Advice: Keep or ditch my car? (Reading: car rental, rental, insurance)

[Muinteoir]

Hello all,

Disclaimer:I've searched the forum and read through some of the posts regarding car ownership and public transit in Philly. While the information is useful, I thought my own desires/circumstances were specific enough for a separate post. This post may be a hybrid of Philly-specific advice with a bit of "life advice"

I'm a "young professional" 26-year-old teacher. I've been living and working in West Philly for two months now. I love it: Philly is the biggest city I've ever lived in and I am amazed at how much there is to do and see for such a low cost of living.

I currently own a Ford Focus (small sedan) that I've driven for the past three years. It gets me where I need to go, but it's nothing special and I have no attachment. I highly dislike driving in Philly. The roads in the part of town where I work (SW Philly) are horrible. I've gotten two flats in just two months -- my Focus had not one flat before moving to Philly. Drivers are aggressive and rude. I never drive into CC (the only other part of Philly I frequent) because it is so impractical. Because of all this, I am considering ditching my car.

I can walk and take the Trolley to work and it only adds around ten minutes to my commute. I have tried it out for a few commutes and actually very much enjoyed the experience. I was able to do a bit of work and save myself the frustration I feel driving in Philly. I am afraid riding the trolley every day may grow old, however. I also bike to work often (right now I bike about half of my days, depending on my mood, and it is about as fast as driving -- but I know this will not be much of an option in the winter).


Okay, that was a bit long, so I will compile lists of why I want to get rid of my car and why I hesitate:

Why I want to ditch the car:
-Driving in Philly is frustrating.
-For anywhere I need to go in my daily life, it is almost as fast/easy or faster/easier to use public transit or a bike.
-I have always wanted to try car-free living. This is the best opportunity I've had.
-The money (I estimate around $2K) I will get selling my car + save from not having a car will go toward making a down payment on a house.

Why I hesitate:
-I like to get out of the city on occasion. Sometimes that occasion is to visit family and friends I have in DC and NYC, where I will just take a bus/train anyway. Sometimes it is to visit home or to go out hiking/camping, where I will need a car. I estimate I will want a car to get out of Philly 4-5 times a year, which will rack up some car rental fees.
-Groceries are always easier with a car.
-I am afraid I idealize car-free living, and perhaps I will miss the independence from personal vehicle ownership.
-I am planning to get a dog next year! I will want to (but not need to) travel with my dog. I think a vehicle always makes dog ownership easier, from vet visits to traveling with the dog. (I can always take it in a rental).

So, what is your advice? I am open to all subjective opinions!

[eliza61nyc]

Question: Is your car paid for?? Car free living can be cheaper but it definitely takes some getting use too.

I think everyone romanticizes it at first, the hardest thing for me (I did it for 6 years) was the winters. As you know Philly can get some brutal winters. Yeah I know driving in the winter can be a pain but I hate being cold,lol

Not really sure of the dog point. truthfully my dog Hobbes, gets in my car maybe once or twice a year. to go to the vet because our vet is in south jersey where we use to live. outside of that, the dog walks.

when I wanted to travel I rented a car. very easy from 30th street station.

If the car is paid for I would keep it. you can lower your insurance to the bare minimum, park and save a few bucks that way

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by Muinteoir

Hello all,

Disclaimer:I've searched the forum and read through some of the posts regarding car ownership and public transit in Philly. While the information is useful, I thought my own desires/circumstances were specific enough for a separate post. This post may be a hybrid of Philly-specific advice with a bit of "life advice"

I'm a "young professional" 26-year-old teacher. I've been living and working in West Philly for two months now. I love it: Philly is the biggest city I've ever lived in and I am amazed at how much there is to do and see for such a low cost of living.

I currently own a Ford Focus (small sedan) that I've driven for the past three years. It gets me where I need to go, but it's nothing special and I have no attachment. I highly dislike driving in Philly. The roads in the part of town where I work (SW Philly) are horrible. I've gotten two flats in just two months -- my Focus had not one flat before moving to Philly. Drivers are aggressive and rude. I never drive into CC (the only other part of Philly I frequent) because it is so impractical. Because of all this, I am considering ditching my car.

I can walk and take the Trolley to work and it only adds around ten minutes to my commute. I have tried it out for a few commutes and actually very much enjoyed the experience. I was able to do a bit of work and save myself the frustration I feel driving in Philly. I am afraid riding the trolley every day may grow old, however. I also bike to work often (right now I bike about half of my days, depending on my mood, and it is about as fast as driving -- but I know this will not be much of an option in the winter).


Okay, that was a bit long, so I will compile lists of why I want to get rid of my car and why I hesitate:

Why I want to ditch the car:
-Driving in Philly is frustrating.
-For anywhere I need to go in my daily life, it is almost as fast/easy or faster/easier to use public transit or a bike.
-I have always wanted to try car-free living. This is the best opportunity I've had.
-The money (I estimate around $2K) I will get selling my car + save from not having a car will go toward making a down payment on a house.

