How long have you been car free, and how do you find it? It’s certainly something I ponder, from time to time.
Unfortunately I am not there yet, but I am of a mind that my current car will be my last car, while I already think the running costs of a car are probably not justified, the purchase cost of a new model are certainly not. when I bought my large estate car it was on the assumption that by the time it was 10 years old my children would have finished university and I wouldn't need to be lugging loads around any more.
I don't need to drive to get to my workplace and I can walk to town (shops/restaurants/cinema/bowling), or the supermarket (or get delivery), so really my only car need is getting to audaxes, Going to the airport a taxi cost is in line with a weeks airport parking.
Insightful question, Phil. Will be interesting to hear the extent to which these helpful suggestions are based on experience.
Indeed, currently it is an ambition rather than experience. But I find getting to work in a car to be less pleasant than riding, and I do not tend to use the car for groceries. So in the last year I have had 8 trips to universities (which will be down to 2 in the next 12 months then none), went to Loughton to collect my LEL stuff (could have used the train), and 8 trips to audax events. Only one of which could not be managed on the train, or it could have but would have resulted in an additional hotel stay. This year was an unusually high number of non local events for me as I chase 100 points. 2022 had 5 audaxes I drove to.
I do not advocate the car free life for everyone, but when people use the car so infrequently the battery goes flat between uses, then it raises the question whether the car is good value. Even less so in London where car clubs exist (Zipcar etc), which I understand to be cheaper and more flexible than conventional car hire.
locally car hire for a day is about £80 or £60 for a van, and for a weekend is about £200. adding servicing, insurance, VED, MOT and tyres I probably spend about £2k a year keeping my car going, that pays for a lot of hire occasions. Car due in for a diagnostic check next week after warning light and limp home incident on a work trip (company would hire a car if needed), the outcome of that may well push car free life forward. In response I stopped using it, and I got the train to Brimstone, which I found surprisingly low stress. Getting the train to audaxes also makes sense for the journey home after long events as no need to worry about travelling tired. of course you need to finish before the last train home, because the first train in the morning eats into work time.
as you astutely point out, this is all theory currently.
Pros
potentially cheaper if fewer than 8 car hires per year
no arranging of mot, service, unexpected repairs
no time spent cleaning the car
no temptation to use the car for short journeys just because it's already owned.
no driving tired after long events
Cons
no car available for surprise events that come up.
car hire pricing and availability is variable
getting bike to shop for repair is a hassle (or at least getting home after dropping it off is a hassle, maybe I should ask about a courtesy bike
)
getting anywhere far afield outside of public transport hours is a hassle
train journey times are often longer
a hire car needed for Saturday might need to be hired from Friday evening to Monday morning.
