One or Two Vehicle Household?

[violetandgandal]

Kielbasi:

If you live in an area without much public transportation to get to the store, take care of errands, doctors appointments, whatever, you need to have a second car. Part of the expense of living in the suburbs.

Now, if you moved from Baltimore County to the city of Baltimore, one car would probably be sufficient.

Have you ever used the public transportation in Baltimore? The only time I ever use it is to go downtown to jury duty. And every time, I’m so thankful I don’t have to use it on a regular basis. Not reliable, not frequent enough, and transferring buses wastes too much time.

Our first few years here we were a one car family. It was horrible. My husband used his car at work so driving him there wasn’t an option. For a while I was able to borrow a neighbor’s car once in a while to do the grocery shopping (no 24 hour grocers back then)until her husband wouldn’t let her loan it anymore because of insurance concerns. It was difficult telling the kids they couldn’t continue their ballet lessons (given cheap through the city recreation service) or ever go to the pool at the small consulting firm my husband worked for. I remember one winter walking the two smaller ones to the dentist 2 miles away in the freezing (about 20 degrees) driving snow because we had no transportation.

Now my husband and I are moving to Delaware, where we have purposefully chosen a house 4 miles from his job so he can ride his bike to work. Perhaps we will be able to go back to one car now with the kids gone.

Mary Fran

 

[cheeto1]

cheeto1:

We have one car. We saved 5.000 in two years.

We also took a 10 day vacation this summer. There were lots of
activities the kids could no longer participate in, and that caused a lot of stress to be lifted off the family. We were forced to coordinate our schedules. It’s like going from separate bank accounts to one. It’s like going from both spouses working to one. It has made us closer as a family because we are forced to think of each other’s schedules. I love feeling the power of saving the money with just one car. These high gas prices don’t really effect our family, we have a cavalier and all five of us fit.

But I must tell you, things can go wrong. Nearly 2 years ago, when we started this one-car endeavor, I had a terrible day. We were riding our bikes home from school and it started raining hard. I felt sorry for my kids and I felt like a bad mother. I also felt very foolish at my age riding my bike and getting drenched. As we were crossing the driveway of a store, my daughter picked that time to look behind her and she ran her bike right into a car coming into the parking lot. The man got out and started screaming at her while she cried. When I caught up, he started screaming at me too. All I could say was, I’m sorry. Then he yelled some more and I said I’m sorry again. My daughter just cried. I hugged her in the rain but then she had to get back on her bike with her scraped knees and ride the rest of the way home in the rain. I haven’t thought of this terrible story in a long time and now it’s making me cry. I feel like going out to buy a car and pick my daughter up from school today.

 

[MooCowSteph]

Wow! What a variety of responses! It seems like we take my car everywhere now anyway. We rarely take my hubby’s car, especially in the summer because it doesn’t have AC. I still think it would be a minor inconvenience, and if something came up he could take the car he’s using now (which he doesn’t like to use as an every day car).

We won’t be moving to Baltimore City, that’s for sure! I actually take the bus to the city everyday, but it’s a quiet, clean, commuter bus from the park-and-ride. I took a city bus one time and I’d rather spend the money on a car. Yuck. Buses do run around my house but not very frequently. I don’t really see that as an option for us. We would just share the car, which I think would work fine. But I’m not too convincing because hubby doesn’t want to budge!

As for the minivan or family car, I really want an SUV. I don’t know why but I just can’t stand the thought of a minivan yet. I said I won’t drive one before I’m 30. I would like to get a Durango, and I also love the VW wagons. I drive a Neon now which would be fine for two kids, but not two kids and a dog, who goes everywhere with us. I’ve been debating waiting until the second baby comes to sell my car and get a larger one, but I think I can sell it and get something better with roughly the same payments, assuming I buy used. But I don’t want to keep the Neon AND get a family car, which my husband sugessted. I don’t think we need two newish vehicles. He sugessted doing some work to one of his collector-type cars and using that as his everyday vehicle, and I think that’s the solution I like best.

 

[BLB_Oregon]

MooCowSteph:

He sugessted doing some work to one of his collector-type cars and using that as his everyday vehicle, and I think that’s the solution I like best.

This sounds like a great option that he might really enjoy.

As for you, a popular alternative around here–as in, you can’t throw a rock without hitting one–is one of the Subaru station wagons. But then, with Mt. Hood and the Cascades so close, we have quite a few who like something with all-wheel-drive for skiing. Still, they get 20 mph or so in town. Compared to an SUV’s mileage, it beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Be careful which SUV you buy, if you go that way. The really gas-hungry ones are seeing their value drop like a rock. Oh, and don’t forget to price insurance before you buy. The differences from one model to the next can be quite a shock.

 

[MooCowSteph]

BLB_Oregon:

This sounds like a great option that he might really enjoy.

As for you, a popular alternative around here–as in, you can’t throw a rock without hitting one–is one of the Subaru station wagons. But then, with Mt. Hood and the Cascades so close, we have quite a few who like something with all-wheel-drive for skiing. Still, they get 20 mph or so in town. Compared to an SUV’s mileage, it beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Be careful which SUV you buy, if you go that way. The really gas-hungry ones are seeing their value drop like a rock. Oh, and don’t forget to price insurance before you buy. The differences from one model to the next can be quite a shock.

Thanks. I really want a Durango and have for some time. It’s the gas issue that’s kept me away this long, but once I’m at home with the baby I won’t be driving much. The farthest I’ll be driving is the in-laws house about 15 minutes away. Grocery, Target, doctor, etc., are all within just a few miles.

I pay too much in car insurance now ( a new vehicle coupled with one that used to get stolen a lot) so hopefully once I have a used one that’s worth less the insurance won’t be a big issue. But thanks, I’ll check that, too.

We’re really a DaimlerChrysler family. That’s what we always had growing up since my dad sold them, and my husband feels the same. With the exception of VW and BMW, we pretty much stick with Chrysler products in our house. I do love the Jetta Station Wagon, though. So cute!

 

[captaincatholic]

We have one car, a small Honda Civic 2-door. It will get us through for now, with our first baby due around March 1. I am convinced we should wait until we NEED the second vehicle before we buy it. The only problem will be the painful (not literally, but figuratively) extraction of children from the back seat of a 2-door car! We do want (God-willing) more children, as many as He will send to us, so we know we will eventually need something bigger, but we can make do with our Civic now. I am a p/t work-from-homer, so I don’t need the car through the day. Our grocery shopping constitutes a date for us, so that’s not a problem. I live within walking distance from the bank, a few convenience stores, the post office and library, and, in a pinch, I could figure out the public transportation system. I just don’t relish the thought of struggling in with bags of groceries AND carrying the baby from the bus stop!

As far as that second vehicle goes, it will be a family vehicle. DH commutes about 25 minutes to work daily, so we will keep the good-gas mileage car just for that especially, and find a better family vehicle for our long trips to visit our families and for going to Sunday Mass, etc. I have been thinking of buying either a police impound from a government auction kind of thing, or looking possibly in rural MD (Cumberland? Western MD close to the PA border?) for a good deal on a rebuild or sensible used car of some sort. We would run it until it died anyhow, so we would want something reliable, but nothing eye-catching.

As for the insurance, we get a pretty darn good rate with our provider on our 1 vehicle, but I know that there are better deals out there. I just don’t have the patience to sift through all the fine print, and DH has used this company for some time now and is comfortable and familiar with them. The good thing is, neither of us have had any call to use our insurance!