Using the car less...

gangzoom

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Having spent most of my life loving driving, COVID and my recent rediscovery of cycling means for most this year my car usage has been substantially less than before.

I was doing 15k a year mostly for no reason at it seems, and having now got into a good commuter routing on the pedal bike am keen to see just how little car usage I can achieve in the next 12 months.

The car recently passed its first MOT at 36,600 miles, one month on and am at 37,001 miles, so 400 miles this month with no noticeable difference in ease of getting from A to B day to day versus last September when I was did over 1100 miles!!

So I admit I had a problem with driving too much for no reason. But am determined to reform, and keep my car usage to a bare minimal, aiming for sub 5k miles this year, come September 2021 I'll know how well I've done.

Anyone else trying to reduce car usage?
 
You sound like Sadiq Khan's Poster Boy...... :D

Seriously though, good on you. I just wish the powers that be wouldn't take it upon themselves to force this ideology on the rest of us by these car bans, road closures/restrictions, blanket 20mph speed limits etc.
 
That's a genuinely nice, heart-warming story to read. Alas, I suspect about 94.86% of car enthusiasts would react like their todgers had fallen off if asked to do the same. Cycling is cool again so that is aiding the transition. It's also helping that you can now spend more on a push-bike than what a Honda Fireblade cost in the 90s - if our office chatter is any measure.

I have to do 30K a year in the car just for the commute. Hoping the company permits more of this working from home in the future - Covid or no Covid - as I feel like a new person without all the driving.
 
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I’m now driving around 1500 miles a year more since starting work 6 months ago, but my wife is on target to drive at least 7000 miles a year less now that she works from home full time. So overall we are in a better position.
So much so that I’m considering dropping down to one car next September when my car finance is due to end (possibly before if possible) and buying a motorbike for myself as we work completely different hours (I’m nights) so don’t need two cars.

Should overall have a positive impact on our carbon output.
 
I'm just no longer fit enough to do a 15 mile each way commute on a cycle, at the times my shift starts and ends (I never was, 5 miles was my limit when I did do it, 25+ years ago).
And on other trips when the purpose is to transport kids to/from school or their mother's, the car is necessary.
I did try to gain employment ½mile from home (almost nearer to walk than from the car park at my present employer's) but they went with another candidate.
 
I'm certainly saving a small fortune on motion lotion having cut down greatly on driving and practically all of my driving was for pleasure being a gentleman of a certain age. Changing the car a week Monday so we've gone for a petrol over diesel. Will drive it home and there it will have to stay until the local lockdown is lifted.

There are certainly more cyclists on the roads. Head down, arse up, that's the way boys.:)
 
Well my car usage has been cut to about 3 miles a week due to working from home. If my missis didn't use the other car for work on a Saturday I wouldn't bother with a second car now but I hate being stuck in all weekend
 
My car usage has become very unpredictable and the last three years have been very low.

This year and for the foreseeable future, Covid and working from home has been the biggest factor.

But even the years before that have been very low. This is because my job as an IT consultant is so unpredictable. I am usually required to work at customer sites and as I move from project to project this could mean commuting 80 miles every day, or working away from home where I have a 100 mile journey to and from a hotel and barely nothing in between, or using the train because I am working in London.

Three years ago I took out a PCP, very unsure what mileage to base it on as I have done over 20k in past years. Initially I set it to 10k but then I panicked and changed it to 12k. I have just arranged the three year service and when asked the mileage was shocked to find it at just 14,500. Probably the worst value car in my entire life.

With no end to working from home in sight, I can see me handing it back after four years with less than 20k of the expected 48k miles.

Need to think very carefully about how I replace it.

And before you say ‘keep it’ - that was always the plan, I saw myself keeping it for up to ten years but there are now two problems with this plan

  • Being a dirty diesel it looks like it may be worth less than the balloon, even with so little mileage.
  • I don’t particularly like the car. It is a car that I have always wanted, but the reality didn’t live up to the dreams.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
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I have a similar dilemma. Used to do 30k+ miles a year. I’ve done just over 2k since late February, all local... I have a year to go on payments. Work has pretty much said that WFH is the new norm. Thinking I should sell it and just use the camper for the local travel. That’s getting precious little use at the moment anyway!! I get all my cycling done at the gym, local roads out here in the sticks aren’t really conducive to safe cycling...
 
