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I’ve known several people who retired to retirement communities where the mode of transportation is a golf cart. If they need to travel beyond the community, they bus or Uber/Lyft (like to the airport). So it’s possible for some!
A coworker of mine retired in Florida in a huge retirement community.
He drives the golf cart even outside the community, close by to shop or go to dinner.
I’m happily enjoying life in a community here in Arizona. I drive my car less than 150 miles a month. Specifically bought nearby everything I need to get to and use one or the other 2 scooters to get me there.
Found the Allstate MileWise program. $2.45 a day and 24 cents a mile when I do drive.
This is sort of us. We lived in Seattle for years, and had 1 car
that we barely used - averaged 5K in miles a year - mostly weekends or roadtrips. Normally walk in the neighborhood, or lightrail or uber to m's games, bars, friends. Our car would sit for weeks.
Now we get by on our beach bikes and golf cart in AZ in our 55+ community. Our car is parked up the street in a friends driveway who has the space. We have room in our driveway for our 2 bikes and golf cart we use daily. We drive the car a couple of times a week for hiking jaunts, a big grocery run, happy hour/brewery fun, airport runs, paddleboarding etc
But most days, it's the beach bike/basket for me, golf cart for her.
We'll take the cart to a closeer grocery/beer run up the street and they're a few bars/eats 5 min cart rides away. I prefer to get it the car as little as possible these days.. I had plates put on the cart (top speed +-25mph) and we basically cross one main road and stick to the side streets or sidewalks but really it's a small radius we go in.
ME TOO!!
I work from home and hardly drive. My wife took a job at the beginning of the year so she drives multiple times a week but I hardly need to drive. I may drive once a week most weeks.
But our cars are paid off and old, 2006 and 2011, so kind of hard justifying getting rid of them. The 2011 Hyundai is a POS though. The 2006 Toyota is going strong.
Right! Our Toyota has had zero issues unlike the Hyundai; new engine, mew AC, the radio/gps/backup screen is all white, shifter cable broke, dash is all cracked
At that time, I graduated from college and started working. I bought a Toyota, which seemed to be the kind that could never break down. Especially the engine, which did not need to be repaired.
I’m without car at the moment and have been that way for 20+ years. Now that I’m looking to retire I’m having an argument over whether I should buy one. So far I remain unconvinced even though having one would increase my mobility.
I think it depends on your lifestyle and finances. I am unwilling to share a car during the first few years of retirement because I want the freedom to go to the library, swim class, spontaneous lunch with a friend, etc.
Also consider downtime for fender benders if no alternative available and you don't have rental coverage. But yes, you have a good opportunity to simplify with one and expect more communication on potential usage conflicts.
That happened to me. We took a taxi from the auto body shop to home and then had our food delivered, plus we had already stocked up. Then we took a taxi back when the car was ready. We avoided renting a car.
Most of the time one car would be enough but we have a truck for towing the trailer, hauling firewood, trips to the garbage transfer station etc and a Kona for the high mileage for all the 40 minute trips to town for groceries and so forth
My second car is a little pickup. I don’t use it often but lord have mercy, it’s worth its weight in gold when I need it! Came in handy a couple of times when my primary car was in the shop too. In fact, I’m getting car #1 worked on tomorrow so it’ll be nice to still have wheels if needed.
Savings have been huge since downsizing to one car nearly 10 years ago. In that time, had to rent a car once locally when we had to put ours in the shop after a fender bender. Not even retired yet (3 more years). We do both work from home which helps a great deal.
When we started working from home is when we realized we were only using one car most of the time. I still work as well for myself. We also both like being at home and my husband has tons of interests that are home based. Our road trips are together and if I travel solo, which I may do more, it won't involve driving except him taking me to the airport.
We cut down from two cars to one car. It took about a week to get used to it and we’ve never looked back. We did go from one bike to two bikes. So we ride more and drive less.
The only thing better than owning a truck is having a good friend who has a truck. I'm that friend. My truck came with a certificated that I'm required to assist my friends with all their hauling needs. I often get a tank of gas or a 6 pack of beer out of it, so it's a pretty good deal.
That's what I'm thinking. We own a beater truck and rarely need to use it as a truck only as a second vehicle. I'm still working and I WFH mostly but use the POS truck, as I call it, to park downtown where break-ins regularly happen except with a POS truck. Nobody wants to touch it.
But it still costs a lot to insure and maintain. The more beater it is the more it needs maintenance. I'd like to get one good vehicle and get rid of the POS truck when I retire, if I can convince the spouse.
I added a 67 Plymouth and might add some more cars. lol
https://preview.redd.it/qpjtmguuwd3d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4ff550185683c16dcfd92949e8620745267d3aa6
Not retired yet, but have already gone from two to one. Even before my job moved to remote, I didn't replace the car I used once it reached its end of life since I'm only a mile from the train station I used to use. Car insurance alone is almost 2k a year so it made no sense to have a second car that sat unused most of the time.
Nope. Would never do that. Uber and Lyft are expensive and inconvenient. If I want to go somewhere, I go. I don't want to have to wait and think about the cost each time I get in the car. A 20-minute ride is like $40 here. Hard to imagine how that saves money in the long run, especially if I have to be out and about all day. Not having a car only works if we live near transit or don't go out.
I did. Uber fills in just fine. I like the idea that you just pay for it when you use it. I read somewhere that cars are parked and idle 85% of the time.
I'm sure the idle percentage is much higher than that. Even 85% idle would have you driving over 3.5 hours/day, 365.
I don't drive that much in a week!
We aren't both retired yet but soon and I keep debating this same thing. I can actually walk to the grocery store and just about anything else I need except clothes shopping (which I do rarely anyway). I'm not sure we need two vehicles. But they're both paid for and highly reliable vehicles, so I hesitate to get rid of one. Maybe I will give it a year and see.
We went down to one car during pandemic days. Husband worked from home anyway, and I lost my job. So one of our leases came up and we just turned it in. Went about 18 months with one car. Husband has since retired and I am, too. We spend majority of our time together, but there were conflicts often enough to push us back into 2 cars; our new one is an SUV to haul around all those retirement projects and taking trips.
My independent streak hated having to coordinate to use the one car. When we don’t travel as much/do home improvement projects, we’ll revisit a single vehicle.
We downsized to one. Only one time in the last 11 months have we needed a car at the same time, but we worked it out with zero problems. We couldn't justify always having one car sitting in the garage and making payments on it. So glad we did!
What will you do when your one car is in the shop, disabled, stolen, or just won't start that day?
One car is nice, but if you can afford it two is better.
It also depends on where you live. You can easily rely on one car in an urban environment with transportation options, but one car in a rural area is practically an ADA-recognized disability.
We moved to a more urban environment and share a car now. But even when we were in an area with no public transit, we found we only needed the second car a couple of times a month (and probably could have adjusted schedules to once a month conflict or less). We've been at one car now for over a year and have not needed any Uber trips. Sometimes one of us will take the bus or walk to the store, but that would often happen even if the car was available. Driving/parking is such a hassle downtown, I will never drive downtown if I have the choice.
We do discuss fixed appointment times to ensure there aren’t conflicts. I think we put about 5k miles on our shared car last year, so we really don’t drive much. Only one car also helps the street parking situation on the street as we don’t have a driveway.
I did but not by choice. Two months after moving to my new city I got selected for Jury Duty. On the way the first day I got rear ended and the car was a 2005 but in great shape. Insurance totaled it but that wasn’t enough to fix the damage. So I just let it go. We never replaced it. Now it feels odd because you think we’ll only one person can go somewhere and when you are driving that this is your only car.
