How do people rely on their car to get to a 9-5 job?

Mark_Glasses

I'm not sure whether this belongs here or the employment board so apologies if it's in the wrong place.

I currently live in London and don't have a car but may have to move out of London one day because of the cost of living there.

One big concern I have about moving out of London is having to rely on a car to get me to work.

I owned a car from when I was 17 until my mid-20s. Like all car owners I made several trips to the mechanic. When I was a student this was very doable, I worked evenings and weekends when mechanics didn't and there was always room between lectures to take my car to the mechanic.

Once I started working 9-5 I had a newer more reliable car than the ones I'd had previously. As standard though it needed an MOT every year and a service every 6k miles which for me was twice a year. This meant taking 3 days annual leave for that alone. Then there was the day they shut the roads due to snow, another days annual leave. Another time someone smashed my windscreen, another days annual leave. That's a quarter of my annual leave gone already without having to take it to the mechanic for repairs which had fortunately been few and far between at that point.

It felt like a ticking time bomb and what kept me going was the hope I'd get the opportunity to move to London and sell my car which is exactly what happened.

I never had time for holiday's back then, all my annual leave was spent either on car things or going to London for job interviews.

How do people manage it? 

CliveOfIndia

If you own a car then you accept that there are times when it will be in the garage.  If you are unable to book the garage for a time outside of work hours, there are a few options.

Some garages will lend you a courtesy car for when yours is in for a routine service.  Granted, these tend to be the larger franchised dealers, so you'll be paying more than you would to have the work done by your local friendly independent mechanic.

Aside from that - bus/coach, train, lift-share with colleagues.  Hire car if push comes to shove (yes, this'll cost, but for stuff like MOT and servicing you do at least know well in advance when you'll need it).  Work from home if that's an option with your job?

Sure, you can't plan for the unexpected stuff like breakdowns or whatever, but MOT and servicing is known months in advance so you can plan for it.

Nobbie1967

Never had a problem, generally dropped the car off first thing and picked up the following evening, then used public transport to get to work. Most workplaces are pretty flexible with this kind of stuff, much easier if you’re allowed to work from home. What sort of work do you do?

Aretnap

For services, MOTs, non-urgent repairs etc it makes life a lot easier if you find a decent garage near work rather than near home. Unless you work in the back of beyond there'll be one near-ish - ask colleagues which one they use. Then you can drop it off at 8:30 and walk, cycle or scrounge a lift the rest of your way to work.

Also helps if your job is not rigidly 9-5 - if you do get in a little late after dropping the car off or have to go home early to pick it up can you just make up the time the next day?

MikeJXE

No where near London and wouldn't be travelling into the city 

I've used a car for my work for 60 years and never lost a day through car problem 

Keep it serviced regularly and it should be fine 

Buy a decent car with average miles, my current car Jaguar was £16,000 I've had it 4 years and not had a problem 

daveyjp

Find a job which offers flexi time.  It's great for when you need that odd half or full day off without using leave.

Or find an employer who understands life doesn't operate to a rigid 9-5 timetable and the odd late start is fine as long as its balanced with the occasional early start or later finish.

caprikid1

Ran old cars for 30 years.

Drop off the night before, 
Use alternative transport
Flexi Time
Working from home

New cars can be more restrictive than old cars and no more reliable.

ididgetwhereiamtoday

MikeJXE said:

No where near London and wouldn't be travelling into the city 

I've used a car for my work for 60 years and never lost a day through car problem 

Keep it serviced regularly and it should be fine 

Buy a decent car with average miles, my current car Jaguar was £16,000 I've had it 4 years and not had a problem 

‘Jaguar and not had a problem’ in the same sentence is a very rare thing!

400ixl

Not sure what car the OP had that needed servicing every 6 months. Very few outside of high performance cars need this and even then, one of those 6 months is only an oil change which can be done while you wait on a Saturday.

Many cars are now 18 months to 2 years for servicing or at most annually and combined with an MOT.

As others have said there are lots of ways to work around it. Garage within walking distance of work for example.

Using holiday entitlement for vehicle maintenance for most people is not something they have to do as they work around it and shouldn't be that difficult.

Bigwheels1111

Get your mot on a Sunday, No pass No fee Mot. Deptford.

https://www.thetestcentre.co.uk/book-online/

https://www.nopassnofeemot.co.uk/

I used to drop off my car at my mechanic and post the key into his letter box.

Next night pick it up

itsthelittlethings

You don’t necessarily need a car if you’re living outside of London, yes public transport is better in London but it’s ok in other big cities too and a lot of people don’t have a car.