Live in Royal Oak, should I commute to Ann Arbor?? (Detroit: leasing agent, to buy)

[frenchtulip]

Hi! I live in Royal Oak with no possibility to move at this time. I was part of downsizing recently and have been looking for a new position. I have a possible opportunity in Ann Arbor. I'm afraid to pass it up given the current lack of jobs in my field, but I'm also afraid of a terrible commute - especially during the winter! I have a leased car and my commute to my last position was 20 minutes.

Has anyone done this drive?

Thanks!

[MIEng]

I have not done that, but I have a coworker that lives in Ann Arbor and commute every day to Warren. It is an insane drive but given the current economic conditions there is no choice.

[dkf747]

You do what you've got to do. Maybe later on you will be able to move closer.

[alwaystraveling25]

Originally Posted by frenchtulip

Hi! I live in Royal Oak with no possibility to move at this time. I was part of downsizing recently and have been looking for a new position. I have a possible opportunity in Ann Arbor. I'm afraid to pass it up given the current lack of jobs in my field, but I'm also afraid of a terrible commute - especially during the winter! I have a leased car and my commute to my last position was 20 minutes.

Has anyone done this drive?

Thanks!

I would first and foremost be concerned with the fact that you have a leased car. The drive ONE WAY is 45 miles a day. I'm not sure what your lease is, but unless you leased it for 15,000 miles a year, a 90 mile round trip commute will definitely have you going over your mileage and paying some heavy penalties.

Your drive would NOT be easy (I grew up in Metro Detroit and used to commute 70 miles round trip to Southfield every day for work). You would be taking 696 to 275 to M14. Google Maps estimates 51 minutes, but I would estimate 1:30 each way. Unless you work an off-time, expect to sit in traffic on the 696/275 "mixing bowl" and then have heavy traffic on M14 in and out of Ann Arbor.

I think it's doable, for a short while, but if it develops in a long-term position you may want to think about moving closer to your job.

If you do anything, look into your lease terms before you take the job...you don't want to be stuck owing thousands of dollars to your car's leasing agent!

[royaloak]

Originally Posted by frenchtulip

Hi! I live in Royal Oak with no possibility to move at this time. I was part of downsizing recently and have been looking for a new position. I have a possible opportunity in Ann Arbor. I'm afraid to pass it up given the current lack of jobs in my field, but I'm also afraid of a terrible commute - especially during the winter! I have a leased car and my commute to my last position was 20 minutes.

Has anyone done this drive?

Thanks!

Sorry for reviving an old thread, but I recently experienced exactly what you were going through. I live in the Royal Oak area, was part of a downsizing, had a lease car, then got a job in the Ann Arbor area and can't sell my house.

The first thing I did was turn in my lease several years early. Since the car was still fairly new, the dealership was able to work out a deal with the bank to buy it, then put me in a purchased new car. There were some downsides, since they rolled a balance into the cost of the new car, and I had to get the cheapest most basic model. But now I own a car, don't need to worry about miles on a lease and my monthly bill is the same as the lease was.

Regarding the guy who said to take 696 to 275, which would take 1.5 hours. First of all, I would never go that way due to traffic congestion. I take the Southfield Freeway to 96, then up to M14. It's never backed up and you go the opposite of traffic. It's 45 minutes under perfect conditions, but can take an hour. At the time of this post, the Southfield is under construction, but taking 8 Mile to Telegraph to 96 only adds 10 minutes (this route always takes exactly an hour).