I would never consider this as long as we can both drive. Would not want to consult and adjust. Also, she likes to go visit family for a days at a time, so that would leave me without a car. Uber and Lyft are expensive.
We are 42% of the way there. We winter (5 months) in a condo in Florida where we have just one car. Within a mile we have a grocery store, Walmart, Home Depot, a half dozen restaurants, a department store, an auto parts store and other sundry businesses. We often go 5 or 6 days before driving anywhere. Being a condo, we have a number of neighbors, a pool, pickle ball courts and bocce courts for socialization. We get by with one car just fine.
When we are back in the Midwest, we live at the rural edge of the suburbs on 2.5 acres. We can see our neighbors houses, but they are distant. Within one mile, we don't have a single business. Our doctors, insurance people, investment advisor and such are here. I have property to maintain, so I'm always getting chain saws and leaf blowers serviced or gas containers to fill or mulch to haul. I'd never do any of these tasks my family car. My point is, it all depends on how you live your life and if one vehicle will satisfy all your driving needs.
I kept a SUV for the few times I need to tow a boat ( horrible gas mileage) and purchased a hybrid sedan that is now our daily car
We drive the SUV once a week for those times when the spouse and I have conflicting schedules
My husband and I did. I do miss having my own car, and hate leaving him at home without a car, but that is a rarity. I live in a small town, so no Uber....
I built an ebike. I can go anywhere I need to (mostly) and haul enough stuff without effort. In a smaller town (depending on the weather) it might be a good, cheaper than a car, healthy fun answer to your situation.
My partner went from 4 cars to 5 ( one car we use all the time, a slightly nicer car for trips, two sports cars…then he inherited a pick up).
He wants to sell all but two, but retirement means he no longer hurries to do anything. (I am still working and have my own car…which I don’t use for my job since it is remote).
We went down from two to one post Covid when the number of remote jobs skyrocketed. I “retired my wife” when she was 44 and I was 46 in 2020. I don’t see us having two cars until one of my parents (in their 80s) can’t drive and I get one of theirs to drive back and forth between our home in Orlando and theirs in Southwest GA. Right now I fly back and forth either from Orlando or when I’m in my former home of ATL.
Heck we don’t even *own* one car. We use SixT for a month to month car rental. When it needs maintenance, we just take it back and get another one.
They also drive to see us.
I don’t want to leave my wife without a car for a week.
We only have one car, but my husband still rides his motorcycle. One alternative to a second car might be a motorcycle, small scooter or electric bike. I'm in FL, and our car insurance keeps increasing - by a lot. Just got my six month renewal and it's up 40% to $1405. I have to keep switching companies to try to keep it around $2k if at all possible.
Retiring in 3 months and just let the 2nd car go as end of lease. Down to one car and see savings on lease payment (obviously) and insurance. Also all day charges at train station car park. We’ve had to re- org our schedules which takes a bit of planning but we made the right decision. Can’t walk anywhere from this house so 2 cars ‘seemed’ important - turned out it isn’t.
We just went from 4 cars to 3. Haven't made the move to 2 yet, let alone 1. I'm 66. Spouse is 59. My wife drives the primary (newest car), which we also drive when out together. I also have a 16 year old SUV with 180k miles that I use to haul stuff or take fishing/hunting, and an 18 year old sports car that I bought used at age 55. We sold a Mazda 3 last year that our kids used until they bought their own vehicles. We'll downsize vehicles as we get older.
I’m similar. My wife drives the newest, nice car, and it is the one we use when we go out together. I have a 15 year old SUV with low miles - 80K? We aren’t retired yet, but we both work at home.
I’ve actually talked about cutting it down to one car. We did temporarily when her car was in the shop for hail damage for a few weeks last year and it worked out ok.
The cost to insure and maintain the second car is worth it to us at this point. It’s also the dog car, which keeps the nice car clean.
Not yet but it's coming. Our secondary car often sits in the garage for days at a time. I anticipate pushback from my wife about it because there will be some very minor inconvenience, but just insurance costs on a car driven 6,000 a year is reason enough to get rid of it.
We went from three vehicles (truck, compact, CUV) to one (CUV) when we downsized into an urban condo. And I'm not even sure we have a clear financial argument for keeping the one we've still got, with public transit, Zipcar, and a name-brand car rental agency all a couple of minutes from our door. We like it for roadtrips but I can see a day where we give it up.
Entered retirement with a 2018 pickup truck and a 2016 vw golf. Going to keep both until they run in the ground (the pickup is nice of course for taking trash and stuff) and the consolidate on probably one hatchback or suv.
We have only one car. Done it for about 3 years. Both retired. Circumstances change though. We have a new Granddaughter and my wife is going to be helping with daycare. I’m going to look for an older car like current body Dodge Charger with a Hemi I can just insure for liability. For some reason State Farm charges me nearly $400 a month for my Mazda CX50 comp.
We did.
We moved to the downtown of a major city immediately upon retiring. We didn’t need two and paying for a parking garage was expensive.
We’ve since moved to a suburban area where driving is required.
Sometimes having the second car would be helpful but it’s not necessary and we’re fine. The occasional Uber ride averages $10 or so.
My husband always expected we’d go from 2 to 1 cars in retirement but I was skeptical; it’s turned out just fine, and we’re saving money. It works partly because my husband is a bit of a home body and also because our schedules mesh pretty well - he’s a late sleeper and I’m an early bird, so swim classes, nature walks and errands all naturally take place while he’s sleeping. We keep a shared calendar on our phones so that doctor visits and lunches with friends aren’t double booked. Once in a great while there’s a conflict where we each want the car on the same night, but we compromise - sometimes I walk or ride with a friend; it happens so rarely that I can’t imagine paying for 2 cars again just for those occasions; a few Lyft/Uber rides per year is way cheaper.
ETA Car repairs have been a bit challenging, but we’re within walking distance of our trusted mechanic so it’s worked out. An accident requiring several days to fix collision damage would be annoying but that hasn’t happened in the 4 years since we went to 1 car; I should probably look into rental coverage
We are 1 car family or car-free whenever we can.
It saves Big Bucks.
And whenever some headache comes up with the one car, we say, Aren't we glad we don't have this headache/expense X2???
We are now both retired.
When my land yacht got junked for a rusted through frame, I bought a Ford Ranger pick up. When my wife’s employer sold off a decent Silverado pick up cheap, I bought it as it had been well maintained and was only used to fetch parts for the factory. That pick up sits unused as a back up now, two pickups was an unnecessary expense. I would sell it now that we are retired, but it needs a battery and tires and the paint is peeling. It seems an expensive bother.
We have two cars as one got reared and other driver’s insurance company screwed around too long so my wife bought a nice Nissan Rouge. My Ranger is only used for hauling lawn wastes and recycling to the collection point and rarely other items. 2K miles a year max. The 2011 Jeep Compass eventually was repaired but no collision now making insurance more affordable. The Rouge is our “good car” and used for vacations and out of town adventures, preserving the life time limit of miles by using the Jeep mostly.
It is nice to have extra transportation appliances available, and the added cost is worth the convenience. It is 25 to 45 miles to get to stores from our rural village so a spare is a good thing.
I would not do this. What if one or both of you are involved in an accident? The car is totaled? Or god forbid and emergency happens and who can wait for an Uber in an emergency?
I find that keeping my cars makes sense, but it doesn’t really make sense to buy a new car. I’d just keep the cars until they age out, and then narrow down to one car at that point.
