my car was SORN for a couple of years. If I needed a car I'd borrow a family member's, but that was super rare. I'm quite a homebody and live in a rental (so no DIY issues). The only commuting I do is to go into town to work and go to the gym, which is about 4 miles away (the ride would make ideal warmup).

 

[TrishE]

@TrishnBonnie: That looks very handy. I'm only 1.5 miles from the train station so this would definitely open up opportunities for getting around. How do you cope in the winter? Is it just a case of getting wet-weather gear and dealing with it?

The only time I don't ride is when it's icy so last winter I walked to work from the station twice, luckily it's only two miles or so once I get to Lincoln. I just get wet if it's raining and get changed at work my hair is always a mess but I wear a hat as part of my work uniform so I can hide it

If family visit I usually ask for a lift to a shop if I need anything heavy. My sister visited one time and said this isn't right we're just sitting here drinking tea shouldn't we be popping to maplins or something!!! The trip before was for a solar panel lol.

 

[StaffCycler]

Thanks for the info @TrishnBonnie. It might sound daft but it's nice to hear that people are still managing to get about without being tethered to car ownership. Given how shitty traffic is getting almsot everwhere these days, and the hassle of maintaining/paying for a car it seems like a sensible choice for me to use public transport/cycling more often, especially as almost all retailers offer delivery, making shopping trips much less demanding.

 

[TrishE]

Thanks for the info @TrishnBonnie. It might sound daft but it's nice to hear that people are still managing to get about without being tethered to car ownership. Given how shitty traffic is getting almsot everwhere these days, and the hassle of maintaining/paying for a car it seems like a sensible choice for me to use public transport/cycling more often, especially as almost all retailers offer delivery, making shopping trips much less demanding.

Not daft at all and there's always a trailer to carry stuff too

 

[screenman]

I would say running both our cars costs about £12500 a year, maybe a tad more, they are both paid for but we do a lot of miles of which some is down to business.

 

[KneesUp]

I would say running both our cars costs about £12500 a year, maybe a tad more, they are both paid for but we do a lot of miles of which some is down to business.

Blimey - that's a lot of miles or expensive parts - or does that include depreciation too?

 

[Hip Priest]

Whilst I much prefer commuting by bicycle, I doubt I'd ever give up owning a car. They're just so handy. I guess it depends on personal circumstance though.

 

[Dave 123]

@StaffCycler we have one car between the 2 of us. I rarely drive it.

The luxury of a car is that the night you get the "dad may not make it through the night" call at midnight (he did on that occasion) then Cambridge to Chester is doable in a few hours. Relying on other forms of transport would have been impossible or expensive!

So if it doesn't cost much, and you can afford it then I'd say keep it as it might just come in handy one day.

 

[screenman]

Blimey - that's a lot of miles or expensive parts - or does that include depreciation too?

It does however I have never lost more than £1,500 per year on either car, we live rural and do a lot of miles, fuel alone comes to about £7,000. Then add servicing, insurance, tyres, ved, etc.

 

[Tail End Charlie]

Taking a long break will mean my insurance will be expensive if I decide to become a car owner again in the future.

You may find that doesn't happen. I got another car, after a break of three years, and at the end of "New customer, that's 25% off, sir, your home insurance is with us, that's another 25% off sir, your wife has a car with us, another 10% off, 10% for something else, it's a Monday, another 5%" I ended up paying £10 more than if I'd had 9 years NCB. After one year without a claim, I immediately jumped to 5 years NCB.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

Are you actually going to save money? The extra cost of train fares, buses, mates petrol money, higher maintenance costs on bike could add up to the same as your car costs over the course of a year.

In my case we had two cars and used one regularly while the other did nothing on the drive for 6 months as it was sorn. I cycle to work every day and have genuinelyour saved as we were not replacing one with another.

What do you mean by higher maintenance costs on a bike? I find my commuter bike relatively inexpensive to maintain and run, and I do about 9,000 miles a year on it, so parts wear out. I still probably spend under $AU1000 per year on it (which, thanks to Brexit, is about 570 pounds). It helps that I do almost all my own maintenance, and only use a bike shop when I need a new pair of wheels built, since I prefer to leave those to the experts.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

I take my bike on the train, I've a hospital appointment tomorrow so will get the train to Lincoln then cycle to the hospital using quiet roads. I don't have a car and use a bike or bike and train instead. A folding bike would mean being able to use the bus too View attachment 136337

I just ride to the hospital, been 5 or 6 times in the last two months, though I suspect its a tad further for you, my ride is some 10 miles there and likewise back if no detours.

 

[bikingdad90]

What do you mean by higher maintenance costs on a bike? I find my commuter bike relatively inexpensive to maintain and run, and I do about 9,000 miles a year on it, so parts wear out. I still probably spend under $AU1000 per year on it (which, thanks to Brexit, is about 570 pounds). It helps that I do almost all my own maintenance, and only use a bike shop when I need a new pair of wheels built, since I prefer to leave those to the experts.

If you didn't use the bike as much your costs would be lower as things would last longer in time terms as is it getting less use in the same period. For example now I commute I go through two sets of pads, two chains a year and a service. Previously before i started commutting I would be lucky to need a new chain.