Should I give up my car

Witzend

I used to tell my mother that with what she was saving from not running a car (tax, servicing, petrol) - never mind the sale price - she could take a great many taxis.
Alas she never did - in her mind they were still a great extravagance.

Sadly, my elderly mum has the same attitude.

She hasn't driven for years, but until my dad died seven years ago, he would happily drive her anywhere.

Mum can't walk well now, and then only with a wheeled trolley, but on a good day she still manages (just) to use the local bus.

She will only use a taxi if it is totally unavoidable, for instance, if the bus home doesnt turn up or if she misses the last one which is at about 5pm. So two are three times a year, at most, but she really begrudges paying taxi prices even though she can easily afford to and they are actually quite cheap in her area.

My elderly neighbours used to bus to the shops and taxi home with the heavy shopping. We are lucky to live in London and have excellent public transport.

I gave up my car a few months ago now and I have no regrets.
I live near two bus stops and a mainline station. I did nearly all my food shopping online even while I ran a car. The expense of running a car for one person when you live within good transport links does not really make sense to me.

I know things would be very different if you did not live near a main bus route and shops but my advice to the OP is go for it!!

jocork

I recently renewed my licence on reaching 70. I expected my insurance cost to go up but got a surprise at renewal that it dropped slightly, so for now I'm happily still driving. Most of my journeys are to places without a bus route so I'd be in difficulties without a car, but as I plan to downsize and move areas I'm aware of the need to future proof by living in a place with good transport links and facilities nearby. I too don't drive a high mileage, but it includes going on holiday camping every year so that would be impossible without a car. I also visit family who live 200 miles away a few times a year. Going by public transport would not be convenient and would involve limiting what I could take with me. Ihope to move nearer them which would make life easier if I did give up driving, though I would probably keep my car unless driving became impossible for any reason.

One solution could be to rely on buses etc and keep aside the savings you make to pay for taxis if you need them occasionally. You could even hire a car if you needed one only very occasionally. In your situation I'd be doing a careful calculation of the projected total savings but it does sound like it may be possible to be without a car for you.

An elderly relative was hardly using her car and apparently wasn't safe but I didn't see it as I live over 200 miles away. She used a local garage for servicing and the owner suggested to her than it was time to give up the car. She had a bus stop virtually on her doorstep with a good bus service but protested that she couldn't manage. He said, "Sell the car, put the money in a special account for travel, add in the cost of tax/insurance/servicing and every month put in a sum you would have spent on petrol, that is your taxi fund." Eventually she did what he suggested and pretty soon there was so much money in the account she stopped putting the petrol money in.

Well I ve never had a car so always have used public transport very very rarely use taxis only in very extreme illness and can’t remember the last time I used one I even took two buses a couple of years ago when my BP unexpectedly shot up it never had before, never as since, but it wouldn’t go down
My daughter was cross I hadn’t taken a cab 🤣🤣that’s me it never entered my head

My DH has an eye problem that , if not treated quickly, can lead to scarring that would affect his sight if not treated quickly.
Last Sunday morning he woke up with a flare up. We could get up and drive straight to the hospital without delay. We live in a village with no bus service on Sundays.
I was so relieved we could act quickly. Still had a long wait when we got there though! Of course if he hadn’t had me he would have had to get a taxi, he couldn’t drive himself.
I think that puts me as just a little more valuable than a car!

You could get a taxi, though, I suppose.
Only if you needed to, of course.

Granny23

Due to health issues I am no longer able to drive and I struggle to use buses, but I have found the perfect solution.... I have a younger friend who is early retired through ill health, lives nearby and cannot afford to run a car on his small pension. So now he is the "keeper" of my car while I remain the owner and pay for the tax, Insurance, MOT, repairs, etc. and we share fuel costs. He drives me to town for shopping, medical appointments, etc. and he also uses the car for his own purposes including visiting his elderly parents who live some distance away. This version of Car Sharing suits us both and I would recommend it to anyone with similar circumstances.

That's a great idea Granny23

Stevie D - I'll just throw in a few things to think about. I gave up having a car for financial reasons when I was in my fifties. I could actually walk to shops (but usually had to get a taxi home as I couldn't carry all the shopping bags that far). It took a lot of adjusting - allowing more time to get places and it was frustrating sometimes when it took so long to get somewhere. I'd need a bus and then a taxi, if I wanted to travel by train.

Taxis were never available before about 10am (eg if you had an appointment) because they were all doing school runs - likewise the same between about 2.45pm and 5.30pm - school runs. Local authorities use the taxis for some school transport.

But that might depend on the area.

The point I'm coming to is, I later regretted not driving for so long when I then couldn't walk or use buses - but could drive an automatic car! It took me some time to get my confidence back driving as I hadn't driven so long.

But a car is now my lifeline - because I can't manage buses and can't walk much.

So although at the moment, you can use buses and taxis - there may come a time when a car is more of a friend to you and can carry things for you and enable you to get out.

So I would think carefully about giving up driving altogether.

If you keep it and don't use it very often, a car can last a very long time, due to low mileage and not getting worn out etc. And it's expensive to replace it.

I now use the car to transport my folding mobility scooter - although I usually need someone with me to get the scooter out of the boot - it enables me to get out and do the odd thing.

