How many couples plan to downsize to 1 car when they retire (2013, state)

[oldsoldier1976]

Originally Posted by Escort Rider

A retired couple getting rid of the second car makes a lot of sense in many cases, and I am NOT arguing against doing just that. However, the amount of money saved can be very minimal, depending on the exact particulars. Let's consider:

1. Insurance
The cost of insurance for two cars is not double the cost for one car because of the multi-car discount. In addition if one car is an older one, there is no longer the need to carry comprehensive and collision insurance - liability alone will suffice for that car.

2. Annual registration fee
In many states the annual fee is based on the value of the car. In California that is true, and the fee goes down each year until it reaches a residual value. So if (again) one of the cars is an older car, the annual registration fee can be pretty negligible.

3. Maintenance
A lot, but necessarily all, maintenance is based on miles driven. The need for new tires and brakes is like that. So keeping one car and getting rid of one will probably result in more miles driven with the retained car. In other words, maintenance of two cars is not double the maintenance of one car unless the total miles driven is also cut in half (very unlikely).

4. Depreciation
Depreciation is heaviest in the first three or four years after the purchase of a brand new vehicle. But if one car is an older car, it may have reached the point where depreciation is almost non-existent in each additional passing year. Of course if getting rid of an old second car eliminates the purchase of brand new car to replace it, then there are indeed considerable savings.

So a lot depends on the particular circumstances, especially on the age of the second car, in calculating the amount of money saved by eliminating one car. If the retired couple finds they have very little need for the second car, then ANY savings may be worth it, of course. Again, I am not arguing against people downsizing to one car.

Absolutely great points. I plan on having two cars if only to have one at the house for the wife if she isnt out golfing with me.

Originally Posted by luvmyhoss

A number of large retirement communities allow you to get around
with a golf cart. These carts can be customized to anything for
example a Rolls Royce.
And they are fun to drive like an amusement park ride.

That is exactly my plan. Get a golf cat and swing by the friends house when we find the right place.

Originally Posted by RTYD

Do most 55+ communities have residences with 2 car garages?

Most I saw with two car garages. There were few that were one. As someone said there are rules about parking on the street, parking boats or project cars. I personally don't plan on a project car. The boat might be nice but as someone mention it really isn't a boat. It is a hole in the water you pour money in.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by MG120

Same for us.

We have her Passat diesel for long distance traveling, bought it specifically for that.

And I will give up my vette when I can no longer get in and out of one. Hopefully that won't be for a very long time.

I too keep the Passat TDI's around for long hauls (and short). It is nice to drive all day 600+ miles on a 1/2 tank, tho would be nicer if fuel was $0.19 as it was when I started buying fuel. (When I run on veggie oil, used motor oil, Heating oil, or Jet-A, it is free. EXCEPT for required road tax)

RE: the Vette... I have a good friend, age 95 that still drives his Saleen Mustang Cobra. He is a Babe Magnet driving that thing. (Be careful with that...) He has had 6 vettes (since his first in 1956), but has slowed down a bit since he turned 85. He still does lots of Sport plane flying with friends. I'm glad he sold his Honda Accord, and kept the Mustang, it helps keep him young. He still gets a real thrill outta 'lighting them up'...

[LittleDolphin]

That's what we did..I'm mostly retired, spouse still working, but from home. We chose a walkable/bikable neighborhood, 2nd car was just sitting, so we sold it. Having one care works just fine...but we have four bicycles!

We like the savings of only car--no double maintenance, registration, inspection, insurance.

[akck]

Originally Posted by LittleDolphin

That's what we did..I'm mostly retired, spouse still working, but from home. We chose a walkable/bikable neighborhood, 2nd car was just sitting, so we sold it. Having one care works just fine...but we have four bicycles!

We like the savings of only car--no double maintenance, registration, inspection, insurance.

Do we need to start a downsizing bicycle thread???

[Umbria]

Originally Posted by luv4horses

This may sound funny, but I am single and will be keeping two vehicles, one of which may be ancient, but it will be valuable if my 'regular ride' is in the shop. I can also use it for carting plants, pets, etc.

