Steve walks warily down the street, with the brim pulled way down low
Yes, it finally happened. My beast of a car that wouldn't die, finally died. I don't know if it's dead dead, but it's not good. After 10 years, 125,000 miles, several Minnesota winters, a trip across the continent, and a few years of salty/moist coastal air (not to mention a lot of trips up a steep streets to my Twin Peaks apartment), my Saturn finally died. It was a trooper, but it seems to have suffered multiple failures, partly with the engine, partly with the alternator. In addition, about three of the tires have had some failure, and a couple don't hold air well. (The tires are only a couple years old and only have about 8,000 miles on them, but I think there's just enough crap in the streets to cause the problems.)
I haven't dared taken it in yet. I'm scared. I'm sure it's several hundred, if not a thousand plus dollars to repair. I doubt the Blue Book value on it is even close to that. And right before my trip to Europe too. And even if I did fix it, it wouldn't be in great shape for long. It's just plain old.
And so, another one bites the dust.
Mind you, I never use the thing. I put more miles on my motorcycle each year than I do on my car. Otherwise I rely a lot of public transportation. And most of the time, all there is to haul is me, so that or the motorcycle works just fine 90%+ of the time. The only thing I was using the car for was the occasional Costco/Target/Trader Joe's run to haul stuff home a couple times a month, and even for groceries I could do on my bike. (I got a tank bag just for that purpose, especially since a motorcycle is far more convenient in this city. I could even do it on my way home from work.) That, and the occasional run camping, but even that I hadn't done any of this year because of the flooding last winter up in Sonoma county. Or when a friend comes to town.
Regardless, it made me do a lot of soul searching. I can certainly afford a car, but would I want to? I ran through the math, and it didn't add up. I put 3-4,000 miles on my car a year. I figured even getting a used car around $15,000, we're talking $4,000 a year in payments, several hundred in insurance and a few hundred in gas. (The advantage of not driving a lot is not using a lot of gas). That and with interest rates so high, to buy it on a loan would be a lot more expensive these days. In total though, it was averaging out to be about $1.25 a mile. That's expensive. It was very difficult for me to justify.
So after some soul searching I found a solution: Zipcar.
It's actually quite cool. It's a car rental service, and you can rent cars by the hour or by the day. They have a wide variety of cars (even trucks) to choose from. And you can get the kind of car you need (or want!) for that particular trip. Just need something to zip you and a friend somewhere? They have bunch of Priuses. (Prii?) Need to pick up a friend at the airport? I did just that in a Mazda 6. Need to move a couch? They have a few Tacomas. Need to show off? How about a Mini Cooper. Or a BMW 325i. Or a Mustang Convertible. Or a Mini convertible even. Of course, nicer cars cost a little bit more, but you can rent a different one every time if you like.
And they're in convenient locations. They're down in the Castro, so typically I'll drive my motorcycle down to the Castro, leave it there, pick up my car there, and then drive the motorcycle back home. Otherwise there's direct public transportation there as well. After I picked up my friend at the airport, we dropped the car back off in the Castro and got some dinner. I must say it was odd to drive to the Castro, get parking right in the Castro, and still be able to have a beer over dinner and not have to worry about driving. (Of course we just grabbed a quick cab home!)
And the cost? Basic cars (which is most of them, including the Mazda 6 I drove) are $8.50/hour or $60 a day. That's for "as you go". There are other "stored value" plans. For example, you pay $50 a month to get $50 worth of car time, but also 10% off the rate. Bigger plans also have rollovers (if you don't use it all one month, it can roll to the next) and the biggest plans have bigger discounts. I rented it for 3 hours (which included a run to Costco on the way to the airport). I rented it for a bit more time than I needed, but added some padding since it was my first rental. The first 125 miles are included per rental or day. It includes gas and insurance, but not tax. In all, it was definitely less than a buck a mile. And it was a nice car too... XM Radio and a sunroof! And brand new one at that. Well, maybe a few months old. But it was quite cheaper than taking a Taxi (at $35-40), and not that much more expensive than taking public transit there ($1.50 for Muni and $5 for BART each way), and I got a trip in to Costco to boot!
There's a lot of good environmental impacts too. They estimate that every Zipcar takes 20 cars off the road. And that's 20 less cars taking up parking in the Castro! (Or a lot of other very congested neighborhoods in SF!) Since all the cars are newer, they use less gas and create less pollution than older cars. And since you only pay for it if you use it, you typically don't use it. Unlike owning (or leasing) a car where you feel you have to use it to get your money's worth, you typically don't use it when there's other options, such as my motorcycle or public transportation. This encourages good stewardship. Not to mention all that money people save gets put back into the local economy. And for God's sake, you certainly don't have to worry about parking the thing. When I lived in the Mission, I thought about selling my car for that reason alone!
It's also good for dual households not getting a second car too. When City Carshare (another similar service) was introduced a few years ago, a couple friends of mine got rid of their second car and opted for the Carshare service instead. They saved hundreds a month, still had one car full time, and had an extra set of wheels whenever they needed... but didn't have to worry about street parking in Duboce Triangle for it either!
