How often do you use your car? Would you get rid of it if it cost too much?

We live in a small village with no train station, and buses in term time only. we neeeeeeeeed the car - and Mr FtG uses it everyday to get to work (though he could walk the 45 mins to the train station if he had to).

I have just done this. I had a 13 yr old Clio which although was cheap as chips to run, didn't get used enough to justify keeping it. I commute into London each day so was only using it at weekends really. I moved in with my OH a few months ago and am insured on his much nicer car so it seemed pointless to keep mine. It's currently sat on the drive until we get round to doing a few bits to it but it will get sold soon.

I live in a rural village with buses every hour. nearest train station is about 9 miles away, public transport to work isnt an option. So I use my smart car to get me to work 5 days a week and then I use my Pajero purely at weekends. The Smart costs almost nowt to run, just fuel as its new. The pajero has cost me about £3k over the past 3 years in garage bills but its 13 years old and its my baby. I have no intention of selling her even though she does minimal milage, just about everything under the bonnet is new.

When I was working (was made redundant), then I used it every day for work - public transport would have been a pain. At the moment though, very little - supermarket shopping, occassional trips to B&Q (doing DIY while I'm not working), gym (I know its a bit stupid to drive to the gym ?) all on a weekly basis. Less often, visiting friends and family which without a car would be difficult/time consuming/expensive - I think we'd be hiring a car on a monthly basis for a weekend which would be expensive.

I wouldn't want to be without mine but public transport isn't good (and I only live just outside a city - not in the sticks!), friends and family all live some distance away and (when I get a job), its not likely to be in walking/cycling distance.

I had a 10 year old fiesta 2 years ago but the servicing and MOT were costing a few hundred pounds a go and stuff was starting to break inbetween. We bought a new car which we plan to keep for 10 years all being well. We took running costs into account.

We have 2 cars and need both of them. We are out in the country and the nearest bus stop is 40 mins away and the bus runs once in the morning and then again in the evening! Our nearest shop is beside the bus stop so would mean a 90 minute round trip.

When I lived in Edinburgh we could have quite easily managed without any cars and if we hadn't had resident's parking then I would've ditched the car completely. We had a lot of family and friends with cars so if we needed anything collecting then they would've helped and otherwise we would've just hired a car.

We could get rid of ours, I can walk to work in 35 minutes, and to all my mates/family withing 5 - 30 minutes. H has a big white van for work so we wouldn't be without transport, although I would miss being able to go anywhere anytime when he is out, i guess we could do without it. I have tried to get my sister to car share, we live 2 mins (in the car) apart and work 3 mins apart but she says she doesn't want to - even though it would save us both half our petrol monay a month!

H didn't have a car for 2 years, he didn't have any parking available at work and we worked out that it would be cheaper to hire a car a couple of times a month than actually own one - but then that's partly because if he bought one it wouldn't have been a little run around.

It's possible we may go back to this arrangement in the next year as we are expecting a baby and rather than buying a big car, with the big running costs, we may just hire one as and when we need it.

I use my car every single day. I have to drop Master I off (2 miles away) and then do the 15 mile trip to work. There isn't a sensible public transport alternative. I am getting rid of it and getting a newer, more economical car next week though as this one costs a fortune in fuel and needs work doing on it too.

Before Mr M got a company car we didn't have one as we live in the city centre and the public transport is great here. But sometimes we wanted a car for going to the DIY store or Ikea - what they have here is a company that you can join and then rent cars by the hour. You pay for the time and a set amount for mileage too. There are loads of them around here, one parked right outside our house, so it was sort of like having our own car.

I've had a quick google and there seem to be something that is similar, mostly in London - http://www.streetcar.co.uk

https://www.zipcar.com/ is another one

Tricky. MrSC couldn't get rid of his, it's the decent sized one out of the two cars and is comfy for the regular trips darn sarf, fits camping equipment easily and he has a half hour drive to work which would take forever and a day and many changes on public transport. It's on lease hire so in 18 months we will have to decide whether to pay the lump sum to keep it, or get him an older cheaper car. I suspect we will pay the lump sum as for that amount we wouldn't get anything of a decent size and similar age.

