[Timpo]

I was wondering how much money you would save if you didn't drive.
We know cars are expensive but it really does add up.

How many of you live without a car? or tried to live without a car?

This article is 4 years old but still give you some ideas.
https://canadianveggie.wordpress.com/2012/06/09/living-car-free-saves-me-7000-per-year/

"According to CAA, the annual cost of owning a car (driven for 12,000 km per year) ranges from $7,723.72 for a Civic to $10,465.12 for an Equinox. When you don’t drive much, 80% of the cost of car ownership is fixed costs (insurance, license and registration, loan payments, and depreciation). Only 20% is proportional to the distance driven (gas and maintenance). CAA doesn’t include the cost of parking, which can be quite expensive in Vancouver. In my building, it costs $100/month for a parking spot."

[320icar]

if we're just talking a month, in just car payments, gas and insurance, roughly $800

[StanleyR]

I drive an 07 Focus with basic insurance and about 20k per year. The car is paid off and isnt' depreciating much from my purchase price three years ago (5500). I only have basic insurance. I'd break down the costs as follows:

$1000 insurance
$1300 gas
$700 maint. (I do most of my own work)

so about $2000 per year

as for the BMW project and the motorcycle I just bought
BrokeBack

[bossha]

hmm in a month...

gas insurance and car payment is about 1500/m

[Nlkko]

Not really savings if you taking into account value of time, even for guys living close to work like me. Convenience as well.

100 bucks a month for me as transit fare is a wash with insurance.

[westopher]

Lots.
1000 gas
1800 insurance
5k mods, maintenance and car washes
700-1000 track days and autocrosses
Its a lot for something I don't use to get anywhere.

[radioman]

Can we get a counter thread "how many times will you smell a fart on the skytrain"

[SpartanAir]

I heard a statistic once that if you lived and worked relatively close by, and used a taxi to get everywhere you needed to go ie to and from work, groceries etc, it still wouldn't add up to the costs of owning a vehicle.

Never checked this out personally but I can kinda see it being true. Obviously depends on how far your work is. Owning vehicles is expensive.

[westopher]

It not being a necessity has made it so much more enjoyable. No traffic jams, trying to find parking, sitting idle while knowing you are gonna be late for work.
I just hop in my car to drive.:)
Its well worth the 10k a year.

[mb_]

Roughly $850~ a month for payments, gas, insurance.

Maintenance, track days, auto x, mods are on top of that. I don't even want to calculate how much it is roughly per year lol

[dared3vil0]

Oh god...

~550 bucks a month on gas alone. Usually more...

[AzNightmare]

I literally drive for the enjoyment. I wake up every morning excited because I'm going to drive. I get excited leaving work knowing I'm about to drive. The commute is a bonus. I would never give up driving no matter the cost, unless gas prices or insurance skyrocket to the point that I would no longer be able to afford to drive.

[Klondike]

I literally drive for the enjoyment. I wake up every morning excited because I'm going to drive. I get excited leaving work knowing I'm about to drive. The commute is a bonus. I would never give up driving no matter the cost, unless gas prices or insurance skyrocket to the point that I would no longer be able to afford to drive.

This. Driving to and from work is my favorite part of the day! :nyan:

[Bahhbeehhaaaa]

Are we evaluating this economically? If opportunity cost is added in I'm at around -$700 per month. There is no public transit from where I live.

[zetazeta]

about $260 monthly... I barely drive as is... the majority of my cost ($200 or so) are from insurance. About $60 / one fill-up each month. Car is already paid for.

Though about getting rid of my car quite a few times as there are several months of the year where I barely drive.

[Energy]

About $500 for insurance and gas per month, car is paid off. Parking cost varies.

Then there's the maintenance but the last major repair was the water pump for $1,000 last year. Since then its been good.

[twitchyzero]

300ish/mo for the basics (gas/insurance/maintenance)
i go out of my way to find free/cheap parking and avoid driving d/t
i don't count mods because stock life but things like a 2din deck I wouldn't include as it's a 'luxury' item not a necessity

[tofu1413]

$1600.......... + mods......... and maintenance.............



and then theres the second car..... insurance and gas................. and possible mods.







