Down to one car

[Donovan]

My wife and I bought our first house last month, which has been fun so far. One of the biggest benefits is that I'm now within 3.5 miles of work and will be biking full-time again! In this vein, we just sold our second car last week (1999 Grand Prix, my first car), and we are now a one car family!

On a side note, I have picked up two large items (an old 8 draw dresser and a used miter saw with the old style Ridgid mobile stand) in our remaining car (2005 Ford Focus hatchback) this week and have gotten some awesome looks and comments about it. The contractor that I picked the saw up from (which easily fit when the stand and saw were detached) actually said "Huh, I expected you to be in something...bigger." as soon as I got out of the car.  I love how everyone assumes only large SUV's and trucks can move large items :p

[rocketman48097]

That's awesome,we still have two cars but we only regularly drive one.  The other mostly gathers dust as I bike to work as well.  I wish I had a hatchback instead of a sedan and a two door. 

[Murdoch]

Great stuff Donovan.

[Cressida]

Nice! We ditched the 2nd car a few months ago. It did take a little bit of adjustment, but now it's second nature to just plan and check with each other about the car use on evenings and weekends. Can't beat the insurance savings. You won't regret it. :)

[elysianfields]

Congratulations on your accomplishment!

My family & I have dialed it back to ZERO cars and are reaping some great benefits.

I'm in the US Foreign Service and moved from Central Asia - where we drove an SUV - to Central Europe.  Since public transportation in our new post is nothing less than awesome, we didn't see a need to buy a car.  Moreover, we live 15 minutes' walk from my office, so I get the exercise benefit and often come home for lunch, which is more nutritious and cheaper.

We reinvested the cash from our SUV sale - a cool $15k - in our taxable account.  When our family of four needs to travel together, we rent a car.  It's much cheaper than paying insurance and losing depreciation on a metal box that would sit idle 95% of the time.

Finally, never lose sight of the fact that getting behind the wheel and driving on a public highway is perhaps the riskiest activity in which people regularly engage.

[geekette]

I've been trying to get my husband to ditch his car - no go.  He probably drives it 100 miles a quarter (retired), but he just refuses.  I do 99% of the driving and can't comfortably drive his car, or I'd ditch mine. 

I occasionally think of selling them both and getting a car for both of us. I have an Chevy HHR (crossover, can haul lots, high seating) and he has an Audi A4 convertible, so what are the chances we'd ever agree on anything...

[resipsaloquitur]

I ditched my car last weekend, so we're a one-car fam now. I can easily ride the 2.5 miles to work, or take the bus with my government-worker bus pass if I'm feeling lazy. I ditched the car when I realized that it was mostly a security blanket that made no mathematical sense.

I'll admit it was a surprisingly emotionally difficult decision for me. But the annual savings are just ridiculous, so I made myself do the financially sound thing. I haven't quite settled into the new normal yet, but I'm sure as the savings start piling up and turning into Vanguard shares, that ought to calm my nerves significantly.

[johnny847]

I ditched my car last weekend, so we're a one-car fam now. I can easily ride the 2.5 miles to work, or take the bus with my government-worker bus pass if I'm feeling lazy. I ditched the car when I realized that it was mostly a security blanket that made no mathematical sense.

I'll admit it was a surprisingly emotionally difficult decision for me. But the annual savings are just ridiculous, so I made myself do the financially sound thing. I haven't quite settled into the new normal yet, but I'm sure as the savings start piling up and turning into Vanguard shares, that ought to calm my nerves significantly.

That's the spirit!

I've been contemplating getting rid of my car (single dude here, so the only car). What's funny for me is my parents are not convinced that it's a good idea. Their perspective matters because they handed down the car to me when my mom upgraded her car., and it's still registered to my mom - I can't exactly sell the car without her blessing.
Then again, they pay for the car insurance and stuff and don't want me to pay them back, so my cost of car ownership is just fuel and maintenance. I can't really complain.
I need to drive the car back to MD, my parents' home state, in June 2016, to do an emissions test anyway. My parents and I agreed to delay the decision until then.

[seattleite]

Awesome! Good choice. My wife and I did this about 6 years ago. We drove the second car so rarely that we needed to replace the battery regularly because it would deplete so fully. It was a newish car too. Cars aren't made to just sit around. I'm much happier knowing that my awesome old car is being used every day by someone else who really needs it.

It's funny how long it took for us to recognize the reality that we needed only one car.

[veronica mars rover]

We're taking the leap this Spring and going from two cars to one (we have the same 2005 Focus that OP has and it's amazing what you can haul in those things!).  We have absolutely no use for the second car and like seattleite we've been letting the battery deplete.  But it's such a security blanket to have two.  I had an unstable work situation for years and couldn't fathom getting rid of one car because what if I needed it again?  What if I have to drive to an interview?  These days I take my employer-sponsored bus pass three miles from my house, same time every day.  Stable work makes everything so much simpler.