Around this time of year, I often ponder whether I still need a car.
Why? It’s the car’s birthday, so the registration, insurance and the annual service all come up at the same time of year. (Okay actually it was in July; I’m a bit delayed getting some of my blog posts written.)
I took it in for its annual service and they said it’s time for the eight year or 120,000 km service. Then they looked at the odometer which was at 61,000 km. So let’s just say I’m driving well below the average kilometres.
Later in the day the bad news came through that the engine battery was just about dead and the tyres needed replacing. The final bill was almost $3000.
Insurance for me is about $900 and rego is about $800 although there was a discount this year.
Ultimately, I keep the car for convenience, because some trips I make remain impractical or inconvenient by public transport. This is mostly due to the level of service in my area, and the places I go.
And yes, I still do the annual service because I want a reasonable amount of confidence that it’ll work when I need it.
Apart from the annual costs, petrol is also expensive. I got a surprise recently when filling up cost over $100, I think for the first time ever. Luckily I only need to do this about once every two months.
Thankfully, for me, it’s financially not a problem.
But I really feel for the people under financial pressure who don’t have a viable alternative to driving, and have trouble affording running their car. This is one of many reasons why more investment is needed to make PT, walking and cycling a better option for more people and more trips.
7 replies on “Still driving (sometimes)”
We have subscribed to a e-cargo bike this year instead of getting a second car. We plan to buy it outright soon. Well worth it if you have a couple young kids to lug to daycare like we do, they love it. Often bridges the gap where PT is not an option. I feel for the outer suburbs who only have wide, busy and unsafe roads to navgate though.
Or switch to using ride share for those occasional times PT isn’t practical and you need a car?
Wow, that bill! Was that a dealer? You should always look for a good independent mechanic. The tyres (4) should cost no more than $700, the battery about $250. That leaves more than $2,000 on what? Our ten year-old BMW costs about $400 a year to service, $600 on that more major service that a car needs at about 8 years and it’s cost us nothing else in maintenance apart from the occasional tyres and brake pads and one new battery.
Yes it’s important to do the annual service, but try to find a good independent mechanic. Dealers are stealers and don’t necessarily know more.
We still have an eye out for an electric car, but while this one is going so well it would be crazy to get rid of it. The petrol prices don’t concern us, being mostly occasional short trip drivers. Tried living without a car in the inner city, but lugging water bottles etc uphill from the supermarket was a bit much! It’s this sort of thing and having kids that mandate a car in Australia and living in the country there’s no serious choice. I have to say though that the advent of online shopping through Uber/Doordash delivery has changed the shopping equation markedly, diluting some of the justification for owning a car.
I live in Craigieburn, so PT is not too bad for an outer suburb but any further North and I’d be stuck.
I sold my car last year because even with the concession discount I couldn’t stomach the rego, nor the insurance or the regular maintenance and fuel of the car. Being a casual worker just makes it financially unviable to own a car.
I have a pushbike I use for local trips, busses are thankfully okay in my area, I got the train station for city trips and if need be I’ll Rideshare but only in extreme cases.
The price for an extensive service, four tyres and a new battery seems excessive. Maybe $2000 would be reasonable.
@Alex, unfortunately the bike lanes are a bit scarce around here, and I’ve seen so many idiotic drivers I’m pretty nervous about riding on main roads.
@Guy, it’s true there are more options these days than when I moved here. Ride share (as an alternative to taxis), and also car share isn’t too far away from where I live now. Home delivery also an option for some things.
@Tony P/Andrew, it was a dealer. I’m probably at the point where I should look elsewhere; I know it’s more expensive at the dealer. (I’ll dig out the invoice and post it later.)
I think it was a major service, so pricy enough even without the extra things they found. They gave me options on tyres and I chose the premium (safest sounding) option, but the price difference wasn’t that big in the scheme of things.
Can people please not ride their e-scooter OFF THE TRAIN that made the driver so mad they tooted the horn at midnight leaving the station for about a minute