Situation: I live in midtown Atlanta and only use my car 2-3 times a week for social activities. I walk to work, live above a grocery store, live next to a MARTA station and tons of restaurants and bars. Most notably there are about 8 zipcars within 2-3 blocks of my condo, and even more within 5-6 blocks. www.zipcar.com (hourly cost includes gas, insurance, maintenence, etc.) Idea: Sell my car. My means of transportation would be walking, biking, MARTA, and zipcars. Or some combination of those, i.e. taking MARTA to get near my destination then bike the rest of the way. For longer trips (the occiasonal weekend in FL) I would rent a car from the airport for ~$40 a day. Pros: My car is paid off, so I could sell it and put $10k in the bank. There are a variety of zipcars, including a civic, matrix, prius, element, tacoma, and mini cooper. Also, no gas, no insurance, no registration, no emissions testing, no car washing, no oil changes, no depreciation, no repairs... By my calculations it would be most cost effective if I used <20 zipcar hours a month. Cons: Inconvenience, especially during cold/hot/wet weather, where walking/biking would be miserable. The nearest zipcar is 1 block away. Also, the zipcar is rented hourly and becomes cost prohibitive for longer activities. (i.e. watching football at a friend's house for several hours.) Even though I would have car, I'm afraid in the eyes of my friends I would become "that guy", preferring to get picked up rather than pay for a zipcar. CN: Live in midtown, thinking about selling 9-2x and using zipcars/MARTA.
You are one of a very few people who could probably survive without a car. I know I couldn't. I say do it. Sell the car, keep the money in savings or something, then if you really want a car again, you could afford to buy one outright.
I think you'll be okay going carless. Biking in the winter isn't really that bad once you get going if you layer properly. And Zipcar has Imprezas, too. I don't know that I'll ever give up my WRX, but it looks like going carless is a viable option for you.
I go all over the town, can never live without a car in case you travel somewhere that is outside of the marta grid but still within the state, I doubt you would want to bike 20 miles to and from the location. So maybe sell and get a beater that's fuel efficient...maybe
^ I agree... Brian and I have a $2000 98 accord for a DD; maintence is cheap (it's a honda), it gets decent gas mileage and it's super cheap to insure.
^^ Financially, there's probably not much of a difference between owning a beater and paying for a zipcar. I think I'd prefer the zipcar that is fairly new with zero responsibility.
Lived in Chicago for four years had no car, same deal. Weeded out my real friends LOL, no gas, no maintenance, no insurance, stay in better shape, say you actually survived without a car in Atlanta: amazing!
I see your point, but I think Heath has a valid theory...everything he does is essentially within walking distance or at least on the train and he has a bike. and like Mike said about when he lived in Chicago. He got to see first hand who his real friends were. To me, I'd rather have the money in the bank if I knew everything was in close proximity.
^^ Exactly. But still if I have to drive OTP for some reason, that's where the zipcar membership comes in!
I don't know your current financial situation so its hard to say... If you have money and you enjoy your car keep it, if you are short on cash and you don't have any money in the bank then get rid of it. Myself I would always prefer to have a car of some type at my disposal so I would probably buy a 2 or 3k dollar civic.
Zipcar....now in jacksonville FL.... SOJAX purchased 70+ retired zipcar vehicles last year. Most of them were pretty good...some were total abused piles of shit that we still have. The decision is yours. I know I would keep a vehicle of some sort.
Car sharing. Makes it sound stupid. I say do it, but make sure you have a nice bike at least after you sell the car.
Is this a case study of flawed liberal logic and or collective social guilt? The car is paid for, so the annual cost of a car is more than all the cost of MARTA and this zip car crap? I would find that hard to believe.
Unless you are doing something with the money, like paying off debt, I say keep the car. If nothing else, try it for a month or two to see what it's like. Park your car instead of selling it, and see if you could live without it. But if you have 0 credit card debt, and your car is paid for, you should save $10K pretty quickly if you are looking for an emergency fund. I wouldn't do it with a paid off car.
Woah there cowboy. Yes my car is paid for, so I stand to gain financially from this in 3 ways. 1) an extra $10k in the bank from selling my car. 2) a savings of several hundred $$ per year (by my calculations: gas, insurance, registration, emissions, depreciation, oil changes cost $2000+ per year, I estimated MARTA+zipcar at +/- $1600). 3) it's easier to budget a predictable $100 or so per month, without a semi-annual insurance payment or big unforeseen repair cost.
