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The flexibility of having a car is undeniable. However, pretty much everyone--including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Reports, and the American
by mysterypie 9y ago
The flexibility of having a car is undeniable. However, pretty much everyone--including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Reports, and the American Automobile Association--agrees that the total cost of ownership runs to US$8000-$9000 per year for the average person. The cost might be a lot lower for you, but most people are paying a lot of money for having a car at their disposal without realizing how much they're spending.
- burfog 9y agoTime is money. He is saving about 5 hours each round trip. If his time is worth $50/hour, then $8000 for car ownership gets him 32 trips. Add a few more to account for the cost of rail ticket prices. He breaks even if he takes that trip about 3 times per month and never finds any other use for a car.
- cozzyd 9y agowould likely be better off renting with so few trips
- tmnvix 9y ago> Time is money. Consider that this way: the time you spend sitting at a desk to earn the money to pay for your car is commute time. How long does it take the average person to earn 8-9k (after tax)? I think at $50/h that might be an additional 5 hours work per week or an extra hour on your daily commute. For many people it might be more like 2+ hours. Given this, I would be very surprised if most urban dwellers wouldn't have more available time/money if they ditched the car for a bike.
- ComputerGuru 9y agoThe average person must be - forgive me - an idiot to spend that much in amortized yearly TCO on a car on the average person’s salary, then.