Let's see: 1. Insurance: $125/month, so 1,500/year 2. Cost of car: $20,000. Spread out over 10 years, so $2,000/year 3. Upkeep: call it 56 cents per mile. Maybe 5,000 miles, so $2,500 per year.
Why this matters: I dislike driving. Very much. And ownership. Question really as been: How much uber/metro/bus/capital bikeshare/zipcar/ etc do I need to use before car ownership could possibly makes sense?
Looks like it is 6k per year. That's an order of magnitude more than I spend on such services, so I'm in the clear.
More or less. With no commute costs, its primarily metro and buses. We only occasionally use zipcar, so maybe as much as $1,200 a year -- so, half an order of magnitude. I'm about to start using uber, and this little exercise shows how much I could spend before car would be worthwhile.
The question is what utility you need of the car. If you need a minivan or pickup for your weekend fun, and Zipcar doesn't have one, you can get stuck.
Ted Cabeen Buying a car for each occasion sounds ruinously expensive. Zipcar does have such cars, so I I'd just need to schedule them in advance if I need a pickup or van.
I agree that you definitely don't need a $20,000 car for those purposes. To put in perspective, my car with all the fees and crap was $20k, and it was a 1 year old top of the line Fiesta with all bells and whistles and only 20k miles on it. You could get an older/higher mileage/lower end car for a lot less.
Maybe my initial guess was above car cost -- I don't have much of a frame of reference. But, its not the price of the car that's driving the cost of the model: If I reduce that cost to half, its still $5,000/year. If, as I think, all the non-air transit options I use have a combined total of 600 to 1,200 a year, then there's still a huge amount of space until car ownership makes sense.
Todd Sprang If I were gifted a car, then its still insurance + upkeep. Call it $4,000 a year. That doesn't divide 12 easily, but is right around $350 a month. (Yes, its 333. Shut up, William's pedantic mind. That's not important right now). Which is still considerably more than I spend on metro/bus/etc.
Heck, in this event, I might keep zipcar -- we used zipcar for long vacation trips when the wife's car's AC had busted. In which case, the free car starts to be used a lot less, and we see a rise in alternatives again.
Conversly, how much is it worth never filling up a gas tank? Never needing to take off work to get a car fixed? Never changing a tire? I hate all of these things.
Of course, I also hate driving, so I'm a bit different there. That's actually I zeroed out the cost of waiting for a bus versus car maintenance -- its going to vary greatly from person to person, and isn't a tangible cost. I am specificly and precisely looking at tangible costs.
Rentals cars are much cheaper than that (USAA), and there are five zipcars right now within a half mile. I have never worried that there might be not be one -- there always is.
Todd Sprang Right, and Car2Go does point to point car trips. Pick up a car in crystal city, drive it to Silver Spring, let it go. Head to a party, and Uber home.
Ayup. If you don't need a car every day, car-sharing services make a lot of sense, particularly if (like you) there are lots of zipcars within half a mile. My hope is that once my kids can ride their bikes to school, we can drop to one car.
And somehow, forgotten: Property Taxes: 5% per $100 of assesed value. As a pre-owned Honda Fit is 16,000, that's another $800.
Parking: I have never paid for parking in Arlington County. I believe parking around here is $4/hour for street parking, plis airport and mall parking - so that may be another $50/month, or $600/year.
And as a pre-owned honda fit is right around 16,000, I'm calling it 1,600 for a car per year.
So ... we reduced the car cost by $400 a year with a little research, but just increased by $1,400. Overall, added $1,000.
It's going to be a hell of a lot of Uber until I hit $7,000 a year!
You are probably overestimating mileage by a lot. 5000 miles on Uber would cost probably $10,000 or more given that the cheapest per mile rate is $1.40, and there's also per minute rates and the more expensive Uber cars are $3.65 a mile plus 0.45 per minute.
Still, if your costs are that low you should stick to doing what you're doing.
Let's see:
ReplyDelete1. Insurance: $125/month, so 1,500/year
2. Cost of car: $20,000. Spread out over 10 years, so $2,000/year
3. Upkeep: call it 56 cents per mile. Maybe 5,000 miles, so $2,500 per year.
Call it $6,000 per year.
Why this matters: I dislike driving. Very much. And ownership. Question really as been: How much uber/metro/bus/capital bikeshare/zipcar/ etc do I need to use before car ownership could possibly makes sense?
