monthly cost of car in a city

[rebeccavich]

So, I'm trying to figure out the monthly costs of having a car, roughly.  I know nothing on this topic.  But, assuming about $100 for parking, $150 for gas, $150 for insurance, and a $200 monthly payment, that's -- what?  -- $600/month?  Does that sound right to everybody?  Am I off?

Comments

[wanderinggeek]

$150 a month for insurance seems a little high.

One big difference between the pacific NW and the northeast is the amount of salt used on the roads in the winter - very little if any, here. So you see a lot more older cars, as all cars can last a long time.

With where you are now, if you want to get a car, I would recommend researching brands (quality, repair statistics) and then looking for used cars. The biggest argument for not getting a new car is the fact that you do not know how long you will be there - if you end up moving to NYC in a few years and need to sell it, you've lost a lot more in depreciation on a new car than on a used; it will up eating a lot of money. Also, insurance will be a little cheaper for an older car.

Finally, I would above all recommend going downtown + zipcar. Particularly in the winter (it is long, dark, and dreary), it will be better to be closer to activity and people rather than stuck in a suburb. In the summer, you can zipcar or join a hiking club for getting outdoors (or bop up to seattle with your hiking boots :-) ).

[rebeccavich]

The problem is that the college is essentially in suburbia. The only way to get to it from downtown, without a car, is to take the shuttle, which only goes once an hour. The shuttle only goes to one place downtown, to the area where apartments are about $1100 right now, will go up some unknown amount ($100, $300?) before August. There are some apts that are still downtown-ish, but not on the shuttle, that are like $700, $800?. Because the shuttle only goes downtown once an hour, taking public transportation to the shuttle and then taking the shuttle would mean like a one-hour commute each way on public transportation. By car it's 15 minutes. That's the dilemma -- will $700/800 + car be cheaper than $1300? $1400/month?

[mdrnprometheus]

I think that the $1300 will be cheaper, based on my experience in Seattle, which is less good at transit/green than Portland. You will also enjoy Portland much more and meet many more eligible bachelors living downtown. The other thing you need to potentially factor in: ride sharing. Plenty of people who DO have cars would be very happy to have someone ride with them and defer gas costs...