Let's talk - The Vehicle

[zweipersona]

Without a doubt, vehicles are one of the biggest expenses in most households.  Even in a frugal household vehicles can still be immensely expensive.  They depreciate, cost fuel, and require maintenance and insurance.  What's the best way to deal with an object that requires AT LEAST $100 dollars a month? (Whereas the average person probably spends $500+)  Eliminate it.

The easiest way is to move to an urban area, where you can rely on public transportation and bicycles to get anywhere you want to go.  This completely eliminates reliance on a vehicle.  A bicycle will never require costly maintenance, and public transportation is a one time fee for its use.  Even using public transportation daily will be cheaper than a vehicle (Here, you can get a 30 day unlimited ride pass on buses for 50 dollars)

But there's other methods.

If your concern is grocery shopping, or just losing the freedom of getting around, you may consider a few alternatives.  You could have your groceries delivered.  Some companies do this, and a monthly delivery would come much cheaper than owning a vehicle.  Amazon has a LOT of groceries, from Chef Boyardee to your favorite chocolate, and often delivers at a price matching your local Wal-mart, sometimes even below!  You could also look into renting a vehicle on that day to buy your groceries and making that occasional trip.  This will definitely come cheaper than car ownership if it is infrequent, and would allow you to make other trips as well.  There are also hourly rental services springing up that could be even cheaper.

I've done a lot of thinking about how to free myself of the car (Even though I REALLY don't want to, I love driving, but I don't love the fact that it's my second biggest expense...). 

Does anyone else have some tricks to share?  I'm curious about other ways people control or outright eliminate the costs of their vehicle.

[gooki]

If you have a family, consider a 4 wheel, four seater bike. Great for trips to the beach/park/occasional shopping/even the doctor as the sick person doesn't have to pedal. They can even be designed to keep some of the elements out (sun/rain).

Personally this is where I want to head.

[darkelenchus]

Get your car stolen and don't replace it. Seriously. Worked for me.

[Jamesqf]

The easiest way is to move to an urban area, where you can rely on public transportation and bicycles to get anywhere you want to go.

I think you have a major fallacy here, which is the assumption that "anywhere you want to go" lies within the urban area.  Now that may be true for some people, but it's emphatically not for others.  If I had to live within an urban area for work, just about everywhere I'd want to go other than work would be outside the urban area - trailheads, lakes, places to ski, etc.  So moving to an urban area would just invert the commuting: instead of driving to work but being close to recreation, I'd be close to work but have to drive for the recreation.

[Rangifer]

One common option is to find a vehicle where the cost to operate is close to or better than the no car alternatives.

For this you need a car that is:

1. Near the end of the depreciation curve.
2. Cheap to insure.
3. Doesn't have major design flaws.

#1 isn't too hard to determine. You'd be looking at mid 90's and before in this category.
#2 can depend on the driver's record, but in general most economy cars are going to get you where you need to be in this area.
#3 is going to be the most difficult one. What you want to look for here is a vehicle that doesn't have any major known engine or drivetrain issues (ex: 2.5L subarus of certain years are practically guaranteed to blow the headgasket at some point). They do exist but you'll definately need to do your homework. Since this forum is about helping each other I'll give one free suggestion. The 1992-1994 Mazda Proteges (1.8L DOHC/5-speed Manual) are mechanically bulletproof. You'll only kill one through neglect.

Personally, my cost of ownership is ~$47/month, plus gas and maintenance (cheap if you follow the above steps). At that rate I could rent a car two days a month, or have a zip car for 6 hours. It's a no-brainer for me. 


Additionally, for those who already use alternative methods of transportation but would like to learn auto repair: The best time to learn how to fix a car is when you don't need one! Buy a cheap car that needs a little work. If you don't need it on Monday morning to get to work, who cares if it takes you an extra weekend to finish that small job you were doing on it. Hell, you could probably learn some valuable skills AND flip your fixed up ride for a profit.