Just to get this out there from the start: I don't like cars much, and I view them not just as an expense to be minimized, but a life unpleasantness to be minimized. Cars are horrendously expensive and I don't really like parking them, worrying about where I parked them, paying for parking for them, or not being able to have another beer because I'm driving them.

But I do surf and my kids love to fish and ride their bmx bikes in nifty places that are most easily accessed with a car, and I'm cool with that, so I look to balance the lowest cost and lowest hassle way to do that. We do plenty around the neighborhood, but can't do it all around the neighborhood. At least not yet.

So far, the right balance, I've found, is to buy a new car with a reputation for value and reliability. I accept that this isn't the most optimal possibility, but I've always been suspicious of the claim that a car loses x% of its value the moment it drives off the lot. Oh, I certainly agree that this is the case if you want to sell it, but that's hardly just true for cars. Go buy a thousand dollar suit and try to sell it on the street right outside the store where you bought it. It'll lose a lot more value than the car.

But here's the thing, try to buy that car (or that suit) at an x% discount from someone who just drove it off the lot. Even if you can, you might worry (well, I might) about what the hell is going on. It's just... weird.

Ok, so a year or two after it was bought new? Eh, I'm still not convinced. I suppose there are good deals out there, especially around people who dump cars after the lease, but even then, people often don't sell high quality cars that are only 2-3 years old. They sell cars they don't want anymore, and sure, that might be because they aren't brand new and shiny, but you often end up buying problems.

Could just be me. I've had bad experiences buying used cars and good experience buying new cars that I take very good care of for the life of the car. I certainly don't sell it at 3-4 years old, that's when the car is most valuable to me. It's a 3-4 year old car that I know is in great shape and has been cared for properly. I don't know if that is the case with a car that someone planned to dump at the end of the lease (or is selling cause... not sure why). You can have a great experience buying a used car, and on average it probably does work out to be less expensive but I don't like the uncertainty and variance.

Beyond that, I lust for the day I no longer own a car. Kid pick ups and drop offs still make it on the balance better to own one, but it's getting close. Maintenance, gas, parking fees (high in SF where I work), payments (or the lost value of the investment)... even if I buy a sensible car and take care of it and keep it for 10-15 years (until the maintenance costs exceed the value of the car), we're still probably looking at, what $4-6k a year, at least? That includes my very high parking costs. For others, it would be lower. This is when you make an effort to keep the costs down over the lifetime of the car (buying a quality car with a focus on value not luxury and keeping it for the usable life of the car).

I mean, seriously, you can take a lot of ride share for $5k a year. I'm starting to see some interesting things happening - like, I read about a surfing "club" with a monthly fee that has showers and boards and wetsuits and a lounge near the beach. If you're happy just surfing that one break, you could ditch the car and get a ride service, and even if you live a ways from the beach... 5k is a hell of a lot to work with.

Still, some major limitations. But man, I seriously mean it, I drool at the idea of getting rid of cars in my life.