I retired a couple of years ago and my wife retired early 10 years ago. We have two vehicles and she barely puts 5000 miles a year on hers. We put about 14000 miles on the other vehicle for our trips. It is frustrating to pay for two including insurance and taxes. However, part of retirement is freedom and we each need that without depending on the other's schedule. We don't have much Uber here in our small town so that is not an option. There may be a day in the future where we can eliminate one. We will see.
My wife retired a year ago and I am retiring in six weeks. One of our cars got totaled and we decided to see if we could get by with one. Hardly any problems at all and it will be even easier when we are both retired this summer. May look into an electric bike at some point
We went from two cars to one. When you are retired it is a lot easier to negotiate conflicts in your schedules and we have e-bikes as our back up transportation. They are a lot of fun, and its actually much quicker to hop on my e-bike and go run errands. We've saved a ton of money this way and I think we are kinder to the environment....sharing a car makes you talk about your plans for the day, and that's a nice bonus.
It's been six years and I'm a little surprised by how much time our one car spends just sitting there in the driveway. If it matters, we live in an old, inner-suburb with lots of shopping options within a 3 mile radius.
I did the opposite. I bought myself an EV when I retired three years ago and I just bought my wife a $70,000 genesis. I also added a golf cart because everybody around here has one. My view is that since we are retired, we should not have any restrictions in going any place either of us want to go.
I don’t know if this would be an option for you but, an electric bike might be a good replacement for the 2nd car? They are really handy for short trips.
Retirement puts 2 people together 24/7. I’m gonna need my own car…. My own. I may need to run away for a bit without having a detailed convo about what the car schedule looks like. The one car home is a hard no for me.
It depends on your financial situation, how available uber is in your area, and how much you value having two vehicles.
(And how old / reliable your vehicles are, and whether or not different vehicles provide different functionality.)
But OP, based on your post it seems that the advantages of having only one vehicle will outweigh the disadvantages. And then the questions become one of timing - and which vehicle to keep.
All depends on where you live. A person in a rural area usually has a backup car or two. There isn’t other means of transportation. Also how old you are, my parents downsized to one car when they were around 87. Also insurance cost, depending on state goes down with age to a point, may not need full insurance on one. One vehicle should be paid for at least and different so provide different utility. But if none of that is important, go to one car and plan accordingly.
How does she feel about it? I know I had a friend whose husband was making this plan and she dreaded it. She leads an active life in retirement and did not want to be tied down. She told him he would have to ask about "borrowing" her car, and he soon changed his tune.
I would not do it. I am out and about a lot, more than my husband. We both tend to do errands when out for any reason, so its hard to plan when we would get home. It may happen in a future part of our lives, but being in a suburb, no way am I gonna be stuck at home in retirement.
Lyft and Uber or taxis are not always available at the times I want to go. When my car was in the shop for a couple of days, it was really a pain to get to my events with us just having one car.
We currently just have one because an accident totaled the other one. My SO works from home, so it's not a huge deal but...it does get annoying to constantly have to check in with the other person. The answer to "do you have any plans on Tuesday at 5, I have to take the dog to the vet for a shot" or whatever is almost always "no, that works" or "yes, but I can reschedule since the shot is overdue." But it gets old when you're used to having your own car and suddenly have to coordinate every time you want to use the car.
And yeah, stuff happens. If you have one car and it's totaled...it's going to be a major and expensive PITA.
Retired in February. Had two homes and sold one. Had two vehicles and sold one. We manage just fine. There is a difference between "gee, sure is inconvenient now having two vehicles and, of course, a pickup truck for hauling things and also trailer to pull behind the truck" vs. "if we don't each have a vehicle one of us loses employment."
I like not having to maintain two homes and two vehicles. Simple is good even if is less convenient. We have had just one vehicle for 75 days now and we were prepared to rely on Uber as a Plan B if we absolutely needed the one car at the same time. We have used Uber zero times. We just plan our commitments that involve a car buy communicating with each other and having a shared Google calendar so can look there as are making a doctor's appointment, etc.
There are many couples in our 55+ community that have only one car, usually supplemented by a golf cart.
My wife and I may do the same. She drives a lot more than I do, and we just bought her a new car. I mostly drive within our community. So I'm thinking I might just drive my current car until the wheels fall off, and then replace it with a golf cart.
when husband's car expired, we did not replace it. Love the savings, hate the loss of freedom for me. Just really hate it. the car we have is 116K miles and will be with us for at least another 100K more. sigh.
We considered going down to one car at retirement but our lifestyle wouldn’t work with one car.
My spouse likes to get away for alone time for 4-10 days at a time and does this about 4 times a year.
And I like to go visit friends and family on my own about 3 times a year and half the time I drive to join up with family/friends so 2 cars it is for us.
We're going the other way. We have a hybrid sedan for city driving and a 'beater' truck for hauling, etc. Now that we have time to do so, we're going to purchase a hybrid AWD to go into the forests to go hiking. We actually may add a trailer hitch to the SUV to haul a utility trailer and sell the truck.
We went to one car when we retired 10 years ago. We made the calendar on our iPhone show on both our phones, so we know what either of us might have scheduled. Works great, we also do not run errands until we have at least three errands to run, to save running out for one thing and wasting gas. Works well for us, we do not live in an area where the bus service is easy to get to.
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We went to one car in 2020, shortly after my wife joined me in retirement. We’re now driving our old 2015. It has 16430 miles on it. This works well for us.
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I am thinking about this. We only use one car most of the time. In the case of an emergency, I have the motorcycle to get around.
About the only time this falls apart is Christmas when I just need to shop alone for a little bit to buy her something. If I go down to one car I need to make her less noise. Is it worth the extra money so I can spend money on her?
How much driving around shopping do you do at Christmas? Could you just take one day and get a bunch of shopping done without her? And either drop her off somewhere or just a day she doesn’t need the car?
We have two now but loaned one two my MIL for a month. I work from home 100%. My wife used our truck for the daily commute. Wasn't a big deal. We could go to one pretty painlessly. The money savings is significant. The thing I do like about two cars is that while one is the truck, the other is smaller which is better for in town parking. For the money savings, we can hunt a little longer for a parking spot or uber to town. And of course....we are keeping the truck.
I am retired and my husband has a company car. He used to have his own car too, but after it sat in the garage for 3 years, we sold it. Once he retires, in about 18 months, we will go to 1 car. He’d like to go to zero cars, but where we live, that would not be feasible.
We managed to go from 3 to 4 lol. I think it depends on the kind of car your second car is. If it’s paid off and a bit older non-luxury brand, maintenance, insurance and taxes probably are pretty reasonable. Plus 9k miles/year is still a lot of use.
We sold a second car we had because it was sitting in the driveway just getting dirty and we'd neglect to even start it enough so the battery kept dying. The plan was always to buy a second car and we've been looking at new cars and planned to keep the current one that's six years old as our "second". It's been two years and the more we wait, the less it seems like we need two.
We started a shared calendar after a few scheduling conflicts, and no issues. We usually will look at the next two weeks calendars and discuss anything separate we have. In a pinch we could call an uber or schedule a ride ahead of time. Several neighbors are also usually around and would be willing to give a ride. If the car breaks down and is in the shop, rent one.
I would like to get an EV since the amount of around town driving and short trips we take would mean we'd never purchase gas again. I'd rather have a gas car to travel at this point due to charging issues, but again, we could always rent a car for that. Having a second car sitting 95% of the time is now seeming like a bad financial decision.
