Can you live without a car? Certain things make up the rites of passage into adulthood. Your first real boyfriend/girlfriend. Shaving because you need to shave. Things like that. However, no rite is more profound than buying your first car!
So, it surprised us to learn that Gen Z (and even some Millennials) are pondering another path – one that doesn’t involve owning a car. They say the numbers don’t add up. Are they right?
Can You Live Without a Car?
Living without a car is possible and can be a positive lifestyle choice. It can save money, reduce environmental impact, and promote physical activity. Alternative modes of transportation such as walking, biking, and public transit can provide freedom and convenience. With a little planning and flexibility, a car-free life can be fulfilling and enjoyable.
However, this all depends on where you live, how far you live from your school or job, and what other types of transportation are available. Let’s look at the pros and cons of life without a personal vehicle.
Pros:
Pro #1: Obvious Savings: Factoring the national average car payment of $326 a year, insurance premiums, registration, gas, and upkeep, a car costs $7,500 a year. Gen Z pays higher insurance rates due to their age. If cost was the sole criteria, we should all dump the car.
Pro #2: Rideshare Rewards: In 2016, Uber started “UberVIP.” That requires ten rides in a 30-day span while maintaining high ratings. (Uber drivers rate passengers, and vice versa.) Once there, for everyday Uber prices, you’re in an “UberVIP!” It’s Uber’s highest-rated pilots in a nicer vehicle.
Pro #3: It is Safer to Ride: Be honest. You’ve texted at a red light. Heck, I know one guy who texts with one hand and eats a burger with the other. You’re safer in a rideshare than driving next to such a lunatic.
Pro #4: Your Productivity Will Soar: Meet my friend, Max. When he took his car to work Max listened to music while the landscape rolled past. With Uber-commute, he adds 500 productive minutes to his week.
Pro #5: It Pops a Bubble That Needs Popping: We’ve become an isolated society while connecting with thousands on social media. It’s troublesome, psychologically.
Cons:
Con #1: Building and Repairing Credit: The best route to good credit getting started or better credit if life goes awry is a successful car loan. No other method is faster or more effective.
Con #2: Dependability Matters: What if Lyft or Uber raise rates? Or, what if your passenger rating falls and drivers turn you down? Then, your car sounds like a pretty sweet deal.
Con #3: Distance Issues: Lyft’s maximum range is 60 miles, while Uber asks you to declare the trip length in advance, making it harder to get a driver. Your car loves going 120 miles to In ‘N Out for lunch.
Sometimes Max chooses to not work in the car. Instead, he relaxes as the landscape rolls past. But, he gets to the office prepared for his day, arriving home rested. Max wishes he had long ago started living without his car.
Con #4: The Benefit of Solitude: Maybe you cherish alone time on the way to work. Perhaps the ride home is your time processing that a co-worker is more a bully than a friend.
Or, the solitude in your own vehicle can be where you plan a return trip to a special romantic vacation.
In a rideshare, you’ll meet interesting people for face-to-face interaction. That may be just what you are missing.
So, living without a private car fulfills yet another need, and one you didn’t even know about.
Con #5: Maybe You Enjoy Driving: Going forward, this one may settle the matter. If you really like to drive, getting rid of the privately-owned car might not be an option.
Oh, you can purchase a handful of Lyft, bus, and plane tickets with that $7,500 annually.
Perhaps though, when you start up that V-8, just hearing the throaty rumble returns you to the days of your own emerging adulthood.
Five pros and five cons mean there isn’t a universally right answer to this question. But, you will discover the right answer for you.
Places You Can Live Without a Car
There are many places where you can live without a car, thanks to accessible public transportation, bike-friendly infrastructure, and walkable neighborhoods. These places offer a variety of benefits, such as reduced expenses, improved health, and increased social interaction.
So, if you’re looking for a car-free lifestyle, consider these locations and enjoy the freedom and convenience they offer.
Leasing a Car Doubles in the US
Not too many years ago the car lease was going the way of the bobby sock and the corded home phone. In 2004 the percentage of leased vehicles dropped to a historic low of 9.9%, but leasing a car has doubled in the past few years.
Things have changed since Chrysler was in financial woes.
Twenty-two percent of new car acquisitions in recent years were through a leasing program and the statistics available so far this year make it look like that number is going to be exceeded in 2013.
Young and Hip: Those of us who remember mutton chop sideburns were taught that the best way to handle cars was to pay them off as fast as humanly possible, and drive them for 10 years.
Young people today treat their cars like cellphones. They want to trade up to the newest model as soon as possible. A whopping 38% of new car “purchases” in 2012 by drivers 30 and younger was a lease arrangement.
When You Only Intend to Lease Once: You just started a new job and your ’88 Roadmaster V-8 that you had in college just died. You need a car and don’t have anything in the way of down to put against the purchase.
Leasing a Chevy Spark for $199.00 a month is an option, while you save for your next car. Be careful to really save, though.
Otherwise, you can become a serial leaser.
Want to Go the Electric Route: Everything from tax incentives to the pace at which the technology is advancing say leasing a car that’s a plug-in buggy is the way to go to check out the electric route.
Consumer Reports has never been a big fan of leasing, pointing out that “buy and hold” is a better financial proposition for most drivers. But it makes an exception for plug-ins.
“With electric cars, it’s pretty cut and dried,” said Consumer Reports automotive expert Eric Evarts. “Why lock yourself into the first generation of technology? Today’s typical electric car has a range of about 75 miles and takes four to five hours to charge fully. But technology is improving constantly, with better batteries that have more range and charge faster. We don’t know what’s coming next. The only thing we do know is they’re going to be better.”
When That Mercedes Logo Gets Into Your Dreams, Baby: It is always best to not get your heart set on any particular car. The only thing that I would draw in art class back in the day was a Pontiac GTO.
If you gotta gotta gotta have that expensive ride a lease is the short-range cheaper way to go about it. You’re still spending a lot for your transportation, though, and you would save tons of money by committing to fewer cars for a longer period of time.
The trend toward leasing a car is an interesting phenomenon.
With the money you save by not owning a car, you might be able to live wealthy without having to be rich.