Owning a Car Will Soon Be as Quaint as Owning a Horse

[baby monster]

This article in today's NYT caught my eye mainly because @Dancing Fire bumped up his thread on price of car vs ER. And to think about all this money I can spend to upgrade if I don't have to buy another car!

The author makes a good point about landlines. Most people never thought they'd give one up but now, even if you have a house phone, it's VOIP not actual copper wire.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/opinion/end-of-cars-uber-lyft.html

 

[liaerfbv]

I haven't owned/driven a car in 3 years and it's great. DH will sometimes rent a zipcar for us if we need to trek out to the suburbs or something. I calculated it one time and I think we save around $800 a month not owning a car, assuming we bought it outright and didn't have a monthly car payment.

 

[bludiva]

I went without a car for about two years after moving to my current city. It's only feasible if you live in certain neighborhoods but I'd do it again, especially as more shared transportation options become available.

 

[redwood66]

Maybe for people who live in urban areas this is fine but there are tens of millions who do not. I will be keeping my car, my truck, and my horses.

 

[Dancing Fire]

We do need cars for where we live.

 

[redwood66]

We do need cars for where we live.

You do. Your little burg used to be the sticks but not so much any more.

 

[Dancing Fire]

You do. Your little burg used to be the sticks but not so much any more.

We have grandkids with us most of the time. They need to be in car seats.

 

[Gussie]

I went without a car for about two years after moving to my current city. It's only feasible if you live in certain neighborhoods but I'd do it again, especially as more shared transportation options become available.

You lived without a car, here!?! How??? I live in my car!

 

[Ally T]

We also need cars where we live. We’re not even on a bus route & there are only a handful of pavements at certain stages along some of the lanes.

 

[redwood66]

The comments were pretty funny for this article. It seems most readers think she is quite out of touch with anything outside The City. Nearly as out of touch as Mr. Brooks' article today, ironic.

 

[liaerfbv]

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/04/22/curing-your-clown-like-car-habit/

 

[redwood66]

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/04/22/curing-your-clown-like-car-habit/

LOL. That guy can kiss my tailpipe. I'm retired and drive much less now so that is my contribution.

 

[baby monster]

I don't think she's that far off. Anecdotal evidence of some comments in NYT doesn equal being off base. According to 2015 census, 62.7% of US population lives in cities. So for majority of US using ride sharing is a viable option.

She did say that people living in rural areas don't have much of a choice. To that, Mr. Mustache says one can always move.

 

[Gussie]

I think the author has probably never been to Texas.

 

[redwood66]

People should do what works for them. Uber and Lyft are not ridesharing though so that is a misnomer in the article. They are a private taxi service.

 

[Dancing Fire]

We also need cars where we live. We’re not even on a bus route & there are only a handful of pavements at certain stages along some of the lanes.

So you live out in the boonies?

 

[Ally T]

So you live out in the boonies?

The English equivalent, yes! There is a 300 year old pub here which holds us villagers together, but not a bloody shop in sight!

 

[lyra]

I live in an urban area with terrible transit. You need a car to get to the Go train station. You can't get anywhere in this city without it taking an hour each way, when driving would be around 20 minutes or less to the farthest destination (mall). I've been a commuter. Hated it. I rarely drive, but I have the option.

 

[bludiva]

You lived without a car, here!?! How??? I live in my car!

i was living/working downtown and my commute was less than a mile. It's not as doable now but it was nice while it lasted!

 

[Maisie]

The English equivalent, yes! There is a 300 year old pub here which holds us villagers together, but not a bloody shop in sight!

Same here. Closest shop/doctor/pharmacy is over 6 miles away. Closest city 20 miles away.

Don’t get me started on the buses. Monday to Friday. Every 3 hours. No service on the weekend.

 

[OoohShiny]

People should do what works for them. Uber and Lyft are not ridesharing though so that is a misnomer in the article. They are a private taxi service.

Taxis really aren't 'public transport' - it's a car that has to do an A-to-B trip to get to you and then a B-to-C trip to take you where you want to get, effectively meaning two journeys for the only one journey (B-to-C) that you'd need to do in your car...

The socialists / environmentalists / car-hating community (cyclists? lol) love to see car owners restricted more and more, and celebrate the reduction in car ownership - I am sure it's partly because it represents a loss of personal freedom.

Yes, one can rent a Zipcar or similar car-sharing scheme vehicle, but you can't just pop out for milk when you need to, you can't rush to a hospital/relative's house if you need to, and for those of us who love driving, a gutless CVT/automatic Hybrid on tiny wheels and balloon tyres, with no style and that smells of other people, is not an attractive proposition

It also involves your journey being tracked from end to end, and very likely your driving behaviour. Those of us driving newer cars already have that in place, admittedly, whether we know it or not but that is why I drive an old car with hardly any tech on it


I could use public transport (that isn't really 'public transport' because it's private companies running it for profit...) to get to and from work, but having checked, it would take two hours and 45 minutes each way minimum with the walk at each end, and cost anywhere from £30 to £50 depending on when I booked and what time I needed to travel. Even if I bought a folding bike to use at each end, I'd only save perhaps 25 minutes in each direction, so 2 hours 20 minutes total.