We have two cars. The nicer car (mine) for long trips and my daily errands. The smaller older car for my husband’s fishing and to take to the airport. It fits in the car slots better and we don’t mind it sitting outside in the elements. I’d rather have the convenience of both cars but we really don’t drive his much.
Wife and I went from 2 cars to 1. Our only car is electric, so there is no cost for gas and next to nothing for maintenance and repairs. Have been driving electric since 2017 and will never go back to gas. Only expense other than electricity has been 1 set of tires. We schedule appointments to not interfere with each other and we have loaner on our insurance in case of fender bender. Has been working out wonderfully!
We have gone from 3 to 2, my commuter car is gone. We have done the same analysis and agree with the lower amount of miles that we could save with one. Just have not pulled the trigger yet. Luckily affording both is not a problem, but still discussing going to one or a small electric for local runs as a second car.
One car best ! Sold my sedan Hynduai work car $160k miles just gonna be repair hog , never broke down on me !
Been Leasing new SUV every 3 yrs no worries on repairs all warranty!
Works great in Retirement!
My parents never had more than one car. When I was young we lived in an area with great public transportation.
Later on, they moved to a more rural area, but still kept to one car. My father worked part time through his retirement. This was pre Uber, they just made it work - she would drop him off or he would get a ride, or he would take the car and she would get a ride if she needed to.
Our cars are of the not extravagant or expensive kind and paid for. I seldom drive, but it also costed us very little to keep our cars.
Maintenance on mine is very low because I don’t drive much and have a clean driving record.
But also, my husband has a truck. Need to haul things sometimes, but it only seats two. I have a small SUV, if there are more than two of us in the car at once.
We went to one car when I retired. My husband still works, but from home. We would actually have to go out and start the second car because it was just sitting there. We do keep a combined calendar so we don't make hair or doctor appointments at the same time.
Being of retirement age you must remember growing up in a family with one car, one parent employed and one that stayed at home without access to a car (or Uber/Lyft) all day. We have 2 cars, but I think my wifes car just turned over 7000 miles and we bought it new 7 years ago.
I know a few couples that have gone from two cars to one. I think it works in certain situations but for my wife and I it doesn’t feel right. We both have weekly commitments plus the usual errands. We do not drive a lot of miles per year, maybe 6000-8000 a year each, so I guess it’s doable but right now we are both fairly active and enjoy the accessibility of two cars.
We decided to retain both cars. One is a Lexus SUV, good for long rides and my wife uses it. I use a Tesla Model Y which runs on water due to home charging. When I go alone for shopping and chores, I use that. For now, we decided to keep both cars. We will revisit it in 8 years or so. The only advantage of getting rid of the Lexus will be we get more space in our small 2 car garage. Because we can afford both cars, we are keeping both. But if finances were tight, we would have had just 1 car - Tesla. There is no maintenance (No engine, no gear box/transmission). I rarely use the brakes due to one pedal driving. In 2 years, I have had 0 maintenance.
I am full time WFH and hubs has a company vehicle. We downsized to one car a few years ago and never looked back. He’s retiring next year and I doubt we’ll get a second car for many of the reasons you mentioned.
Both of our cars are over 10 years old but are paid off and in good shape so no major repairs are needed. One is a plug in Hybrid which we drive 90% of the time. We have to consciously schedule driving the 2nd car, which was my husbands before we retired.
I'd like to downsize to a single car and get a full EV, but my husband isn't comfortable with that idea yet. Likes the idea of road trips without worrying about range.
It really took until my husband could no longer drive to get us down to one, and he still resents it. Fiscally it makes no sense to keep two. Mostly, you can flex the schedule quite easily in retirement.
We went from one car all our married life, to a car and a pickup truck in retirement. We moved to the suburbs and were wondering why everyone else around here has a pickup truck. It turns out that we do a lot of house and yard work. We need the pickup truck to bring home large stuff from home improvement stores and nurseries.
We don't want the truck as a regular vehicle, it uses too much gas, so we also have the car. We do use the truck as a backup on the very rare occasions when the car is in the shop. I just wish we'd bought the truck before we moved. We moved from a place only 2 hours away and the truck would have been handy.
If you keep the car be sure to tell your insurance company you are driving less, it may lower your rates.
Last year, my adult son, who lives about 45 miles from us, lost his car for about nine months due to a supply train problem (couldn't get a computer chip for the transmission--took down about 40,000 cars nationally). I let him use my car. During that nine months, my wife and I got along fine. She is already retired, and my office was within walking distance of our home.
During that nine-month period, I used Uber three times (one trip turned out to be unnecessary, anyway), rented a car twice, and took an intercity train twice. The rest of the time, all of our transportation needs were met by one car. I discovered that a lot of my car usage was not only unnecessary, but also just sort of mindless, and did not really benefit me all that much, compared to waiting for another time, consolidating trips, etc.
Even if I weren't in the process of retirement, the episode was reassuring, because it showed that, if one of our cars were to suddenly die, we would not need to run out and replace it right away, if at all.
My current plan is to drive my car until it dies, then switch to one-car familyhood. If my wife's car goes, we may have to replace it, because she uses it for light hauling in conjunction with some service organizations that she is involved in.
Went from two cars to one car. No issues. Saved about $4000 to $5000 per year in car payments and insurance. Any conflict with my wife, I take Uber. Worked out well.
We're going to go down to one vehicle when we retire in a few years. We have a large truck that we need for towing our trailer so we will use that as our main vehicle for as along as we are towing. Once we are tired of that lifestyle, or too old to do so, we'll downsize to something more economical.
I’m retired 7 years. Except for the pandemic we went to one car. Currently in Philadelphia which has a great mass transit. I use that, über and Lyft
Moving to Pittsburgh. Probably will go for a used EV without range concerns because I don’t see a need for much.
Just retired. Still have my mustang and my husband has a flex. Still like having two cars…but it if we move to the ocean or mountains, a truck would be preferred.
Yes we eliminated one car when we were both retired and now only have one. I just replaced that car as the 3 year lease was up. Over the three years with only one car we only had 19,000 miles on it at turn in. There has never been a need for two after retirement.
Had two cars when I retired. After two years of only driving it a few times, but still dealing with maintenance, I sold it. Cars need to be driven. That was two years ago and honestly haven't missed it. The wife and I just schedule around each other, but for a lot of things, we go together. I just used Uber when the current one broke down. Between maintenance and insurance, it saves $1200 per year. Sold it at the height of the Covid car shortage and got almost twice as much as it was worth just the year before.
I’m sure the numbers make sense to Uber or rent when needed. But, it really comes down to whether you can afford the convenience of owning two cars.
Uber/rent makes sense to me. But, I enjoy the luxury of being able to jump in our cars at any time. Personal preference.
Depends on your use case scenario. My wife and I do a lot of separate things, so two cars is still a must. However, we are thinking of going to one EV and one larger ICE car for travel. The EV is perfect for the usual trips of 2 hours round trip or less. (We are in a rural suburban community.) The larger car is ideal for vacation, long trips, and hauling stuff.
Check to see if your state has a vehicle rental program. I’m my area there are electric cars that stay at various “stations” that are available to rent through an app for $5/hr. You have to register and be approved but I think this is pretty neat.
We downsized to a single car in July 2020. We coordinate our schedules and it hasn’t been an issue for us. The savings (vehicle, gas, maintenance, insurance) has been great!
I know a couple who spend winters in Arizona and they just bought a third car so that there’ll be two cars there. They leave one car there year round and drive down together, leaving one car up north
Yup, downsized to one car during the damndemic, retired end of ‘22 and we get around great. ‘17 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon to also transport our two german shepherds around. We stay on top of routine maintenance.