We have this conversation periodically about my car though! It's 13 years old and every MOT time I say if it costs more than X I will get rid. Luckily it's never happened, and I think I need to keep it through at least one more MOT, but we want to get me a newer (not new though) safer car before we have sprogs. By the next, next MOT (IYSWIM) we'll have saved enough for a deposit at least if not full cost of a car for me. Even MrSC says it's more of a priority than his car. I drive to work every day but could get the bus which would cost me £60 a month and take away flexibility re start times. My car costs around £200 each MOT, I never service it (not worth the money any more), insurance is £35 and petrol is £20 a month. So it's a little more than public transport but I have my independence. If MOT was more than £300ish I would seriously consider getting rid, also it went through a phase of needing the AA out (I got to maximum call outs in one year) so if that had continued it would have been bye bye little green car.

We have a car, but only drove 800 miles last year.

After they stopped the bus route to our local supermarket, we started walking there but taking a cab home. That was fine at £4 a trip, but when they introduced a minimum fee of £6, we realised we were spending £300 a year on cabs. About what it now costs us to tax and insure a car.

The service, MOT and petrol costs about another £250, but means that the monthly trip to my parents now takes 20 minutes (not an hour and a half), and we can pop into the Wing Yip on the way back without adding another 2 hours to the day.

Could we save money by losing the car ? Maybe £50 each over a year.

But I reckon it saves us in excess of 100 person hours of mucking about on public transport.

Is my free time worth more than £1 an hour ? You betcha !

Oh and just to add, I imparted this information to MIL on the phone the other day (about getting me another car, and about possibility of buying MrSC's at the end of the contract) and she said 'Do you really need a car of your own' and then 'Why doesn't he just get a new contract'. Ummmmm a) How many cars have you got per person in your household? Would that be one each? Riiiiiight. and b) Because we don't want to keep throwing money away on lease hire with nothing to show at the end like you do. It'll be hard to find the money to pay the lump sum but it will be cheaper over the life of the car than the amount having a new one every 3 years, like they do, would be.

She really is an interfering PITA sometimes. Yes I need a car, and I will get a new(ish) one before we sprog because I happen to know that if I crashed my car it would basically crumple to the size of a tin can. I'm willing to take that risk with myself (I only do 30-40 mph mostly anyway) but NOT with a baby.

We have two cars and I don't see see it as viable we get rid of either of them at the moment. H works away during the week, so his car is with him. Three days a weeks I work at our local office, six miles from home. I was carless a couple of weeks ago and I did manage, mostly because I live near the railway station, I went one stop (£4.50 return) and then either 40 minute walk or a bus journey which cost another £3 on top of the train fare, which seems a lot of money to me. There is a bus that takes an hour - no thanks. The other two days a week I work in another office that takes an hour to drive to, but by public transport takes two hours if the wind is in the right direction.

I have been cycling more journeys since my carless episode, and I'm thinking of attempting to cycle to work in the Spring. If H was working locally then I think we could manage with one car.

I use mine nearly every day for work and leisure and I couldn't survive without it, tbh. I physically couldn't get to work on public transport to fit in with my shift pattern, for starters, and I don't feel safe enough (or fit enough) to cycle the 16 miles along dark country lanes. I would have to move closer to work and I simply can't afford a decent house there.

Second, I consider the cost worth it for the independence it affords me. I like to explore the countryside, to head off on a whim down country roads which lead I know not where. I like being able to decide on the spur of the moment to travel to Birmingham or Bristol for a gig, without worrying about relying on the trains to get me there and back. I wouldn't like to travel alone late at night on public transport.

However, if I used it as infrequently as once every six weeks, I might consider hiring a car for the day instead.

