Really I wish I could live without one. Ive decided on harm reduction instead.
I learned something weird about cars and money and such just this last week. I got tired of working on a truck just to spend more money dumping fuel in it, and I took what I considered the nuclear option. I traded the truck in. On a used 2nd generation Nissan Leaf.
The car wasn’t expensive. I could easily afford it. But as I was working on the required financial gymnastics to fit a car payment in my budget, I saw that the truck has been using $200 of gas every month. And the auto insurance dropped by about $100 each month. The car payment is $200. It costs something like 70 cents to charge it after my commute.
The silly car isn’t cheap. It’s free. And its so quiet and smooth, no wonder people get evangelical about their EV’s.
Sure its more expensive than owning no car at all. Owning no car at all just isn’t an option for a lot of people in the US. So instead of spending money on tires/brakes/insurance/fuel/oil/fluids/tires for an F150, I’m paying for tires/insurance for a dorky little EV. And I have an extra ~$400 in my budget.
I believe 20% of household spending in the US was for cars. So people could seriously work a day less every week, if they got rid of their car.
Really I wish I could live without one. Ive decided on harm reduction instead.
I learned something weird about cars and money and such just this last week. I got tired of working on a truck just to spend more money dumping fuel in it, and I took what I considered the nuclear option. I traded the truck in. On a used 2nd generation Nissan Leaf.
The car wasn’t expensive. I could easily afford it. But as I was working on the required financial gymnastics to fit a car payment in my budget, I saw that the truck has been using $200 of gas every month. And the auto insurance dropped by about $100 each month. The car payment is $200. It costs something like 70 cents to charge it after my commute.
The silly car isn’t cheap. It’s free. And its so quiet and smooth, no wonder people get evangelical about their EV’s.
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If you don’t count maintenance and insurance, parking, etc. Add those and it’s once again expensive.
I don’t understand your argument.
The truck I traded in had those same costs
And it got 15 mpg.
And the tires cost more.
And the insurance was twice as expensive.
And it needed oil changes
And it needed transmission fluid changes.
Sure its more expensive than owning no car at all. Owning no car at all just isn’t an option for a lot of people in the US. So instead of spending money on tires/brakes/insurance/fuel/oil/fluids/tires for an F150, I’m paying for tires/insurance for a dorky little EV. And I have an extra ~$400 in my budget.
Have you looked at a depreciation curve? For newish vehicles, the biggest “expense” is depreciation. Its higher for luxury cars and EVs than trucks.
The car is not free. The car is still expensive. Even if it is a necessary expense. Even if it’s cheaper than the truck.
So its hair splitting then.
No, it’s talking about how cars are expensive, not free.
Budget wise the Nissan was free to change to, compared to his old truck, for Mr. CADmonkey