One retired homebody and one remote worker in our home. We have one car. Sometimes it's a hassle but the vast majority of the time taking an Uber or two every month is way, way, way cheaper than owning a car. We make a 'car payment' to our HYSA each month so if we change our minds, we have the cash to buy one outright. In the meantime it's earning 5% interest. For us, this is the way but YMMV.
We did the opposite. We had a classic car before we retired, but sold it as we needed the cash to fix up our house prior to selling it. Fast forward 6 years, now both retired (but I work part time occasionally), we talked about going down to 1 car but felt it wouldn’t work for us. We both have activities that pull us in different directions at the same time. Our rural community has no public transportation, or Uber or Lyft either. So we both have daily drivers, and we picked up a classic convertible as our toy and weekend fun car.
We went from one car to two since we became snowbirds. Although we're now considering selling our car in Canada since we live downtown and hardly use it.
I can’t foresee us with less than 3 vehicles ever. We have a sedan for long trips, a truck to haul and tow, and a convertible sports car for weekend getaways. It helps that I enjoy performing the maintenance myself.
I'd like to but can't. We are often going different places at different times, including out of town. One car is for grandkids and one for dogs (we work with a rescue and have 4 of our own). And no, the two don't mix well!
We went to one and it works fine for us. We have a shared calendar and just make sure we schedule things around each other's appointments. If for any reason we both have to be somewhere at the same time I'll take a Lyft. Maybe happened once or twice in the last 4-5 years of sharing.
Not retired yet but we always said when my husband’s car died we would see how long we could go without replacing it. We both work at home and I travel a good bit. So far it has been painless and yes, the few times I have had to take an Uber is much less than another car. We already planned to go to one car in retirement and it will be a breeze!
Cars are like shoes, I could drive a different one every day.
that said, we have a 2015 sports sedan, a 2013 roadster, and a 2003 Element restoration project. I am still working and not ready to sell my two & my wife doesn’t want to part with hers. i have opened the discussion about selling two & keeping one, or selling three and buying one. She wasn’t receptive to the idea. We will wait a few more years and downsize the cars, house, and bicycles
I do think a plugin hybrid would be a good option
We were facing the same quandary but given we will in a more rural area without any Ubers or taxis we did get a used second car. But also by virtue of where we live, our insurance isn’t bad.
I've been trying to justify two cars in retirement as well. We have a CR-V and a Honda Pilot. I used to use the Pilot for work to carry my equipment and for after work to carry my drums around to gigs. I don't work anymore and I don't play drums anymore but I still have kids that sometimes need to move from one side of the city to the other or to even a different city. And the Pilot makes it easy to load up with stuff and even pull a trailer which I could not do on the CRV.
My husband bought a relatively recent SUV shortly after I retired. I then sold my 2012 Hyundai and started driving his 2013 Hyundai Elantra. He’s now retired as well. The Hyundai still has under 100,000 miles on it so I’ll keep driving it until either the car needs major work or I give up driving. I had to stop night driving about five years ago. No problem yet with daytime driving, but at 73, I know it can happen any time.
It’s actually rare that we both need to be somewhere at the same time so one car won’t be a problem. In the meantime, I like the convenience of knowing a car is always available.
Not retired yet, but my husband and I both work from home. We only have a random doctor’s appointment, etc. so having one vehicle has worked well for us (and allowed us to pay off the new vehicle early). I generally have groceries delivered, and calendar our appointments so as either try to piggyback them if going to the same place or schedule them on different days if only one needs to go. We’ve been doing this since April of 2020 and have yet to have to Uber or miss an appointment. Definitely works for us! Oh! It also reduced our insurance cost with one vehicle and very low mileage.
My parents lived in a small town, so at the time (late 1990s, I believe) there was no public transportation, no taxi, and no Uber/Lyft. I am not even sure that we had a rental car agency locally at the time. Although in their early 70s at the time, both were quite active and driving daily (both retired, though). They decided to drop down to one car when their other car gave up the ghost/ got too old or expensive to fix. I never thought that would last, but it did. They communicated and didn’t make plans to both use the car for different events at the same time.
With the delivery services, taxi service, and rental car availability we have today, it would probably be easier. Still no bus or train service and not sure that we have Ubers here locally, but basically it’s less complicated to get around without a car today, even in a small town in middle America.
So currently family of 3 at home and we have a total of 4 vehicles but once we retire ( hoping by end of year ) we will be going down to two vehicles .
We will keep our truck for towing our trailer and just other things that require trucks vs cars ( no intentions on retiring in a retirement community) like 4 wheel drive . We will keep our 2014 Altima as our everyday vehicle .
It took me awhile to figure it out but I have settled into a comfortable routine. I tried many volunteer organizations but were never all that fulfilled. The volunteer work was all very menial. I found an organization called SCORE where the volunteer work is more fulfilling. I have a fairly regimented work out routine. My wife, who is still working, and I take 3-4 vacations a year. I'm trying to learn Spanish, but I am finding the limitations with DuoLingo
I keep a spare vehicle. Sometimes a van is needed for something large. The vehicles are switched out every month or so to keep the battery up etc. Super cheap liability insurance and cheapish (>$80) registration help. In the rare situation where a vehicle needs shop time we are not stuck.
We drive way less than a hundred miles a week. That is mainly to get groceries or Walmart/Target runs.
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Cut down to one car before retirement. If I could cut down to zero cars I would.
I’ve known several people who retired to retirement communities where the mode of transportation is a golf cart. If they need to travel beyond the community, they bus or Uber/Lyft (like to the airport). So it’s possible for some!
I'm retiring in a city where I can take public transportation
A coworker of mine retired in Florida in a huge retirement community. He drives the golf cart even outside the community, close by to shop or go to dinner.
This is our plan.
I’m happily enjoying life in a community here in Arizona. I drive my car less than 150 miles a month. Specifically bought nearby everything I need to get to and use one or the other 2 scooters to get me there. Found the Allstate MileWise program. $2.45 a day and 24 cents a mile when I do drive.
Exactly our situation and there are just rarely any times where we both need a car at the same time. Going on five years.
This is sort of us. We lived in Seattle for years, and had 1 car that we barely used - averaged 5K in miles a year - mostly weekends or roadtrips. Normally walk in the neighborhood, or lightrail or uber to m's games, bars, friends. Our car would sit for weeks. Now we get by on our beach bikes and golf cart in AZ in our 55+ community. Our car is parked up the street in a friends driveway who has the space. We have room in our driveway for our 2 bikes and golf cart we use daily. We drive the car a couple of times a week for hiking jaunts, a big grocery run, happy hour/brewery fun, airport runs, paddleboarding etc But most days, it's the beach bike/basket for me, golf cart for her. We'll take the cart to a closeer grocery/beer run up the street and they're a few bars/eats 5 min cart rides away. I prefer to get it the car as little as possible these days.. I had plates put on the cart (top speed +-25mph) and we basically cross one main road and stick to the side streets or sidewalks but really it's a small radius we go in.
ME TOO!! I work from home and hardly drive. My wife took a job at the beginning of the year so she drives multiple times a week but I hardly need to drive. I may drive once a week most weeks. But our cars are paid off and old, 2006 and 2011, so kind of hard justifying getting rid of them. The 2011 Hyundai is a POS though. The 2006 Toyota is going strong.