Just to add - you could look at reducing the insurance by getting cheaper quotes or adding a larger excess to the policy, if you don't use the car much. The car tax depends on the type of car - some have £0 tax now - ones with smaller engines usually. Although maybe changing the car isn't affordable? I believe there's even a policy specifically for lady drivers that is cheaper than most. Servicing - if you're not using it very often you could get away with just one annual service and have the MOT done at the same time. You could even get away with only having it done once every two years if you're not using it much (although you'd need the MOT doing every year of course).

gentleshores has so many good reasons, for NOT giving up your car. I totally agree….

If you were thinking of changing it - one I always wanted was one of the two seater Smart cars. I drove a hired one once and absolutely loved it. It's small and £0 tax but feels like a larger car inside as there is no back seat so it still has full sized front seats. They are also mostly semi automatic so futureproof if you need an automatic at some point. They don't rust - the panels are fibreglass - and it's also one of the safest cars on the road and has a strong metal crash tested frame (inside the panels). It's a joy to drive - you just hop in and can park in the tiniest of spaces easily. And very economical on fuel - about 60 to 80 mpg I seem to remember. Insurance is quite cheap on it as well.

In case you thought about changing the car!

One of our neighbours recently gave up his car as he has terrible arthritis and found driving difficult, his wife does not drive. We have offered to take him to hospital appointments but one of his his sons usually takes him. We have a bus stop three minutes walk away with buses to town every 15 minutes and a few shops over the road. We will probably give up ours in the near future as our last insurance renewal was £714 and we only do 3000 miles a year at the most.

crazyH

gentleshores has so many good reasons, for NOT giving up your car. I totally agree….

Thank you . I know everyone's situation is different - that was just my experience. But also you can't always get a taxi in the middle of the night if you need to go to A&E! As has happened to me before. These days they sometimes ask someone to take you as there is such a delay with ambulances. But then maybe a neighbour could take you I guess.

This is the ladies car insurance company I mentioned. Sheila's Wheels. It's Which? recommended. I don't know how much cheaper it would be but I believe they have cheaper policies for lady drivers as they say they are safer drivers!

www.sheilaswheels.com/

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Reported

If you give up your car you will save at least £2000 a year thats a lot of taxis and buses are free, soon my car will have its service and mot, £500 thereabout, then tax £200, then petrol, AA and the dreaded insurance, i would try it for 3 months and see how you get on,

I think my situation is similar to yours. I was hardly using my car, I live on a bus route. Shops, GP and pharmacy are all close by. To be clear I hate grocery shopping so have had home deliveries for years.
I gave up driving because my eyesight was poor, meaning to take it up again after my cataracts were done. I discovered that I didn’t need a car at all. I have a bus pass and a railcard. The bus is efficient and I have chatted to some lovely people at various bus stops. The only time I need a taxi is when I need to take my cat to the vet for his annual vaccinations.
For me an added bonus was not having to worry about parking. My house has on street parking and there is fierce competition for spaces which caused me a lot of stress. It’s been almost a year now and I am not missing my car at all.

I've posted this before so apologies if you saw that post.

Elderly relative with various issues was going through this dilemma. She was advised to set up a new bank account for transport sell the car and put the money in the account. Then work out what insurance road tax MOT recovery service and petrol cost divide by 12 and put that in the account every month. This was her taxi fund. At the end of the year there was more in the account than she started with and she hadn't even accounted for depreciation or unexpected repairs. I thought it was a positive way to manage it.

gentleshores

This is the ladies car insurance company I mentioned. Sheila's Wheels. It's Which? recommended. I don't know how much cheaper it would be but I believe they have cheaper policies for lady drivers as they say they are safer drivers!

www.sheilaswheels.com/

I thought different pricing for men and women had stopped due to discrimination or something. I must look it up.

Just checked and it is unlawful.

jmo

While you can afford to keep your car and are a competent driver, do so - it beats standing in the rain waiting for a bus!

Balanced against no searching for parking spaces. My local bus drops me in the middle of town avoid the walk from the car park.

I live near the end of the bus route, if I'm going out I can see the bus that has come from town and know I have ten minutes to get my coat on and do the two or three minutes walk to the bus stop, never have to wait long. At the other end I can sit in the little waiting room at the bus station.

Allsorts

If you give up your car you will save at least £2000 a year thats a lot of taxis and buses are free, soon my car will have its service and mot, £500 thereabout, then tax £200, then petrol, AA and the dreaded insurance, i would try it for 3 months and see how you get on,

Thanks for saying that - ie overall cost pa.

I did have a car - very briefly - but not gotten around to working out annual costs - as my ownership was so brief (I turned out to be very far from anyone's definition of a driver unfortunately and had to give it up..!)

Useful to have an idea how much I'm saving.

I guess that doesnt include depreciation either? - ie having to mentally allow £x a year to cover replacing it at necessary intervals? So do you know how much depreciation would be a year - allowing for having a reasonable quality secondhand little run-around car?

Re Sheilas Wheels - I would imagine they aren't breaking the law. The clue is in the title - ie I can't see a man insuring with a womans insurance company. If men did - then that firm would be breaking the law - but if men don't then they arent.

Apparently men do insure with them. If they are like me they use one of those sites that gets quotes for you and pick the one that suits them.