Talking Cars Tuesday (on Thursday) - Has Your Car Become Obsolete with the Shut-down?
Mates,
For many people the shut-down had the effect of either completely eliminating the need to have a car, at least for a while, or substantially lessening that need. Things are opening up but with the changes in WFH rules, some temporary and some permanent, there is the thought that maybe you don't need your car, or you only need 1 instead of 2, etc.
So the questions are these: Did your car gather a lot of dust the last 3 months? Also, even though summer is finally here so hopefully folks are getting out more, how many of the driving changes do you think will stick?
Take care,
XM
Despite both mine and my wife's cars mainly sitting for most of the lockdown - both batteries died (not just drained, but could not even hold a full recharge for more than 30min or so) and needed to be replaced. That was fun.
Yeah its a strange consequence of not running the engine enough. When I had my car impounded at the Air Force Academy I was still required to go start it and run it once a week to keep it going.
Sorry that happened, cannot have been fun.
We did try to run them a few times a week to keep them charged - both batteries just happened to be 5+ years old and near the end of their service life. Later diagnostics confirmed each had bad cells. Not unexpected, but irritating that they failed around the same time.
The silver linings: the batteries didn't fail somewhere/some time while you and/or your wife and family were in the middle of nowhere or in the dead of winter.
Unless you go out driving so the engine gets up to a certain RPM, the alternator won't really charge the battery enough due to low amount of current being sent during idling. Combined with old batteries thats why they died.
Just curious about why it was fun? Was it fun to change them or because of the cost and no operating vehicle? Changing batteries is one of the easiest things to do on a car.
wag: /s
Not so much "despite," but "because of." Cars drain power slowly even when they're just sitting. Certain electronics in the car are always going to draw a little bit of power. If the battery is several years old it just makes it worse. If you know the car is going to sit for about a month or more, it's best to get a trickle charger.
I've only filled my gas tank once since March. And that's only because I've been going around getting takeout from my favorite restaurants during the shutdown with the hope that I can help them survive it.
Plus side: There's no way in hell I'm going over the mileage on my lease.
I am just glad I own a battery trickle charger...
My wife has always worked from home. I think she’s put ~350 miles on her car in 2 years.
We mostly take my truck when we go out because it has much more room.
Covid has changed almost nothing about my life
No change. Single, need a vehicle for work purposes. Sure like everyone else I drove a lot less during April and May, but no lasting change. Judging from traffic lately, not much change for anyone else around me either.
The truck has been needed in a practical way the most since when we moved as we have been clearing a bunch of yard debris in the wake of finally having time to do the yard work we have been putting off. It's also been great for the camping trips and kayaking that seem to be the only forms of recreation allowed right now.
We've been driving a lot less for daily commuting, but the handiness of having both vehicles hasn't really decreased.
I drove less since I was not, and am still not, working. But I didn't live far from work in the first place. Still out and about running errands, maybe my driving is down 50%.
Interesting topic!
I've spoken with quite a few people who have leases that are expiring and are not planning on replacing the vehicle right away. They figure they can always get one if/when they need to start working out of their office and/or seeing clients.
That being said, I think the coronavirus-motivated quarantine is only going to accelerate the shift to working from home. The effects of this will be many. Think of all of the businesses and services that rely on the fact that there are people who work in downtowns, offices, etc.
I own a marketing consultancy/ad agency geared to local and small businesses. I can do about 80% of what I do from my house. The remaining 20% consists of meeting with my business partner, being in front of clients or doing filming (for television commercials and other videos). I sublease a very inexpensive office from another business; I'm planning on keeping it but spending much less time there and more time at home.
I'm getting close to about 5,000 miles saved on my car from commuting. I've been intending to get a new one this year before the resale value gets much worse, so that mileage is probably worth a few hundred dollars. Plus I've been to the gas station once in all of April, May, and June.
Might want to hang on to it for a bit. I read somewhere that the used car market collapsed due to lack of demand.
That'll probably pick back up though soon.
friend/client deals ~ 400 vehicles a month and says a slight hesitation at the start, but his demand is strong on the wholesale used car level.
The automakers agree with you. Not going to be doing their usual summer shutdown. "The reason: sales are booming." Good for the auto industry and good for us.
https://money.cnn.com/2013/05/22/news/companies/auto-plants-summer/index.html
That's good news. Not for me though. I was thinking about replacing the older car.
i know a guy....