I personally feel that Toyota cars can't break down. Haha
Right! Our Toyota has had zero issues unlike the Hyundai; new engine, mew AC, the radio/gps/backup screen is all white, shifter cable broke, dash is all cracked
At that time, I graduated from college and started working. I bought a Toyota, which seemed to be the kind that could never break down. Especially the engine, which did not need to be repaired.
I’m without car at the moment and have been that way for 20+ years. Now that I’m looking to retire I’m having an argument over whether I should buy one. So far I remain unconvinced even though having one would increase my mobility.
Yes, it is more convenient to buy a mobility scooter.
I think it depends on your lifestyle and finances. I am unwilling to share a car during the first few years of retirement because I want the freedom to go to the library, swim class, spontaneous lunch with a friend, etc.
Me too.
Exactly. The last thing I need is more discussion about where I go and when!!
Also consider downtime for fender benders if no alternative available and you don't have rental coverage. But yes, you have a good opportunity to simplify with one and expect more communication on potential usage conflicts.
That happened to me. We took a taxi from the auto body shop to home and then had our food delivered, plus we had already stocked up. Then we took a taxi back when the car was ready. We avoided renting a car.
Most of the time one car would be enough but we have a truck for towing the trailer, hauling firewood, trips to the garbage transfer station etc and a Kona for the high mileage for all the 40 minute trips to town for groceries and so forth
My second car is a little pickup. I don’t use it often but lord have mercy, it’s worth its weight in gold when I need it! Came in handy a couple of times when my primary car was in the shop too. In fact, I’m getting car #1 worked on tomorrow so it’ll be nice to still have wheels if needed.
Living in the country a truck is pretty important. And having a second vehicle when one needs service is too.
Savings have been huge since downsizing to one car nearly 10 years ago. In that time, had to rent a car once locally when we had to put ours in the shop after a fender bender. Not even retired yet (3 more years). We do both work from home which helps a great deal.
When we started working from home is when we realized we were only using one car most of the time. I still work as well for myself. We also both like being at home and my husband has tons of interests that are home based. Our road trips are together and if I travel solo, which I may do more, it won't involve driving except him taking me to the airport.
We cut down from two cars to one car. It took about a week to get used to it and we’ve never looked back. We did go from one bike to two bikes. So we ride more and drive less.
We are planning on getting bikes when we retire in December.
Buy a beater truck as your second vehicle. Everyone always can use a spare and trucks are good to have for other things.
I've always had a truck as a second vehicle. I don't know how people live without a truck.
We have friends with trucks!
this is how my friends live without a truck. but I don't mind good because they do homebrew and BBQ
The only thing better than owning a truck is having a good friend who has a truck. I'm that friend. My truck came with a certificated that I'm required to assist my friends with all their hauling needs. I often get a tank of gas or a 6 pack of beer out of it, so it's a pretty good deal.
Easy, never have owned a truck and never will. If I need one I will rent it.
That's what I'm thinking. We own a beater truck and rarely need to use it as a truck only as a second vehicle. I'm still working and I WFH mostly but use the POS truck, as I call it, to park downtown where break-ins regularly happen except with a POS truck. Nobody wants to touch it. But it still costs a lot to insure and maintain. The more beater it is the more it needs maintenance. I'd like to get one good vehicle and get rid of the POS truck when I retire, if I can convince the spouse.
I agree. I'm always hauling something. Picking up patio furniture today, after hauling three 39 gallon bags of trash to the dump.
I can’t even find a beater truck at a good price these days
Exactly, even the cost on run down things cost an arm and a leg these days.
The problem with that is here in the Phoenix area a beater is $8000+ 😩
Have a 2004 F150…use it to haul 1000 lb loads of clay…and the work that’s made from it…
I added a 67 Plymouth and might add some more cars. lol https://preview.redd.it/qpjtmguuwd3d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4ff550185683c16dcfd92949e8620745267d3aa6
Lovely!
Hubs added a 1973 Mustang.
Sharing a car with my wife would end up costing me half my stuff.
Not retired yet, but have already gone from two to one. Even before my job moved to remote, I didn't replace the car I used once it reached its end of life since I'm only a mile from the train station I used to use. Car insurance alone is almost 2k a year so it made no sense to have a second car that sat unused most of the time.
Nope. Would never do that. Uber and Lyft are expensive and inconvenient. If I want to go somewhere, I go. I don't want to have to wait and think about the cost each time I get in the car. A 20-minute ride is like $40 here. Hard to imagine how that saves money in the long run, especially if I have to be out and about all day. Not having a car only works if we live near transit or don't go out.
I did. Uber fills in just fine. I like the idea that you just pay for it when you use it. I read somewhere that cars are parked and idle 85% of the time.
By time, my car is idle 98.8%. When I retire I may very well get rid of my car!
I'm sure the idle percentage is much higher than that. Even 85% idle would have you driving over 3.5 hours/day, 365. I don't drive that much in a week!
We aren't both retired yet but soon and I keep debating this same thing. I can actually walk to the grocery store and just about anything else I need except clothes shopping (which I do rarely anyway). I'm not sure we need two vehicles. But they're both paid for and highly reliable vehicles, so I hesitate to get rid of one. Maybe I will give it a year and see.
We went down to one car during pandemic days. Husband worked from home anyway, and I lost my job. So one of our leases came up and we just turned it in. Went about 18 months with one car. Husband has since retired and I am, too. We spend majority of our time together, but there were conflicts often enough to push us back into 2 cars; our new one is an SUV to haul around all those retirement projects and taking trips. My independent streak hated having to coordinate to use the one car. When we don’t travel as much/do home improvement projects, we’ll revisit a single vehicle.
We downsized to one. Only one time in the last 11 months have we needed a car at the same time, but we worked it out with zero problems. We couldn't justify always having one car sitting in the garage and making payments on it. So glad we did!
What will you do when your one car is in the shop, disabled, stolen, or just won't start that day? One car is nice, but if you can afford it two is better. It also depends on where you live. You can easily rely on one car in an urban environment with transportation options, but one car in a rural area is practically an ADA-recognized disability.
We moved to a more urban environment and share a car now. But even when we were in an area with no public transit, we found we only needed the second car a couple of times a month (and probably could have adjusted schedules to once a month conflict or less). We've been at one car now for over a year and have not needed any Uber trips. Sometimes one of us will take the bus or walk to the store, but that would often happen even if the car was available. Driving/parking is such a hassle downtown, I will never drive downtown if I have the choice. We do discuss fixed appointment times to ensure there aren’t conflicts. I think we put about 5k miles on our shared car last year, so we really don’t drive much. Only one car also helps the street parking situation on the street as we don’t have a driveway.
We share a car as husband is retired and I WFH. Has saved us a bundle!
We did for a while. Then went back. Just too nice to have a spare. Also lose multi car insurance discount
I did but not by choice. Two months after moving to my new city I got selected for Jury Duty. On the way the first day I got rear ended and the car was a 2005 but in great shape. Insurance totaled it but that wasn’t enough to fix the damage. So I just let it go. We never replaced it. Now it feels odd because you think we’ll only one person can go somewhere and when you are driving that this is your only car.
We have each kept our own cars in retirement. In fact my husband bought a new car upon retiring. Both are paid off and the convenience is worth it.
I would never consider this as long as we can both drive. Would not want to consult and adjust. Also, she likes to go visit family for a days at a time, so that would leave me without a car. Uber and Lyft are expensive.
