busybee fluffy rambles

Car-free path

If I just sell it outright to Carvana, I then have $13,200 available, and an empty carport. I could use a chunk of that money to buy a cargo e-trike (such as the Oh Wow Conductor), or try again to build up the leg strength necessary to ride my conventional bicycle, and generally take the bus or Lyft as appropriate to other things.

$13,200 pays for a lot of Lyft rides.

The plus sides to this approach:

• Fuck cars and car ownership

The minus sides to this approach:

• It rules out the possibility of ever taking quick trips to Costco or the like (not that I’ve been doing that anyway)
• It makes getting my cats to the vet considerably more difficult/annoying as well (even with a cargo ebike, the vet is up a very steep hill which I don’t think the ebike would handle well based on past experience)
• The bicycle infrastructure near me isn’t great and a lot of the roads here are scary
• Winter travels become even more obnoxious
• Having an always-empty carport will make my house look unoccupied which might make it a crime target
• My homeowner’s insurance will go up a bit since I’ll lose the bundle discount (albeit by much less than what I’m paying in car insurance)

Trade-in path

If I trade it in for the Mazda3 I was looking at (~$7000), Washington State gives a sales tax rebate on used car trade-ins, so I’d be walking away with $7372 and a drivable car. But I still don’t see myself wanting to drive very much. I’m still anxious (especially when driving), I’m still having intermittent vertigo issues, and I just don’t care for the feeling that if I mess up at any moment I could end up doing damage or killing someone.

But it does make quick trips and vet appointments a lot easier.

But then I’d still be paying about $300/year to register it and $650/year to insure it. That’s basically $1000/year — $20/week — for a car I’d still be barely driving.

And a car that isn’t being driven still needs active maintenance, and gas goes bad after 3-6 months, so there’s a minimum amount of driving you have to do in order to prevent even more maintenance from being necessary.

The solution feels obvious

I’ve not been driving anyway (aside from occasional short grocery store trips). I’ve been making up for it with bus, Lyft, and getting things delivered.

For larger grocery hauls that don’t fit in my granny cart (which is super rare), Safeway does delivery for $5. That is less than what I pay per week for my car. And a cargo trike would make that moot anyway.

For visiting friends, bus + Lyft work well enough.

I rarely actually go out to gig and when I need to transit a guitar or whatever, Lyft still works.

The thought of remaining a car owner just fills me with dread, and I think it’s time to just accept Carvana’s offer. Fuck this shit.

UPDATE: Accepted Carvana’s offer and canceled my appointment with the local dealership. I should be feeling liberated but mostly I’m feeling sad and uncertain.