Sell Second Car? Bicycling Family Needs to Decide.

[onemorebike]

We own two very mustachian vehicles, one which is a beater that we bought for $2,500 in 2005 and continue to infrequently get around in, the other a slightly nicer salvage title Subaru we bought for $5,000 that we intend to drive into the ground.

As the Prizm sits idle in front of our house while we bike I regularly talk with my wife about selling it and relying more on our bikes (we already bike anywhere within 2-5 miles almost always and 5-10 pretty regularly) and the one car.

I just did the math in this spreadsheet and could use some mustachian advice. (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmyTUlzD72vpdHRocHAzMWdBOEQyNmZaa1JGeGRaSXc).

It appears, presuming no major breakdowns, that it costs $966 a year - at the level of use it currently incurs - to keep the Prizm running.  We could MAYBE sell it for 5-700 bucks if we were interested. I think having the second car encourages use when we could probably consolidate, make fewer trips all together and probably shop/consume less if we had one car. The best use I can think of for the second car is occasionally (once a month) I fly for work and am able to leave the Prizm in long term parking (transit access to the Denver Airport from my home is a huge pain in the ass). The high mileage on the Subaru is primarily due to my wife's work use as we bought a home closer to her work, I work from home but she needs to drive between many schools during work some days.

Initially I was thinking we would sell the Prizm but $966 a year seems like it might contend with the cost of renting a car, taking a cab, or transit to get to the airport and occasional light rail/transit passes to go downtown, or somewhere we wouldn't bike.

Any thoughts after looking at my specific costs how I can maximize our situation?

Is selling such an economical car even a good idea? In theory I'd love to be done with this thing but as I look at the numbers closer it seems like it isn't worth the pain.

Thanks for thoughts in advance!

[onemorebike]

Oh, and I forgot to mention it is likely my insurance on the Subaru would go up some if I was no longer receiving a two car discount, although I don't know how much at this point.

[TheDude]

I'm kind of in the same situation. I lean most of the time to selling our second car but I just havent pulled the trigger yet.

You may spend some money renting a car when you need it but you wont have any maintenance ever which is nice. Also does you employer reimburse you know for parking? If so couldn't you take the bus and get you employer to reimburse you for that. It would be cheaper than paying for parking.

[Catbert]

For less than a thousand dollars a year, I'd keep it.  It sounds very convenient to leave at the airport when you travel (I think you said this was a regular occurrence) rather than taking a cab/shuttle or having your spouse drive round trip.  It's also a cheap back-up when your primary car is in the shop or finally dies.

All this assumes that you aren't knee-deep in consumer debt where the money you could get for selling and not keeping would make a difference in killing your debt.   

[Captain and Mrs Slow]

Also does you employer reimburse you know for parking? If so couldn't you take the bus and get you employer to reimburse you for that. It would be cheaper than paying for parking.

Why are you not taking a taxi?

On to the first question I suppose it depends on your saving rates, debt income etc. If you doing good in all other areas than it's probably worth keeping it. Besides that the main one breaks down or needs to go in the garage it would be a good back up for your wife.

[onemorebike]

Yeah, I live just far enough from the airport that a taxi is something like $120 round trip and to park for the week is $48, even getting on a bus requires me driving to a park and ride unless I take the long way through downtown and out to the airport.

The only debt we have is mortgage and a decent sized student loan from my wife's grad school. Also, the sale of the car won't bring enough money to actually pay much of that down. I'm guessing I could sell for $500-$700 if I were aggressive or lucky.

It pains me to think we will keep it, literally for about 3 years I've dreamt of doing away with it but how strange to realize that maybe financially it has been smart to keep it instead of sell it off.

If anyone else has a thought to contribute, I'd love to hear it.

Thanks,

Dave

[Captain and Mrs Slow]

120 bucks for taxi ouch, would work complain about a bill that large?

For my wife while we're well connected it would simply take too long to get there, she'd lose too much time out of her work day

[capital]

Yeah, I live just far enough from the airport that a taxi is something like $120 round trip and to park for the week is $48, even getting on a bus requires me driving to a park and ride unless I take the long way through downtown and out to the airport.

The only debt we have is mortgage and a decent sized student loan from my wife's grad school. Also, the sale of the car won't bring enough money to actually pay much of that down. I'm guessing I could sell for $500-$700 if I were aggressive or lucky.

Unless you're not getting reimbursed, definitely just take a taxi and bill it to work. $60 one-way sounds about normal for an airport taxi bill. Otherwise look into a shared shuttle, and schedule a talk with your boss why they're not paying for your work travel.

I think you're undervaluing the car, too, unless it's totally trashed, and yours sounds low-mileage based on your habits. The Denver Craigslist doesn't have any Prizm priced under $1000, and there are plenty over $2000, mostly older than yours. Fuel-efficient, reliable used cars have gained value.

[galaxie]

If you really don't think it's worth selling, consider donating it.  Even if it sits in the driveway most of the time, you're still having to at least carry liability insurance on it, so getting rid of it for free is still better than keeping it.

Work really should be reimbursing your work-related travel to the airport.