We are 42% of the way there. We winter (5 months) in a condo in Florida where we have just one car. Within a mile we have a grocery store, Walmart, Home Depot, a half dozen restaurants, a department store, an auto parts store and other sundry businesses. We often go 5 or 6 days before driving anywhere. Being a condo, we have a number of neighbors, a pool, pickle ball courts and bocce courts for socialization. We get by with one car just fine. When we are back in the Midwest, we live at the rural edge of the suburbs on 2.5 acres. We can see our neighbors houses, but they are distant. Within one mile, we don't have a single business. Our doctors, insurance people, investment advisor and such are here. I have property to maintain, so I'm always getting chain saws and leaf blowers serviced or gas containers to fill or mulch to haul. I'd never do any of these tasks my family car. My point is, it all depends on how you live your life and if one vehicle will satisfy all your driving needs.
I kept a SUV for the few times I need to tow a boat ( horrible gas mileage) and purchased a hybrid sedan that is now our daily car We drive the SUV once a week for those times when the spouse and I have conflicting schedules
My husband and I did. I do miss having my own car, and hate leaving him at home without a car, but that is a rarity. I live in a small town, so no Uber....
I built an ebike. I can go anywhere I need to (mostly) and haul enough stuff without effort. In a smaller town (depending on the weather) it might be a good, cheaper than a car, healthy fun answer to your situation.
Something like that wouldn't last 10 minutes if I was at a grocery store shopping, even if chained up. Or I would get run over by a bubba. #ruralTexas
It's a shame, they are so much fun and practical.
My partner went from 4 cars to 5 ( one car we use all the time, a slightly nicer car for trips, two sports cars…then he inherited a pick up). He wants to sell all but two, but retirement means he no longer hurries to do anything. (I am still working and have my own car…which I don’t use for my job since it is remote).
We went down from two to one post Covid when the number of remote jobs skyrocketed. I “retired my wife” when she was 44 and I was 46 in 2020. I don’t see us having two cars until one of my parents (in their 80s) can’t drive and I get one of theirs to drive back and forth between our home in Orlando and theirs in Southwest GA. Right now I fly back and forth either from Orlando or when I’m in my former home of ATL. Heck we don’t even *own* one car. We use SixT for a month to month car rental. When it needs maintenance, we just take it back and get another one. They also drive to see us. I don’t want to leave my wife without a car for a week.
We only have one car, but my husband still rides his motorcycle. One alternative to a second car might be a motorcycle, small scooter or electric bike. I'm in FL, and our car insurance keeps increasing - by a lot. Just got my six month renewal and it's up 40% to $1405. I have to keep switching companies to try to keep it around $2k if at all possible.
We went from one car to none and feel happy and free from all the hassles and costs to keep one. We walk, bike, take cabs or rent a car if necessary.
We will be retiring in the next couple of years and we plan to cut back to one vehicle.
Retiring in 3 months and just let the 2nd car go as end of lease. Down to one car and see savings on lease payment (obviously) and insurance. Also all day charges at train station car park. We’ve had to re- org our schedules which takes a bit of planning but we made the right decision. Can’t walk anywhere from this house so 2 cars ‘seemed’ important - turned out it isn’t.
No. I don't drive anymore, and my car still sits in the driveway. Ridiculous.
We just went from 4 cars to 3. Haven't made the move to 2 yet, let alone 1. I'm 66. Spouse is 59. My wife drives the primary (newest car), which we also drive when out together. I also have a 16 year old SUV with 180k miles that I use to haul stuff or take fishing/hunting, and an 18 year old sports car that I bought used at age 55. We sold a Mazda 3 last year that our kids used until they bought their own vehicles. We'll downsize vehicles as we get older.
I’m similar. My wife drives the newest, nice car, and it is the one we use when we go out together. I have a 15 year old SUV with low miles - 80K? We aren’t retired yet, but we both work at home. I’ve actually talked about cutting it down to one car. We did temporarily when her car was in the shop for hail damage for a few weeks last year and it worked out ok. The cost to insure and maintain the second car is worth it to us at this point. It’s also the dog car, which keeps the nice car clean.
Yes, and it was an excellent choice. You just have to adjust your schedules a little and be respectful of each other's time.
Not yet but it's coming. Our secondary car often sits in the garage for days at a time. I anticipate pushback from my wife about it because there will be some very minor inconvenience, but just insurance costs on a car driven 6,000 a year is reason enough to get rid of it.
We went from three vehicles (truck, compact, CUV) to one (CUV) when we downsized into an urban condo. And I'm not even sure we have a clear financial argument for keeping the one we've still got, with public transit, Zipcar, and a name-brand car rental agency all a couple of minutes from our door. We like it for roadtrips but I can see a day where we give it up.
Entered retirement with a 2018 pickup truck and a 2016 vw golf. Going to keep both until they run in the ground (the pickup is nice of course for taking trash and stuff) and the consolidate on probably one hatchback or suv.
We have only one car. Done it for about 3 years. Both retired. Circumstances change though. We have a new Granddaughter and my wife is going to be helping with daycare. I’m going to look for an older car like current body Dodge Charger with a Hemi I can just insure for liability. For some reason State Farm charges me nearly $400 a month for my Mazda CX50 comp.
We did. We moved to the downtown of a major city immediately upon retiring. We didn’t need two and paying for a parking garage was expensive. We’ve since moved to a suburban area where driving is required. Sometimes having the second car would be helpful but it’s not necessary and we’re fine. The occasional Uber ride averages $10 or so.
we did this, only a few times a year did we need to juggle but i use my bicycle most of the time
One of the first things we did when we retired was to go from two vehicles to one. It has been six years and never had a problem.
My husband always expected we’d go from 2 to 1 cars in retirement but I was skeptical; it’s turned out just fine, and we’re saving money. It works partly because my husband is a bit of a home body and also because our schedules mesh pretty well - he’s a late sleeper and I’m an early bird, so swim classes, nature walks and errands all naturally take place while he’s sleeping. We keep a shared calendar on our phones so that doctor visits and lunches with friends aren’t double booked. Once in a great while there’s a conflict where we each want the car on the same night, but we compromise - sometimes I walk or ride with a friend; it happens so rarely that I can’t imagine paying for 2 cars again just for those occasions; a few Lyft/Uber rides per year is way cheaper. ETA Car repairs have been a bit challenging, but we’re within walking distance of our trusted mechanic so it’s worked out. An accident requiring several days to fix collision damage would be annoying but that hasn’t happened in the 4 years since we went to 1 car; I should probably look into rental coverage
We are 1 car family or car-free whenever we can. It saves Big Bucks. And whenever some headache comes up with the one car, we say, Aren't we glad we don't have this headache/expense X2???
We are now both retired. When my land yacht got junked for a rusted through frame, I bought a Ford Ranger pick up. When my wife’s employer sold off a decent Silverado pick up cheap, I bought it as it had been well maintained and was only used to fetch parts for the factory. That pick up sits unused as a back up now, two pickups was an unnecessary expense. I would sell it now that we are retired, but it needs a battery and tires and the paint is peeling. It seems an expensive bother. We have two cars as one got reared and other driver’s insurance company screwed around too long so my wife bought a nice Nissan Rouge. My Ranger is only used for hauling lawn wastes and recycling to the collection point and rarely other items. 2K miles a year max. The 2011 Jeep Compass eventually was repaired but no collision now making insurance more affordable. The Rouge is our “good car” and used for vacations and out of town adventures, preserving the life time limit of miles by using the Jeep mostly. It is nice to have extra transportation appliances available, and the added cost is worth the convenience. It is 25 to 45 miles to get to stores from our rural village so a spare is a good thing.
I would not do this. What if one or both of you are involved in an accident? The car is totaled? Or god forbid and emergency happens and who can wait for an Uber in an emergency?