In an ideal world, I'd love to use my car less. But the reality is the public transport where I live is not much help. It's 7 miles to the station. I can't get to work without a car (there's no station nearby at the other end either). We need to ferry mum around to hospital appointment setc and again, public transport isn't an option. My Honda Civic is reasonably economical but spendi ng so much time every day commuitng makes an unavoidable dent in the budget. We were planning on moving closer to the office but a) the company is planning arelocation in a couple of years time and b) it maybe ain't the best time to move home right now!

Looks like I'm going to continue to make rather a large carbon footprint ...

Yeah I've looked at streetcar, they have tons of cars near us, but as I mentioned it really seems set up for those who want a car for an hour or two for the supermarket, as it's £50 a day (so >£100 for a weekend) plus all your petrol apart from the first £30. I imagine it must be good for managing your outgoings though as you don't get any nasty surprises. I think I've actually been pretty lucky with my car, when I got it it only had £50k on the clock and in the last 4 yrs all it's needed apart from little bits of welding/new tyres etc is an exhaust. It's never 'broken down' as such.

H doesn't have a car (I call it mine, because I bought it, and until recently I was the only driver) - can't ever envisage us needing one each when we only use the one we have so rarely, so we would be without one at all if we did 'get rid'. We do half own a Campervan which we tend to use for holidaying (but it lives in Lincolnshire so no use for an Ikea trip!).

Can't remember who mentioned safety & kids - tbh I would happily drive a sprog around in my Fiesta - maybe I'm a risk taking loony, but it's only 15 year old well looked after car, not a death wagon. I regularly drive my teenage siblings around in it. (Is this a IYHKYWU moment???!).

RA - twas me - the safety issue is specific to my car, it's a 96 Citroen AX and apparently they crumple on impact from both side and front and so are considered to be pretty dangerous in crash situations. I think Fiestas are relatively safe actually.

We have only 1 car between - H cycles everywhere when I need the car (or atleast cycles to the nearest station if he's going a long distance!)

We used to have 2 cars, but found that if we just planned a little better we could do without 1 of them and save SO much money.

I think it would be hard to have no car at all if you live in not-london, but most of my london friends have got rid of their cars.

It would be impossible for us as Mr Lobster drives to work each day. Yes it is possible for him to take public transport but it would mean a walk, subway journey, train ride and bus journey each way. It's a 35 min car journey and about 90 mins on public transport.

We also have a house upstate which we go to most weekends in Summer and winter so we average around 25,000 miles a year!

We did without a car for a long time when we lived in London but it was becoming a pain to hire one or take the train every time we needed to visit either set of parents some 200 miles away. Once we moved out to Essex it was almost impossible to do simple things like grocery shopping without a car.

I love my car, its so much more than a mode of transport. Its an horrendous gas guzzler (not a jeep I might add) but its fun to drive, and I do a couple of hundred miles a week on average. Remarkable seeing as I don't work, but I don't bat an eyelid about driving 100 miles each way to go and see a friend or go to visit something with my daughter. I used public transport a lot when we lived in London. There just isn't the regular service out here in deepest surrey

I use my car every day to get to and from work. Although I could catch the bus to do the same journey it would add around another 45 odd minutes on to my travelling time (simply cos of the circular route our bus takes) plus i'd lose any flexibility to work late or pick up any shopping on the way home.

Also I love driving my car i've worked hard to afford to clear the finance on it early so it's all mine and the only costs i incur are insurance, petrol and parking.

Mr Dooby uses his car for work too, we live the other side of the island from his work giving him a 20 miinute drive each way, given the hours he does he has no public transport alternative, besides which he's a total car nut and suggesting he sold his car and didn't replace it would be like suggesting he gave up breathing - non negotiable!

I use my car to get to the gym (7 miles door to door and no alternative bus service) and then there's the trip for Woody to get his coat trimmed (160 mile round trip once every 7 weeks). Other than that, yes, we probably could do without the car if we absolutely had to. We use public transport a lot around the city and/or walk/taxi.

But while I can afford "the luxury" of a car for pottering about in, which essentially is what we do, I'll hang onto it. We won't upgrade/replace it for another 12/18 months until we know whether we're staying in the UK or not.