Definitely a concern. My plan is to stick with the original plan, and shoot for around Labor Day or a little later. Also intend to sell it myself instead of trading in. Hopefully the market will be pretty well rebounded by then. But I'm also betting that new-car incentives will stick around so that dealers can try and salvage the year as best they can.
My commute car was at 35k at the beginning of March, which put me on pace of 1500 miles per month. I was planning on replacing it with Bonus Money 2022 or 2023 (if applicable), but 3 months of sitting around, starting it every 2-3 weeks, probably can get me to 2023 for sure now.
I'm pretty sure I won't be working 5x5 in the beginning either, and perhaps can parlay this into some additional WFH.
Maybe April 2023 could be time for the long promised but so-far mythical Affordable Electric Car?! Affordable is not BMW money people.
I'm sure enjoying driving my pickup right now. Something about driving it just makes going below the speed limit and taking your time going places feel right.
I was strongly considering a plug-in hybrid for the next car. My commute is such that on good days, the battery ought to make it just about all the way, then I can plug it in and make it almost all the way back too. (Probably not so much in cold weather.) But, now I wonder how much WFH I'll be doing going forward and whether it's worth it. It's still a big option, but maybe a little less of one. Another reason I'm waiting til summer is over.
I still haven't gotten my winter tires taken off yet as I've put about maybe 200 miles on my car since mid-March. As many have stated here, similarly I will certainly not be going over miles on my lease. Wasn't in danger of any massive overage but it would've been close.
I changed out my winter tires. Hate the way the car drives on them. Meanders around in the lane. Louder road noise. Doesn't corner as tightly.
Driving an Autobahn GTI with very low-profile tires...and a manual transmission!
I'm not worried about mileage on my lease anymore.
We have two cars and both are getting up there in age and miles. My commute is about 50 miles round trip, so I alternate cars to spread out the miles.
My wife doesn't work, so she usually only drives a few miles per day.
So we would use about 6 or 7 tanks of gas each month. Since March, I've filled up a total of 3 times and the older of the 2 cars has hardly been driven at all.
If working from home would become a permanent thing we would go down to just one car.
Definitely not putting on the miles like I used to. It felt good to drive out to the desert. This lockdown thought me to appreciate the little things more.
Ps. A rock chipped my windshield.
My car has mostly become obsolete, although my wife still drives it to work every now and then (nurse at the downtown hospital). We still drive it on Costco runs and such, but I think it has seen about 400 miles since the beginning of March, much of that for my wife's work (60 miles round trip).
I have a friend who never drives his car anymore and has reduced his coverage to some "non-driven vehicle" level for something like $5-10/month.
Been working from home for 3 months now, I filled my tank up in mid March, I still have a half tank.
No change. Wife and I both still have to leave the house everyday for work. Cars are old and paid for so I just pray they keep going.
Interesting, back in April I thought about taking my car "off the road" meaning cancel its' insurance since I was literally leaving once a week for a quick 3mi trip and school was closed. Figuring even when my wife's working for the day, I could run out with it uninsured if it's only within 3mi. Probably bought 1 gallon of gas b/t 3/12 and 5/15. At the time in April, I thought we may be getting back by the end of April or early May so it wouldn't be worth cancelling.
On Tuesday, we get a check from the car insurance co. saying how they realize people weren't on the road so they cut us a check for like $65 (15% of 3 mos. prems. or some such).
For me there was not much change. The initial first week or two were spent mostly at home but I was still getting around and was working in the office some. I'm in South Carolina and our rules were less stringent, plus I was considered an essential worker.
I got gas last week for the first time in 3 months.
Nope. The wife is a teacher, and digital learning with middle schoolers isn't sustainable, so no matter what she is always going to need her own car. Before the lockdown I worked from home 2-3 days a week, so I'll always need one to get back to the office. My wife also hates driving my car (feels it sits too low to the ground), and I'm not a huge fan with how little she cleans hers. There's LaCroix cans, dog hair and Dunkin' paper bags stuffed into every little crevice. I clean her car more than she cleans it herself. So yeah, we need our own cars.
Sure, we drive less now. Far less. But I don't see us downgrading to one car anytime soon. We also live on the Atlanta outskirts so me taking MARTA to work, while possible, is not even remotely worth it when I factor in added time.
Yeah, WTF is it with women and their cars? My wife needs to make the bed, have the pillows be in the perfect spot, clean the counter and stove every time we leave the house, but her car is a fucking travishamockery of a disaster. Spilled coffee in the cup holders, old cups, coins, receipts. Dust, smudges on all surfaces. A beach of sand on the floor. I detail that car 2-3 times a year and every time it looks like a homeless village slept in it for 6 months.
gum wrappers, food wrappers (mostly from the kids), shoes, books, sand....
