FIREing on one or two cars? - if you do not consume more than 6K-8K miles a year?

[Floridatennisplayer]

Walmart, Kroger’s, Home Depot, Meijer, physicians, fast food restaurants, O Charlie’s, BWW, 2 breweries etc. all 2 Miles away.

ER. 4 miles
Hospital. 12 miles

Schools .5

 

[Bamaman]

We just love out 2018 Camry Hybrid getting 52 mpg in the city. Everyone needs a good pickup truck, and my diesel is scheduled to wear out when I am 93 years old. And our Explorer is available to haul the grandkids to the mountains.

Hope the sun is not out tomorrow because I have to detail a Lexus IS so it can go on the market. The daughter's Civic SI is also up for sale EOW. If my pickup wasn't a diesel, I would trade it and the Explorer for a new 1/2 ton truck.

 

[boatfishandnature]

We have two cars and probably always will, at least until we're both unable to drive. We live about 10 miles from town so a car is the only way we can get around. My wife drives one direction to go visit family or whatever, and I usually go the other to pick up something from Home Depot.

Same here. We FIREd 4 years ago, already had two cars and kept them. Getting a taxi/Uber here in our chosen retired location (about a 30 min drive to town) is not all that simple. It is now time to replace both cars (they are 5yrs old), we went through the one vs. two car discussion and ended up deciding on two cars for the next 5yrs or so. Will monitor the usage and decide again in 5 yrs.

 

[sn2792]

We started retirement with 2 cars and 5 years in went to 1 car because we rarely ever both need a car at the same time and usually do most things together. Haven’t missed having the second car.

 

[Joggernot]

Two Vehicles and a Golf Cart

We have a 2005 Tacoma for DW's work with Master Gardeners and a new (no lecture please) 2018 Honda CRV. The CRV is now our daily driver. We don't do more that 10k miles combined. For real short trips we are allowed to use a golf cart on certain roads. It's electric and we love it for grocery shopping.

 

[morriss003]

Two cars, one owned, one leased. The older you get, the more you should consider leasing.

 

[Texas Proud]

We started retirement with 2 cars and 5 years in went to 1 car because we rarely ever both need a car at the same time and usually do most things together. Haven’t missed having the second car.

Surprised you only go 5 years... we do 10 years minimum unless totaled... and being totaled is NOT always a reason to get rid of a car... my son is driving a 'totaled' car, but we were able to get the money from insurance on the net basis and have them install some junk panels and hood which saved us money...

 

[brucethebroker]

one car for us, going on 12 years. We put between 15,000+ miles per year. Never been a problem. It is an inconvenience sometime, but not enough to shell out for a second car.

1+.
Yeah, cars are expensive:
AAA estimate, 2018, 60.8 cents a mile (car ownership costs-per car).
IRS business allowance, 2018, 54.5 cents a mile

Now, before anyone picks a fight, those are AAA/IRS numbers, not mine. And just because your car is paid for does not mean you aren't hitting the 50 cents a mile button, due to depreciation, taxes, insurance, maintenance, gas, etc. It would be very difficult to "lose" less than $300 a month on owning a car.

We have had only one car for 6 years. We rent a car about 2-3 days a year when we absolutely HAVE to have a second car (the last time was when DW was out of town for a funeral and I had a business meeting.) We live in a suburb that is walk and bicycle friendly, and that certainly helps, but UBER has made 1 car (or no car) possible for more and more couples. Like most things, you begin to schedule around the use of the car and it all works out.

We are on a "budget/frugal" retirement plan (semi in my case). Not spending $300-400 a month on a second vehicle has made a tremendous difference over the last 6 years-you can do the math.

Sure, many here can afford numerous cars, and I think that is great. But getting rid of a second car is huge for those on a budget. Just wanted to pass along a great strategy for those wanting to retire, but a few dollars short....

 

[Breedlove]

We are in the Stix 20 mins from anything except a Dollar Store . Five miles to the Dollar store 21 miles to a grocery or a town with restaurants .

