Originally Posted by
wipekitty
I got rid of my car in March 2014, for similar reasons - remembering to move the car, starting it to keep the battery from dying, and just generally keeping it maintained was no longer worth it. Part of the $1200 I got for it was immediately invested in a good cargo trailer and an older geared hardtail MTB (all my other bikes at the time were fixed gear).
I cannot think of any situations that caused difficulty - immediately after selling the car, or in general, in the past close to five years. The only unanticipated result was that the homeowner's insurance bill went up, as I previously had a bundle discount with the car insurance. (Should have known that, though.)
It's also worth noting that when we got rid of the family car, we were new to the area (so no friends/family who we could really ask for rides) in an area that, at the time, had incredibly unreliable cab service, limited public transit, and no Uber/Lyft (I think they came in 2016). So, getting rid of the car really meant sticking to human-powered transportation - walking and biking!
That's great to hear. I already had the homeowner insurance increase when I took my car insurance to Metromile because they charged for miles driven and were half the price of my Allstate car insurance (bundled). It wasn't a huge increase (about $80 yr) so made financial sense to move the car over to MM. Of course, once I drop that insurance after the car is gone, it will all be much better $-wise. Having very good public transit and the options now of e-scooter/e-bike share along with car share is what makes me think this will work for me. Of course, once the car is gone...it HAS to work, lol. I've had a car since I was 16 so it just feels a little weird, but good weird. My 31 year old son otoh has NEVER owned a car and is a piss-poor driver as a result. He bikes everywhere.