
Why would you want to own a car if you could avoid it? - jseliger
http://jseliger.wordpress.com/2013/08/13/why-would-you-want-to-own-a-car-if-you-could-avoid-it/
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com2kid
Because driving is a lot of fun. As someone who is 29 years old, I got my
first car when I was 25, so yes I cared a lot less about cars then the ideal
American 16 year old looking forward to his first ride. When I did get my car
though, I realized how much I had been missing out on.

Driving is _fun_. It is enjoyable, a great reliever of stress. Driving and
programming are my two biggest joys in life.

~~~
aluhut
I completly agree with that and it still means freedom to me. Just leaving and
going to place where I can't/don't want to go by bus/train/etc.. Take my bike
and tent with me propably or just cruise. Leave in the middle of the night,
take somebody with me with the person not having to care about transportation
money. Making a break where I want to and so on.

I found the articles way of comparing all this and to IPhones very sad. There
is some fantasy involved in using a car. It seems that this has been lost also
not only to authors but to those kids he's describing.

~~~
mb_72
Living in Australia, as I do most of the time - you would be hard-pushed to
'get by' without a car. The distances to even basic facilities are too large,
the population is too-widely distributed for public transport to be a
realistic option. Registration / insurance is expensive, yes, and petrol too -
but for less than 2kAUD (about the same American) you can get a good-enough
car (safe, reliable, if not cosmetically wonderful), and the rewards in terms
of freedom are more than worth it. I am an older guy (41), but my younger
friends in their 20s don't show any signs of wanting to forgo car ownership.

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yitchelle
For me, car is an unavoidable evil. With a young family and not living in a
metropolis, not having a car make life about 10x more difficult. The
practicality of dropping the kids off to school, doing the daily groceries,
numerous appointments for medical, local governmental, social events etc. And
this is living in Germany where you would think its density would be high
enough to not own a car.

When I lived in Australia, it is almost impossible to live without a car if
you live in the suburbs. Most of them don't even have public transport
service.

