Crazy idea - 3 months without a car in Texas

I think you're right about TX. It's so spread out, especially DFW.

What would be the lost costs in getting another car if you get frustrated? Scooter/bike?

 

Make move, get situated with everything in your domicile.


Survey your kingdom


...as adult contemporary music from mini-stereo fills the air even as tea candles, alit, float in kitchen sink, gently mocking you and Kenny G.


Get rid of chariot. Useless!


Day two of carless existence: Meet your Fairy Tale Princess.


[Important: Not a fairy]


[Almost as important: Fairy Princess lives on other side of town]


Purchase new set of wheels.


Destroy Kenny G collection.


[OR]


Go for it! I could go over all the benefits and downsides, but, you've already turned those thoughts over. Life is too short not to turn thought into reality.

 

Very possible.

Where I currently live and where I work(ed) (new gig soon), I'd bike to work several times a week. It was only two miles there, and two miles back, or four or six, depending on the route I wanted to take. A mile or two for lunch... but it was very flexible and my office could hold my bike.

I'd recommend it. Very healthy. But it will become very hot!

 

One of my best friends was sent to Miami for his job for training for 3 months - but they
would not pop for a car for him, since he stayed across the street from where the
training was.
What he did was he went to some corner car lot, bought the cheapest POS on the lot
for $200, drove it for 3 months, and sold it back to the same lot for X dollars, I don't
remember if it was $100 or $200, but he basically 'rented' a car for almost nothing,
never registered it....... this was 20 years ago, too, don't know if you can do the
same thing today, but might be worth a shot. Difference might be car insurance,
you may need to pop for that, whereas my friend had it because of the cars he
owned back home, Insurance follows the driver and the car.

 

I've gone several months at a time not using a car up here in Chicago...pretty easy. If I lived close to work I'd never use it. Most of my friends sold their cars off a long time ago.

 

What, car insurance rates killing you Dave????

 

It sounds like you could do this very easily.

Give it a try and keep tabs on FChat on how it's going.

You would have to get several baskets on your bicycle for your groceries.

 

After my last car succumbed to a terminal illness last year I decided to give this a shot. I'm not totally car-free as I do share one with my girlfriend, but I do ride my bike into work (12 miles each way) 2-3 times a week and have a similar situation with shopping & restaurants within close distance from home.

It's honestly bizarre how it effects you (as a car guy) because when I look back on my past commutes or way of thinking it seems like a huge waste of cash and time. The car is sort of like this bizarre security blanket that follows us around (or vice versa) and doesn't really affect your ability to actually get around. Yes, if you were planning on taking a car and suddenly couldn't.. it's a pain. But if your thinking starts from "no car at all" it's rather easy to shift your thinking and actually prioritize your need to get around.

Just doing some basic math, I'm saving over $500/mo in expenses, maybe even more yearly without the need to buy tires, oil changes, washes, etc. I'm considering getting a car within the year, but it'll probably be something pre-1970 that I won't drive everyday, or I might even take advantage of the marina by my house and get a decent size sailboat instead.

This video sums up my new viewpoint pretty nicely:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NLmiuyLa98

 

How did you expect to get over the Boardwalk Show and stake out the grounds?

Yes, I know...

(think about what you are saying. This IS TEXAS, after all)

Best Regards,

James

 

Dave, don't go off the deep end. We can have an emergency DFW-F/CHAT counseling session if needed. We need you at our events, and what about your hockey? For advise on how to hunker down, take a page from the writerguy guide. You never know when that perfect girl will cross your path, and no wheels could make that tough. How about a 2-4 week experiment?
phil

 

It's a great feeling actually. I live 400' from my office, have every amenity I need within 2 blocks, and can take the metro or cabs everywhere I need to go. I have no need to own a car, but it's kinda nice to have the ability to choose when I want to drive, rather than being forced into sitting in traffic every day. One benefit these days is that I only have to gas up my cars once or twice every two months. I think once you do it, you'll never be able to return to the commuting life.

-R

 

I actually did this for a while (years ago) when I travelled every week for my job. The lease on my Acura was up. I knew for the next few months I would be on the road every week. I would fly out on Sunday and return on Friday. Since the cab fare from my place to the airport was around $50 (which of course the company paid) I simply rented a car for the weekend. It was less than $100 for a small car, but since I was a frequent renter I always got upgraded to a premium. So I went for several months without a car/lease payment.

This worked out great. However there was ONE funny glitch. I got promoted and was moved across the country to corporate headquarters. I decided to wait until I got there to get another car. On the day I arrived I went to a local car dealer, worked out a deal and was ready to drive off the lot. When they asked about insurance I called my company (NATIONWIDE) and said please put this car on my policy. The conversation went something like this...

"What policy?", they said. "We showed you cancelled your policy months ago."

"Hmmmm... why yes I did", I replied. "Please re-activate a policy for me with my new vehicle. Here is the VIN etc., etc."

"Sorry sir. It is company regulations that anyone who lets their policy lapse and has not been insured by another carrier cannot be re-insured"

"What?!" I exclaimed. "You have to be kidding me!"

"No sir. This is a common scam for people to avoid paying car insurance. They insure their car, go get their tags, then drop the policy. In order to stop this, we no longer will insure you if you have been more than 30 days without insurance."

Well to make a long story short I ended up finding (with the help of the dealer) a company that would insure me (Progressive I think) and drove off the lot. Not the best rates at the time, but at least I got the car.

I guess in hindsight there were a couple of things I should have done.

1) Make sure the insurance company knew my situation. Explain to them I would be without a vehicle.
2) Establish a relationship with a particular agent. Easier to deal with a person than a company.
3) Carry some limited coverage during the gap. While I didn't think of it at the time, I was actually pretty exposed while driving the rental car.

Actually item 3 is really required. Doing that would have also avoided the 'uninsured' issue as well.

Oh well. Another of life's lessons learned. Maybe it will help someone else by telling the story.

 

Much the same here - I live in the city and the office is just a nice walk away, I'm 2 minutes away from dozens of restaurants and supermarkets and basically don't need to ever drive anywhere, so the only time I really do any driving is when I WANT to, which is great.

 

Lets see...
Life without a car...
No, sorry, world peace is easier to visualize.

How bout a Motorcycle ?

 

My wifes Scooter gets 110 miles per gallon. Hmmmm And she really enjoy's riding it.