Alligator

As my miles on my bike increase and my car mileage decreases, I wonder when the time will officially come when I’ll stop having a need for my car. I can use my spouse’s car if I need to, so at some point I’ll probably need to make a decision to get rid of it. It honestly can’t come fast enough for my taste, but I need to prove to myself that I don’t need it any longer.

How did you make that decision and what prompted you? How did your significant other (if any) take it?

350htrr

WE... I and I mean the wife & I, made the decision to "cut back"... our car use... BUT, are nowhere close to being "car, free"... We, "CUT back|", & ,to become care free, would be... a huge burden... Living where we live, where the closest next town is a 100+ Km away, and the closest next town is another 100+ Km away,... Becoming "car free" is almost like becoming a LUDDITE, Yes, it CAN work, but, "wow on there nelly",,… It would cause other huge problems... IMO.

narr33

I had been commuting to work 95% of the time for about eight years. My car was totaled by a drunk driver while parked in front of my house. The next day I was so elated. It's been great ever since. No regrets. Good luck!

PedalingFool

Back when I was having financial problems I decided to sell my vehicle because I couldn't make the payments anymore. Got a good deal since I got someone to pay it off plus give me a decent amount of cash for it (which I spent on more bike stuff). I've gotten another vehicle since but still on my bike more than my car.

wilfried

In 1990 when I finished college and was moving on to grad school. It was a hand me down from my father, and by that point a dilapidated wreck, so basically gave it away. That was the only car I ever owned, for about two years. After grad school I moved to the Big City, where I have no interest in car, or driving, which I do about once every five years, and makes me really nervous. I keep my license current though, in case of zombie apocalypse.

JoeyBike

Completed my first cross country bike tour in 1989. Spent 5 months on the bike in the USA, mostly camping. When I got back into the real world my van was in storage so I left it there until I could build up my savings a bit. Moved to an efficiency apartment near a mall with grocery stores, movie theaters, drug stores, and every service you could think of just 3 blocks away. Medical services were about 10 minutes by bicycle. After a year of this lifestyle I gave the van to my little brother. There was no need, and actually the neighborhood was a tad sketch and I would have hated leaving the van parked in the public lot anyway.

My savings built up so fast that two years later I took off on a 7-moth bike tour in the USA. Then about one month every year after that for many years. I do rent cars occasionally when I want to get out of town for the weekend.

linberl

I was kind of nervous about it so I kept my car a few months longer than I really needed to, but pretended it was already gone. I guess I just wanted that fallback confidence in case I was making a mistake and whimped out. And once I sold it, it was more like why didn't I do it sooner, lol. Once you've kind of figured out how you are going to deal with all the scenarios you can imagine, then it's time. You can't plan perfectly for everything, you have to take that leap of faith. Having car share options or a friend or neighbor with a car (just in case) makes it easier. I figured as long as I had a solution if I broke a leg and couldn't ride, then everything else would be easy. It's been a few weeks shy of one year now, and I haven't missed it at all. In retrospect, it was a pain in the butt --- insurance bills, registration bill, maintenance, moving for street sweeping to avoid tickets, etc. Parking my bike is a hell of a lot easier, too. My partner was worried about how much I would want the remaining car, but I rarely do and it hasn't been an issue. Heck, it's even worked out that I take the car for maintenance and pick it up because I can just toss my folding bike in the trunk! So no more waiting for the shop shuttle =).

wipekitty

I sold my car after I realized that I'd made it through a particularly brutal Wisconsin winter using only my bicycle to get to work and back. In the meantime, I used the car about twice a month to get groceries. The car was 20 years old, and I really did not need it: it seemed like it would be a good time to rehome it while it still had some life left.

My significant other did not have a license, so that was no big deal. Everywhere he needed to go in our small town was within two miles.