This has been my thinking. I paid cash for my CRV back in '98 and aside from the usual (tires, battery) it has been maintenance free. So~~I was able to convince myself it was OK to get the Miata, which I also paid cash for and drive 3 out of the 4 seasons. I also use the Honda year round for pets, plants, mulch, more than 1 other person etc... I could save the ins & tab $$ with one car but hey - life is for living, right?

I might just keep the Miata after I get a new winter car - I will blame that decision on luv4horses & Escort Rider Or~~ maybe I will just keep the 2 I have.

[ccm123]

We will, for sure. Additional cars are unneeded expenses.

[CptnRn]

We could get by with one car, but we don't drive much so two are not costing us a horribly lot of money right now. My wife's car is a 1999 Honda Accord with only 86K miles on it. My wife loves it and does not want to give it up. If it ever quits completely we may give it up. We bought a new car for our retirement, a slightly larger 2009 Toyota Avalon, for long distance trips, which we don't do very often. Since neither of us drive very much each week they don't cost us all that much. We put only about 4,000 miles a year on each car so that does not a big burden.

[Robyn55]

We actually went from one to two cars when we stopped working (which we did at a pretty early age). Had two for almost 20 years - and then we went back to one. Because we were only putting 2-3k miles/year on the second car (and we put most of those miles on the second just to make sure it didn't wither away in the garage). When we had 2 cars - one was a luxury sedan and the other was in general a pick-up truck (although the last second was a Honda Element). Now we have an SUV (Lexus) - which works perfectly for us. Note that we have a 3 car garage - and are probably the only people in our neighborhood with one car.

Our decision wasn't financial. It just didn't make sense to own something like a car that we hardly ever used. And the reason I mention our Lexus SUV is that if we need service that takes more than X time - we get a free loaner. So there's no need to keep a second car for something like that. But - when you come down to dollars and cents - even if you're talking about a relatively cheap second vehicle - assuming you're buying new - you'll probably wind up spending at least $3k a year on insurance - maintenance - depreciation - tags and other vehicle fees - etc. Also note that if you have an umbrella policy - you'll save on that too if you have fewer rather than more cars.

Note that it is much easier (and cheaper) to have things like mulch - a new grill - whatever - delivered to the house than to keep a second vehicle for very limited purposes like that. Robyn

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by Escort Rider

A retired couple getting rid of the second car makes a lot of sense in many cases, and I am NOT arguing against doing just that. However, the amount of money saved can be very minimal, depending on the exact particulars. Let's consider:

1. Insurance
The cost of insurance for two cars is not double the cost for one car because of the multi-car discount. In addition if one car is an older one, there is no longer the need to carry comprehensive and collision insurance - liability alone will suffice for that car.

2. Annual registration fee
In many states the annual fee is based on the value of the car. In California that is true, and the fee goes down each year until it reaches a residual value. So if (again) one of the cars is an older car, the annual registration fee can be pretty negligible.

3. Maintenance
A lot, but necessarily all, maintenance is based on miles driven. The need for new tires and brakes is like that. So keeping one car and getting rid of one will probably result in more miles driven with the retained car. In other words, maintenance of two cars is not double the maintenance of one car unless the total miles driven is also cut in half (very unlikely).

4. Depreciation
Depreciation is heaviest in the first three or four years after the purchase of a brand new vehicle. But if one car is an older car, it may have reached the point where depreciation is almost non-existent in each additional passing year. Of course if getting rid of an old second car eliminates the purchase of brand new car to replace it, then there are indeed considerable savings.

So a lot depends on the particular circumstances, especially on the age of the second car, in calculating the amount of money saved by eliminating one car. If the retired couple finds they have very little need for the second car, then ANY savings may be worth it, of course. Again, I am not arguing against people downsizing to one car.

