4 ms·

Do you find, in general, that buying smaller slices of things from service providers tends to be cheaper?

ghaff 5y ago
It depends how often you use them. Personally, $8-10K/year seems expensive unless you aren't trying to economize. I have an 11 year old ~$40Kish vehicle that I wouldn't typically pay $1K/year for maintenance and less on insurance. But there is certainly some point at which it makes economic sense to just rent, especially if you are paying to park the car. In a city with difficult parking I wouldn't pay to own a car to use every couple of months. But if you're going to be paying a few thousand dollars for local rentals for trips, plus some Uber, plus deliveries, plus some Zipcar, it starts to become pretty attractive to just own a car if only for the convenience.
- milkytron 5y ago
  Yup, I live in a somewhat dense area with decent transit and bike commuting options. A car is more of a luxury than a necessity here and they are taxed heavily (insurance is also expensive where I live). I rent cars maybe once every few months, uber about the same amount, and never really get delivery service unless I'm with others and alcohol is involved. I fortunately do have a garage, but I use it as a gym and workshop area. I do plan on maybe getting a car at some point, but with my current lifestyle it just doesn't make sense. Also the car market seems to be in shambles right now.
- mrep 5y ago
  > 11 year old ~$40Kish vehicle that I wouldn't typically pay $1K/year You have a high end bmw or something? New toyotas are cheaper than that with practically no maintenance. I myself spend $840 a year on insurance + 100 oil change/checkup and that is it besides gas.
  - perl4ever 5y ago
    Maybe they mean the price new was $40K. An 11 year old BMW is worth close to fourteen thousand than forty thousand.
milkytron 5y ago
I do, but the smaller slices don't come out to the same size as what they would if I owned a car myself. I use rentals, ubers, and delivery services sparingly. If I owned, I'm sure I would drive a decent bit more. The other commenter said that 8-10k is expensive (which it is), the big hit there comes mainly from registration fees, taxes, insurance, and parking, all of which are not cheap where I live unless I were to buy a relatively old car that has significantly depreciated, since that's how those fees are assessed.

It depends how often you use them. Personally, $8-10K/year seems expensive unless you aren't trying to economize. I have an 11 year old ~$40Kish vehicle that I wouldn't typically pay $1K/year for maintenance and less on insurance. But there is certainly some point at which it makes economic sense to just rent, especially if you are paying to park the car. In a city with difficult parking I wouldn't pay to own a car to use every couple of months. But if you're going to be paying a few thousand dollars for local rentals for trips, plus some Uber, plus deliveries, plus some Zipcar, it starts to become pretty attractive to just own a car if only for the convenience.

milkytron 5y ago
Yup, I live in a somewhat dense area with decent transit and bike commuting options. A car is more of a luxury than a necessity here and they are taxed heavily (insurance is also expensive where I live). I rent cars maybe once every few months, uber about the same amount, and never really get delivery service unless I'm with others and alcohol is involved. I fortunately do have a garage, but I use it as a gym and workshop area. I do plan on maybe getting a car at some point, but with my current lifestyle it just doesn't make sense. Also the car market seems to be in shambles right now.
mrep 5y ago
> 11 year old ~$40Kish vehicle that I wouldn't typically pay $1K/year You have a high end bmw or something? New toyotas are cheaper than that with practically no maintenance. I myself spend $840 a year on insurance + 100 oil change/checkup and that is it besides gas.
- perl4ever 5y ago
  Maybe they mean the price new was $40K. An 11 year old BMW is worth close to fourteen thousand than forty thousand.

milkytron 5y ago

I do, but the smaller slices don't come out to the same size as what they would if I owned a car myself. I use rentals, ubers, and delivery services sparingly. If I owned, I'm sure I would drive a decent bit more. The other commenter said that 8-10k is expensive (which it is), the big hit there comes mainly from registration fees, taxes, insurance, and parking, all of which are not cheap where I live unless I were to buy a relatively old car that has significantly depreciated, since that's how those fees are assessed.