Ever consider being a One-Car Family?

[Joe1]

One car family here. I work from home most of the time. Use public transit to get to office on the rare occasions l go in. I drive wife to her office nearby and pick her up when l work from home. Uber and Lyft when needed which isn't often.
Wife does not drive, but we are able to survive with just minor inconveniences.
We have a 6 year old Subaru and have saved lots of money over the years by owning a single modest automobile with only one person on the insurance.

 

[circuitsmith]

Does anyone here live as a one-car family?

Yes, my wife doesn't drive.
Growing up, yes, my mother didn't drive.

 

[DallasTexas]

We are retired and I had not used my car for at least a week, wife has her own and she just uses it for shopping or Dr appointment together we put about 12000 miles I asked her opinion on going 1 car. It was immediately shot down.

 

[1uz_4me]

Nope

 

[lurker]

No. Wouldn’t even if we didn’t need more than one.

work in another city ( 115 miles from my condo ) and need my own car.

It’s a luxury having three cars though ( I have to pay extra for two parking spots at our condo ).

Don’t ask me why I own three cars though lol.

Nothing fancy:

2012 Honda Civic
2013 Honda Civic
2015 Honda Fit.

Want an Audi A4 but too chicken to trust their reliability ( I would put a lot of miles on it ).

 

[IndyIan]

No. Wouldn’t even if we didn’t need more than one.

work in another city ( 115 miles from my condo ) and need my own car.

It’s a luxury having three cars though ( I have to pay extra for two parking spots at our condo ).

Don’t ask me why I own three cars though lol.

Nothing fancy:

2012 Honda Civic
2013 Honda Civic
2015 Honda Fit.

Want an Audi A4 but too chicken to trust their reliability ( I would put a lot of miles on it ).

Well, do some math on what it costs to have the 3rd car. Even $100/month can be significant over a few years and there's probably not going to be a better time to sell than now.

Out in the country having just one car isn't practical with two of us working, but I know few families in town that bought a nice house within walking distance of work and have just one car. Most of the kids summer sports can be biked to, and in winter they can do some car pooling with other kids on the hockey team. They do all have minivans as well which makes a good do it all vehicle.
Unfortunately most cities tend to be designed to make cars a necessity but for some neighborhoods two cars aren't needed even with a family.

 

[lurker]

Well, do some math on what it costs to have the 3rd car. Even $100/month can be significant over a few years and there's probably not going to be a better time to sell than now.

Out in the country having just one car isn't practical with two of us working, but I know few families in town that bought a nice house within walking distance of work and have just one car. Most of the kids summer sports can be biked to, and in winter they can do some car pooling with other kids on the hockey team. They do all have minivans as well which makes a good do it all vehicle.
Unfortunately most cities tend to be designed to make cars a necessity but for some neighborhoods two cars aren't needed even with a family.

The question was not what you think I should be doing, it whats I want to do.

It's not about saving money, it's about what I want to do.

Want to save even more money, don't have kids.

Why would I want to sell my cars when I said I would not want to make do with one?

 

[Nick1994]

Nope. I'm single but my 3 cars serve a purpose each.

The Genesis is the daily driver and road trip car. 16k miles a year or so.
The Jeep is the off-roader, I'll never ever sell it. It sits in the garage most of the time. 2,500 miles a year or so.
The Camry is the weekend beater grocery getter. My brother usually drives it though, sees maybe 3k miles a year tops.

 

[Motu]

We were a one car family when the kids were younger - one car and several motorcycles. When the kids were doing different activities, I drop them off and pick them up on a motorcycle. I rode or walked to work, never took a car.

 

[CharBaby]

Jumping in here late.

Other than the Firebird in my signature in which my wife & I bought new when we got married in 1980 and the Civic that in our daughter's(living on her own) car in which I maintain, my wife & I have cut down to just the Altima for everyday use between the two of us.

Rather than each of us having our own vehicle and then a summer only car(Firebird), in which I don't really count on as transportation, we now just split the one vehicle since I've retired in 2014 but became a one car household a year later in '15.

This hasn't caused any problems yet. However since the pandemic, we're both driving even less often. I've now become a "stay-at-home, stay-at-homer". 😆

 

[vavavroom]

One vehicle worked for The Waltons.

 

[Sierra048]

My wife and I became a one car family last July. Not missing the maintenance and insurance costs. If the need arises where we need a second vehicle temporarily, we'll rent one.

 

[brages]

Did it for about a year. I biked to work, about 5 hilly miles. Got in good shape!

 

[wtd]

No way would I only have one vehicle. The inconvenience of trying to make do with one is not worth it. I'm retired but when I want to go somewhere, I want to be able to go and not have to coordinate with my fiancé who still works for use of a vehicle.

Not to mention vehicles at some point will break down or have to go to the shop for something so it's a pain in the butt trying to deal with that. We live in the country so there is no public transportation.

 

[tbm3fan]

Ever = Never

 

[PWMDMD]

Three kids all going in different directions plus my and I spend most of our time during the week in different places - never.

 

[zzyzzx]

My bicycle is my second car. Does that count?

 

[supton]

My bicycle is my second car. Does that count?

When I was in college my bike was my only vehicle. Believe you me, it was a bit cold on some of those Maine winter mornings.

 

[DejaVue]

A fleet of one would save about $2,000 per year on insurance, tires, and fluids.

How would one car instead of two save on tires and fluids? That sounds like when someone has a set of winter tires and a set of summer tires for one car. It doesn't cost more regarding miles driven (except paying for a second set of rims). And oil changes wouldn't save any money if you're changing oil based on mileage.

If someone has extra cars that are new enough to be depreciating a lot just from sitting and/or have full coverage on them, that's one thing. If the extra car(s) are older with only liability on them, having the extra car(s) starts looking not bad value-wise. If a family member has to take an uber even a couple times a month, the savings over another car may not be very much. Really depends on how low you can get the insurance and if you fix your own cars though, and how far away from civilization the person lives.

 

[Kurtatron]

How would one car instead of two save on tires and fluids? That sounds like when someone has a set of winter tires and a set of summer tires for one car. It doesn't cost more regarding miles driven (except paying for a second set of rims). And oil changes wouldn't save any money if you're changing oil based on mileage.

If someone has extra cars that are new enough to be depreciating a lot just from sitting and/or have full coverage on them, that's one thing. If the extra car(s) are older with only liability on them, having the extra car(s) starts looking not bad value-wise. If a family member has to take an uber even a couple times a month, the savings over another car may not be very much. Really depends on how low you can get the insurance and if you fix your own cars though, and how far away from civilization the person lives.

Tires go bad with age. Most tires shouldn’t be kept much longer than 6 years. So even if they are not driven, they will go bad. I don’t have a garage, so I can’t keep my tires out of the sun and heat.

Also, many people do change oil on a timely schedule, not miles basis. sure fluids and tires do not amount to much, but how familiar are you with Michigan’s nation’s highest insurance rates? Michigan is a no fault state AND mandatory unlimited insurance rates. Even for my 2001 Honda Civic, I have to pay $90 a month for MINIMUM liability.