That's it! Throwing away my car(s) for good!

[Peakster]

Hello everyone.

I know, I know. I haven't shown myself on the forums for months and months. However, I have some fairly decent reasons as to why:

Lately my Geo Metro has been getting mileage in the 30s. Partly due to the engine having 283K on it now and partly due to the ridiculous medium-speed stop & go arterial roads here in Winnipeg where I'm going to school. So there really isn't much to share in that department.

As gas prices risen well over $4 a gallon here as well as having the pleasure of waiting 3 hours for a $27 oil change, I've had a lot of time to investigate as to how much my car(s) have been costing me since ownership.

In a nutshell: What I found out, I didn't like.

So shortly after 2007 rolled by I made a new years resolution to live without a car before 2008 ends. I've posted a couple of video blogs so far on YouTube of my intentions. Maybe people here would be intriqued?

Attachment 1224
Vlog #1: Preparing to live without a car (filmed January 25th, 2008)

Attachment 1218
Vlog #2: Dressing for Success (filmed February 1st, 2008)

Attachment 1217
Vlog #3: OH CRAP! (filmed March 5th, 2008)

Attachment 1247
Vlog #4: Meet Gloria! (and all her glory) (filmed March 24, 2008)


Vlog #5: Pedaling up a Party (filmed April 13th, 2008)


Vlog #6: Gloria's Final Drive (part 1) and (part 2) (filmed April 29th, 2008)


Vlog #7: Gloria Has Left the Cul-de-sac! (filmed June 7th, 2008)


Vlog #8: My Morning and Evening Commute via Bicycle (filmed June 20, 2008)

[kamesama980]

3 hours for an oil change?! yet another reason I do them myself. that and I've never forgotten drain plug, filter, oil, or any combination thereof :-p

if you can go without a car, kudos. I'd have to reevaluate work, school, and GF because none are within 5 miles and none have bike routes so it'd be sharing rural heavily used state highway.

[101mpg]

This isn't practical for many people due to heavy commute, etc. Reworking your entire life to live without a car (If you get a scooter or other, that would be a good thing, give you better mobility for longer distances, etc.) then it's a pretty good feat.

LOTS of people here and other places would be interested. Taking busses, trains, biking, etc. does require a major revamp of your life. You're likely to show many things that will benefit others, too. Keep us posted!

[Peakster]

Originally Posted by kamesama980

3 hours for an oil change?! yet another reason I do them myself.

With weather in the -40 range and no access to a garage, Wal-Mart is where I got my oil changes done... with the Tech 2000 oil too. I could get my oil changed instantly at those 10-minute-oil-change places, but they now charge $44

Originally Posted by 101mpg

This isn't practical for many people due to heavy commute, etc.

I am in a pretty advantageous situation myself where I'm going to be done with school in a few short months, so I can shape my living environment from scratch as I'm not anchored down to anything or anyone yet.

Thus when I find a job, I'm going to make sure it's in a city that has both affordable housing and has virtually everything I need within 3-5 kilometres where I live. My current city, Regina, would work okay but I'm looking along the lines of moving someplace smaller (around 10,000-25,000 people) and with milder weather. Lately, I've been interested in a city called Quesnel in British Columbia.

My rule of thumb is that if a city is big and prosperous enough to have one Wal-Mart, then it's big enough for me.

[GasSavers_Red]

Is it at all possible and/or worth it for you to rebuild the Geo during your down time? Always good to have a backup transportation method if needed.

[Peakster]

I intend to sell both Gloria and the Geo. I don't like the idea of a 'backup vehicle' being around since I know I'll relapse. I'd rather rent a car for $100 if truly needed.

Gloria will be an easy sell since I bought it for $200 anyway. I'm going to wait until school is over before selling the Geo ($5 a gallon in Canada would be beneficial for the resale value of the Geo). I found a '94 model with 265K for sale on canadatrader.com for $2,500, so that's inspiring. I'm pretty certain I could get at least $1,800 for my Geo if fix a few cosmetic things and found the right buyer who's fed up with gas prices. That would only be $250 a year in depreciation.

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

Importing it to Canada might be more of a PITA and moneypit than you anticipate though. Some US models are identical to Canadian models, some aren't. Things that might cause an issue are powered seatbelts and lights. To get it registered in Canada those might be need to be swapped for canadian spec ones. If you bring it over and try and sell it without importing it to Canada first. i.e. registering it here for the first time, you might find that the most anyone will give you is about what it's worth for parts.

[Peakster]

Originally Posted by RoadWarrior

Importing it to Canada might be more of a PITA and moneypit than you anticipate though.

Both cars are located and being used in Canada right now.

I notice that used car prices in the 'States are much lower than Canada for this make an model (or pretty much any car). Maybe Americans are much more willing to buy cars new compared to Canadians, thus fueling depreciation? I'm lucky that in the province of Saskatchewan, where I live, we have some of the highest resale pricing in Canada.

When I bought my Geo in 2006 with 222K on the odometer, $2,300 was a steal! Similar models were selling at mid $3000s at the time.

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

Whoops (and where's the bang head and doh smileys?) for some reason I was under the impression you were in the US when I wrote that.

[101mpg]

This might help:

http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/001377.php

It tells about a guy who lives in Phoenix, Arizona who uses a bolt-on engine for his mountain bike. 250 MPG.

http://www.bikeengines.com/

This might help your transition to being car-less, supplement other modes of transportation, help on some longer trips that could be taken via more expensive modes of transportation, etc.