Do you think car sharing would really restrict your life ?

[GingerKittenTail]

We’ve car shared for quite a few years
but looking back I think that’s been a mistake
I know it would have been more expensive running two cars
but the freedom would be so much more

I cannot imagine how you manage your life.

Just today I've driven first to a city and then to 2 different towns for appointments, plus supermarket & farm shop. Without a car it would take all day to do 1/4 of those tasks.

Mine and the DCs' quality of life would be significantly impaired by having one car.
DH and I have different ergonomics and needs so I rarely drive his as it's physically uncomfortable for me. My car does not tick all the boxes for him either.

I'd have to cancel the swimming lessons as there are no pools within an hour by non-car use. I'd have to cancel Scouting as it would be past 9pm by the time we walked back at night. The cost at shopping at the local Co-op would rapidly eat up the financial savings compared to driving to Aldi. The bus fare is £5.40 as a return for an adult and I'd still have a minimum half mile walk to do with shopping.

We're in a suburb with some local facilities. It would be OK in retirement, but only having a bus route to town that takes at least half an hour is a restriction. TBH, I can run there in the time that you'd take to get to the bus stop, wait and do the circuitous journey. As the DCs grow up, I'm already having two-places-at-once issues.

I could survive without, but it would have to be a forced situation and not something I would voluntarily relinquish.

DH needs the car too erratically for me to be able to make any commitments that were not accessible by foot/ bus.

We've only had one car-and now 3 drivers so we've never been used to the freedom of two.

Dh is (usually) very good about cycling most places, and I don't mind walking a reasonable distance (a few miles) as long as I have the time to do that. Buses are poor and very expensive, but we'll use too.
There's times when we compromise what we want. For example dd1 wants to go out tonight to a friend who is too far to walk, so she's having to wait until I bring dd2 back from music lesson, which is later than they'd planned (friend has just had operation so can't drive).
Or times when we need to be picked up at silly hours when it would be easier to leave the car in the car park etc.
Or you might need to be dropped off half an hour early because the other one needs to get somewhere.

But there are times when it is restricting. When dh gets a puncture and needs to be in work earlier than I can get him there with the school run (although often the children will walk-an hour-in that circumstance).
And at times I feel a bit guilty asking for a lift. If I play an away sports' match I almost always have to ask for a lift-the others tell me they don't mind, but I feel guilty anyway! Or if dh is taking the keyboard to music practice at a time I'm in the opposite direction with the children then he'll have to ask for a lift.

It does work. But you have to compromise, and consult. We've very rarely had any disagreements over it, occasionally frustrated calls of "but you know I need it on...." but we sort it out.

But if you've never had a car you plan things round it and don't generally go places you can't get to easily.

When we didn't have a car, until nearly #3 was born, we shopped at Sainsbury's because the bus went there, #1 didn't do gym although she wanted to because I couldn't get her there, if there was something happening you can't get to you turn it down.
You walk far further, take the bus and compromise. If it's worth it, you take 3 trains, 2 buses and 2+ hours to do a journey that takes 20 minutes in the car.

Exactly as @purpleme12 says. You don't miss what you haven't ever had and you work round it. I never felt deprived not having a car when I didn't. After a year of having a car, I would have missed it dreadfully.

I cannot imagine how you manage your life.
Just today I've driven first to a city and then to 2 different towns for appointments, plus supermarket & farm shop

Well I have all my shopping delivered for a start. Always have done. I can't imagine why working person with a family doesn't!! However many cars they have.

"I cannot imagine how you manage your life."

You know not everyone lives the same life as you right?

I don't own a car. I don't need to go to different towns for appointments as everything I need is in my town. I live a 10 minute walk from my job, a 10 minute walk from Asda and Tesco superstores, and DC's school is a 15 minute walk. If I want to go into the city I get on the bus which runs 24 hours a day.

Yes, I agree about the supermarket shop. I have neither time nor inclination to spend an hour in the supermarket every week. I know some people like doing it but I think an online delivery is 100% the easiest thing to outsource and definitely saves me time as well as money.

I shop in Lidl and they don't deliver unfortunately.

point taken but that doesn’t explain why short term car rental (for you while he is away) isn’t an option. We occasionally do this. Still save thousands.