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janjongboom
Interesting to see that this also plays in the USA. Largest opinion magazine
in the Netherlands had a big article about how today it's a status symbol
_not_ to have a car, because for young people it's associated with living on
the countryside where it's impossible to get around without one; and living on
the countryside means general lower education, lower pay, for people in their
20s/30s. Not surprisingly: the car as a status symbol still exists there.
Wondering if this also goes for the USA...

~~~
fusiongyro
I would think so, but out in the boonies where I live most people cannot
afford to make their car into a status symbol. Here in NM, the car-as-status-
symbol means something rather different than in the rest of the country. Here,
an old luxury car with new paint and possibly a portrait of the Virgin Mary is
pretty rich fare. A lot of cars have large decals in the back window that read
like tombstones: "In Memory of Consuelo Gonzales, 1969-2007". One guy in town
has a glossy black 70s-vintage Buick with bright gold hubcaps. Another guy has
an all-gold Cadillac, and it really looks like gold, not gold paint.

I imagine these cars convey a lot more than just status, and I'd be surprised
if they were expensive. Out in the boonies where I live, not many people can
afford a rich import that the local mechanic can't work on. Even in the big
metro area to the north, the fanciest you get is the odd BMW, the occasional
Porsche. Until visiting Chicago I hadn't seen an Aston Martin in the flesh,
for instance.

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InclinedPlane
Because driving brings unbelievable freedom.

If I need to go do something, like work, anywhere in the city or near it I can
be there with less than a day's notice.

If I need something for work or home I can pick it up when I discover I need
it instead of having to wait.

If I want to go to an event anywhere within a hundred miles I can do so
without having to make special arrangements.

If I want to make a day trip to visit my friends in Canada or Portland I can.

If I want to hang out at a friend's place until ungodly hours or on the
weekend I don't have to worry about massively diminished transit options.

And so on.

Normally I try to avoid commuting by car when I have the opportunity but
living without a car entirely, which I did up until I was about 30, entails an
enormous number of compromises and limitations. If you live a life of utter
routine then fine, don't own a car, but don't tell me that there isn't an
enormous amount of value in a car.

Sure I could save money in parking, gas, and maintenance by not owning a car.
I could save even more money by not renting an apartment either, or by not
paying for internet.

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Raphmedia
20-25 here.

Sure as hell wouldn't want to have a car. I'm living out of town so I have to
take the bus before I get to a subway. Still don't want a car.

Sure, it would be "a good thing" to have one. More practical I guess.

I still don't have one and wouldn't want one. The costs are simply too big. A
cheap car ends up expensive. An expensive car... ends up expensive. Gas is
expensive.

I also grew up being told "driving is bad, mmmkay? think about the birds and
the trees!"

So in the end, yes. A car would get me to work 30-45 minutes faster. But am I
really in THAT much of a hurry to get to work? Not really. I would rather read
twice as much in the bus, or spend some time on my laptop or smartphone and
get some work done.

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Fuzzwah
My wife and I moved from Australia to Phoenix, AZ, USA. After living here for
about 18 months we've finally had to buy a car due to the fact that she's
pregnant.

We had managed very well with out a car; my wife cycled to work and I rode the
light rail to my work place. My commute took about 2 hours a day, compared to
~50 mins if I drove. This didn't bug me very much at all, I enjoy listening to
audiobooks / podcasts and catching a little nap while on the train.

We were also very lucky that my wife's boss would lend us his car when he was
out of town, in return for being dropped off and picked up from the airport.
This enabled us to do some road trips out to the grand canyon, monument
valley, sedona, etc. I was also very lucky to have a fellow skydiver living in
the same apartment complex who would give me a ride to the dropzone an hour
away to pursue my hobby of falling from the sky.

For 18 months we really enjoyed the response from our American friends when we
explained that we didn't have a car. The look of disbelief was very
entertaining.

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kerrsclyde
Speaking from a UK perspective I would lay much of the blame at the
Governments door, both regional and national. Since the 1990's government has
realised what an easy target the motorist is for revenue generating.

Petrol is frighteningly expensive in the UK, even a regular family car costs
around £100 to fill up, the cost of fuel has double in the past 10 years.

Vehicle taxation has changed and increased considerably for larger vehicles.
Operating a car through a company now has little tax benefit.

Parking in the UK is expensive, and easy to get an exorbitant fine should you
overstay by even the slightest time period.

Speeding is punished with large fixed penalty fines and tolls upon some roads
and bridges continue to be levied at year on year increasing costs.

Unfortunately outside of London are public transport networks are poor and
offer no alternative to running a car, which is why most of us continue to pay
more each year to own a car.

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tomflack
27 years old, have not owned a car since 2008 when I sold my childhood dream
car.

I'll buy it again, exactly the same model but it will be as purely a hobby car
never as my main form of transport.

The numbers just don't add up for me to drive every day.

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Semaphor
27 years old, I told myself long ago that the first car I would buy would be a
newer Passat-style car that I'd be able to buy without taking a loan. Long
away from that but living in Germany and in the center of town I don't really
need one anyway :)

And when, like right now I really must have a car I do as I did for this week
and borrowed my parent's :)

I love not having a car, the money you save is insane (especially with our gas
prices over here).

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jhartikainen
Living in a country with less population than in New York pretty much means
you can own a car and won't have to worry about traffic jams and stuff. And in
less populated parts of the country _you need a car_ in order to get around to
begin with.

Plus some of us enjoy driving as pointed out in a few other comments too

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jaggederest
I'm really, really hoping that self-driving cars show up sooner, rather than
later.

You'll see a really, really drastic reduction in car ownership - the
demographics are primed for it.

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gokulk
Having a car is useful during crucial times like for weekend trips, grocery
shopping or just go out with friends. Renting or using some car sharing app
everytime is a hassle.

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nasalgoat
I own four of them, so I'm biased.

They're fun.

