5 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Own a Car

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Images by Axion23
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Car ownership is costly and inefficient. With the advent of self-driving cars and ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft, car ownership as a model is in its twilight years.

If the experts are to be believed, in the very near future people will not see the rationale to own a car if they are cost sensitive.

However, this is yet to be seen since it is assuming that everybody will give up their personal freedom that owning a vehicle brings.

1. Owning a Car is Inefficient

The top most argument against car ownership is its inefficiency as an asset. All the cars in the world are 96% of the time parked and this is what brought about the ride sharing economy.

The question the experts are asking is: why would you own a car that costs half your salary only to spend it 96 % of its lifetime sitting outside your house?

Ride sharing and mobility provider such as Uber, GoDrive, and Lyft are said to be the future of driving.

Since this cars own fleet of vehicles, they can supply you with mobility as a service. The offer what is popularly known as Transport as a Service (TaaS).

2. Owning a Car is Expensive

It is more economical to rent a car by the hour and to have the choice of the car that will suit your purposes. This is not the same as renting a house by the hour because you are just there in the evenings and weekends.

The cost of owning a car is pretty high. It will include such costs as purchase price, big position, fuel, tools, fines for rd infringement, and many more.

With such services such as list and Uber, you do not need to take care of all these expenses. You will only income and expense when you need the car.

Of course, the cost of owning a car, like a home, can be high. It includes purchase price, depreciation, luxury car tax or import tariff, tolls and even fines for road rule infringements.

Then you have to find somewhere to put it. Many new apartment blocks do not even have designated parking.

3. Millennials Don’t Want to Be Tied Down

Most millennials live in large cities where there is heavy traffic, parking is expensive and the hassle of owning a car is simply not worth it. Millennials want to work close to where we live and hence the heavy reliance on ride sharing.

This group of people are not interested in owning anything that ties them down.

Most of the experts that are pushing mobility services such as ride sharing instead of car ownership are in the millennials age bracket and are more future focused.

They were not among the group of people who in their late teens were saving like there’s no tomorrow to buy their first car.

4. The Future is Self-driving

Self-driving cars are driven by computers and are safer than compared to human drivers. Since 90% of all road fatalities are caused by human error, there’s all the likelihood that governments will ban human driving on the roads in the future.

Big companies such as Waymo and Toyota are putting a lot of resources in R&D to improve the self-driving technology.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Images by Dllu

According to a US report, in 2030, 95% of the world population will not own a vehicle. Instead, they will rely on autonomously driven vehicle fleets owned by big companies such as Waymo and Uber.

This notwithstanding, one in every four cars sold in the world today is bought by a Chinese. Motorists in developing countries such as India have an insertable appetite for car ownership.

Even if most of the west has achieved the peak of car ownership, the developing world is still getting there.

5. Freedom Because You Own a Car is an Illusion

Up until recently, most Australians viewed owning a car as having freedom. But this depends on your definition of freedom.

For most people, freedom is the ability to choose a vehicle, pay for it, and show off to friends.

Car manufacturers know this, and that is the reason they produce luxury vehicles year after year. For example, the Audi models manufacturer knows its premium luxury segment customers will not be interested in sharing the car.

They also do not want anybody inside the car.

All’s Not Lost Though

According to Carlos Ghosn the chairman of Renault Mitsubishi and Nissan alliance, the traditional car model of the building, selling and owning a car will endure.

He reckons the technology will just augment the current car models and that all the technologies will be incorporated in individually owned cars.

Whatever category you fall in, keep car ownership costs down by saving on fuel. GOFAR can help save on fuel costs by altering the driver’s behaviour.

So, if you can’t find the cheapest bower then you can at least save up to 30% by using GOFAR.

Danny Adams sitting in a chair with a laptop

Danny Adams

Co-founder of GOFAR and with a Computer Science background from Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Aerospace, Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering (Honours), UNSW. I want to transform data from cars into useful services so -> drivers save time & money -> emissions fall -> Australian roads are safer. So we built an ATO-compliant logbook app called GOFAR. I write to help you understand how to use GOFAR to maximise business travel. Reach out via support@gofar.co.

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This content is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute professional advice from GOFAR. We recommend consulting with an independent legal, taxation, or financial expert to ensure the information is applicable to your specific situation. Please note that relevant regulations and laws may evolve over time.