Should I even own a car anymore?

Just a few months ago, I was so excited to get my driver's permit and started to look up my favorite cars (Honda Civics). However, gas in SoCal is SO EXPENSIVE! It's about $4.20 a gallon ($1.10 a liter). Also, I've been a victim of three car accidents recently (sitting in the passenger's seat, obviously).

Since summer gas is so expensive, car accidents are increasing for me, and cars are just expensive, I'm not even sure if I want to own a car anymore. Advice?

 

The ability to drive itself is a very useful skill. You're still quite young so you might not really need a car for yourself just yet, especially if bussing is a convenient/feasible option where you live like it is in certain cities, such as where I live, for instance. Fiscally, it could be sensible to wait a while and see how things are in a year or two. If you were saving up for a car, you can still do that because saving money's almost always good.

 

If you can get around and can meet your responsibilities without one, then no, you probably don't need a car. It's a luxury and it makes life a hell of a lot easier, but is it completely necessary if you can get by without one?

I just wish people at my university would consider this before bringing their cars to campus because finding a parking spot at my school is a contact sport. We have a bus system that runs all over campus and all over the city of Kalamazoo. You can get where you need to be just fine without a car on campus. /random semi-on-topic thoughts

 

I agree with the above post - if you don't need one, as in.. You work, live, or go to school all around the same area, and the weather is nice year round, and you won't ever have to go anywhere else... Then yes, that's fine.

However, I'm going to say a few things about your situation.
Yes, gas is expensive - but that price isn't really that bad. I live in Indiana. I think it was just at 3.99. It's really not that much difference, so I'm going to say it's close to average.
Secondly, I think you're scared. Your driving didn't cause the accidents. Don't run from it. Accidents happen, but you'll just need to be careful and take your time. Don't scare yourself away from a huge mark of freedom.

 

First off, I agree with Luthan - the ability to drive is a very useful one to have, even if you're not using it right away.

And yeah, if you have decent public transit or have friends/family with cars who can get you where you need to go, you probably don't need one yet. Most of my friends didn't get cars until they were 17 or 18 (a few got them when they were 16, but mainly because they lived kinda far away from school and didn't have much other way to get there - parents too busy, no older siblings to take them, etc.).

Also what Gaytheist said about cars at his university probably holds true for most campuses (it certainly did for mine). I had my car with me but didn't use it much until my senior year. Before that, I either walked or took the bus to all my classes.

 

$2.30/liter where I live.

I don't really need a car either, but I think driving is too much fun to get rid of mine. And our public transport is quite expensive as well, so the price of gas isn't that high in comparison.

 

I really wish fuel was that cheap in the UK.

 

:roflmao:

I converted a typical figure from europe. $2.20/ liter.

 

Seriously, lol. People in North America don't seem to realise how ridiculously cheap their fuel prices are. Cheapest price locally is $2.15/litre.

 

Slightly better here, but still. :lol: $1.10 per litre is water compared to what it's like in Europe and Australia.

 

UK £1.30litre

 

I know a lot of you guys from Europe and Australia are laughing at how I'm complaining at how gas is priced here :rolle:

Cost of living in Rosemead is supposed to be somewhat low since we're more inland than LA and Malibu. Also, everybody here either work for a small business or works minimum wage jobs. A price for gasoline that goes over $4.00 a gallon ($1.05 a liter) is just expensive to my perspective.

 

Oh, we're not insisting you should be able to afford it. We just feel sorry for ourselves. And a bunch of us are on minimum wage or less. In some areas of europe, it's a bit more than in the US, but others it isn't, and people still struggle to get by.

 

Expensive?! Its about $2.20 a litre over here at the moment (at least its down from the $2.40 a couple of years back)! I'm sorry, I know you guys drive a little further and all, but that still made me chuckle! :icon_wink

Anyway, I know they are not very popular in the states, but you are along the right lines looking for a hatchback (presuming you aren't talking about a saloon/sedan version of the Civic). It will get you far better milage, and as long as you aren't forking out more to buy one it will save you money.

