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Old 03-30-21, 09:20 AM
  #22  
Parkyy16
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Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Texas
Posts: 94

Bikes: All steel... Breadwinner, Ritchey, Soma, VO, etc.

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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.
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