Downsizing, Part 2: Steve

Do we need two cars? That’s a downsizing issue where, if you’ll pardon the pun, the rubber really hits the road.  

From an economic perspective, it made sense to go down to one car.  Since moving to Pittsburgh, we have mostly gone out together, and so one car was always sitting in the garage.  And by going down to one car, we would save money.  Car insurance, maintenance, repairs, registration.  With the money we saved, we could rent a car or use cabs if we found ourselves in a situation where we needed a second car. Or we could use a city bus, which is free for seniors.  

But owning a car is also an emotional issue.  We are not at the crisis point of giving up driving, but having our own car has always been important to each of us.  It means control and independence.  We could go off whenever we want without inconveniencing the other person, at least in terms of not taking away their transportation.  We have had our own cars for as long as we have known each other. 

And in going down to one car, we would have to choose whose car to keep.  We have strong preferences about what we drive, though we did make compromises in the past—Judy drove minivans for years that transported the kids to college, and when our youngest son finished college, she got a sporty SUV and I took over driving her minivan, which we needed for transporting our greyhounds.  Now past the days of kids in college and dogs, we both were able to buy cars that we liked. I got a small SUV that was sporty and nimble in traffic.  Judy got a midsize SUV with terrific pick up and comfortable seats.  It has been our road car because it is comfortable and safe, so it has more miles on it than my car.  Both cars have modern safety features.

So what do we do?  One or two cars?  And if we went down to one car, whose car would we keep?  More importantly, how would we each react to not having our own car?

We took the plunge, and sold my car.  Although it was newer and had less mileage on it, we felt that we should keep the better road car.  There have been benefits.  The small garage in our apartment has been much more manageable with one car.  Once we move, we will have a bigger garage, but the extra space that results from having one car will mean we can use part of the garage for storage.  Our monthly expenses have gone down.  And on the emotional side, it is working out fine.  

We used this photo before, but thought showing  a small car would fit the topic.  And what is smaller than the Renault that belongs to our friend, Gerdt Sundström.   The translation for the bumper sticker is “Old, but vital.”