Thanks. Actually, this is what I've decided to do. After a month, I'll see if I still think it's a good idea. :sx:
What a bizarre response. I know plenty of folks in Midtown and downtown who are car-less by choice. It's a viable option for them. From an OTP perspective, such a decision seems like pure madness - 'Its just too spread out'. Well, it's not if you live right in the middle of town. If I were in your shoes, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Talk about simplifying life!
you forgot the $40.00-$50.00 per day car rental if needing a getaway car, granted stolen may be cheaper till your caught. DaveH, it's pretty much a known fact that city centers are magnets for the liberal and progressive causes hence my response. If Atlanta had a real mass transit system that actually took you somewhere I wouldn't be giving the OP so much grief about selling his car. If you go back and look at the orginal plans for said transit system it was a great idea and great routing but as with most public works programs, the public got involved and fought every good idea till it ended up with the mess we have now. The "public" didn't want a MARTA station in their neighborhood so the stations are placed in the worst of spots.
A veritable hotbed, no less. Hemp underpants everywhere. It's truly shocking :eek3: But seriously, let's not use satisfying generalizations to brand the idea 'flawed liberal logic and or collective social guilt'. OK, maybe a bit unAmerican - but that's a misdemeanour, not a felony. He already says: Apparently, shockingly, heathbar uses this pathetic, half-arsed excuse for a transit system to nowhere. How could that be? heathbar, you must be off your meds? No, you're not. I know this, because I am also a frequent flyer on MARTA. It travels between (at least) 2 destination that I regularly frequent: Downtown Decatur and Grant Park. However, I do agree that MARTA is never going to be a perfect solution for everyone. It's geography is limited and it has finite stops. That's a defining characteristic of mass transit, no matter where you live in the world. heathbar: report back often.
Yeah guys, I wish our mass transit was better and more extensive, but despite the obvious limits of MARTA, there are a few stations that would allow me to minimize my zipcar hours. Decatur, Lindbergh, Buckhead/Lenox, and Airport are the few that I actually use (I live at the Midtown station). Oh, and I occaisonally take it to downtown or the GA Dome!
I'm actually a moderate republican. hnoes: I assume you mean for weekend trips out of state? I didn't forget, but I'm okay with that. I rarely go out of state except with friends, so I'll just pay them to drive me! That actually reminds me of my favorite aspect of my plan, if I drive more or less I will see a DIRECT impact financially, whereas if I'm able to drive my own car a little less I wouldn't really see a financial benefit.
I thought I was gonna do the same thing since I'm on the road a lot but waitin on ppl has worn out out its freshness and to rent a car for a week or two is dam near a car payment itself..
Hence the attractiveness of zipcars. You get the convenience of a car if you need it (or are tired of waiting on people) but it's not expensive if you only use it occaisonally.
So everything is going well so far. I bought a bike and got a zipcar membership. But, it's only been a week, so we'll see if I still like it after a month. Like some of you had said, MARTA is FAR from perfect, and by no means can it be used as a sole means of transportation but it can be a supplement. So, the heirarchy of my transportation solution will be as follows: Walk --> Bike --> Marta --> Zipcar So... I'll walk if possible (work, groceries, bars) then if the distance is prohibitive I will bike it. If the weather or distance prohibits biking, then I'll take Marta. Finally, if Marta doesn't go where I need to go I'll use a Zipcar. So, a Zipcar won't be my first choice (for cost reasons) but it will ALWAYS be an option.
Yeah, so it's been over a month and everything is going VERY well. There's something mildly liberating about not having to depend on owning a car. My experiences with zipcars have been very positive so far. And then this happened... http://wrxatlanta.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27671 so, I may have just sold my car without even breaking a sweat! :naughty:
I'm surprised only Patrick suggested a scooter. Have you considered buying a decent quality motorcycle for longer drives / weekend cruising? Insurance is super low and you'd pay off the bike immediately. You could even consider an adventure bike like a GS or something to go play off-road or long road trips.
I don't know... I've never had a motorcycle/scooter before, and the idea of driving around Atlanta as a noob scares me. I would expect to get hit by some idiot.
You run this risk no matter where you ride a motorcycle. It is HIGHLY recommended to take the beginner MSF (MotorCycle Safety Foundation) course. The skills they will show you and instruct you on could save your life....as will good solid gear.
That's another thing... I would think that in order to properly protect your body in the summer would result in death from heat exhaustion! lol hnoes: Anyways, thanks for the suggestion. I might consider a bike someday... ssh:
IMO, Marta only works if you have a bike in tow. Marta stations will get you within a few miles of anything you want to see or do, thats where the bike comes in. And nothing in Atlanta is too far of a ride home if you're out late. A few summers ago I tried to minimize car use due to the extreme price of gas and it wasnt a hard transition. I found that I only used my car when I had to go outside of the perimeter, which was only a few days a month anyways. I saved a lot of gas money, used it to build a better bike, and lost a bunch of weight at the same time. I dont think a scooter is much of a better option than picking up an older Civic as a DD. The lower level scooters ($1K-2K) are chinese junkers that fall apart after a year, and if you're going to spend much more money you may as well get a car with more storage space, speed, safety, and convenience.