Failing that, public transport isn't too bad in SoCal presuming you live in an urban area, certainly better than many states. Of course it cramps your style a bit but if you are on a budget it may be the lesser of two evils.

 

Before school ended for summer vacation, I either took the school bus, or cycled to school. Parking at my school is pretty expensive.

Now, I'm just going to keep working to get my license. Afterwards, I'm just going to hold off on getting a car until university.

 

Unfortunately North American culture was created or put into hyper drive with the advent of the automobile.

It has shaped and defined every facet of our life, and driving is in need a necessity for the majority of people.

Even city dwellers are limited if they don't drive, for one you can't leave the city that easily, and most cities were designed to be driven not walked.

Everything from grid street systems, to the suburbs, is thanks to the car. We never really considered walkability as an option. Obviously because gas was so cheaper at the beginning of last century, and it was considered numerous; we never considered how finite it actually was.

It's basically only going to get worse, gas will always outpace wages in prices; at least it has here.

Yes inflation has correlated somewhat with prices, but it has far been outpaced by the actual cost.

The price is so impossible to determine because it is influenced by a ridiculous amount of economic, political, social, and environmental factors. It's more unpredictable than the weather basically. I have tried to understand exactly what determines gas prices but their isn't anything exact, it almost seems arbitrary.

Anyway to get back on track, owning a car is sort of necessary where I am, and for most of North America, living in cities is pricier than a lot of people can afford, so living in a downtown core with all it's amenities isn't 100% an option for everyone. It's the suburbs and outskirts of city that have poorer public transit that are cheaper to live in, and unfortunately having a car there is necessary.

Again, it all comes down to the way we have developed our cities, the car was seen as a set in stone and immortal part of our lives when we built most of North America. Now that gas prices are getting higher, and driving a car is becoming more unrealistic, people are realizing how crapily everything is designed here.

I'm not city planner, but more european style urban planning, focused on core density and building up existing developments is a smarter way to plan a city. It takes the focus on cars away, and more on human movement.

Not saying North American lifestyle isn't great, having a big property, and more privacy, and having more room for just about everything has it's benefits, but you have to be willing to pay for it, and it's becoming more and more unaffordable for people.

 

I have a full-size car, a 2-seat car, a motorcycle, and a bicycle. Last year I put about 8000 miles on the bicycle, 1000 miles on the 2-seater, and around 600 on the full size car (mostly getting groceries and carrying around the bicycle or several people).

Each vehicle has a purpose and gets used appropriately; the motorcycle I added this year gets around 50 mpg and is being used instead of the cars where practical. The nice thing about the bicycle is that it is very good for cardio exercise and short range travel less than 100 miles, uses NO gasoline, and requires no insurance or tags to create cost while parked. The other vehicles all cost more to maintain and operate, but provide speed, transport capability, and a dry ride in inclimate weather, or when carrying several people.

If you don't feel that you need a car, you probably should at least have a decent road bike for local transport on your own time schedule. On a good one, you can easily average over 17-18 mph, which is not that much slower than a car in local travel, and usually faster than a bus you have to wait for and pay for and only goes to limited numbers of places.

 

Buy a car and give it to me. There are a lot of bike paths in Cali, right? Has never set foot in California.

If so, do what I do and ride a bike!

 

$1.10 a litre? You think that's bad?
£1.34 (about $1.90) a litre. Welcome to Britain.

 

It might be true that gas is far more expensive in other places, but American cities are not really designed for walking so we have to drive. Mind you, I made it work when I was at University without a car, but I cannot get by where I am without one, and since I do not have one my dad has to drive me to work everyday. Sure my work is only 2 miles away but there are no sidewalks for the first mile and I will am not going to walk on a highway. People have died walking on that road, and I am not about to be one of them.

My sister for example can be driving up to an hour everyday for work since she goes a home healthcare nurse.

---------- Post added 15th Jun 2014 at 05:33 PM ----------

I vote for getting a car, it is too hard without one