ditched the car! Very proud

wyadvd

time came to tax the car. short discussion with wife....this car does 25mpg , my legs do 950mpg, this car cost 1200 quid to service last year, I spent 200 on my bike.....instant agreement ....SORN!....RESULT!!!! partly due to the littlun getting a place at the local school, but still, its one more lemming cage off the road!

DonDaddyD

Well done.

One thing I don't get... the lil'un getting into a local school... is this a private school does it cost and do those costs impact on the car fund?

Aidy

I like driving.

Aidy

DonDaddyD wrote:

Well done.

One thing I don't get... the lil'un getting into a local school... is this a private school does it cost and do those costs impact on the car fund?

Presumably there was a worry that if it wasn't a local school, a car for the school run might be required.

tobermory

Good man i wish i could

shm_uk

I'd love to ditch my car.

Son's got a place in the local school 10-15 mins walk away, we live right on a bus route to local shops & Stockport, & train service into Manchester.

It's only 11.5 miles to work, an easy cycle commute that I try to do at least 4 days a week.

However, on days when I can't cycle it would take me at least 90 minutes each way to commute on public transport...

It would also be near impossible to visit my parents without a car - it would mean at least an hours journey on 2 or 3 buses, or bus/walk/train/walk...

Maybe some day we'll be able to do without a car :roll:

Butterd2

Good work sir.

With 2 kids, 2 dogs and 2 parents who emigrated to Wales I could never do without a car, but I do cycle more miles per year than I drive which is some consolation.

fnegroni

Welcome to the club!

Ditched the car two years ago, NO REGRETS!

My wife has a car, but that's used for family trips with our 4yo and 4 months old. I travel by bike or train mostly.

bails87

I need my car to take my mountain bike to places to ride it!

UndercoverElephant

Reverted to being a one-car family about this time last year, saves loads of money*.

*Re-allocated to bike stuff, naturally.

wyadvd

i have to come clean here guys.. We as a family have gone from a 2 car family of ten years standing, to a one car family. the littun's school is now on my route so its trailer bike evry morning , keep the road bike at the school, swap bikes and off! ( previously she was at a nursery 10 miles out of my way) wife has gone from a ten mile car commute to a london train commute. trouble is with the second car, it was sitting there being used twice a week....the costs of ownership exceed the cost of petrol........

roger_merriman

I do have a car but it's cheap as chips to run, being small, frugal both it and I do not worry insureaces etc,

very handy for big shops, visiting friends and family and so on. hiring a car every time a car would be handy would get rather pricey.

how street car works for some I don't know putting in the millage and the number of times I tend to go to wales and back gives me a higher cost than my car.

wyadvd

roger merriman wrote:

I do have a car but it's cheap as chips to run, being small, frugal both it and I do not worry insureaces etc,

very handy for big.

hey! Do you run it on chip fat? I looked seriously at that a couple of years ago, was on the verge of buying the de-esterization kit (if thats the right wording, can't remember)

now looking at an electric vehicle and a 2 kw grid tied photovoltaic array , which should fuel up to a 30 mile each way commute. serious outlay though.

kieranb

My wife and I decided to ditch our car over a year ago, now a family of 4 with no car but a few bikes. Luckily in London public transport is fine, also we signed up to streetcar for those rare occasions when one is needed. Car would be no good to visit the relations as the nearest is in Glasgow and most are in Ireland. But I still hate it when people park in 'our space' in front of the house?!

unixnerd

I hardly ever drive but have two cars! I used to be into BMWs in a big way, in fact I still run a website for classic models (not so keen on modern ones). But then the bike bug bit :-)

I run an old classic on nice days and a more modern estate on wet / winter days. I only drive once or twice a week but I do need my car(s). One of the trips takes just 1 hour 45 each way, by public transport it'd cost a fortune and take nearer 5 hours!

The car is handy. My elderly mother was taken into hospital 30 miles away the other week, being able to get there quickly is invaluable.

One thing that's reduced my driving is Tesco's delivery service. We only have a small one here so used to have a weekly trip to a larger one with a better range of produce. It's now far cheaper to get a delivery than to drive there and I don't have to do any shopping :-)

Initialised

Close to doing this myself, will sell the car and buy a new bike. Road Tax bill of £500+ for both cars helps galvanise.

Nik Cube

I've done the same one car for the wife three bikes and counting for me!

And I'm converting her car to LPG (cleaner and cheaper)

roger_merriman

wyadvd wrote:

roger merriman wrote:

I do have a car but it's cheap as chips to run, being small, frugal both it and I do not worry insureaces etc,

very handy for big.

hey! Do you run it on chip fat? I looked seriously at that a couple of years ago, was on the verge of buying the de-esterization kit (if thats the right wording, can't remember)

now looking at an electric vehicle and a 2 kw grid tied photovoltaic array , which should fuel up to a 30 mile each way commute. serious outlay though.

No just a older cheap car, with fairly low millage and I live in a safe area etc. so the cost per year is low mainly as the fixed outgoings are low.

unixnerd

And I'm converting her car to LPG

My neighbours spend a lot of time in Spain and France, their two Subarus both run LPG and they'd never change. I think it's a superb idea for anyone who does a lot of miles.

itboffin

I got rid of our spare car(s) and eventually traded in our BMW 740i for a Kia Ceed

Nah it's fine actually because for one I rarely drive and now were no longer speeding £80+ a week on petrol, in fact I cant even remember the last time we filled up.

No road tax for the first year then only £30, free servicing and MASSHOOF warranty, 3 x Thale bike roof rack - win win win

PS. less than zero horse power and no heated seats, small wheels make long journeys bumpy and the manual gears are so 1990s, no 4.5L v8 monster roar when I put my foot down, no beautifully crafted leather & wood interior, no TV/DVD front and rear, does have cool phone/ipod/radio/cd but alas no multi disk cd player

I'm not bitter :evil:

supertwisted

Thread bump - I've just done the same. Insurance, tax, mot and servicing were going to set me back nearly £800, which I just don't have. So the car is off the road and I'm on the bike.

Or at least I would be. Had a big fall on the MTB while away on holiday so now have a mashed up knee which is no use for cycling. Had to extend my holiday an extra few days while my leg heals.

One of the drawbacks of going car free.

Agent57

Sold my car about 4 years ago. We still have another car though.

Paul E

Sold mine in march, do I miss it, do I f.....

cloggsy

Nik Cube wrote:

I've done the same one car for the wife three bikes and counting for me!

And I'm converting her car to LPG (cleaner and cheaper)

LPG isn't as cheap as it used to be...

AndyManc

Going from two cars to one .................

NOTHING TO SHOUT ABOUT

:evil:


.

davis

AndyManc wrote:

Going from two cars to one .................

NOTHING TO SHOUT ABOUT

:evil:
.

Irony fail there?

Stevo_666

I'm bucking the trend and adding an extra car to the Stevo household as I need an extra set of wheels to cart my mountain bike around while I'm off work.

This is bound to send to send some people on this forum into fits of apoplexy

Agent57

AndyManc wrote:

Going from two cars to one .................

NOTHING TO SHOUT ABOUT

QQ

Besides, you're wrong. It's still one fewer car.

veronese68

We went from 2 cars to one. Sold the wife's car and she uses my Alfa. Unfortunately she hates it. I'll never hear the end of it.