So we have 3 cars
2006 Ridgeline
2018 Soul
2002 Mustang , so I can cruise with the North Houston Mustang Car Club


Seriously , the Ridgeline rides and runs great but hardly can haul anything . I could get rid of it . Seems anytime I haul big stuff I rent a You Haul.

 

[Jeff76Canada]

Exactly my thoughts.
I'm 42 , only a CRV is enough.

So cheap to rent another one of need it.
When my family come from overseas to visit last year, I did that... So convenient.

No. You can always rent if you need a temporary replacement.

 

[FUEGO]

We dropped from 2 cars to 1. Great move. It works even though we have 3 kids. We also own 2 feet and a bicycle for each of us, and can walk or bike to a fair amount of stuff. We don't drive a ton anyway (other than long road trips for vacation) so it's worked out well.

Eventually we will need a second car as the older 2 kids start driving. We'll get one then. I'm glad we didn't keep what would be 19 year old cars at this point just to have something for them to drive.

If our only car breaks down or it's in the shop, then we'll rent a car, borrow one from family/friends, or call Uber. Or make do with delivery services, transit, and biking/walking.

 

[doneat54]

We just sold one, down to 6 now. Just DW and I. 3 are antique vehicles, including my wife's 1969 Mercedes 280SL that I bought her 8 years ago as a 20th anniversary present. DW still works, drives a 2012 VW CC as a DD. I have 2 trucks an '05 Dodge Durango that I bought 3 years ago for $4k and have pulled our RV trailer some 5000 miles with so far, drive it daily to take the dogs for hikes. Bulletproof reliable and very comfortable to drive. Have an '08 Dodge Dakota pickup I bought last Feb that is unregistered but will do plowing duty on our driveway starting this winter (just sold, errr, gave away, a '99 Ram 1500 that was a plow truck for 5 years), and once the 'Rango needs an expensive repair or new tires, off it goes and the Dakota gets the nod to serve as "Dog Truck and RV puller".

I have never bought a brand new vehicle and never will. In recent decades I have endeavored to find 1-3 year old one owner sedans. Since FIRE in '17, I drive usually 5-8 miles a day so the 15 mpg Durango works for me and is a great RV and dog truck. In fact, value-wise, it is the best vehicle I have ever owned, hands down (An '05 Toyota Camry comes in a close second). Yes, cars can be really expensive budget items, but they don't have to be. Depending on your needs/wants, you can buy some nice unpopular vehicles and keep investment/operating and insurance costs WAY low.

JMO

 

[BoodaGazelle]

DW and I are relatively new, and we have wondered the same thing. For now, we have kept the "2nd" car, as it is a 2004 Toyota RAV4 that will probably run forever, and has a relatively low cost of ownership. Even though 95% of the time, we could easily do with just one, there is a small percentage where having the 2nd makes things simpler. One example is when I want to volunteer somewhere, and may need the car all day, or all day for multiple days. It is nicer to not have to strand DW for so long.


I can see that someday we may end up with just one, but for now, that is our rationale for keeping two.


FWIW, we just bought a home where we can walk everywhere, including the beach, CVS, and Publix Supermarkets... that is an important consideration that we planned for our ER, and does possibly affect our decision to someday have only one vehicle.

 

[poppydog]

DW doesn’t drive, so no point in having a second car. We live in a major city (Glasgow, Scotland) and can walk to most local amenities or take inexpensive public transport. I will definitely downgrade from my my new-ish Nissan SUV next time around.

 

[Caskem]

Two cars in retirement...

So I got a question for you folks who FIRED and do not drive more than 6,000-8,000 miles per year. I only drive about 5000 - 6000 miles per year - most vacations are by air travel. Would you keep 2 cars, or just keep 1 car and sell the other and keep the Money + save on insurance and car property tax?

I guess I'm strange...but I've always been a motorhead. We have a 2017 small SUV for the wife (safe and practical), a 2014 convertible for me (for fun), a 2015 4X4 heavy-duty truck (for towing the travel trailer and motorcycle trailer), and a Harley. I will not give up ANY of them!