I own my car outright too (it only cost £250 ffs!) but still pay insurance, petrol, parking, AA, road tax and MOT as well as any repairs... it does add up even though it's a very reliable banger.

Is there no road tax in the CIs?

I use the car every day to take my son to nursery, and for supermarket shopping etc. Public transport is quite good here but not designed for buggies- I can't physically fit my double buggy on the tram and with two children I can't go without it. So I end up using the car more than I would like. I also use it for trips to the UK.

If I were child-free living in a city I wouldn't bother with a car- we didn't get one until we were thinking about children. Car share schemes are very useful and, while rental at peak times of year isn't cheap, it's cheaper than running an unnecessary car.

We could survive without a car locally, I walk to the butcher and greengrocer and get Tesco to deliver the rest (I know, I know ?). I get a train to uni and walk to work and Mr P mostly cycles everywhere and gets buses/trains.

However our social life would be a lot more limited, Mr P does occasionalk site visits with work and stuff, so its worth holding on to my wee Micra.

We will never be totally carless though. Mister Pants' pride and joy is his 71 MG Midget, and then there are the track days and so on. e also has a motorbike, but its MOT is up and we have decided to leave it until after Christmas to get that sorted. Mostly because we are poor.

No, we've no road tax or MOT over here. ?

So you could all be driving potential death traps? Gulp. [Hooby rethinks trip to Channel Islands]

Quite probably! The Police do have random 'road checks' from time to time...in which they usually find a few that need to be taken off the road.

Well, up until 2 weeks ago I used the car everyday to drive to work. Then I took it in for MOT. It needed repairs, but nothing too bad in order to pass. Except when I collected it after the first test, the engine started to over hear. Long story short - the head gasket has gone. It would have cost at least £600 to repair, and the car was worth around £400. So Saturday it went to the breaker's yard for £40 [:'(]

I've been getting the bus to work, which isn't too bad now I am familiar with the route. It's costing me £1 a journey, and with 0.5 mile to each bus stop I'm clocking up 2 miles walking a day, which can only be a good thing. Shopping can be done on-line, and we have a shopping centre (Asda, Library, Borders, Starbucks, M&S soon) 1/2 a mile a way, with a small Tesco even closer.

Like you say, the biggest thing is convenience, and the loss of being able to just jump in the car. But I think I'm managing well.

We are fortunate in that my husband has a company car, so I can drive that if needed, but I haven't done so yet.

How much do you use your car (if you have one)? Every day. Shops are about 15 - 20 mins so walkable but not at the moment really due to being massively pregnant with a 2.5 year old.

Could you cope without it? No. I was without a car for a week when my old one died and I was waiting to get my new one and while yes of course I did cope I couldn't have done it long term. My son goes to a childminder in the next village and I need to drive there to get him at night, my parents had to do it for me the week I didn't have the car and it was not convenient. Also I would end up murdering someone if I had to use the buses round here for any significant amount of commuting. As it is when I am working I take the car to the station in the next village and take the train.

Would you repair/replace it whatever the cost or would you set a limit? I'd have to find some way to fix it or replace it.

We coped fine with one car for years but H needs the car for work so if he was working and I needed the car for anything I'd need to take him to work and pick him up (around 10 pm) - not exactly practical with young children. He looked into taking public transport but it would take him hours and he also needs to drop off our son at his childcare.

Edited to clarify I am not currently massively pregnant with a 2.5 year old (now that really WOULD be massive!) but that I am massively pregnant, and also have a 2.5 year old ?

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I use mine every day in the week and I guess a fair bit at weekends too. I do about 30,000 miles a year. Obviously this costs a fortune to keep it on the road with 2 services a year, high insurance premiums etc, but I need it for work and they give me an allowance. I'd have to repair it whatever the cost, although it's only 5 years old and hopefully has another 200,000 miles in it yet!

If I worked in the town I live in then I'd definitely not have one. H has one as he commutes & travels for work, and we'd just use that.