I used the money from selling the car to buy another bike and a cargo trailer. Grocery collection - sorted.

wsgts

I travel a bit for work, and as such was flying around the country and commuting to the local office by bike. When I would come home from work travel, I would always get my miles in on the bike as commuting. Then I had a meeting that was last minute at another company in town that I had never been to. As it turned out, I hadn't driven my car in 6 weeks, and it had a flat on the front passenger's side. I had no idea how long it had been sitting on the rim, but we had it sold within a month or so. It's silly to keep something that is that high of maintenance and expense that no one actually needs

Like most everyone else, my wife has a car but there isn't one sitting out there just for me.

wsgts

PDXCarless

My wife and I moved to London (from Portland, OR) twice in the last 7 years. That meant selling and buying a car on each return to the US. I can think of few things I like less than buying a car, registering, selling, etc. As my wife had been bike-only for a few years before our first move, and I had had spent 2002-2006 car-free in Portland, we just decided to hold off buying a car until we actually needed to. The only things we ever need a car for is getting our cats across town to our preferred vet and an occasional run to a big-box home improvement store. We use a car share for the former and barter with our neighbor to borrow her car for the latter.

Miele Man

I lived in east end Toronto Canada and decided not to get a car because of the idiotic city parking permit thing. You must have a permit to park on the street in the neighbourhood BUT, the city sells a LOT MORE parking permits than there are parking spots on the street. Thus you end up having to park a fair distance from home and risk getting a ticket. Besides that, I could get across the city faster by bicycle than my friends could by car. Oh, parking the bicycle at work was a lot easier than trying to find parking for a car.

Cheers

VeniVidiVictum

I sold mine in 2007. I'd been thinking about it for a while, as I didn't use it much - barely 3000 miles per year, and that includes a 1000 mile round trip to visit my family. Even so, it was hard to imagine not owning a car. Two things happened which woke me up:

1. After driving for too long on that 1000 mile trip, I pulled into a services and curbed my wheel. This was a Fiat Panda, which takes up no more than half a standard UK parking space. I should have been able to centre it easily, and that brought home how tired I was. Imagine if I'd made a mistake at 70mph on the motorway? I decided then and there not to drive that far again. Bus, train, and plane were all options, costing no more, and often less, and allowing me to sleep, read, watch TV - it's a no brainer. I've since stopped flying, and mostly use the Megabus.

2. After parking outside my house in torrential rain, three weeks went by before I drove it again. When I did, I found the brakes had rusted, requiring £300 of repairs.

I did some sums, and found I could get an annual bus pass, and a taxi twice a month, and a rental car for 1 week per year, and transport for my annual family visit, for the same price I was paying to own a car.

As it turned out, I didn't bother with the bus pass, or the taxis, or the rental cars, and instead built out my stable of bicycles. I moved closer to town, and now only have two bikes, but I haven't missed car ownership at all.

sam_jm

The selling of my car had a lot to do with changing locations and living in cities with decent metro options (incase biking wasn't as safe in heavy winter conditions). Also, depending on where you are from, there are some really hard pushes to increase cycle lanes in cities, pushing cars out. In Paris this is easily noted in certain areas. As someone on the younger side, owning a car now doesn't seem like a wise investment, particularly with prevalence of car shares and rental options for vehicles.

wilfried

I sold the one and only car I ever owned in 1990, when I finished college and went off to grad school. The car was a hand-me-down from my father, and near derelict at that point anyway.

kasncart

Going car-free is a good exercising strategy. It is good for fitness.

alloo

I sold my car in 2005, after I started commuting with my scooter. I also read "How to live well without a car" by Chris Balish and now 15 years later, I order my groceries from Walmart. The only reason that I rent a car from Enterprise is to travel, or extended bad weather. During this Crisis, I can rent a car for $14/day. I'm thinking about getting an ecargo bike next. Everything is impossible to a car driver, everything is possible to a walker or cyclist.

Alan37

I decided to sell my car last year when I started working mostly from home. Until then, I needed a car to get to my workplace, because it was too far from the place I lived. Now I don't need a car. I can use a bike, or someone can give me a ride.

DraftDodger

I didn't get a car until i had a child at 25. Up until then my bike was my transportation.

We were a cycling family and extended family, traveling locally in the midwest for organized rides.

Another divorce after 20 years and return to school, permitted an exploration to cycling as my main transportation, but I had moved to Las Vegas....New Mexico. Definitely not bike friendly.

For some years later I played with giving up my car, but always found an excuse not to until I left the country and sold my car with other belongings.

