21 replies to this topic

[Black.Ghost]

Well, I went to service the Honda Civic today. Started off by loosening the wheel nuts on the driver's side, as removing the wheels give much better access to the drain plug, as well as letting me have a general look around to see how everthing is. First nut wouldn't budge, which was strange. Then all the others felt somewhat more difficult that usual to crack. After loosening three of them, went back to the first one, and the wheel stud just sheered right off.

 

Glad this happening before I did the service (which was also going to include glow plugs), and not afterwards. I put the tools away and went back indoors, job done.

 

Normally, I'd just replace it and carry on. However, the car is on 185k, I know the clutch is going soon (they have a self adjustment mechanism so its delayed it for a while) as well. Apparently the studs can be replaced with the brake disc protector still in place. The amount of fiddling around that its going to take, I just can't be bothered with it. I know the protectors are all rusty and its going to be an absolute nightmare. With one having gone, I'd want to replace all 20 studs at once, not just a single one.

 

So then the wife and I got to talking (as we have done a few times about the car), and realised we really don't want to lease a car, we can't afford a new one, buying something else for a couple of thousand is a gamble, and buying say three years old is more money than we want to throw at a car to be honest.

 

So we have decided just to try and see if we can survive without. We were planning on moving house anyway - closer to my work, and to a town with better transport links than we currently have, as the wife doesn't drive, the bus is ridiculously expensive and the train is a 45 minute walk from our house with a 2 year old! It might all fall apart and we realise it was a stupid mistake, but I'm actually looking forward to it, in particular cycling more again.

 

I still have the mini in the garage, but that isn't going to be on the road any time soon, and for the times when we just do need a car, we can hire one.

 

I'll let you know how the experiment goes, if anyone is interested. Anyone else given up their car - or at least givne up having a daily driver, if not the mini - and if so, how did you find it? I know this is very much urinating into the wind on this forum though...

[ukcooper]

never getting on a bus again like ever , smelly, to exspencive , never on time, drivers male or female are horrrible people ,. taxis far better and about the samr price round here. havent driven a car since last august and i relly miss it just sold the mini and the daily car doing i think , lease one know a few people who do and there more than happy with it alll....

[johnR]

If you can get to work by some other means(or work from home)then it would probably make financial sense to just hire a car when you need to. With the cost of car ownership getting higher and higher and the roads more and more congested it is becoming pointless to have a car.  The advent of autonomous vehicles will swing this argument even further as the cost of a taxi will drop considerably. Drink drive laws limit car use socially, automatic speed restrictions will surely increase average journey times and when petrol and diesel are taxed out of affordability I can see 'pool' cars being the norm - except for track day racers and classics of course! I will be interested to hear how you get on.

[Black.Ghost]

Commute to work will be a mix of cycling and train. I'm 20 miles away from work at the moment, and my wife works nights so there will sometimes be logistical reasons as to why I'll need to use the train. Most days will be train in one direction and cycle the other, although it might take a little while to build the fitness. I have cycled it once, and despite the distance most of it is off road (some even singletrack!) and the small amount of road is fine.

 

I'm lookng forward to seeing how it works out.

[Spider]

Good on you for taking that step back and looking at the bigger picture.

 

Hope it works out well for you guys.

 

Car ownership for transport purposes (ie, not a hobby) is very expensive.

 

And even more expensive as a hobby !!

[cooperd70]

let us know how it goes. started cycling to/from work 11 years ago and haven't looked back, with just the mini in the garage to take out for a blast on sunny days! good luck.

[midridge2]

I have not drove for about 10 years due to glaucoma but my wife did all the driving but she died last year, since then i have had to use the bus service, i live in a small village out in the country and it means many changes of buses to go to diffent places.. The main problem is shopping, i can only carry small items, if i need something large i would have to have it delived by the store and the cost of that is horrendus, £35 for a couple of tins of paint. Taxi is a option but again not cheap £16 for a return trip to the local city 4 mile away.