As it stands, it takes 45 minutes to an hour and 10 minutes in the car and an 8 minute walk, and even with my knackered old car doing only 30mpg, it's £20 in petrol plus whatever tyres/servicing costs over the year (which is not £10-30 per day worth of cost).

So saving at least £50 and 10 hours a week is a no-brainer!

Could I move closer to work? Well, in theory... but to live close enough to walk to work would mean spending something like £300,000 for a 1-bed flat...

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

Oh gosh I could NOT! I took public transit ONCE to my school (Long Island/Brooklyn). 10 minute walk, 30 minute train ride ($9) ONE WAY! Then either an additional 30 minute walk OR a 20 minute bus ride ($3)! So well over an hour each way and around $20-$25 each day, INSANE! The drive in WITH traffic takes about 45 minutes. Plus on the way home I can stop and do all my shopping easily.

 

[LinSF]

I'm sitting here thinking about the relative costs of everything where I live... I need a car because I have children. If I didnt have kids I could probably get away without one. We have good public transit, but its expensive. Bus, train, ferry, taxi, I've used them all, and none are a cost savings or convenient. My favorite commute to work cost me the following $360 train pass monthly, $150 car insurance, $70 gas, plus maintenance, etc. That's nearly 600 a month just for work commute.

I guess I'm saying that it depends on your circumstances and your location. That said, transportation type is unimportant to me, my ring has always been worth more than my car. A car, whether worth 5k or 50k still gets you places!

 

[ksinger]

I think the author has probably never been to Texas.

Or Oklahoma. I double-dog dare her to do something like that here, and be able to keep a job, or not at some point, keel over from trying to cycle when you need milk and it's 106 in the shade, or when you need to sling yourself and your animals and an overnight bag into something with 4 wheels as you quickly prepare to get out of the path of a tornadic storm barreling down on you. As others have pointed out, there are a lot of places - some of them even medium to large cities, where going without personal transportation is just not feasible past the footloose bumming-a-ride days of college. So yeah, I'm keeping my Outback.

 

[Gussie]

Or Oklahoma. I double-dog dare her to do something like that here, and be able to keep a job, or not at some point, keel over from trying to cycle when you need milk and it's 106 in the shade, or when you need to sling yourself and your animals and an overnight bag into something with 4 wheels as you quickly prepare to get out of the path of a tornadic storm barreling down on you. As others have pointed out, there are a lot of places - some of them even medium to large cities, where going without personal transportation is just not feasible past the footloose bumming-a-ride days of college. So yeah, I'm keeping my Outback.

Lol, I thought about the heat too! When it's 98 and 100% humidity in the thick gulf coast air, no way am I biking even if I could. I prefer to shower after a sauna. I would be showering so much that the water I wasted would make up for any benefit of not driving! Owning a car is not quaint here; it's survival.

 

[AV_]

The streets of the old town are too narrow for cars & the place is beyond desired.

 

[qubitasaurus]

I don't own a car, instead I take a taxi to work every day. This is not abnormal in asia -- cities are dense and space even to park a car is very expensive so taxis are cheaper. Arround here the goverment has also legislated that no new cars will be allowed - now it is only possible to get a car if someone else scraps one so the total number of cars is conserved. To implement this they have a bidding system where you must bid for a certificate entitling you to buy a car (there are a finite number of certificates auctioned off each year and the person who bids the most wins the 'auction' sort of like ebay). During my time here certificates have been as much as $100,000. Afterwards you have to pay for the car which is taxed at something like 100% (so cars typically cost $80,000 +. Of which 40,000 is the price of the car and 40,000 is tax). Running costs are proportionately high. It works out much cheaper to take taxis everywhere.

However I found the article trite. I dont care that he predicted the widespread addoption of cell phones. As a journalist you speculate about the future a lot -- one would hope that sometimes you will be right, it is a given that you will also sometimes be wrong as it is not a deterministic process.

 

[missy]

Most people never thought they'd give one up but now, even if you have a house phone, it's VOIP not actual copper wire.

We actually have a copper wire landline here in our Brooklyn home and we are overpaying for it too. It's $100 a month just to have it. In our NJ home our landline is VOIP and it's eh. My dh doesn't notice a difference but I do and prefer the Brooklyn landline. We also have a hard wired phone (not cordless) because I prefer talking on a hard wired connection. For me it is a clearer sound.

And I never chat on my mobile phone. I use that for texting and emergency calls only if I am not near a landline.

I'm old school that way but just because I do notice a difference.

I wish we could all get rid of our cars and cycle everywhere. Better for the environment and better for us.

 

[ksinger]

However I found the article trite. I dont care that he predicted the widespread addoption of cell phones. As a journalist you speculate about the future a lot -- one would hope that sometimes you will be right, it is a given that you will also sometimes be wrong as it is not a deterministic process.

Yeah, I picked up on that too, the "I was SO spot on about cell phone adoption so I must be right about this" preening. Because predicting the widespread adoption of (slightly)novel technology/gadgetry that is heavily advertised is always such a stretch, and I'm sure she was the ONLY one to see it.

 

[House Cat]

I can see car sharing being a way to avoid car ownership for people who live in more spread out areas. I have to admit...i would love to switch out my car on a regular basis. Oh, all the sports cars I would drive!