:pokerface:




well shit.

[Gucci Mane]

You guys really saying you would actually save that money and not end up spending it on something else? If I didn't have the freedom of having my own vehicle I'd probably develop a coke habit or something because of that void in my life.

[underscore]

I can't live without a car unless I want to spend ages getting everywhere, and even if I did I'd probably end up killing myself if I didn't get to drive anymore.

[Alby]

1500 insurance a year
roughly 120 gas a month

[Detox89]

I would go even after factoring all the anti depression meds I would need to buy and how much I would be paying a psych

[Mancini]

You say that like its a plausible option. How much would I save if I didn't breathe?

[Dragon-88]

I promised myself after high school once I got a car, I'd never take the bus again. Still live by those standards.

If weather didn't bother you it would be cheaper to ride scooters.

BWS 50cc 2T insurance full coverage - $400/yr
Gas - $5/100km
70cc upgrade (90kph top speed) - $150
Lots of free scooter parking if you know where to look.

Grom 125cc insurance full coverage - $625/yr
Gas: $5-7/175km
Max Speed 130kph


When the nice days are out i'm always on my bikes. Rain days I drive.

[Spoon]

Downgraded to a single vehicle when I had kids. Save roughly $400-500 per month on gas and insurance. Money saved goes towards maximizing my kids' RESP. Well worth it since I'm more than happy to take the skytrain to work and avoid traffic.

[brrrz]

Im about $20,400 in 18 months for insurance payments and parts

[melloman]

$2200/year insurance
$40/week in gas.

$345/month.. :notbad:

[CCA-Dave]

Hmmm...three licensed & insured vehicles. Average of 50k a year on the rally bug, 20k a year on the pickup truck and 10-15k a year on whatever the third vehicle happens to be (it gets flipped semi-regularly). Even though I do all my own maintenance, and save on labour, I don't want to even think about what I pay per year to drive three cars. Its been a few years since I actually crunched the numbers, but at one point fuel was my #1 expense...even more than food on an annual basis.

Driving expenses, for me, are kinda like building a new project car...never add up the numbers.

Between living in Squamish, owning a company that does driving tours, and my own personal enjoyment....giving up my car isn't an option. And, quite frankly, you can bury me in the Rally Beetle cuz that's as close as I'm going to get to taking it with me!

[Liquid_o2]

Per month: About 170 for insurance, 160 for gas, 380 car payment. So about 710 a month. Or 8500 a year. Can't wait to have the car paid off and I don't have to dump money into that every month.

I went two years without a car in Toronto. Had a monthly TTC pass and used Car2Go, rental car, or taxi when I needed to. Didn't miss paying for insurance, gas, etc. at all, saved soooooo much money. But I missed driving sometimes. Altogether I paid approx $1500 a year on transportation when living in Toronto, so the savings were massive.

My dream is having my car insured for pleasure only, living close to work, and using it only for weekend fun :P

[underscore]

owning a company that does driving tours

You might actually go into the negative if you didn't drive then.

[jing]

Between two cars, I spend roughly $5-600 monthly for gas and insurance. Haven't needed to do any major repairs to the cars yet either so that has definitely helped keep costs down, although I'm expecting to have to shell out some money for some repairs I've been procrastinating on for the daily.

[smoothie.]

The answer is this:

I would not save x amount of dollars from not driving.

I would spend that shit on other things, and whine about how I didn't have a car to drive and how translink sucks etc.

[swiftshift]

211$ / insurance ( pay year rate ) $2532
$186 gas a month
( fill up twice a month
93$ a tank usually at the most expensive rate of 1.55L

car is low km, not much to do
oil changes are done myself 60$ every 7months

[jeedee]

not having to take transit + no waiting time/convenience wise + being able to go out whenever i want without relying on translink?

priceless

[sonick]

Car is paid for, just monthly expendables:

$100 for gas
$140 for insurance
$50 for park and ride

and standard maintenance and repairs.