ReplyDeleteLooks like it is 6k per year. That's an order of magnitude more than I spend on such services, so I'm in the clear.
your transportation costs are $600/year? wow!
ReplyDeleteMore or less. With no commute costs, its primarily metro and buses. We only occasionally use zipcar, so maybe as much as $1,200 a year -- so, half an order of magnitude. I'm about to start using uber, and this little exercise shows how much I could spend before car would be worthwhile.
ReplyDeletePer year or per month?
ReplyDeleteFixed, thanks. My total ground transit might be $1,200 a year. Maybe.
ReplyDeleteThe question is what utility you need of the car. If you need a minivan or pickup for your weekend fun, and Zipcar doesn't have one, you can get stuck.
ReplyDeleteTed Cabeen Buying a car for each occasion sounds ruinously expensive. Zipcar does have such cars, so I I'd just need to schedule them in advance if I need a pickup or van.
ReplyDeleteI agree that you definitely don't need a $20,000 car for those purposes. To put in perspective, my car with all the fees and crap was $20k, and it was a 1 year old top of the line Fiesta with all bells and whistles and only 20k miles on it. You could get an older/higher mileage/lower end car for a lot less.
ReplyDeleteOh and I added on undercoating and seat treatment and a backup camera too.
ReplyDeleteMaybe my initial guess was above car cost -- I don't have much of a frame of reference.
ReplyDeleteBut, its not the price of the car that's driving the cost of the model: If I reduce that cost to half, its still $5,000/year. If, as I think, all the non-air transit options I use have a combined total of 600 to 1,200 a year, then there's still a huge amount of space until car ownership makes sense.
Good point. I've had 3 cars that cost below $1k. How do the numbers work out if you zero out the layout for a cheap car?
ReplyDeleteTodd Sprang If I were gifted a car, then its still insurance + upkeep. Call it $4,000 a year. That doesn't divide 12 easily, but is right around $350 a month. (Yes, its 333. Shut up, William's pedantic mind. That's not important right now). Which is still considerably more than I spend on metro/bus/etc.
ReplyDeleteHeck, in this event, I might keep zipcar -- we used zipcar for long vacation trips when the wife's car's AC had busted. In which case, the free car starts to be used a lot less, and we see a rise in alternatives again.
Conversly, how much is it worth never filling up a gas tank? Never needing to take off work to get a car fixed? Never changing a tire? I hate all of these things.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I also hate driving, so I'm a bit different there. That's actually I zeroed out the cost of waiting for a bus versus car maintenance -- its going to vary greatly from person to person, and isn't a tangible cost. I am specificly and precisely looking at tangible costs.
Rentals cars are much cheaper than that (USAA), and there are five zipcars right now within a half mile. I have never worried that there might be not be one -- there always is.
Yeah and zipcar has the benefit of being exactly the kind of car you need at the time you need it. No wasting away in the parking lot.
ReplyDeleteTodd Sprang Right, and Car2Go does point to point car trips. Pick up a car in crystal city, drive it to Silver Spring, let it go. Head to a party, and Uber home.
ReplyDeleteAyup. If you don't need a car every day, car-sharing services make a lot of sense, particularly if (like you) there are lots of zipcars within half a mile. My hope is that once my kids can ride their bikes to school, we can drop to one car.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Beans.
ReplyDeleteAnd somehow, forgotten:
ReplyDeleteProperty Taxes: 5% per $100 of assesed value. As a pre-owned Honda Fit is 16,000, that's another $800.
Parking: I have never paid for parking in Arlington County. I believe parking around here is $4/hour for street parking, plis airport and mall parking - so that may be another $50/month, or $600/year.
And as a pre-owned honda fit is right around 16,000, I'm calling it 1,600 for a car per year.
So ... we reduced the car cost by $400 a year with a little research, but just increased by $1,400. Overall, added $1,000.
It's going to be a hell of a lot of Uber until I hit $7,000 a year!
well, I don't.
ReplyDeleteYou are probably overestimating mileage by a lot. 5000 miles on Uber would cost probably $10,000 or more given that the cheapest per mile rate is $1.40, and there's also per minute rates and the more expensive Uber cars are $3.65 a mile plus 0.45 per minute.
ReplyDeleteStill, if your costs are that low you should stick to doing what you're doing.
Joshua Miller Going to just uber would be ruinously expensive, yeah. The idea is to add on uber to my current options.
ReplyDelete