Priced off the road?

powned

custardy wrote: »

I often consider giving up the car.
the problem is times when i need to cross the city on a toght timescale

thats when a car comes into its own. if you dont do such journeys often it may be cheaper to pay for a cab unless you're in a big city. I just hate making small talk in taxis, even tho i was a cabbie at one time.

alexlyne

I would love to give up my car, but cannot bring myself to doing it. Have a young family, and the wife generally wont drive my car because it's too big (a C4), so we would be down to one fiesta with potentially 2 kids.

I have started cycling/training to work since october - the cost of the train is cheaper that the fuel/bridge toll by £3 per day (assuming current fuel and toll prices). I pay about £1 per day for my bike (cycle2work), so still better off. However I don't do it every day. Sometimes because I have to do some shopping on way home, sometimes because I have caught the next cold from the nipper at nursery.

Huge grats to anyone who can do without a car, either because they want to or they have to - and in most circumstances a real money saving plan!

WastingMyTime

I happily did without a car for just over 2 yrs. I didn't find it much of a problem as I was happy to get public transport, ride my bike and walk for most journeys.
I did find visiting my long-distance friends limiting though because of transport connections but I did increase my phonecalls to them.
I did home deliveries once a month so I didn't have to carry heavy bulky stuff and it was cheaper than going to the stores each week.
On the whole I did save alot of money because I had to think was it worth the effort for me to go and get an item or could I use something else instead that I have already. I also had to become very organised and disciplined because each journey had to matter but I loved it. I also was limited to what I could carry home so it limited the number of purchases I could make and so spent less.

I do have a car now because I can afford one (just, but it will be the first thing to go) but I really view my car as a luxury item. I do still implement alot of what I learnt and I still save money. Also, I know that it costs me about .15p per mile so, if its cheaper to walk/bike/public transport then I still use those options.

Good luck with going car-free.

mikey72

hubert_cumberdale wrote: »

it doesnt cost much tho really

the last year will probably cost me £ 7 a day to run my old banger (providing nothing brakes)
£100 to buy it
£29 mot + £3.40 for brandnew headlamp of ebay
£200 tax ish
£230 insurance
£8 wheel bearing
£40 fuel a week


a taxi would be way more than this the last time i got a taxi to work it was £6.50 so thats £13 on taxis a day
i also go home at lunch as well so if i did that in a taxi that would be 26 a day

nearly 4 times the cost of driving my self


that is probably the same as if i got a bus and i wont catch swine flu in my car or have to take a 1 hour journey

mind you i have to triple this for my three taxed and insured cars but thats my fault

That depends on finding a £100 banger every year that needs nothing doing.

Ours was an excellent buy at £475, but in 3 years and 50,000 miles it's still needed

8 oil changes
air filter
6 tyres
front brakes two sets of pads, and one set of discs
rear shoes
glow plugs
gear box oil
as service items

gear linkage
rear shocks
front seats
cv gaiter
stop solenoid
new radiator and anti freeze
for wear and tear

and we changed the cam belt and water pump as it's still worth keeping.

plus the tax insurance and mots.

Comstock

Car ownership was falling, albeit slightly, the last time the numbers were run

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1264282/Number-cars-road-falls-time-Second-World-War.html

I think this was before the latest round of car insurance increases, so it will be interesting to see what happens this April.

hubert_cumberdale

still cheaper than using a brand new car isnt it

bangers are the future if it has a serious brakage just scrap it and buy another one

mikey72

hubert_cumberdale wrote: »

still cheaper than using a brand new car isnt it

bangers are the future if it has a serious brakage just scrap it and buy another one

I don't reckon the list is bad for 50,000 miles, takes it to 140,000 overall.

I'd have put the service items, rear shocks, and maybe the cam belt on a new car by now.
So running a banger isn't much cheaper on day to day costs.

Seats were a tenner off ebay, as the old ones had sagged.
So really only the radiator that just rotted, and a tenner for the gear linkage.
Problem with scrapping and buying again is you may have to do it on short notice, so it's less of a bargain, and more of "whatever you can find", if the next one doesn't last you're losing.

But the op won't be paying anything, which sounds a lot better.

Mids_Costcutter

hubert_cumberdale wrote: »

it doesnt cost much tho really

the last year will probably cost me £ 7 a day to run my old banger (providing nothing brakes)
£100 to buy it
£29 mot + £3.40 for brandnew headlamp of ebay
£200 tax ish
£230 insurance
£8 wheel bearing
£40 fuel a week


a taxi would be way more than this the last time i got a taxi to work it was £6.50 so thats £13 on taxis a day
i also go home at lunch as well so if i did that in a taxi that would be 26 a day

nearly 4 times the cost of driving my self


that is probably the same as if i got a bus and i wont catch swine flu in my car or have to take a 1 hour journey

mind you i have to triple this for my three taxed and insured cars but thats my fault

Admirable (in money saving terms) that you can run a car so cheaply, but it's still cheaper to travel by bus. Even in London a 7-day bus and tram pass only costs £17.80

hubert_cumberdale

mines up to about 240k mileage i be giving it some new brake discs but they are a whopping £8 each and the pads are £15

I do all the work my self which is the only way an old car can be cheaper i think as i have never taken a car to a garage in my 10 years of driving (only for mot's)

hubert_cumberdale

Mids_Costcutter wrote: »

Admirable (in money saving terms) that you can run a car so cheaply, but it's still cheaper to travel by bus. Even in London a 7-day bus and tram pass only costs £17.80

i must admit i have never looked at the price of getting a bus pass rather than paying the individual return tickets