I don't drink, smoke or do drugs. We don't do amusement parks and other high-cost activities. So, the vehicles are fine!

 

[Oakster]

So I got a question for you folks who FIRED and do not drive more than 6,000-8,000 miles per year. I only drive about 5000 - 6000 miles per year - most vacations are by air travel. Would you keep 2 cars, or just keep 1 car and sell the other and keep the Money + save on insurance and car property tax?

I have an Audi station wagon that is 5 years old (2013 - 2018) and only has 29,800 miles and I barely use it anymore. I plan to keep this until it hits 150,000 miles. I reckon it will probably take me another 10 years to hit 80K-85K miles.

I got this other sporty BMW car with 22,000 miles, which I am using mostly at work. I plan to fire in 3 years and will be mainly using the Bimmer to and from work. DW does not drive. It's me driving these 2 cars, but the wagon is only for reserve now, if we really have to haul tons of stuff and bulk groceries from Costco. In 3 years, the bimmer will probably have 32K-35K miles. If I retire, I was thinking of probably selling the bimmer and just keep the cash.

Cars are depreciating assets so .. I always have that on the back of my mind money-wise.

Would you keep the second car for emergencies ? Or if you only had 1 vehicle, and your "one and only vehicle" needs to be repaired, would you just rent a car from Enterprise or Budget or Avis ?

If I sell the bimmer in 3 years when I hit 57 years old, I could get another car once I get Social security at 62-64. By then, my station wagon would have probably 60-65K miles.

Our family has always had an older Suburban that we use as the "first car out' of the driveway every day. The purpose of the vehicle is to obtain miles, and keep miles off of our nicer cars. We take the dogs to the cabin, or the lake in it, we load up 9 people and go on short trips (< 250 miles one way) for the day or weekend. The Suburbans are pretty much bulletproof, with the late 90's models almost always good to 250k miles. We now run a loaded 2003 w/ 180k miles. It should be good to 300, but my plan is to run it until 225k or 250k, depending how it works. The last one I bought for $1800 and drove it for 46,000 miles, then sold it for what I paid for it. This one is very comfy, dependable and cost $4200. I say all that because it may be an option for you... find something older with under 200,000 miles and keep it for a "spare". They are dirt cheap, you can have liability only insurance if its value is low enough that you are comfortable with that, and it should get you around while the main ride is in the shop. Depreciation is next to nothing, but there is a small month insurance bill. Taxes and licenses are normally very low on them too. A car that has been well taken care of will run forever these days.

 

[ncbill]

Our family has always had an older Suburban that we use as the "first car out' of the driveway every day. The purpose of the vehicle is to obtain miles, and keep miles off of our nicer cars. We take the dogs to the cabin, or the lake in it, we load up 9 people and go on short trips (< 250 miles one way) for the day or weekend. The Suburbans are pretty much bulletproof, with the late 90's models almost always good to 250k miles. We now run a loaded 2003 w/ 180k miles. It should be good to 300, but my plan is to run it until 225k or 250k, depending how it works. The last one I bought for $1800 and drove it for 46,000 miles, then sold it for what I paid for it. This one is very comfy, dependable and cost $4200. I say all that because it may be an option for you... find something older with under 200,000 miles and keep it for a "spare". They are dirt cheap, you can have liability only insurance if its value is low enough that you are comfortable with that, and it should get you around while the main ride is in the shop. Depreciation is next to nothing, but there is a small month insurance bill. Taxes and licenses are normally very low on them too. A car that has been well taken care of will run forever these days.

1500 or 2500?

My 2007 Suburban 1500 LTZ has been the most annoying vehicle I've ever owned.

Excessive oil consumption on the highway until I paid a few hundred bucks to have the cylinder deactivation "feature" turned off (if you don't you get piston damage leading to engine failure)

$1200 to replace the air suspension (dead ~75,000 miles) with conventional struts/shocks.

A/C leak that no one's been able to fix yet, so I'm recharging it 1-2x a year.

Plastic exterior door handles that self-destruct, though after having them all replaced once I did find aftermarket metal ones for $300/pair.

It does have nice bells/whistles, though.