No doubt it depends on what car your driving, but those seem like pretty crazy high maintenance costs. Over the past ten years, I've spent anywhere from $60-$40

No doubt it depends on what car your driving, but those seem like pretty crazy high maintenance costs. Over the past ten years, I've spent anywhere from $60-$400/year on maintenance. I drive about 30k miles a year. "Brakes and belts" are for me something you do every 100k miles. Oil changes run about $30, with a new filter. The only other regular maintenance item is the engine air filter, which runs maybe $10. Every couple years I end up buying new tires, but I've known people that made it 8+ years on one set. Altogether, with taxes, fuel, car payments, and insurance, it costs me about $400/month to have a car which I don't think is terrible. It would be nice to spend less on transportation, but I really can't imagine life without a car. Even if I lived in a major city with great public transport - I can imagine using public transport to commute, but I'd still want a car. Of course, where I live now, having a car is absolutely mandatory. I've always kind of shaken my head at the HN comments that suggest I could just ride a bike or something - even if I moved right next to my job site (no thanks), for probably eight months of the year the weather is hot enough that even a slow walk will leave you absolutely drenched in sweat. And maybe I'm crazy, but I prefer going to the grocery store for an hour once every two weeks as opposed to dropping by every day...pretty tough to do without a car. And then there really is the abstract freedom aspect - I can take off and go anywhere, anytime. Coordination is never a factor. And as you say, I can live in a much lower CoL area with my car. Which also helps in that there's much less traffic than in a big city, so driving a car is more enjoyable. I have a 30 mile commute wherein I can drive as fast as I want except for the last mile. :)