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If "62" is your birth year, I'm senior to you. I just don't have a pissy sense "we" are the rightful owners of the world.
My birth year is 1955 I’m 63 years old I’ve had mor cars an pickups than most I worked for Chrysler at their Warren Truck assembly plant. I wish my birth year was 1962.
My birth year is 1955 I’m 63 years old I’ve had mor cars an pickups than most I worked for Chrysler at their Warren Truck assembly plant.
Okay. We're still of an age, and let me just note that someone who spent their career building 'Murrican iron is going to have a particular viewpoint about changes in the auto world that might not reflect the 1970s.
Not news to most savvy buyers. The greatest cost of a car is in its first year of operation. Choosing a near-mint lease return vehicle with 30k miles and two years of new rubbed off can save more than 50% in the long run, and with very little downside. Careful third-party purchase can save even more.
You are correct, but without people buying new cars, there wouldn't BE any used cars for the "savvy" buyers to purchase. My last few cars were new, and I've sold them about seven years / 85,000 miles each later, after they are dinged up, interiors worn, w/rattles, but before they start needing major work. Yes, it may have been cheaper to buy a two-year old car and keep it for another five years, but the difference in cost is not significant to me, and there is some value to being the first owner, knowing that it wasn't abused in its first year, etc.. I am able to do this with no sacrifice to my lifestyle, so why not? Buying new provides me with more in-warranty time, allows for the model, color and options I want, and the first three years are the auto's "best" miles, so I treat myself to this expenditure. And in come cases, I've seen purchasing new an even better deal than buying "almost new" due to much better financing / rebate options on new vehicles, and I don't have to spend weeks looking for the "right" used car. Anyway, to each their own, I could see this being more of a priority for someone with a lot of demands on their available cash (young people with families).
Off topic, I miss the good old days of buying used cars and motorcycles from local newspapers so you could go face-to-face with the previous owner, but that market has pretty much dried up, maybe because print newspapers have gone the way of the Dodo. That's how I used to purchase (and sell) most of the cars I grew up with. What happened there? Was it the lack of financing that made so many people go buying and selling to dealers?
People are transposing their lives onto this no car thing and saying why it won't work. That isn't the point. The point is to focus on how to get your life to not revolve around having a car to begin with, ie move closer to work, get a different job, etc.
Since most people are putting around 15,000 miles a year on their cars on average, that is about $7,500 a year in transportation costs per person per household. Two person commuter household! $15,000 a year in transportation costs. Again that is the average person not the guy above who drives a work van everywhere, umm, jeez dude you think that really pertains to you???
To lower income and middle income families that represents a substantial savings to their bottom lines if they are focused on saving and not spending. I used to ride a bike to work in FL as a low income worker, it saved a ton of money and while it sucked during the summers I made it work.
Here's why this theory doesn't always work. (Our scenario)
Move closer to work - For us to move closer to work would add about an 18% premium to the cost of a house. We live 24 miles from our office because the cost of a house is significantly less. A 2,800 sq.ft house a mile from our office averages about $315k. Where we live, the cost was $260k. It would increase our monthly mortgage by about $350 or $4,200 per year.
At 24 miles 1 way, we travel 48 miles per day each. My wife and I work in the same office, but cannot commute together because our schedules are different. So assume 84 miles per day between the two vehicles or a combined 20,160 miles per year.
We have a Jeep, a Ram 3500, and an Expedition. We each drive about 10k miles per year.
The Jeep sees about 4k miles per year. At 13 MPG it burns about 307 gallons per year. Assuming $2.69/gallon in gas the cost is $825.83 per year, or $69 per month.
The Ram 3500 sees about 6k miles per year of work driving. At 16 mpg it burns about 375 gallons per year. Assuming $3/gallon in diesel, the cost is $1,125 per year, or $282 per month.
The Expedition sees about 10k miles per year. At 16.5 mpg it burns about 606 gallons per year. Assuming $2.69/gallon in gas the cost is $1,630 per year, or $136 per month.
Total monthly average fuel bill: $487
Uber X local cost:
Base Fare - $1.60
Per minute -$.20
Per mile - $1.56
Service Fee - $2.40
Minimum fare: $6.40
If we lived a mile from work the cost would be about $13 per day or $65 per week. Total monthly cost would average $260. Now, add in the premium from increased housing cost and our monthly cost would be $610 per month which is about $123 per month more than we currently pay. The closest store to housing a mile from our office is 2 miles from that neighborhood. So to get groceries we would have to pay another fee (no home delivery here).