[jamesmpi]

Have you considered something like this?
https://www.drive-now.com/gb/en/london

I know this is mainly aimed at London residents / workers, but might be worth looking into it to see if there is something similar in your local area. Just depends how often you need to use a car

The other option is signing up to Liftshare

https://liftshare.com/uk

Edited by jamesmpi, 08 April 2019 - 04:48 PM.

[r3k1355]

 

I'll let you know how the experiment goes, if anyone is interested. Anyone else given up their car - or at least givne up having a daily driver, if not the mini - and if so, how did you find it? I know this is very much urinating into the wind on this forum though...

 

We have some friends that don't drive, never had a car.  They live in the city centre so for work etc it's fine.

 

Any other time and they're a total pill if I'm honest, it's like you're 17 again and blagging a lift off a mate.

Gets old really quick, they probably don't even realise it's an issue, but if everytime you organise something it also needs to involve picking them up and dropping them off it becomes abit much.

[Cooperman]

Having now had cars in my life for almost 60 years I can't imagine not having a car in my life.

 

My wife and I laugh because we have 5 cars between us at the moment, although one, the 1990 Rover Cooper, is having a light restoration and a re-paint. Should be done by about July. Can't wait to drive it again, although I know I have to.

[Black.Ghost]

Well, so far it's all going ok. A nice couple of 11.5 mile cycles to the train station, but have to say, no testing situations yet. Managed to get a free Two Together Railcard using Tesco Clubcard points, which is a bonus - it's only a £30 saving, but a bonus nonetheless.

 

My wife and I have a young daughter, so our social life has changed somewhat. We won't be relying on other people for picking us up etc, but I have a couple of friends coming over at Easter. After that, they are heading home to where we all grew up, so don't mind giving us a lift for that. Aside from that, the majority of my other friends are squaddies, and they'll never care about lifts - I'm in credit with a lot of them!

 

I think I got to the point of not being able to imagine what it would be like without a car, and three days only going to work doesn't count so far. I think most people just assume or believe they couldn't survive without a car, when actually, they really could - they just don't want to. That's fine, I don't have a problem with that  but its not the same thing as absolutely needing a car. We had been planning to move for some time anyway, so this is a kick to look at that a bit closer as well.

 

I hope to have the mini back on the road at some point, so then we won't technically be car less but it will be a hobby car rather than our regular mode of transport.

[cooperd70]

BG - sounds like great news! When I first started cycling it was 15 miles each way and I didn't think someone could cycle that 5 days a week to work and back, but I've never looked back.  Sure, its a pretty flat 15 miles, but shortly after starting to cycle 150 miles a week the extra weight I was carrying just dropped off.  So no need to pay for the running of a daily driver/monthly train pass and no need for gym membership so it was just +ives all round for me.

 

Fair enough, unlike you I don't have a family so have no-one else to consider/worry about, but if you are able to move into/closer to a town/town center it should make it easier on the whole family.

 

The majority of folk just don't think of alternatives or what they are capable of and just jump in the car without evening thinking of the options that they have.  When I get to work I'm ready to work....colleagues who roll in on PT or the car are yawing their heads off and I'm wondering if they even remember getting into the car/onto PT and arriving at work...scary when you think about it.

 

Hope this really works out for you and the family.  Good luck!

[hazpalmer14]

I possibly could get away without having a car. The issue for me would be getting to work, 15 miles each way. Not sure how long it would take me. But when it comes to choosing a house because my Mrs doesn't drive we picked some where which was a quiet area for the children and space for the mini. Close enough to town so she could walk, and on a regular bus route if she needed it. And there is some shops 5-10mins down the road for things you need in a rush. Car just gets used for me going to and from work and for the food shop really. We tend to walk where possible, if im off and we visit her sister I drive us all but if she is on her own she will walk.

 

I think there is always a work around, a lot of people cant afford the luxury of having a car so they have to work around the issues. In todays world its even easier. You can do your food shop online and have it delivered etc, book a taxi through you phone, bus/train timetables etc etc

[Ethel]

When you think it's only 60 years ago that a little car started rolling off the production line, destined to be a first family car for many...

 

The Corby Trouser Press might last longer 

[Black.Ghost]

Plus you can get electric scooters now!