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Old 03-03-2015, 09:47 PM
 
716 posts, read 983,126 times
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I think it really depends on where you live. My husband and I have always had only one car. It spends the majority of its time in the parking garage under our building. My husband and I both took the T to work. I use the car a bit more now that I am retired but not that much.
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Old 03-04-2015, 12:16 AM
 
Location: Chicago - Logan Square
3,396 posts, read 7,186,361 times
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My parents switched from 2 cars to 1 a few years ago and are very happy with dropping a car. They're in good shape financially, and the money they've saved on just having one car is money they've used to travel more. This year that meant a second trip to London, and in past years it's meant trips to Rome, Greece, and Paris (they're saving about $3,000-4000 a year).

I think it would have been much harder for them to do without cell phones. They can easily ping each other if they need something from the store when one of them is out visiting friends or running errands. It's also has made my dad's life much easier. He hates paying someone to do work he knows how to do himself, but now that he's in his 70's he really doesn't want to be crawling around under a car or working under the hood in tight spaces. Having one car gave him a good excuse to stop doing regular work himself, since they can get a loaner from the garage they go to.

I think they also started using cabs or Uber a lot more recently, since when they go out to meet friends they end up hanging out for a long time and drinking too much to be able to drive, so good for them
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Old 03-04-2015, 04:27 AM
 
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Not only not two cars and not one car, but no cars...EVER!
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Old 03-04-2015, 05:36 AM
 
Location: Central IL
20,726 posts, read 16,246,928 times
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Do a trial period for a month or two where you only use one of your cars...try to make it as realistic as possible and make note of those times when it was a major pain to reschedule or to go somewhere together when you didn't plan to...also notes on how you were able to work things out. And then let us know!
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Old 03-04-2015, 05:48 AM
 
35,309 posts, read 52,092,566 times
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We had 2 cars but this winter the snow plow passed by and basically totaled my wifes car, no problem i thought as we would use the money the insurance gave us to buy another car. Unfortunatelt she who must be obeyed and is in charge of all the money has decided that we should try to get by with just one car,the reality is she uses the car all the time to go to work while the daughter and i have to try and get by with no car, fortunately i'm retired so i just have to give up the personal freedom a car gave me,the daughter is relegated to public transit.
One car and 3 drivers in the household sucks bigtime for 2 of us.
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Old 03-04-2015, 06:26 AM
 
Location: 89052 & 75206
8,103 posts, read 8,264,370 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by reneeh63 View Post
Do a trial period for a month or two where you only use one of your cars...try to make it as realistic as possible and make note of those times when it was a major pain to reschedule or to go somewhere together when you didn't plan to...also notes on how you were able to work things out. And then let us know!
What a great idea!!! I think we'll start by logging the times we use separate cars and how we may have dealt with the situation without a 2nd car and then to a test run. Thanks for the inspiration!
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Old 03-04-2015, 06:27 AM
 
Location: SW MO
23,593 posts, read 37,361,284 times
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In 1994 the engine blew on my car. Three days later the ex announced she was leaving me so with the marriage also blown and my financial future iffy I decided not to purchase a new engine for the Mercedes and sold it to someone who wanted it. A few weeks later the ex and her car were gone, I moved downtown near my office and thus began walking and bike-riding a lot. When I rented a house outside of town I rode the bus to get to work.

Two years later I married my wife. She had a car (not why I married her) and ultimately we moved downtown near the state capitol which was our "second office." Our other offices were close-by within walking distance The car was only used on weekends and for major shopping. Two years later a red light runner totaled it and we decided not to replace it so for four years we did without a car and just rented one once or twice a month to shop or get out of Dodge. Sadly, we had a house fire and had to move out for several months so I bought a Chevy S10 pickup a son-in-law was selling.

The year before I retired we sold the S10 and bought a new car which we still have and need since we live in a rural area with any and all shopping 18-24 miles away.

So we've never had more than one car between the two of us and it's always worked well. It's also cheaper.
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Old 03-04-2015, 06:28 AM
 
Location: 89052 & 75206
8,103 posts, read 8,264,370 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jambo101 View Post
We had 2 cars but this winter the snow plow passed by and basically totaled my wifes car, no problem i thought as we would use the money the insurance gave us to buy another car. Unfortunatelt she who must be obeyed and is in charge of all the money has decided that we should try to get by with just one car,the reality is she uses the car all the time to go to work while the daughter and i have to try and get by with no car, fortunately i'm retired so i just have to give up the personal freedom a car gave me,the daughter is relegated to public transit.
One car and 3 drivers in the household sucks bigtime for 2 of us.
Well it probably keeps you contributing to City Data more, so there's a win for all of us!!!
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Old 03-04-2015, 07:01 AM
 
Location: Heading Northwest In Nevada
8,893 posts, read 20,289,882 times
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Well, from what I've been reading, some couples who try to decide on keeping two or having just one can become a real domestic battle. Gee, divorce time? Only kidding, but some couples do make it sound like that.

Wife and I don't do "time away from each other" when she is off of work. We really enjoy each other's company! Only problem about having one vehicle, whether both people are retired or not, is when repairs need to be done. If the repair can be done while the vehicle owners wait, that is a good thing, but if not, the lack of transportation comes into view. Generally a repair shop can take a person home, but that's it. They aren't going to come and get you so you can pick up your vehicle.........that is left up to the vehicle owner to deal with.
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Old 03-04-2015, 07:59 AM
 
Location: 89052 & 75206
8,103 posts, read 8,264,370 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LoveBoating View Post
Well, from what I've been reading, some couples who try to decide on keeping two or having just one can become a real domestic battle. Gee, divorce time? Only kidding, but some couples do make it sound like that.

Wife and I don't do "time away from each other" when she is off of work. We really enjoy each other's company! Only problem about having one vehicle, whether both people are retired or not, is when repairs need to be done. If the repair can be done while the vehicle owners wait, that is a good thing, but if not, the lack of transportation comes into view. Generally a repair shop can take a person home, but that's it. They aren't going to come and get you so you can pick up your vehicle.........that is left up to the vehicle owner to deal with.
Great point! I should research what car repair places are near the train stations and factor that in. However we live in the residences section of a major hotel so we can always go to the guest entry and get a cab.
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