Hello Mustachians:
My sister, who is in need of a new-to-her car, has offered to buy my car from me, and I'm wondering if anyone has any advice to offer on whether it is a good idea. Here are the details.
The car is a 2011 Honda Civic Hybrid. I've had it for about 3.5 years, and have put less 7000 miles on it during that time, for a total mileage of about 43,000 now. Most of that has come from a few odd road trips to visit friends in other parts of the country. On a day to day basis, I drive to the grocery store twice a month, to visit my parents in another part of the city, and to pick up and drop off my dry cleaning. All told, if I'm being efficient, I am driving less than 8 hours per month. The car cost me about $17,000 all in when I bought it, and is currently worth about $6,000 based on a "good" condition trade-in price, which is what I'd charge my sister.
My expenses for the car are about $800 a year (gas+insurance+city/state registration), not to mention repair costs that occur when people hit me and don't leave a note (something that has happened twice and cost me over $1K in repairs since I've had the car).
My question is this: does anyone have experience with actually living with a ZipCar-type service in lieu of a car in a big city? How annoying is it? What are your actual costs, and what do you think they would be in a situation like mine? FWIW, I wouldn't plan to buy another car until electric cars become mainstream enough to make used versions affordable.
I am leaning towards selling it to her, but I would like to know what my fellow Mustachians think first.