Personally I would spend $15k (ignoring the temporarily inflated prices of the used car market) on something like an old but gently-used Camry (say, 50k miles).

Personally I would spend $15k (ignoring the temporarily inflated prices of the used car market) on something like an old but gently-used Camry (say, 50k miles). If you can by as a cyclist, it means you probably don’t need to go far—10k mi/yr seems generous. Camries can get 300k miles pretty easily if they’re properly cared for, so you can probably get 25 years of service out of that car. $15k/25 years is $600/year. 10k miles at 30mpg (this is what my old Camry got) and $3/gallon is $1k/yr in gas. Insurance is probably $800/yr. Maintenance is probably ~$500/yr (this includes the occasional insurance deductible). So far we’re at about $240/month. Parking is going to vary widely depending on where you live—most places it’s free but in cities it can be expensive. The price of electricity is a quarter that of gasoline per mile (fuel being the largest expense), so I think this number will be a lot lower as EVs become more prominent. To be clear, I’m not arguing about your choice to cycle versus drive, I’m just running the figures for the low end of driving as I see them. > I actually get away without almost any of these. … YMMV of course Agreed. This will vary a lot from person to person.