We have a car share program here in Halifax, Nova Scotia called
CarShareHFX. I've been considering selling my car and enrolling in this program.
As per the Mustachian compendium, I've started biking over the past two months. A lot. I've been biking everywhere I go - work, yacht club, soccer field, grocery store. 20k return trips sometimes. It's amazing! Alas, I've realized I really don't need to own a car. But there are those times where I might need one, such as visiting family in snowy weather, and I feel like this car share program will fill those gaps (a couple of times a month, maybe), and it's so damn cheap, as seen below.
A break down of the fixed costs of CarShare (Liberty Basic plan) compared to owning my own car is as follows:
Ownership Costs (monthly):
Insurance - $80
Registration - $7.15
CarShare Costs (monthly):
Enrollment Fee - $3.25
Now if I compare the cost of a trip...say a 3 hour, 45 KM trip, my own car will cost me $13.50 ($0.30 per KM), while CarShare will cost $24.45. Considering this would be a rare trip and the savings on fixed costs are huge, the price difference seems negligible.
If I sell my car now for $8500 and invest the monthly savings (83.9) at 7% interest, I would have $18,056.45 after 5 years. If I don't sell, my car will be worth around $4000 in 5 years time, if I'm lucky. I will also have to spend hours of my precious spare time maintaining it, especially the body. Our climate here in Halifax eats cars, even if you don't drive them. Car cancer (rust) is common.
One of the only detractors to the CarShare is that I will look like a dork driving a CarShare car - but I will potentially be laughing all the way to the bank. Anyone disagree?