Uber is ideal in certain situations for sure. But I'd venture to say it's an exception and not the norm for most people.
Not feasible for all. People who work an hour away (driving time) is not going to ride a bike to work. Also, people who live in very cold climates (winters in Chicago, negative 5) or very hot (Arizona, 115F), not going to ride bikes. And yes, it would be cheaper to own a car than to Uber everyday in most cases.
Or where it rains all the time, like my home? LOL. Actually, I see people doing it in the rain and cold too. Me, I walk.
Reminds me of the guy back during the gold rush days (turn of 19th century) who rode a really old fashioned bike from Dawson City to Nome in the winter, when the Yukon river was frozen over. I'm sure he never saw the temperature get as warm as negative 5.
People are transposing their lives onto this no car thing and saying why it won't work. That isn't the point. The point is to focus on how to get your life to not revolve around having a car to begin with, ie move closer to work, get a different job, etc.
Easier said than done for most, I'd imagine. Except for those in big cities, seems to me that it'd be somewhat of a hardship to make it work here in the US.
Also, what is evident in my small town, where going without a car is entirely feasible, is that people by and large are fairly lazy.
Yes, there are some intrepid folks who walk or bike to work and the store most of the time, but they are outnumbered by those who drive a route they could easily use a bus for, or one that would take them a maximum of 15 minutes to walk.
The worst IMO are the people driving their kids to school from my neighborhood, where it's a 10 minute walk. Good grief! When I was a kid, NO ONE drove their kids to school. We either walked to a bus stop or walked all the way. And don't tell me "it's dangerous", because it isn't.
Easier said than done for most, I'd imagine. Except for those in big cities, seems to me that it'd be somewhat of a hardship to make it work here in the US.
As was said a while back in the thread, it's a chicken-and-egg problem. We can't suddenly force everyone into Priuses (and that seems to be the spark for the more hysterical end of the "it'll never work!" argument), but reducing the individual and family radius over, say, the next 25 years is a worthy goal with many benefits. Those tied to reduced energy usage are only part of it. We've allowed endless sprawl and come to accept huge life radius only because of cars with essentially unlimited range; it's past time to reverse that trend.
Easier said than done for most, I'd imagine. Except for those in big cities, seems to me that it'd be somewhat of a hardship to make it work here in the US.
Also, what is evident in my small town, where going without a car is entirely feasible, is that people by and large are fairly lazy.
Yes, there are some intrepid folks who walk or bike to work and the store most of the time, but they are outnumbered by those who drive a route they could easily use a bus for, or one that would take them a maximum of 15 minutes to walk.
The worst IMO are the people driving their kids to school from my neighborhood, where it's a 10 minute walk. Good grief! When I was a kid, NO ONE drove their kids to school. We either walked to a bus stop or walked all the way. And don't tell me "it's dangerous", because it isn't.
Why do people care what other people do it’s none of your business that’s the problem today people are always worrying about what others do that do concern them. This is America we’re we are free to do what we want without other people sticking their noses were they don’t belong. Some people get off by gossiping about what others are doing. Until it effects you personally keep your opinions to yourself, it’s not your life what others do. It seems some people have to much time on their hands and have nothing better to do. If i had a kid and drove to them to a school that was less than 5 min away from my house then it’s my business and should not concern you or anyone else.
Why do people care what other people do it’s none of your business...
When your street is clogged every day with SUV mommies driving Alison and Brandon to a school two blocks away, it's everyone on the street's business.
When the process of opening the garage door, warming the beast up, backing out, yelling at Ali and Brand they're going to be late, then much yelling and car-door slamming is repeated in six houses around you at 7:45, five days a week (not counting soccer on Saturday), it's no longer a private family issue.
It's merely meta busybody save-the-earth thinking that the little darlings could walk in less time, never mind the energy issues and annoyance to all the other neighbors.
If I took an Uber every day to and from work: $480. Car payment is $380. With gas yea, it would be cheaper. If that's ALL the driving i did.
"You don't need a car. You're working in a city where you can either take the subway or basically use a shared service. Try both. But don't get stuck parking $25,000 into a car. I don't need it. Why should you?"
Uh... cuz your a gazillionaire?!?!?
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