I lived in a place where entire families used one bike as transport. For many a car was not an option. Imagine everyone im China owning a car.
I was always looked at suspiciously in the states when I declared wanting a car free life. It is ok to bike if you hoist it on a vehicle and drive it to a trail, or do so in packs or on the weekend.

I'm now back in the states and decidely carfree for the last 8 years. Unfortunately last year I broke my bike and leg while riding.

I am not so sure as time progresses on a 58 year old body with a injured leg that I will continue my car free life. I'm not as fearless as I was a year ago, and I think committing to being carfree takes a certain amount of courage.

I hope to use the bike in my rehabilitation, but I can't even find one in the age of COVID.

PeugeotAndGo

We've discussed this very topic and think it will be another 6 months before we can feel truly "comfortable" being car-less. Best to be car-less without being careless, I say.

HardHard

I removed to a small city last year and I thought: why do I need a car here if I could use a bike to get to my job? So, till then I'm using only bike

MichelleButler9

I haven't sold my car yet, but I'm thinking about it..

Parkyy16

Decided to sell my car last year during lockdown around May, 2020. I was already commuting by bike to work, grocery delivery became more widely available during COVID, wasn't going out of town to pickup anybody from the airport, etc. I bought the car after graduating college to commute to and from my first job out of college(a 3 hour round trip by car). After that, I swore that I would never be that far away from my work ever again. For my second job, I moved to a place 15 minute bike ride away from work.

I was doing all the maintenance on the car myself(head gaskets, CV Axles, hub bearings, brake pads and rotors, oil changes, spark plugs, radiator change, filters, and pretty much anything in between). In 2020, it threw a check engine light for an O2 sensor, decided to replace it myself. Bought the new sensor, but the old sensor was rusted onto the exhaust manifold. Not wanting to strip the threads, I took it to the shop to get it done, they said it's seized completely, and that they would likely have to replace the whole exhaust manifold along with the catalytic converter.

At that point, I was needing to put in about $1,500 worth of parts and labor into a car barely worth that(2003 Subaru Forester with some underbody rusting and 150k+ on the odometer). I decided to sell to a dealer since I didn't care too much about making profit from it. It's still rolling around somewhere since I got charged for a highway toll a few months ago. I still miss the car since it had sentimental value, but I don't miss the constant worry of things breaking and the insurance payment.

Since then, I got a dog trailer for groceries and dog transportation needs, got a new commuter, got a new road bike, and overall much happier without a car. If I schedule accordingly, I can get to just about anywhere in this town with the bike. I did have to uber once, but those were not bikable conditions(during the Texas blackout of 2021, don't trust Texas drivers in the snow).

I rented a car for a day to pickup someone from the airport, but that's only happened once due to COVID. Even then, the price for renting($40-$45 through my company rate) is cheaper than just my insurance($50-$60 per month). So the math works out to this: if I have the need to use a vehicle for more than 2 days out of the month, I lose money by not having a car, but if I average less than 2 days per month, I'm saving money and the hassle/worries of owning my own car.

A huge factor in this is that I don't have children nor the need to transport anyone other than myself. If I had children, I'd probably consider buying an urban arrow, a child trailer, or both.

Aussie_Cyclist

A year ago being fed up with the cost of owning a car and wanting to live a healthier lifestyle I bought a bike (I haven't been on a bike for 40 years). I rode to work (it almost killed me) but enjoyed the experience of the freedom I felt being on a bike. I sold my car and have been riding ever since.

Hypno Toad

I sold my car last fall ... Kinda long story getter there:

Back in 2015 I moved to a home office and rarely used the car, but had a garage spot for it and it was paid for, so kept it outta convenience.

2018 moved to a very bike/walkable community with a smaller house with smaller garage. My car lived outside and got to be a pain moving around for snow emergencies, and other crap.

Enter Pandemic-World and Frau Toad moves to a home office perinatally. Now we have two cars we never use.

The finally straw, my mom's car died and my car was low mileage and well maintained.... so my mom bought my car.

I'm still car-light (not car free), Frau Toad still has a car, and I drive it from time-to-time ... mostly hauling one of our dogs.

Zedoo

An SUV was free from a relative because it needed repairs. Then another relative borrowed it for a few months when his truck broke. Later it needed more repairs and I decided nah, I don't want an SUV that much.