So I'm feeling green. I already reserved the same car again for Sunday to take my friend to the airport (online of course). And maybe I'll just do it awhile and save my pennies (and use those high interest rates for my gain instead of paying for it) to get a car some day if I need it (if my needs change). And this was only my first ride, but man, it feels good to have wheels again. Even if the wheels aren't mine. :-)
I haven't dared taken it in yet. I'm scared. I'm sure it's several hundred, if not a thousand plus dollars to repair. I doubt the Blue Book value on it is even close to that. And right before my trip to Europe too. And even if I did fix it, it wouldn't be in great shape for long. It's just plain old.
And so, another one bites the dust.
Mind you, I never use the thing. I put more miles on my motorcycle each year than I do on my car. Otherwise I rely a lot of public transportation. And most of the time, all there is to haul is me, so that or the motorcycle works just fine 90%+ of the time. The only thing I was using the car for was the occasional Costco/Target/Trader Joe's run to haul stuff home a couple times a month, and even for groceries I could do on my bike. (I got a tank bag just for that purpose, especially since a motorcycle is far more convenient in this city. I could even do it on my way home from work.) That, and the occasional run camping, but even that I hadn't done any of this year because of the flooding last winter up in Sonoma county. Or when a friend comes to town.
Regardless, it made me do a lot of soul searching. I can certainly afford a car, but would I want to? I ran through the math, and it didn't add up. I put 3-4,000 miles on my car a year. I figured even getting a used car around $15,000, we're talking $4,000 a year in payments, several hundred in insurance and a few hundred in gas. (The advantage of not driving a lot is not using a lot of gas). That and with interest rates so high, to buy it on a loan would be a lot more expensive these days. In total though, it was averaging out to be about $1.25 a mile. That's expensive. It was very difficult for me to justify.
So after some soul searching I found a solution: Zipcar.
It's actually quite cool. It's a car rental service, and you can rent cars by the hour or by the day. They have a wide variety of cars (even trucks) to choose from. And you can get the kind of car you need (or want!) for that particular trip. Just need something to zip you and a friend somewhere? They have bunch of Priuses. (Prii?) Need to pick up a friend at the airport? I did just that in a Mazda 6. Need to move a couch? They have a few Tacomas. Need to show off? How about a Mini Cooper. Or a BMW 325i. Or a Mustang Convertible. Or a Mini convertible even. Of course, nicer cars cost a little bit more, but you can rent a different one every time if you like.
And they're in convenient locations. They're down in the Castro, so typically I'll drive my motorcycle down to the Castro, leave it there, pick up my car there, and then drive the motorcycle back home. Otherwise there's direct public transportation there as well. After I picked up my friend at the airport, we dropped the car back off in the Castro and got some dinner. I must say it was odd to drive to the Castro, get parking right in the Castro, and still be able to have a beer over dinner and not have to worry about driving. (Of course we just grabbed a quick cab home!)
And the cost? Basic cars (which is most of them, including the Mazda 6 I drove) are $8.50/hour or $60 a day. That's for "as you go". There are other "stored value" plans. For example, you pay $50 a month to get $50 worth of car time, but also 10% off the rate. Bigger plans also have rollovers (if you don't use it all one month, it can roll to the next) and the biggest plans have bigger discounts. I rented it for 3 hours (which included a run to Costco on the way to the airport). I rented it for a bit more time than I needed, but added some padding since it was my first rental. The first 125 miles are included per rental or day. It includes gas and insurance, but not tax. In all, it was definitely less than a buck a mile. And it was a nice car too... XM Radio and a sunroof! And brand new one at that. Well, maybe a few months old. But it was quite cheaper than taking a Taxi (at $35-40), and not that much more expensive than taking public transit there ($1.50 for Muni and $5 for BART each way), and I got a trip in to Costco to boot!
There's a lot of good environmental impacts too. They estimate that every Zipcar takes 20 cars off the road. And that's 20 less cars taking up parking in the Castro! (Or a lot of other very congested neighborhoods in SF!) Since all the cars are newer, they use less gas and create less pollution than older cars. And since you only pay for it if you use it, you typically don't use it. Unlike owning (or leasing) a car where you feel you have to use it to get your money's worth, you typically don't use it when there's other options, such as my motorcycle or public transportation. This encourages good stewardship. Not to mention all that money people save gets put back into the local economy. And for God's sake, you certainly don't have to worry about parking the thing. When I lived in the Mission, I thought about selling my car for that reason alone!
It's also good for dual households not getting a second car too. When City Carshare (another similar service) was introduced a few years ago, a couple friends of mine got rid of their second car and opted for the Carshare service instead. They saved hundreds a month, still had one car full time, and had an extra set of wheels whenever they needed... but didn't have to worry about street parking in Duboce Triangle for it either!
So I'm feeling green. I already reserved the same car again for Sunday to take my friend to the airport (online of course). And maybe I'll just do it awhile and save my pennies (and use those high interest rates for my gain instead of paying for it) to get a car some day if I need it (if my needs change). And this was only my first ride, but man, it feels good to have wheels again. Even if the wheels aren't mine. :-)
posted by Joe Carlin at 11:42 PM
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