Having a car in Chicago (Lincoln, Irving: rent, neighborhood, law school)
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Not trying to bust your balls, but I couldn't find any rental cars for less than 37 a day and then add on city rental tax and it's getting up there.
How far out are you booking a car, what branch do you use? Any other tips for getting this deal?
Many (not all) weekends, you can get Enterprise cars for $19/day from the downtown branches (especially the one on Kinzie by the Merchandise Mart Brown Line stop), sometimes less. I've paid as little as $13. With tax, add about 30-40%
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Originally Posted by rparz
Also, I'm surprised in this discussion of owning a car in the city no one has brought up the ticketing. City stickers, spots by stop signs, driveways, street sweeping, etc etc. The city can and will ding you, and it's best to budget a little bit for the friendly orange envelopes. The more desirable the area, the harder they ticket for any possible reason.
Honestly, if you're careful you'll rarely get ticketed. In the 15 years I've lived in the city, I've gotten two tickets - one of which I intentionally knew I'd probably get when I parked but could have avoided.
Personally I think the posts in this thread overestimate the cost of a car.
Insurance: I rechecked my numbers. I am actually paying $320 for 6 months. That is on a 2012 Subaru with Collision and a $250 deductible and 2 drivers. That is $55 per month. On my junker car with liability only I am paying only $105 per 6 months.
Payment: You might pay $400 a month. But that is for only 60 months and then you own the car outright, so its not really a fair assessment. If you want to look at a true monthly cost a lease would be more accurate. That will be closer to $250. IMO if you buy used, your car should end up costing you under $200 per month.
Parking: In most areas you should not need a spot. In the very dense neighborhoods, most streets are permitted. If you live on a permitted street, you get a permit and then its pretty easy to park. The only northside places I personally think a parking spot is really needed is East Lakeview or Lincoln Park very close to the lake. My buddies in lakeview with 343 permits have no issues at all. At our place in East UK Village its really not hard to park.
Tickets: Expect 3 or 4 per year at $50 each. So about $15 per month.
gas: Drive 500 miles per month and that is about 20 gallons or $80. Drive more than that and you will be saving a ton of time vs. public transportation.
I spend under $100 per month operating my 2nd car: a 2000 Toyota Echo. And you could probably buy that car for $2500. So it depreciates maybe $100 a month.
I am a 23 year old male so my insurance is pretty high. But I pay $153 for insurance, $0 for parking since my unit is located near the "L" free permit FREE parking. I dont pay for a city sticker since I park on a private lot. I also have never had a ticket in the year I have lived with a car, just don't park where you don't think you belong.
Overall my car costs me around $700 to maintain my car payment, gas, and insurance. Essentially it would be much less if my car wasn't new, a cheaper car, and if I didn't have to drive so far for work.
Hi all, I will be moving to Chicago in August (as my other thread suggests!) without a car. However, it seems that having a car might save a lot of time for my boyfriend and I...
I am brand new to this... First, how is having a car in Chicago? In terms of how many apt comes with a parking space, and if not, how much it would cost (and how much parking space availability there is). At this point, I am considering living in South Loop, although having a car may mean that many more neighborhoods will be feasible (to commute to both Feinberg and UChicago campus)
Secondly, in general, how much does it cost to rent/buy a car?? With insurance (for someone in their mid-20's), maintenance, and whatever other fees that are involved. We do not have much money to pay upfront, though we can manage ~$200-400 monthly installments. What would be the best option??
I live downtown and parking at my building costs $190-$215/month. So think about this, at least for where I live downtown:
$200 for parking
$300 for car payment (low end?)
$100 for gas
$100 for insurance
Voila, I just freed up over $700/month by having sold my car. I probably spend $100/month on public transit, so $600 really... Even if my place had free parking, that would still be $500/month going towards a car if my payment was at least $300 and I actually drove the thing.
Selling my car was one of my wisest choices. There are really not many times I need it, and when I do.....Zip Car, Cab, or rental car. I have my Illinois license, but I just don't own a car or anything. Really dont need one.
Personally I think the posts in this thread overestimate the cost of a car.
Insurance: I rechecked my numbers. I am actually paying $320 for 6 months. That is on a 2012 Subaru with Collision and a $250 deductible and 2 drivers. That is $55 per month. On my junker car with liability only I am paying only $105 per 6 months.
Insurance is different for everyone. There's no set rate for insurance based on age. It depends on your record (as well as gender, age, etc).
Quote:
Payment: You might pay $400 a month. But that is for only 60 months and then you own the car outright, so its not really a fair assessment. If you want to look at a true monthly cost a lease would be more accurate. That will be closer to $250. IMO if you buy used, your car should end up costing you under $200 per month.
Sure, you might own it outright after that, but 60 months is FIVE YEARS. Five years is still a long time for people, especially to be spending that much a month ontop of everything else.
Even if it was $200/month at the low end..plus $55/month for insurance (which is again, low), $80 for gas, and $15 for parking tickets, you are still at over $350/month for a car (not counting random stuff like oil, windshield fluid, etc) and this is assuming you can get a free parking spot. I'm not sold on the free parking spot thing. It really depends on where you live (I'm talking about outside of downtown even). $350 is a very low estimate for total car cost per month really unless you already have a car you outright own.
I live downtown and parking at my building costs $190-$215/month. So think about this, at least for where I live downtown:
$200 for parking
$300 for car payment (low end?)
$100 for gas
$100 for insurance
Voila, I just freed up over $700/month by having sold my car. I probably spend $100/month on public transit, so $600 really... Even if my place had free parking, that would still be $500/month going towards a car if my payment was at least $300 and I actually drove the thing.
Selling my car was one of my wisest choices. There are really not many times I need it, and when I do.....Zip Car, Cab, or rental car. I have my Illinois license, but I just don't own a car or anything. Really dont need one.
You shouldnt pay more than $86 for public transit, thats for the unlimited monthly cta pass.
Insurance is different for everyone. There's no set rate for insurance based on age. It depends on your record (as well as gender, age, etc).
Sure, you might own it outright after that, but 60 months is FIVE YEARS. Five years is still a long time for people, especially to be spending that much a month ontop of everything else.
Even if it was $200/month at the low end..plus $55/month for insurance (which is again, low), $80 for gas, and $15 for parking tickets, you are still at over $350/month for a car (not counting random stuff like oil, windshield fluid, etc) and this is assuming you can get a free parking spot. I'm not sold on the free parking spot thing. It really depends on where you live (I'm talking about outside of downtown even). $350 is a very low estimate for total car cost per month really unless you already have a car you outright own.
Yes $350 is certainly not nothing. But the OP is talking about commuting to Hyde Park and NW downtown campus. There is no good solution without a car. There is no avoiding the fact that public transit will take a long time.
I think the only reasonable options to commute to hyde park and river north are river north/downtown, south loop and hyde park. The first two are very expensive and hyde park means living in hyde park and an hour commute to NW medical campus. The first two options will still involve a long commute and will likely cost the OP $500 extra in rent. So I think its worth it to pay for a car if you can do it for under $400 a month.
If your situation is you work downtown and want to live downtown then its silly to own a car. But that is not the OP situation at all.
I still think the best idea is to live in the south loop and take the the CTA #192 bus to Hyde Park.
I'd agree that is the best non car option. I think that if you live elsewhere with a car you can save 400 or so on rent which will pay for the car. total commute time will be slightly less.
IMO, your benefits are living in a more fun and social neighborhood and also owning a car for things like groceries, weekends and out of town trips.
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