Interesting, because, before we got our second car, we tried that, but it was far too costly, compared with buying the cheap little run around we then bought. Plus all the stress of picking up a scratch or a chip from a stone or someone bumping your door in a car park etc. Plus of course the arranging to collect and return it. Plus of course the inconvenience for all the other weeks of the year.

We live rurally and currently are a one car household.

However I can walk to work and DH mostly wfh. We are both flexible with appointments etc and work around each other where we can. kids get school bus which is walking distance to our house.

And the most important factor - my parents live round the corner and I am fully insured on my dads car. So the occasional time we have a timetable clash, we can borrow their car or one of them can pick us up.

I think we’d have to get a second car if we didn’t have that available to use, or them to help us out with lifts.

I shop in Lidl and they don't deliver unfortunately.

Without the cost of the second car, maybe you could afford Ocado? 😉

I don't have two cars. I have one. And I'm disabled so I couldn't even get to the shop at the top of the road without it. Ocado don't deliver here. There's no public transport. I couldn't get to the chemist to pick up my medications, the GP or my specialist hospital appointments, some of which are an hour away, the remainder 1hr 30 mins away.

My OH doesn't live close enough for us to be able to share a car every day.

Funny ha ha. Fuckksake.

I don't have two cars. I have one.

I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else. One of the numerous posters saying that their two adult household needs two cars. You don't live with your OH, that's entirely different (even without the other reasons you give).

I NEVER said that. Never.

We car shared when we lived in a city and where neither one of us were overly reliant on it for work or childcare (only very low income back then). When we moved more rural we needed 2, we managed to go down to 1 for a short while when DH was working close to the house but my DH HATED it, proper hang up from his very rural childhood and issues with his mum and control, even though he didn't need a car (I was the one using it driving to work elsewhere) he felt totally stuck, stifled. Genuinely caused quite big issues in our relationship at the time, went back to 2 cars and all was good again! We genuinely need 2 cars again now with our current set up in a new town, I don't think we'd ever car share again though (unless we had to for financial reasons), think it's just to integral to our independence.

We do but we live in London and neither of us use the car for work. It can get a bit tricky when the kids need to be in different places at the same time but one is usually walkable/on a direct bus route and if not the occasional taxi costs a lot less than keeping a second car would.

We’re thinking of doing this with another couple. How did yours work? Did you buy a car together? What did you do if someone had a small scrape? How did it work with holidays and who had the car for Xmas, Easter etc? What about if one party wants to get out of the agreement? Grateful for any advice or insights you can offer please!

I do it with my husband. It depends where you live and work. It is bit restrictive to us, but manageable, we never had two cars. We MIGHT buy 2nd one when I finish my mat leave, but we will see where I work. I want to change jobs anyway. If somewhere local, I'm happy to walk (nursery is within walking distance too), if straight to the city centre, I can take bus. This would save us lots of money and would be really good to us re our property plans, but we shall see. Our car has blown up some time ago, repair was lengthy and if it wasn't for my work colleague who lives nearby and offered me lifts, I would end up with mental breakdown I think. 4 hours of daily commute.

We are in London and most families I know have only one car. Almost no-one drives to work. Kids’ activities are often walkable, or can do liftshares if there is a clash. Public transport is readily available too.

I assumed this thread would be about a community car sharing scheme. Not sharing one car within a family- that’s just normal life to me!

I thought you meant sharing with another household! To me, sharing with your partner is not "car sharing" it's just having one car, which seems a perfectly normal thing to do to me.

We only had one car until our children were 17 and wanted to learn to drive, so bought a small, cheap to insure, manual car for them to learn in and use. We still have it for when they are back from Uni as it is costing very little, but we really don't need two cars.

We live in a village, but it does have a station, so we almost always took the train to work. Obviously that makes a big difference. There were occasions when it was slightly tricky logistics-wise with just one car, but it was really very rare, and there was always a way round it (taking turns to provide transport to children's sports activities etc.). I think having just one car was quite a good discipline to make us think about walking/cycling/public transport/sharing

Hang on, this is an old thread!!!