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Hey Guys,
I live in Washington, DC. My car is paid off, it's got about 100,000 miles on it. It's a Volkswagen that has been good to me, but it's also costing me a pretty decent chunk of change per month/year.
A look at the last couple years expenses (DC area labor costs for maintenance are sky high btw, and my VW with its turbo engine certainly isn't the cheapest car to maintain).
Between October 2014 and today, I have only put about 5,000 miles on the car. Being in the city, it's rarely useful to drive. Public transit, walking, biking, uber, etc. makes more sense. For commuting to work, I bike, walk, or metro. I could drive for a cheap cost (free parking as its in the same resident zone as my home), but it's a bit silly to do so for just 2.5 miles in distance).
However, part of the reason I have not gotten rid of the car is the fact that most of my family lives in the suburbs of DC, and while metro + uber could get me there, I often cut the travel time in half with a car. It also allows for more flexibility. There are times where I need to make a run to somewhere outside of the metro area and don't have to worry about how to get there.
The other big thing I do is take trips. While I don't take a ton, I drive 240 miles round trip to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware roughly 5-6 times a year.
I also like to take other random spontaneous trips, where I sometimes could get a ride, sometimes couldn't to small towns in Virginia, a weekend of skiing in West Virginia, etc.
I've noticed full weekend rentals of Zip Cars can get expensive.
2015 was an expensive year hitting the 100,000 mile mark. So I don't want to extrapolate out too much that every year after this will be at this price, but it does have me worried. A look at the last couple years:
Paid Per Year for Car Maintenance
2016: $3,104.80
2015: $1,312.38
2014: $397.70
2013: $2,360
2012: $2,506
2011: $1,115.91
2010 [Year Bought]: $294 (bought in May, so would average to about $588 in charges if had for whole year)
It's important to note that I was paying midwestern labor costs in a small town in 2011 and 2012. That cut my costs WAY down. I also had some body work done in 2012.
Other Expenses ($1,976):
$142 for car registration in the city.
$70 for EZ-Pass (highway toll roads)
$641 in gas (shows how little I drive
)
$160 in parking
$953 in Car Insurance
With all costs this month included, I am paying about $423 a month to have my car. With zip car, the only thing I might take off my list is the EZ-Pass which could still exist even if I had a ZipCar.
Using last year's maintenance costs though (and the same other expenses numbers - because I don't have as exact #s on 2014), I spent $267.66 a month on the car.
ZipCar's calculator of course tells me I'd save money switching. But I'm not sure.
Other important note: My car is valued at around $6,000 on KBB (private party sale).
I live in Washington, DC. My car is paid off, it's got about 100,000 miles on it. It's a Volkswagen that has been good to me, but it's also costing me a pretty decent chunk of change per month/year.
A look at the last couple years expenses (DC area labor costs for maintenance are sky high btw, and my VW with its turbo engine certainly isn't the cheapest car to maintain).
Between October 2014 and today, I have only put about 5,000 miles on the car. Being in the city, it's rarely useful to drive. Public transit, walking, biking, uber, etc. makes more sense. For commuting to work, I bike, walk, or metro. I could drive for a cheap cost (free parking as its in the same resident zone as my home), but it's a bit silly to do so for just 2.5 miles in distance).
However, part of the reason I have not gotten rid of the car is the fact that most of my family lives in the suburbs of DC, and while metro + uber could get me there, I often cut the travel time in half with a car. It also allows for more flexibility. There are times where I need to make a run to somewhere outside of the metro area and don't have to worry about how to get there.
The other big thing I do is take trips. While I don't take a ton, I drive 240 miles round trip to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware roughly 5-6 times a year.
I also like to take other random spontaneous trips, where I sometimes could get a ride, sometimes couldn't to small towns in Virginia, a weekend of skiing in West Virginia, etc.
I've noticed full weekend rentals of Zip Cars can get expensive.
2015 was an expensive year hitting the 100,000 mile mark. So I don't want to extrapolate out too much that every year after this will be at this price, but it does have me worried. A look at the last couple years:
Paid Per Year for Car Maintenance
2016: $3,104.80
2015: $1,312.38
2014: $397.70
2013: $2,360
2012: $2,506
2011: $1,115.91
2010 [Year Bought]: $294 (bought in May, so would average to about $588 in charges if had for whole year)
It's important to note that I was paying midwestern labor costs in a small town in 2011 and 2012. That cut my costs WAY down. I also had some body work done in 2012.
Other Expenses ($1,976):
$142 for car registration in the city.
$70 for EZ-Pass (highway toll roads)
$641 in gas (shows how little I drive
)$160 in parking
$953 in Car Insurance
With all costs this month included, I am paying about $423 a month to have my car. With zip car, the only thing I might take off my list is the EZ-Pass which could still exist even if I had a ZipCar.
Using last year's maintenance costs though (and the same other expenses numbers - because I don't have as exact #s on 2014), I spent $267.66 a month on the car.
ZipCar's calculator of course tells me I'd save money switching. But I'm not sure.
Other important note: My car is valued at around $6,000 on KBB (private party sale).
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