Do I really need a car?

[Dorsetmike]

My car just passed its annual MOT - (roadworthyness test) the mileage when the test is done is recorded on the pass certificate, checking last years cert, it appears I covered 412 miles/663Km in the year!

It cost me about £140 for road tax, £353 insurance, £186 for servicing and about £70 for fuel or about £1.80/$2.90 per mile.

I'm hopefully changing the current car for a slightly newer diesel which will cut the road tax to about £30, and cut the fuel cost to about £35 for the same mileage. I can also cut the insurance by about £100 by changing insurers.

Strange how the quotes differ, if I ask for a renewal quote direct from my present insurers site I get £353, if I go to one of the comparison sites the same insurers quote is £292!

If I decided to not run a car my options for getting about would be walking - not really an option with breathing problems and the fact that to get to local shops means a steep uphill start- Taxi - less convenient and costly over any distance - bus - uphill walk to nearest bus stop (but free bus pass once I get there!) Not really convenient for long distances. Other public transport would need taxi to reach nearest train or long distance coach station and cost, especially train, is high, convenience limited by having to adhere to timetables - can't always travel at a time that suits.

So when does cost cancel out convenience?

 

[teddy]

Everything has a price, and a cost. Without my car the 15 minute drive to the office would take an hour on three buses. My daughters Sunday job at Canterbury cricket club would be impossible, and my occasional sojourn in the South of France an out of the question expense. So in my case the price is worth while.

teddy

 

[JHC]

It would be just about impossible to live out of a city without a car.

 

[Krummhorn]

Although we live within a mile of major bus routes, Tucson is a sprawling community of 195 square miles (503.3 km squared). There are patches of un-incorporated 'county' areas for which the 'city' bus line does not serve except for those running parallel to the city boundaries.

I could take the bus to and from church, but that would take upwards of 3 hours each way with transfers, etc, and then having to walk the last 3 miles as my church is in one of those 'county' areas not serviced by the 'city' bus lines. The thought of getting home from a night choir rehearsal at 11:30pm (23,30) is not a happy thought.

So, where I live, a car is a necessity ... actually, we have two cars, my VW Jetta for me, and my wife's Honda CR-V. That said though, my wife does use the city bus for transportation to/from work during the week ... I take her to the bus stop and am there to pick her up in the afternoons, so we are doing our part and saving petrol costs somewhat.

Our annual auto insurace hovers at ~$1,200.00 (USD) - we have to pay for all those "uninsured" and "underinsured" morons.

If I lived in, say, London (UK) ... getting rid of my cars would be the first thing on my list. We survived nicely without a car there in the summer of 2010 using the underground, etc.

 

[Corno Dolce]

Living in the center of Moscow as my tribe and I do within 3 minutes of the Metro station we feel it absurd to have a car. Yes, get a car, if only to taunt and tease the environazi/talibans with:lol:

In Economics there is the "Marginal Cost of Utility".

 

[marval]

I don't drive, I am lucky to have two buses that come onto my estate. The buses run one an hour, I just have to go out at the right time. My husband still drives because he has problems with his feet due to diabetes, that makes walking impossible apart from short distances.

 

[Dorsetmike]

If all goes according to plan I should be changing my car on Tuesday or Wednesday next week. I found one identical to the one my late wife had, same model, same colour, just a different registration number and roof bars (and a few more miles) so my road tax will be down from £140 to £30, and fuel consumption goes from current 36MPG petrol to 62MPG+ diesel, if I do a similar mileage to last year a tankful should be more than enough!. My insurance renewal will be with a different company, should save more than another £100.

Pics of the car, the interior looks to have had a very good valeting, or it's had covers over the seats since new.

I like the upright driving position, less back problems! I'll have to get used to winding the handle to open the windows tho' (exercise should do me good!).

 

[teddy]

Looks good Mike. I have been considering a diesel estate, probably a Pequot as they make one of the best diesel engines. I would certainly reduce my driving costs.

teddy

 

[Dorsetmike]

Do you need a large car still Teddy or would you be going for a 20x/30x (dunno what their current model numbers are) Joyce had a 205 diesel for some years, I had a Citroen BX 19 RD which had the same engine as the Peugeot 405.

The Mazda's have a very good reliability record (in the top 3), I see there is a Mazda2 diesel on sale in Bristol with 209,000 miles on the clock! So the one I'm getting should last me a while doing less than 500 miles a year!

 

[Corno Dolce]

Hopefully the previous owners of the diesel Mazda have regularly changed the engine-oil. If the manufacturer suggests changing oil every 3000 miles, change it every 1500 instead. You'll do your engine a great favor, especially diesels since they operate under higher pressures and temps.

 

[Contratrombone64]

If your brave, like me, you could give up the car for one of these:

http://www.kawasaki.com.au/motorcycles/sport/2012-versys-650l-abs

I've just paid the deposit for this monster and waiting its delivery.

 

[JHC]

Looks good Mike. I have been considering a diesel estate, probably a Pequot as they make one of the best diesel engines. I would certainly reduce my driving costs.

teddy

Diesels are rubbish and stinky and accelerate like a snail with a wooden leg give me a good old gas guzzeler any night and to hell with global warming

 

[Krummhorn]

If all goes according to plan I should be changing my car on Tuesday or Wednesday next week. I found one identical to the one my late wife had, same model, same colour, just a different registration number and roof bars (and a few more miles) so my road tax will be down from £140 to £30, and fuel consumption goes from current 36MPG petrol to 62MPG+ diesel, if I do a similar mileage to last year a tankful should be more than enough!. My insurance renewal will be with a different company, should save more than another £100.