[b0unce. [?]]

$70/month insurance
$100/month diesel

I'd rather drive.

[The_AK]

car paid off

$300 gas per month (can be as low as ~$180 if I only commute to/from work/gym)
$180 insurance per month (15% discount)
$x maintenance since it varies

can't imagine being carless :\

[heleu]

I think most people underestimate how much it costs to run a vehicle.

I track my mileage and vehicle expenses very carefully for work, and it works out to ~$0.53/km ($0.33/km before depreciation).

This compares pretty closely with the CRA allowance rate ($0.54/km) and CAA ownership ($0.48 for smaller cars to $0.70/km for larger cars).

My round-trip commute is around 40km - basically if I bike to work, I can treat myself to a decent lunch and still come out ahead.

[Great68]

I would lose roughly $7k/year if I didn't drive.

[dSpaceman]

I pay a premium rate for insurance because of a multi-car collision I caused so I pay roughly $3,600/yr for insurance. Then factoring in about $200/mo for gas, I would be saved $6,000/yr.

I tried going back to the public transit life but that got old real quick and so I'm now happily forking up 6 grand a year. Worth every penny:alonehappy:

[GeeGeeCivic]

Something to note is that when taking public transit you are more likely to get sick - people coughing, touching handrails etc. Even waiting for transit out in rainy weather will more likely make you sick.

Time and convenience is the most valuable of all which is why driving is expensive.

[Jmac]

Roughly around $6k-$6.5k a year to drive ... But I drive about 35,000-40,000 km a year ...

[hud 91gt]

2 cars, don't drive much. Maintenence doesn't get added up.

It keeps me happy that way.

[twitchyzero]

Can we get a counter thread "how many times will you smell a fart on the skytrain"

you must not like being confined in an airplane for hours then PogChamp;8740419']$70/month insurance



how?


Something to note is that when taking public transit you are more likely to get sick - people coughing, touching handrails etc. Even waiting for transit out in rainy weather will more likely make you sick.



unless you have a poor immune system or like keeping your face right where someone's sneezing/hacking a bad cough...purell and handwashing will prevent that. save $300 and get a gortex shell.

[Great68]

Something to note is that when taking public transit you are more likely to get sick - people coughing, touching handrails etc. Even waiting for transit out in rainy weather will more likely make you sick.

Time and convenience is the most valuable of all which is why driving is expensive.

I credit having to ride the 98 B-Line to work every day for giving making me realize how much I hated commuting by transit, and in part, giving me the resolve to make a career change and vow to never have to commute by transit ever again.

[bing]

M3 is my daily. Car is paid off.

$2800 insurance
$5535 gas
$2500-3000 maintenance

Cost me roughly $10k/yr before depreciation.

[XplicitLuder]

am i the only one wondering how some of these cars only use like 200$ a month on gas..and im overhere like 350$ e z , wtf pos prelude :okay:

[twitchyzero]

premium gas
how hard you drive
how far you drive
how much shit/people you carry

[westopher]

Something to note is that when taking public transit you are more likely to get sick - people coughing, touching handrails etc. Even waiting for transit out in rainy weather will more likely make you sick.

Time and convenience is the most valuable of all which is why driving is expensive.
LOL so paranoid. Don't you spend most of your day around people? Drink some orange juice.

[underscore]

^ still infinitely more likely to get puked on by a hobo on public transit than in your own car though.

[westopher]

I'm also way more likely to get puked on by some blackout 19 year old girl at the Moose on 3.25 Lucky lager night but I still go there, and its still never happened.

[twitchyzero]

with turnstyles now your chances of seeing a bum is pretty nil...B-line buses however will probably stay just as smelly come summertime :lol

[underscore]

I realized my viewpoint is a bit skewed, the last time I road public transit was in Thunder Bay 6 years ago where it was a realistic possibility on any route :lol