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As others have already mentioned, my miles have also gone down. Usually do 20-22k miles a year. According to my mileage tracker, i’ve done a shade under 8k this year :eek:

Fewer trips to my parents, fewer trips to the gym, fewer trips to work, fewer days out......all caused by covid.
 
My car usage has become very unpredictable and the last three years have been very low.

This year and for the foreseeable future, Covid and working from home has been the biggest factor.

But even the years before that have been very low. This is because my job as an IT consultant is so unpredictable. I am usually required to work at customer sites and as I move from project to project this could mean commuting 80 miles every day, or working away from home where I have a 100 mile journey to and from a hotel and barely nothing in between, or using the train because I am working in London.

Three years ago I took out a PCP, very unsure what mileage to base it on as I have done over 20k in past years. Initially I set it to 10k but then I panicked and changed it to 12k. I have just arranged the three year service and when asked the mileage was shocked to find it at just 14,500. Probably the worst value car in my entire life.

With no end to working from home in sight, I can see me handing it back after four years with less than 20k of the expected 48k miles.

Need to think very carefully about how I replace it.

And before you say ‘keep it’ - that was always the plan, I saw myself keeping it for up to ten years but there are now two problems with this plan

  • Being a dirty diesel it looks like it may be worth less than the balloon, even with so little mileage.
  • I don’t particularly like the car. It is a car that I have always wanted, but the reality didn’t live up to the dreams.

Cheers,

Nigel
Shopping around you can get some good deals
 
We all have to take care and remember that Covid is a special case.

But also that realistically, it will continue well into next year and also now that businesses have a taste for home working I think many will continue with it.

For example, before Covid it was usual for a customer to expect me to work at their site which meant that they were being invoiced around £600 each week just for travel and subsistence. The same customer this year is quite happy with everyone working from home. Doesn’t take a genius to imagine how they might carry on when Covid is over.

As for a car, probably looking for something that is going to last me quite a few years, but I need to be extra careful on the test drives to make sure it is something I really want.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
I use to work from home 1 day a week, this is currently 5 days a week. When the new Office is open and we return to it my commute will go from 3 miles to 13 miles and I assumed we'd carry on working from home 2/3 days a week but it looks like I'll only need to go into the office once a week if that so I'm really questioning if I need an expensive car for school runs. Im really considering a used i3 to replace my car.
 
For example, before Covid it was usual for a customer to expect me to work at their site which meant that they were being invoiced around £600 each week just for travel and subsistence. The same customer this year is quite happy with everyone working from home. Doesn’t take a genius to imagine how they might carry on when Covid is over.

Strange isn't it, we use to spend time/money travelling to meetings which we can now do on Teams with virtually no cost in time or money.

Equally spending Sunday morning cooking at home as a family is actually nicer than driving to a garden center and paying for a lunch.

As for enjoying the great British B road, no car can come close to the experience on a pedal bike. Had a great ride this morning, absolutely love it, get fit and pretty much £0 cost compared to driving, its a win win :).

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But also that realistically, it will continue well into next year and also now that businesses have a taste for home working I think many will continue with it.
My company has. Our pay rise negotiations with the union are now including working from home options, with the company looking at increasing the pay rise to cover the extra costs of electricity/gas that working from home incurs
 
My company has. Our pay rise negotiations with the union are now including working from home options, with the company looking at increasing the pay rise to cover the extra costs of electricity/gas that working from home incurs
working from.home has meant Im saving hundreds in fuel and parking charges, it also means less wear and tear. The extra electricity is still much less than the fuel, not to mention saving a minimum of 2 hours a day or 10+ hours a week on travelling. i feel fresher and more.productive.witthout the stress of.sitting in rush.hour traffic.twice a day.
 

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