Pics of the car, the interior looks to have had a very good valeting, or it's had covers over the seats since new.

I like the upright driving position, less back problems! I'll have to get used to winding the handle to open the windows tho' (exercise should do me good!).

Those pics look great Mike ... the car has been well taken care of - and the boost in petrol mileage like double ... fantastic, especially with petrol prices today.

If your brave, like me, you could give up the car for one of these:

http://www.kawasaki.com.au/motorcycles/sport/2012-versys-650l-abs

I've just paid the deposit for this monster and waiting its delivery.

Wow David ... very nice ... and sporty looking too. Congratulations :clap:

Diesels are rubbish and stinky and accelerate like a snail with a wooden leg give me a good old gas guzzeler any night and to hell with global warming

Can't say I agree with you Colin ... when we were in the UK (Summer 2010) we had rented a Ford Mondeo with a four-banger turbo, manual 6 speed tranny ... it picked up and moved quickly and still got 55 mpg overall for the 7 days we had it. We ran from London to Liverpool, to Salisbury and back to London on 3/4 tank of petrol.

I must add that the mpg figures for vehicles in Europe are far better than we can get here across the pond ... with all the US required pollution control gadgets added, the mpg figures for virtually identical cars are lots lower here than in, say, the UK.

 

[Corno Dolce]

Commisar Colin,

Not necessarily are diesels poor in performance. An acquaintance of mine has a pick-up truck with a twin-turbocharged V-8 that cranks out 750 horsepower and 1500 ft/lbs of torque. Needless to say that he left many a V-8 Camaro or Mustang or Porsche 911 choking on his dust. Of course, mass consumer market diesel cars are, by intent, not performance oriented i.e. quarter-mile times........

 

[Contratrombone64]

Colin's diesel comments was obviously intended as fuel (pardon the pun) on the fire? I could be wrong, often am. Speaking of Colin, how are you?? How's NiuZulin?

 

[JHC]

Colin's diesel comments was obviously intended as fuel (pardon the pun) on the fire? I could be wrong, often am. Speaking of Colin, how are you?? How's NiuZulin?

Choking on bloody diesel fumes more noticeable when I have the hood down ??? David, when you get your bike you will see what I mean.
Diesels are OK for bottom end torque but do not developed the BHP that us petrol heads (and bikers) need to do doughnuts and pull the birds and if you are going to quote turbos then compare them to petrol turbos, the only chicks that like 'diesel donkeys' are covered in tats and can't manage four syllable words. so go get your 1000 mpg diesel and leave me with my 30mpg real car.
btw Nice to see you back David did the rehab go well????? (jock) sorry mean (joke)


David just in case, only the first sentence was directed at you the rest was intended for the diesel jocks :grin:

 

[Dorsetmike]

@ Lars, possible reason for discrepancy between USA MPG and UK is due to USA pints/gallons v Imperial 1 imperial = 1.2 USA, so with the bigger gallon we get more miles. (try comparing litres per 100KM if USA quote them)

@ Colin, diesel emissions are not a problem these days (at least in UK and Europe) road tax in UK is banded based on emissions

http://www.roadtaxprices.co.uk/Road_Tax_2012.htm

So while I'm paying £30 road tax, your gas guzzler will cost £475 (or £522.50 if you tax 6 monthly) ... ... 'nuff said?

In addition there is a "Showroom tax" on new cars; cars up to band D (130gm CO2) get first year road tax free, bands E through G (131-165 ) pay the standard road tax for their band, above that they pay an additional amount up to £1030 for 256+ gm CO2 (£475 road tax plus £555 Showroom tax)

For me on a pension, anything that reduces my outgoings is good, pulling birds is no longer on my agenda, doing donuts wears out the tyres too quickly, and with a national speed limit of 70MPH why bother to get a car that can do 150+? Getting caught speeding costs money and can also bring a ban for going too fast too often, been there, done that, don't wear T shirts so didn't bother getting one (6 months in 1985 4 "offences" in 12 months, fastest was 93.6MPH on the M3 in a Ford Escort).

However if your car was constructed before 1st Jan 1973 then it is exempt from road tax as a "historic" vehicle.

 

[Mat]

Hey David - long time no see/talk. That bike of yours looks really nice. What's its top speed?

 

[JHC]

@Mike. Cost is always a factor and we all make our own choices so I will not go down that path, but regarding fast/powerful cars, top speed is not the only point of a powerful vehicle other things such as enjoyment of the journey, comfort, reliability, (a large/powerful engine is very rarely stressed and will last for ages where as a small engine is working hard) Safety is another plus, in a powerful car if you wish to pass you can do so very quickly.
You also have to be on top of you service program with a diesel to keep things sweet, I go about 25000k between services.
I pay about NZ$250 for registration/year and $200 of that is for ACC insurance which goes into a consolidated fund….nuffsaid eh.

 

[teddy]

Nice bike David. I would like another one myself, but I no longer bounce very well.

It is nice driving a powerful car that has bags of reserve ( the Porsche had brakes that would pull you down from 200 mph so great at 70 mph) but been there, done that so I am quite happy to have a chugger that will cost a fraction to run and will not give me the temptation to see how quickly I can reach the horizon. I agree that the modern diesels are very sophisticated (look at the BMW ones), fast and economical. All the while we British are being punished for what the sun is doing naturally we will have to put up with high fuel prices and high road tax.

teddy