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Cars are the one thing I don't want to buy. It's not an asset. It depreciates. I'd like to pay a reasonable monthly subscription with a small fee per mile once

Cars are the one thing I don't want to buy. It's not an asset. It depreciates. I'd like to pay a reasonable monthly subscription with a small fee per mile once I go over some minimum for my tier. Once autonomous vehicles are stable, I'm presuming I'll be able to hail a car in 5 or 10 mins via app. I guess the only question is what to do in full-on emergencies. For example, when the zombie apocalypse begins, or the aliens final attack. How do I get out of town?

rfrey 3y ago
Isn't that a lease?
- chiefalchemist 3y ago
  Not really. Another issue I have with ownership (or leasing) is usage. While I'm sleeping...the car sits. I'm at work...the car sits. In fact, a whole lot of resources and effort goes into something that spends most of its life under utilized. Car on demand would mean less cars per person. Perhaps the UAW sees this coming?
adrianmonk 3y ago
Similar use case that actually happens: hurricanes. Entire large cities evacuate. The Miami and Houston metro areas are both over 5 million in population. Forecasts give days of notice, so I guess an autonomous vehicle ride-hailing service could have a million extra cars drives themselves in overnight. But refueling them would be a challenge. It's already a challenge for normal cars today (without using more fuel by rearranging fleets of cars between cities). Also, sometimes they change traffic flow for evacuations, like contraflow lane reversal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contraflow_lane_reversal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contraflow_lane_reversal) or using the shoulders as extra lanes. I wonder how well autonomous vehicle software handles that.
prepend 3y ago
Food depreciates after you buy it. Do you buy it? Or do you lease food subscriptions. I use a car that it’s more efficient to buy it. Not because I love buying cars. Cars are just an expense and having a fixed cost is nice. Id love to live in a city that doesn’t require a car. Maybe one day again.
- dylan604 3y ago
  Only if you're wasteful does food depreciate, but I'd argue that's not the correct word. Food is consumed after you buy it. It was used precisely for what it was intended. That's not depreciation, but I'm guessing you know this and trying to be cute?
  - prepend 3y ago
    My car that I bought was used precisely for what it was intended. And it depreciates through its life until it is no longer useful and its value is zero. We buy lots of depreciating assets because we need them. That’s not bad, necessarily. But don’t buy a car as an investment. I brought up food because it’s a depreciating asset. You buy it, you eat it, its value depreciated to zero. It’s not cute, just pointing out that “don’t buy depreciating assets isn’t a very useful life choice.”
    - chiefalchemist 3y ago
      Yes. But cars are expensive *and* for the most part they are unutilized. When you're slepping...the car sits. When you're working...the car sits. An given society that's based on personal transportation (e.g., USA) at any given moment has a significant amount of resources sitting around doing nothing. In a world now based on not-so-infinite resources less cars (via, car on demand) is more than just a biz model. It's good for the world we live in.
      - frumper 3y ago
        Most of the depreciation comes from wear and tear of using it. If you let it sit for an inordinate amount of time that will have a significant impact, otherwise your car isn't going bad when you sleep at night.
- chiefalchemist 3y ago
  Yes and no. Mostly no. You can live without a car. You can't live without food. You can take raw food goods. Prepare it. And charge more than the cost of the goods. Restaurants do it all the time. Or even if you prepare it for yourself, you saved money. I think we can do better that car v food :)
dylan604 3y ago
>Cars are the one thing I don't want to buy. It's not an asset. It depreciates. If you look at a car as an investment, "you're holding it wrong" is the best I can come up with as to how I feel about it. To me, a car is just a really specialized tool. I don't expect my wrenches and socket sets to appreciate in value the longer I hold them. Cars are made by the thousands every day/week/month/year. We don't expect our mobile devices/laptops/desktops to appreciate either. This whole depreciating argument confuses me. Maybe some people just have a hard time equating something with that kind of price tag as simply a tool? There are very few cars that are investment worthy, and if that's the kind of car you're after, then so be it. But to the 99.99999% of people looking for a car, it is simply something to serve a purpose.

rfrey 3y ago

Isn't that a lease?

chiefalchemist 3y ago
Not really. Another issue I have with ownership (or leasing) is usage. While I'm sleeping...the car sits. I'm at work...the car sits. In fact, a whole lot of resources and effort goes into something that spends most of its life under utilized. Car on demand would mean less cars per person. Perhaps the UAW sees this coming?

adrianmonk 3y ago

Similar use case that actually happens: hurricanes. Entire large cities evacuate. The Miami and Houston metro areas are both over 5 million in population. Forecasts give days of notice, so I guess an autonomous vehicle ride-hailing service could have a million extra cars drives themselves in overnight. But refueling them would be a challenge. It's already a challenge for normal cars today (without using more fuel by rearranging fleets of cars between cities). Also, sometimes they change traffic flow for evacuations, like contraflow lane reversal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contraflow_lane_reversal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contraflow_lane_reversal) or using the shoulders as extra lanes. I wonder how well autonomous vehicle software handles that.

prepend 3y ago

Food depreciates after you buy it. Do you buy it? Or do you lease food subscriptions. I use a car that it’s more efficient to buy it. Not because I love buying cars. Cars are just an expense and having a fixed cost is nice. Id love to live in a city that doesn’t require a car. Maybe one day again.

dylan604 3y ago
Only if you're wasteful does food depreciate, but I'd argue that's not the correct word. Food is consumed after you buy it. It was used precisely for what it was intended. That's not depreciation, but I'm guessing you know this and trying to be cute?
- prepend 3y ago
  My car that I bought was used precisely for what it was intended. And it depreciates through its life until it is no longer useful and its value is zero. We buy lots of depreciating assets because we need them. That’s not bad, necessarily. But don’t buy a car as an investment. I brought up food because it’s a depreciating asset. You buy it, you eat it, its value depreciated to zero. It’s not cute, just pointing out that “don’t buy depreciating assets isn’t a very useful life choice.”
  - chiefalchemist 3y ago
    Yes. But cars are expensive *and* for the most part they are unutilized. When you're slepping...the car sits. When you're working...the car sits. An given society that's based on personal transportation (e.g., USA) at any given moment has a significant amount of resources sitting around doing nothing. In a world now based on not-so-infinite resources less cars (via, car on demand) is more than just a biz model. It's good for the world we live in.
    - frumper 3y ago
      Most of the depreciation comes from wear and tear of using it. If you let it sit for an inordinate amount of time that will have a significant impact, otherwise your car isn't going bad when you sleep at night.
chiefalchemist 3y ago
Yes and no. Mostly no. You can live without a car. You can't live without food. You can take raw food goods. Prepare it. And charge more than the cost of the goods. Restaurants do it all the time. Or even if you prepare it for yourself, you saved money. I think we can do better that car v food :)

dylan604 3y ago

>Cars are the one thing I don't want to buy. It's not an asset. It depreciates. If you look at a car as an investment, "you're holding it wrong" is the best I can come up with as to how I feel about it. To me, a car is just a really specialized tool. I don't expect my wrenches and socket sets to appreciate in value the longer I hold them. Cars are made by the thousands every day/week/month/year. We don't expect our mobile devices/laptops/desktops to appreciate either. This whole depreciating argument confuses me. Maybe some people just have a hard time equating something with that kind of price tag as simply a tool? There are very few cars that are investment worthy, and if that's the kind of car you're after, then so be it. But to the 99.99999% of people looking for a car, it is simply something to serve a purpose.