Car: 6 Reasons why you don’t need one

Do you really need to own a car?

Wait to say yes and let me answer for you.

NO

No, you don’t need that iron and plastic box sitting in your garage or parked (maybe far) somewhere in the street for seven reasons.
I am going to show you 7 reasons why you don’t need a car…and if you really need it how to spend 10 times less than today.

Let’s turn on the engine.

Purchasing Cost

The Country with Highest Car density is USA (are you surprised?) with 910 cars every 1000 people.
In second place there is Italy with a density of 625.

On average the cost of a car in the USA in 2018 is roughly $35,000 (there is a nice post of Financial Samurai on the cost of cars in the USA you can find here) . 

In Italy is roughly $24,000 (link here)..

Expensive…isn’t it? Let’s go deeper….expensive vs what? 

How much a family is making in the USA, Italy or Spain per year?

Americans makes roughly $60,000 per year (before taxes…let’s say $45,000 after taxes) and (on average) spend $35,000 for a new car. Keep in mind these figures are averages…but they give a clear indications on the impact of owning a car. 

Country	Average Car Cost	Average Salary after Tax	Car Cost vs Annual Net Salary
USA	$35,000	$45,000	78%
Italy	$24,000	$21,600	111%

The impact is  devastating:  Americans spend on average three quarters of their annual salaries on purchasing a car. For Italians one year of salary is not enough…!

This just to buy it…

Operating  cost

Owning a vehicle on average cost an average of almost $9,000 just for driving 15,000 miles annually.

Vehicle Type	Annual Cost*		Vehicle Type	Annual Cost*
Small Sedan	$6,354	Minivan	$9,146
Small SUV	$7,606	Large Sedan	$9,399
Hybrid	$7,687	Medium SUV	$9,451
Medium Sedan	$8,171	Pickup Truck	$10,054
Electric Vehicle	$8,439		Average	$8,469

*Based on 15,000 miles driven annually

Risks

In 2017 only in the U.S. more than 40,000 people died in car accidents, 110 every day! Car is one of the most dangerous place to be and full autonomous driving (i.e. no more human driving cars) is still decades away. People are scared of planes and lightening while they face dangers thousand of times bigger daily.

Health

On average Americans Spend an Average of 17,600 Minutes Driving Each Year…that is 293 hours. Almost one hour everyday… Add thisto the 8-10h sitting in the office and you have a more complete picture. Also consider that the posture and vibrations during driving have much worst effect compare to the office sitting

Pollution

According to United States Environmental Protection Agency Transportation?, the transportation sector generates the largest share (nearly 28.5 percent in 2016) of greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions from transportation primarily come from burning fossil fuel for our cars, trucks, ships, trains, and planes. Over 90 percent of the fuel used for transportation is petroleum based, which includes gasoline and diesel.

Additionally the dependence of fossil fuel created the (often negative) political dependence on the Country producing it. But you already know it…right?

You Simply don’t use it

How long do you think you use your car?
30% of the time? 20%?

What about 4%?

An interesting report found out that in Britain the average car is parked at home for 80% of the time, parked elsewhere for 16% of the time and is only on the move for 4% of the time.

4%…think about it…you spend tons of money for something you use only 4%.

Conclusions

Owning a car is one of the main negative think fro your finalce, heath and sanity.
If you can’t really give up the metal box consider these alternatives:

Buy a use one: purchasing a second hand car can drop the cost of your car up to 40%, especially if you can find good quality used car (like in the USA)

Keep the car longer: don’t fall in the lures of owning the latest brand new car…for one hour pleasure you will have years of regrets. Buy a decent quality second hand car and keep it at least 10 years (yes I said 10…modern car can last in pretty good conditions more than 20 years)

Analyze the Alternatives
Unless you live in a very remote area there are many alternatives to car: public transportations, biking, Uber (even thought for Uber the Risks of accidents are still there), walking!

You decide to buy and use a car. Acknowledge that…and avoid it if you can…