I have to disagree with you in certain respects. You do get a multi-car discount on 2 cars. And you can do away with collision coverage on a "clunker". But the single largest component of our auto insurance is UM coverage - and that's basically per car. Second biggest is liability coverage. And that is again - per car. Here in Florida - we also get discounts for very low miles driven per year (like < 7500 miles) - but not too many people drive that few miles. When we went from 2 cars to one - we saved about $750/year in auto insurance alone.

In Florida - our registration fees are pretty low compared to the "vehicle taxes" in other states. About $75/year now. So that's negligible IMO. OTOH - if you're moving here your initial registration fee will be very high (like mid-$100s). So it might make sense to get rid of that old clunker before moving to a state like ours.

Maintenance is not only based on miles driven. If you're keeping/maintaining a car - climate and weather and time can take their toll too. Various materials in a car react differently to heat - cold - high humidity - low humidity - water - salt on roads - etc. - and just plain old time too. I don't think I'd trust 20 year old tires regardless of how far they'd been driven. FWIW - my husband is kind of a tire nut - and many older people I know drive on some of the crummiest tires I've ever seen.

One factor you didn't mention at all is safety advances in newer vehicles. There are things I take for granted these days. Like side curtain air bags - advanced braking systems - back up warning systems (cameras and buzzers) - blue tooth phone systems - etc. And there's probably a lot more in my current car that I don't know about (or wouldn't understand if I knew about it). As we age - we have 2 problems. Diminishing driving capabilities. And - diminishing ability to withstand accidents physically (whether or not we cause them). So the more safety features the better. And you're not going to get those in an old clunker. Robyn

[Escort Rider]

Originally Posted by Robyn55

I have to disagree with you in certain respects. You do get a multi-car discount on 2 cars. And you can do away with collision coverage on a "clunker". But the single largest component of our auto insurance is UM coverage - and that's basically per car. Second biggest is liability coverage. And that is again - per car. Here in Florida - we also get discounts for very low miles driven per year (like < 7500 miles) - but not too many people drive that few miles. When we went from 2 cars to one - we saved about $750/year in auto insurance alone.

In Florida - our registration fees are pretty low compared to the "vehicle taxes" in other states. About $75/year now. So that's negligible IMO. OTOH - if you're moving here your initial registration fee will be very high (like mid-$100s). So it might make sense to get rid of that old clunker before moving to a state like ours.

Maintenance is not only based on miles driven. If you're keeping/maintaining a car - climate and weather and time can take their toll too. Various materials in a car react differently to heat - cold - high humidity - low humidity - water - salt on roads - etc. - and just plain old time too. I don't think I'd trust 20 year old tires regardless of how far they'd been driven. FWIW - my husband is kind of a tire nut - and many older people I know drive on some of the crummiest tires I've ever seen.

One factor you didn't mention at all is safety advances in newer vehicles. There are things I take for granted these days. Like side curtain air bags - advanced braking systems - back up warning systems (cameras and buzzers) - blue tooth phone systems - etc. And there's probably a lot more in my current car that I don't know about (or wouldn't understand if I knew about it). As we age - we have 2 problems. Diminishing driving capabilities. And - diminishing ability to withstand accidents physically (whether or not we cause them). So the more safety features the better. And you're not going to get those in an old clunker. Robyn

Your post illustrates just how different things can be from state to state. My analysis applied admittedly to California, in such particulars as annual registration fees and insurance. Here, uninsured motorist coverage is less expensive than liability coverage. I had to laugh out loud when you called a registration fee of "mid-$100's" high. Here, a mid-price car, say $26,000 new, will run you over $300 for the first year. And the lowest it will ever go is $89.

I wouldn't drive on 20-year-old tires either. I was assuming one would drive enough to wear out tires well before that point.

One thing I completely forgot about in my eariler analysis is the inspection fees, for states that have a required inspection for safety items. That's one thing that does double for the second car, but it's usually not a large amount. In California we don't have safety inspections, but we do have smog tests which are required every two years, except they let you go six years initially if you buy a brand-new vehicle - one case of the new car being cheaper! However, the smog checks are negligible; I think I paid about $60 for my last one.