Why I hesitate:
-I like to get out of the city on occasion. Sometimes that occasion is to visit family and friends I have in DC and NYC, where I will just take a bus/train anyway. Sometimes it is to visit home or to go out hiking/camping, where I will need a car. I estimate I will want a car to get out of Philly 4-5 times a year, which will rack up some car rental fees.
-Groceries are always easier with a car.
-I am afraid I idealize car-free living, and perhaps I will miss the independence from personal vehicle ownership.
-I am planning to get a dog next year! I will want to (but not need to) travel with my dog. I think a vehicle always makes dog ownership easier, from vet visits to traveling with the dog. (I can always take it in a rental).

So, what is your advice? I am open to all subjective opinions!

I'm a product of the Philly suburbs so like most people living there I learned how to drive and got my license as a teen. I drove for decades because I fell for the belief, like a lot of Americans, that driving gave me so much freedom. That was true for a long time but as I got older it was more of a headache than convenience. The headaches? Parking. Insurance. Registration. Car payments(when I had them) Gas. And other drivers.

I never needed it to commute to work but having a car was easier when I got involved in parental elder care. Once that was over having a car became increasingly unnecessary. So I sold my car two years ago.

For you the questions are the obvious ones that you already know. You can always get a rental as you say for long trips and uber/lyft for short errands like food shopping.

Try this. Try living without your car(assuming you can leave it for a week or more)for a couple of weeks. Try food shopping or other shopping you do without it. Those will likely be your biggest tests wrt whether you can actually live without it. If you can do that and you still feel okay I would seriously consider it I were you. But having a pet may alter anything you do. I don't own pets and don't plan on it so that's a non-issue.

[Muinteoir]

Originally Posted by eliza61nyc

Question: Is your car paid for?? Car free living can be cheaper but it definitely takes some getting use too.

If the car is paid for I would keep it. you can lower your insurance to the bare minimum, park and save a few bucks that way

Yep, the car is all paid off. Some people have told me to just keep it parked and take transit if I don't like driving to work-- just seems wasteful for me to be paying for insurance, upkeep, etc. in addition to transit costs, which is why I drive it anway. But fair point. : )

[eliza61nyc]

Originally Posted by Muinteoir

Yep, the car is all paid off. Some people have told me to just keep it parked and take transit if I don't like driving to work-- just seems wasteful for me to be paying for insurance, upkeep, etc. in addition to transit costs, which is why I drive it anway. But fair point. : )

I kept my car but called the insurance and told them that I would be driving it less than 10K miles a year. that dropped my insurance by almost 700 bucks. I would say I definitely save about 1K a year.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by eliza61nyc

Question: Is your car paid for?? Car free living can be cheaper but it definitely takes some getting use too.

I think everyone romanticizes it at first, the hardest thing for me (I did it for 6 years) was the winters. As you know Philly can get some brutal winters. Yeah I know driving in the winter can be a pain but I hate being cold,lol

Not really sure of the dog point. truthfully my dog Hobbes, gets in my car maybe once or twice a year. to go to the vet because our vet is in south jersey where we use to live. outside of that, the dog walks.

when I wanted to travel I rented a car. very easy from 30th street station.

If the car is paid for I would keep it. you can lower your insurance to the bare minimum, park and save a few bucks that way

Interesting that you mentioned winters. That was another reason I stopped driving: other drivers who have no skills re winter driving.

[1ondoner]

If you are looking to make an financial decision, ditch the car. If you are looking to make a lifestyle change, ditch the car. If you want convenience, having a car when you need it, keep the car. The convenience/benefits of car ownership come with at a cost.

Originally Posted by Muinteoir

Yep, the car is all paid off. Some people have told me to just keep it parked and take transit if I don't like driving to work-- just seems wasteful for me to be paying for insurance, upkeep, etc. in addition to transit costs, which is why I drive it anway. But fair point. : )

[newmarlig]

For grocery shopping, either get delivery from www.Peapod.com, or use Uber/Lyft to bring your order home.

[Pine to Vine]

Originally Posted by newmarlig

For grocery shopping, either get delivery from www.Peapod.com, or use Uber/Lyft to bring your order home.

Or walk, if you live within a few blocks of a decent grocery store or Reading Terminal Market.

[ionlyused59]

I really like the freedom of having a car to leave the city whenever I want for day trips etc. But I also have a garage so I don't have to worry about parking. We use ours for groceries, target and big box stores, driving to NJ for the dog park (more on that below) movies at AMC with the comfy seats, camping, visiting family, giving people rides etc. We walk bicycle or uber as much as possible but I personally like knowing I have my own mode of transportation at my disposal.

I guess you'd have to ask yourself how much you are planning to leave Philly as most everything IN Philly can be done without a car. Can't speak to the trolley as I've never been on it.

**If you are getting a dog there's a great 9 acre wooded dog park...heaven for the pups..