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It's not just the 5% of the time you need it, it's also the immediate and guaranteed availability. I rarely use my car, I'm the exact kind of person this is ai
by Aaargh20318 6y ago
It's not just the 5% of the time you need it, it's also the immediate and guaranteed availability.
I rarely use my car, I'm the exact kind of person this is aimed at. I haven't used it in *monthts. But when I need it, it's there. There's car rental place about 500 meters walking distance from my home, but they aren't open 24/7. There is also a ride share car parked at about 1km from my home, but it's only one car and if someone else took it I can't use it.
These things only work when you know well in advance you're going to use it and even then, they might not be available at peak times. There's only so many ride share cars available, and if everyone wants to visit their parents on Christmas, there's not enough of them. Car rental companies aren't going to buy enough cars to cover their 5% peak use either.
- kaesar14 6y agoSounds like you think its worth it but I would never spend hundreds of dollars a month in payments and insurance on something I don't use for months.
- nwienert 6y agoSo you don’t have health insurance?
- kaesar14 6y agoI'm American so any questions about health insurance automatically are predisposed towards absurdity. But yeah, I do. I don't want to be stuck in a hospital with a multi thousand dollar medical bill for an emergency. The worst that would happen without me owning a car is needing to rent one on a moment's notice. Maybe there's the odd moment when I would need a car for a city-wide evacuation? Seems like that's such an exceptional case that I would not spend my money maintaining a car just to be prepared for it.
- nwienert 6y agoLike another poster said it’s about 65/mo all in for a cheaper car, and personal preference is all that really matters.
- bluGill 6y agoThat is the trade off you made. It might not be right for the next person. There are things you cannot do with a rental car (off road). There are times when you cannot get a rental car when you want it. If you have hundreds of dollars per months that you are not spending anyway it might be worth it. (though my yearly costs for my truck that I drive a few times a year are much less than $100/month - it is paid for years ago though)
- Aaargh20318 6y ago> I would never spend hundreds of dollars a month in payments and insurance on something I don't use for months Neither would I. I paid €2600 for my car (2007 Mitsubishi Colt), about 20 euros a month for insurance, and 26 a month in road tax.
- H8crilA 6y agoIt's shocking to me how cheap used cars are (equivalently - how few people buy them). I am doing exactly the same thing as you. Bought a ~$3k old used car that is always there for me. I do use it more often, ever week or two, though. It is even more shocking to me that people would buy a car on credit (except when it has a business purpose, i.e. you can comfortably cover interest payments with the increase in revenue). You're not supposed to use credit for consumption!
- WrtCdEvrydy 6y ago$4,500 2005 Toyota Corolla here... I put 80,000 miles on it in 2 years... I think I got my money's worth.
- ghaff 6y agoLow mileage/late model used cars can be relatively expensive. "Clunkers" can be quite cheap but it's a bit of a crap shoot. Donated my old high mileage 2nd car (fortunately) before the pandemic hit. For some new tires and a brake job it would probably have kept going for a few more years but, especially if you want to take longer drives, old vehicles inspire less and less faith and take more and more time.
- H8crilA 6y agoYou just buy a second "clunker" should problems happen. You have about 10 attempts before a breakeven :) It's kind of like shorting the market with OTM options. The eventual payout can easily cover years of "failures".
- 6y ago
- mixmastamyk 6y ago> they might not be available at peak times... That's what surge pricing is for.
- dexen 6y agoIt saddens me to see your correct answer being voted down. I get there's a moral condemnation of surge prices in certain circles. Nonetheless this condemnation, once legislated, have removed the very practical ability to purchase important services or goods when they matter the most to you. Instead we end up all over-buying just to ensure we have it at the key junction.
- mixmastamyk 6y agoOn first glance I didn't like the sound of it either. But then I thought, it really does give you a choice you wouldn't otherwise have. If surge pricing doesn't exist and all cars are taken, you're simply SOL, period.
- nradov 6y agoThe price is irrelevant if there is literally zero supply. Market mechanisms only work on longer time scales.
- waterhouse 6y agoEven on a short time scale, as prices get higher, many people will discover that they have some alternatives or can wait a while, leaving the product available to those who really, really need it.
- smilekzs 6y agoAt which point it starts to make sense for them to choose own their own copy, securing their freedom from the tyranny of such false-sharing.
- asdff 6y agoHave you tried to order an uber from a suburb that isn't very near the city center? You wait 20 minutes while you watch them drive from the airport to your house, and half the time the driver cancels the ride after you've been waiting for 15 minutes when they realize how far you are from the airport where all the fares in the area typically come from.
- nickjj 6y agoDo you buy car insurance by the hour?
- ryandrake 6y agoAs I read the article, I compare the author's world view to that of the "survivalists" and "preppers". The guys who stockpile food, water, ammo, etc. that they'll likely never use but might. They deliberately optimize for the 5% or 0.5%, rather than the 95%. They assume independence will eventually be needed (running water may one day be unavailable), where the author is willing to risk relying on inter-dependence (car rentals and hotels will always be available). The survivalists firmly espouse the "when I need it, it's there" point of view. I don't know if one view is right or wrong, but they are clearly opposite approaches to dealing with tail risk.
- pnw_hazor 6y agoPreppers do what they because it is fun for them. This is same thing that drives the author. It is fun for him and his family. We have a decent sized yard, and my right now my wife is planting a fig tree because that is fun for her.
- em500 6y ago> I rarely use my car, I'm the exact kind of person this is aimed at. I haven't used it in monthts. But when I need it, it's there. If those months are not hyperbole, you might find that when you need it, it doesn't start. (That just happened last week to a friend of mine who had to bring his kid to swimming class, after leaving the car unused for a few weeks.)