Joy of not buying a car... normal?

[eein]

I've had my car for sale for a while and got some interest recently so likely that it'll go soon. This has left me thinking what to do next, but I find myself really looking forward to *not* buying a car. I don't know why but I'm excited about just not having one, and not going through the thought process of what I'd buy based on my need/want.

Is this normal? Will the novelty wear off quickly and I'll need to buy something? Has the hassle of ownership versus the fun of driving tipped towards the former? Or am I just getting old? Will I be banned from PH if I'm not a car owner?!

[Trevor555]

I've been thinking about it recently.

Cars are my world, but I've had some dire experiences with main dealers in recent years.

I often think about just having the missus's car on the drive.

I've just bought another little toy, and if this ownership isn't nice I think I might give up.

I've always had a Honda PCX in the garage for every day use, that has been a pleasant experience dealer wise.

For me it's many of the dealers that spoil car ownership.

[casualdriver]

I live in London, and lot of people I know don't bother with cars. Currently car sharing is enough for most people in bigger cities. And for example in Switzerland, at least from 2013, near every train station there are few cars you can book over internet. But country is much smaller and car keeping costs are HUGE.
I love outdoor hence need of a big car.

Trevor555 said:

Cars are my world, but I've had some dire experiences with main dealers in recent years.
....

For me it's many of the dealers that spoil car ownership.

Did you describe your experiences somewhere? I am interested to know more about it.

[ChrisH72]

eein said:

I've had my car for sale for a while and got some interest recently so likely that it'll go soon. This has left me thinking what to do next, but I find myself really looking forward to *not* buying a car. I don't know why but I'm excited about just not having one, and not going through the thought process of what I'd buy based on my need/want.

Is this normal? Will the novelty wear off quickly and I'll need to buy something? Has the hassle of ownership versus the fun of driving tipped towards the former? Or am I just getting old? Will I be banned from PH if I'm not a car owner?!

Close the door on your way out!

Just joking. I'd say there will be a lot of people who either no longer need a car, can't afford one or just can't be doing with the cost and hassle of it. In many built up areas the joy of driving is quickly disappearing. I'm lucky to have a bit of countryside nearby with some nice roads. Even so they are being ruined by heavy goods vehicles who use them to avoid congested major roads as well as loads of traffic calming measures and average speed cameras. As a small family with both myself and my wife working largely from home we could probably manage most of the time with one car. I certainly do see us moving to one car in 10 years or so when expensive EV's become the norm.

Normal I would say.

[anonymous-user]

If I lived in a city it would only get used for driving for fun. Public transport for work.

Not the case though, and I couldn't live without one as daily driver.

[Trevor555]

casualdriver said:

I live in London, and lot of people I know don't bother with cars. Currently car sharing is enough for most people in bigger cities. And for example in Switzerland, at least from 2013, near every train station there are few cars you can book over internet. But country is much smaller and car keeping costs are HUGE.
I love outdoor hence need of a big car.

Trevor555 said:

Cars are my world, but I've had some dire experiences with main dealers in recent years.
....

For me it's many of the dealers that spoil car ownership.

Did you describe your experiences somewhere? I am interested to know more about it.

The most recent was with a BMW "used approved" purchase.

Faulty machine supplied, Bmw just kept saying it's normal, and then just ignored me.

I eventually got my refund but it took 7 months and a lot of frustration.

Before that were several terrible experiences with VW, and Audi.. in fact some were laughable.

I won't bore you unless you really want me to, I could write several pages.

I expect cars/bike will occasionally go wrong, but it's the arrogance I've encountered with main dealer staff that I just can't accept.

I've had far better experiences with independent dealers on the whole.

[halo34]

eein said:

I've had my car for sale for a while and got some interest recently so likely that it'll go soon. This has left me thinking what to do next, but I find myself really looking forward to *not* buying a car. I don't know why but I'm excited about just not having one, and not going through the thought process of what I'd buy based on my need/want.

Is this normal? Will the novelty wear off quickly and I'll need to buy something? Has the hassle of ownership versus the fun of driving tipped towards the former? Or am I just getting old? Will I be banned from PH if I'm not a car owner?!

I kicked the habit after many years after doing some maths. Its quite refreshing - lockdown brought that home. Way out of warranty, car fully paid off and doing much less miles, its cost me one loan payment in that time for a MOT and discs/pads.

[maz8062]

ThrottleLine30 said:

If I lived in a city it would only get used for driving for fun. Public transport for work.

Not the case though, and I couldn't live without one as daily driver.

I live in London and have 2 cars. In 2010 I sold my S2000 and didn’t get back into a car - a Skoda Yeti, until 2016. Those years that I didn’t have a car were liberating, partly because I didn’t have the hassle of running one of the things, but I chose to make cars work for me, to fit in with my life, so when I needed one I’d hire one for the day, the weekend or per hour - and give the thing back. For the rest of the time we cycled or took public transport.

[Toyoda]

Trevor555 said:

I won't bore you unless you really want me to, I could write several pages.

What's the latest with the Yaris? Or have I got you mixed up with someone else?!

[Trevor555]

Toyoda said:

Trevor555 said:

I won't bore you unless you really want me to, I could write several pages.

What's the latest with the Yaris? Or have I got you mixed up with someone else?!

No that's me.

I didn't want to put up negative stuff but it had to go back.

I loved the way it drove, and looked.

But my car had quality issues that Toyota didn't have a solution for.

The dealership experience was faultless, but it seems the cars are not what they used to be. Made me very sad..

[eein]

Good to hear it's not that uncommon...

I guess I'm a bit stuck in that I'm selling my 'want' car (having had my fun with it) and the missus car perfectly covers all current 'need' use cases.

I tried to think of a different 'want' car and just cant come up with anything... at least that I'm willing to spend the money on or that I'd be able to use in the way the 'want' is based on.

The only wiff of enthusiasm I can muster at the moment for buying another car is at the st box end of the scale - even that Accord on the shed story this week got me clicking. But buying a shed seems silly as a 'want' car!

Ultimately we're down to ~3k household miles (pre-covid) so the maths (even man maths) are hard to add up. I can afford stuff, just can't emotionally justify it.

[Chainsaw Rebuild]

I lived in Leicester for 3 years and didn't have a car there for most of my time. It was great in some ways; saved me money, the walking was good for me, could pop into a pub if I wanted, no maintenance to think about and so on.

[TheDrownedApe]

Gave my car to my son in Sept 19. Missus has hers for work and i don't have one. When i need to go out i use the iron horse or wait until one of them is home. Saved me £3000 a year and it's great.

btw i live 4 in the country and nearest supermarket is 4 miles away

[griffter]

Every time I sell whatever is my “weekend” car I promise to myself I will enjoy having no “to do” list, and idly peruse the classifieds, with no particular models in mind and not act on impulse. I plan to do this for months and spend time with my family and on other hobbies.

It never happens. As soon as the deal’s done I’m all over the internet, whittling down my shortlist and booking time off work to go and view. Then the cycle starts again.

[Om]

There is certainly a joy in not buying a car - but in researching, reading and poring over the classifieds for one.

Tantric car buying.

However, there is something to be said for the climax...