I will consider myself lucky that my wife's worse car sin is her tendency to accumulate 3-4 coffee/insulated cups a week, which I fish out when she complains she can't find a cup, and can't for the life of her understand where they could have gotten to.
They take up residence in remote places of the house as well, so it isn't just a car thing.
No clue bud. Why my daughter was 16 and was driving my wife’s car ...... oh .... my .... god.
No joke there was so much trash on the passenger floorboard that it was spilling onto the passenger seat .... both floorboards in the back were packed with trash. Doors were full of trash, cup holders full of trash ....
I opened the passenger door once because my wife wanted to finally “drive her car” when we were going out, and trash spilled all over the driveway. Needless to say we took my truck out that day
The wife and I are both retired now. My last job was WFH. Still, I would put about 7000 miles a year on my car. We like to drive into Chicago for restaurants, shows, and other things you can only get in the city. I also like to drive cars, so I can always find an excuse to take my car out for a drive.
My wife's SUV would run up about 20,000 miles a year thanks to Michigan football and our vacation home in Canada across from Port Huron. Given we haven't been able to cross the border since March, we have already saved at least 2 trips up to Canada. I'm hoping the border opens and we can get up there for July 4th. Who knows if we'll see any football games this year, so odds are we won't be burning up the miles between here and Ann Arbor. Prediction....maybe 12K miles this year.
The realtors around here are talking about increased demand for houses from families that want to move out to the suburbs from the city. Between COVID-19 and everything else going on, it wouldn't be unexpected to see some shift of the population back towards suburban living which might bump up car sales given the hassle and expense of owning and parking a car in cities.
XM, I've got the opposite thing going on. May sound complicated, but it's not:
- I live and work in Chicago. I've been all-CTA for a few years. No car.
- I'm working remotely (well, as long as my employer's precarious finances permit that). Really remotely -- I'm sheltering in the Michigan wilderness.
- "Return to office" teams at work have formed and are discussing who will return and when.
Conventional wisdom says that public transportation (closed space, lots of people, etc.) is more hazardous than a single-occupant car (for employee and, by extension, employee's co-workers).
CTA says that they'll enforce distancing, blah-blah-blah, but I lack confidence in their "ability to execute." All it takes is one sociopath or ignoramus to screw up that plan.
I'm relatively low-risk for a complicated COVID course but I could obviously be a silent carrier at some point. (That's actually a more likely scenario.)
Suppose I'm called back. Do I get a car? I'd at least consider it for ethical reasons.
being nosey: where sheltering up here? (don't have to be too specific)
Sure. Not too (like, GPS-level) specific: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traverse_City_micropolitan_area
if you're on a bike, watch out for the bears...
this one was in TC last week, friday. another buddy was riding and had one in the road in leelanau. we get them on the farm, too.
This discussion makes me happy that I'm city-based. Mostly rats ...
Nice! Like blueheron, I see mostly rats in the city.
I saw a possum (with little possum attached) waddle through the yard last week.
For a smallish city, Madison, WI has a decent bus system that I routinely used for my work commute. Before the stay-at-home work orders from my employer early in the pandemic, I opted to drive in to the closest non-metered parking spot near my office. I will probably resume that pattern until further notice. It's a shame since I'm a public transit proponent and really liked leaving the driving to someone else while I focused on the podcast of the day.
Time to try an E-Bike? I'm considering one as you can have the e-bike do the hard work up hills and when it is too hot and pedal the other parts.
That's a possibility. I've thought about it. More likely I'd "Divvy" ( https://www.divvybikes.com/ ) and clean up when I got to work.
Both would be really challenging on a 15-degree morning in January with fresh snow / ice.
Huge change for me. I usually was driving a lot. I had up to 3 drop off and pick ups for my 4 kids, before and after work, which took an hour each, and then travel afterwards and on weekends to sports practice and games.
With everything shut down, I had driven 3 times, all in my neighborhood, to be in kids birthday parades. My wife had to go to work (nurse) so she was the one to go to places, and I was the "clean" one.
Now I'm back to work a few times a week and am driving and man, commuting takes a lot of the day I'm not used to. Saved money on gas and insurance as we only have 1 car insured. Need to get my mazda running so I can drive it into work.