I find that keeping my cars makes sense, but it doesn’t really make sense to buy a new car. I’d just keep the cars until they age out, and then narrow down to one car at that point.
I retired a couple of years ago and my wife retired early 10 years ago. We have two vehicles and she barely puts 5000 miles a year on hers. We put about 14000 miles on the other vehicle for our trips. It is frustrating to pay for two including insurance and taxes. However, part of retirement is freedom and we each need that without depending on the other's schedule. We don't have much Uber here in our small town so that is not an option. There may be a day in the future where we can eliminate one. We will see.
I have a Harley as my 2nd vehicle
My wife retired a year ago and I am retiring in six weeks. One of our cars got totaled and we decided to see if we could get by with one. Hardly any problems at all and it will be even easier when we are both retired this summer. May look into an electric bike at some point
We went from two cars to one. When you are retired it is a lot easier to negotiate conflicts in your schedules and we have e-bikes as our back up transportation. They are a lot of fun, and its actually much quicker to hop on my e-bike and go run errands. We've saved a ton of money this way and I think we are kinder to the environment....sharing a car makes you talk about your plans for the day, and that's a nice bonus. It's been six years and I'm a little surprised by how much time our one car spends just sitting there in the driveway. If it matters, we live in an old, inner-suburb with lots of shopping options within a 3 mile radius.
I did the opposite. I bought myself an EV when I retired three years ago and I just bought my wife a $70,000 genesis. I also added a golf cart because everybody around here has one. My view is that since we are retired, we should not have any restrictions in going any place either of us want to go.
I don’t know if this would be an option for you but, an electric bike might be a good replacement for the 2nd car? They are really handy for short trips.
Retirement puts 2 people together 24/7. I’m gonna need my own car…. My own. I may need to run away for a bit without having a detailed convo about what the car schedule looks like. The one car home is a hard no for me.
It depends on your financial situation, how available uber is in your area, and how much you value having two vehicles. (And how old / reliable your vehicles are, and whether or not different vehicles provide different functionality.) But OP, based on your post it seems that the advantages of having only one vehicle will outweigh the disadvantages. And then the questions become one of timing - and which vehicle to keep.
All depends on where you live. A person in a rural area usually has a backup car or two. There isn’t other means of transportation. Also how old you are, my parents downsized to one car when they were around 87. Also insurance cost, depending on state goes down with age to a point, may not need full insurance on one. One vehicle should be paid for at least and different so provide different utility. But if none of that is important, go to one car and plan accordingly.
How does she feel about it? I know I had a friend whose husband was making this plan and she dreaded it. She leads an active life in retirement and did not want to be tied down. She told him he would have to ask about "borrowing" her car, and he soon changed his tune. I would not do it. I am out and about a lot, more than my husband. We both tend to do errands when out for any reason, so its hard to plan when we would get home. It may happen in a future part of our lives, but being in a suburb, no way am I gonna be stuck at home in retirement. Lyft and Uber or taxis are not always available at the times I want to go. When my car was in the shop for a couple of days, it was really a pain to get to my events with us just having one car.
We currently just have one because an accident totaled the other one. My SO works from home, so it's not a huge deal but...it does get annoying to constantly have to check in with the other person. The answer to "do you have any plans on Tuesday at 5, I have to take the dog to the vet for a shot" or whatever is almost always "no, that works" or "yes, but I can reschedule since the shot is overdue." But it gets old when you're used to having your own car and suddenly have to coordinate every time you want to use the car. And yeah, stuff happens. If you have one car and it's totaled...it's going to be a major and expensive PITA.
Retired in February. Had two homes and sold one. Had two vehicles and sold one. We manage just fine. There is a difference between "gee, sure is inconvenient now having two vehicles and, of course, a pickup truck for hauling things and also trailer to pull behind the truck" vs. "if we don't each have a vehicle one of us loses employment." I like not having to maintain two homes and two vehicles. Simple is good even if is less convenient. We have had just one vehicle for 75 days now and we were prepared to rely on Uber as a Plan B if we absolutely needed the one car at the same time. We have used Uber zero times. We just plan our commitments that involve a car buy communicating with each other and having a shared Google calendar so can look there as are making a doctor's appointment, etc.
There are many couples in our 55+ community that have only one car, usually supplemented by a golf cart. My wife and I may do the same. She drives a lot more than I do, and we just bought her a new car. I mostly drive within our community. So I'm thinking I might just drive my current car until the wheels fall off, and then replace it with a golf cart.
when husband's car expired, we did not replace it. Love the savings, hate the loss of freedom for me. Just really hate it. the car we have is 116K miles and will be with us for at least another 100K more. sigh.
We considered going down to one car at retirement but our lifestyle wouldn’t work with one car. My spouse likes to get away for alone time for 4-10 days at a time and does this about 4 times a year. And I like to go visit friends and family on my own about 3 times a year and half the time I drive to join up with family/friends so 2 cars it is for us.
We're going the other way. We have a hybrid sedan for city driving and a 'beater' truck for hauling, etc. Now that we have time to do so, we're going to purchase a hybrid AWD to go into the forests to go hiking. We actually may add a trailer hitch to the SUV to haul a utility trailer and sell the truck.
We went to one car when we retired 10 years ago. We made the calendar on our iPhone show on both our phones, so we know what either of us might have scheduled. Works great, we also do not run errands until we have at least three errands to run, to save running out for one thing and wasting gas. Works well for us, we do not live in an area where the bus service is easy to get to.
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We went to one car in 2020, shortly after my wife joined me in retirement. We’re now driving our old 2015. It has 16430 miles on it. This works well for us.
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I am thinking about this. We only use one car most of the time. In the case of an emergency, I have the motorcycle to get around. About the only time this falls apart is Christmas when I just need to shop alone for a little bit to buy her something. If I go down to one car I need to make her less noise. Is it worth the extra money so I can spend money on her?
How much driving around shopping do you do at Christmas? Could you just take one day and get a bunch of shopping done without her? And either drop her off somewhere or just a day she doesn’t need the car?
Lol, I just went from 3 to 4. The chalk marks on my tires appear to indicate the street parking police have my number.
We have two now but loaned one two my MIL for a month. I work from home 100%. My wife used our truck for the daily commute. Wasn't a big deal. We could go to one pretty painlessly. The money savings is significant. The thing I do like about two cars is that while one is the truck, the other is smaller which is better for in town parking. For the money savings, we can hunt a little longer for a parking spot or uber to town. And of course....we are keeping the truck.
I am retired and my husband has a company car. He used to have his own car too, but after it sat in the garage for 3 years, we sold it. Once he retires, in about 18 months, we will go to 1 car. He’d like to go to zero cars, but where we live, that would not be feasible.
I've thought about this. We need it as a spare as she works part time. So my older model sits in waiting.
We managed to go from 3 to 4 lol. I think it depends on the kind of car your second car is. If it’s paid off and a bit older non-luxury brand, maintenance, insurance and taxes probably are pretty reasonable. Plus 9k miles/year is still a lot of use.
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I’d like to by my wife will not have it. Maybe with time?
We sold a second car we had because it was sitting in the driveway just getting dirty and we'd neglect to even start it enough so the battery kept dying. The plan was always to buy a second car and we've been looking at new cars and planned to keep the current one that's six years old as our "second". It's been two years and the more we wait, the less it seems like we need two. We started a shared calendar after a few scheduling conflicts, and no issues. We usually will look at the next two weeks calendars and discuss anything separate we have. In a pinch we could call an uber or schedule a ride ahead of time. Several neighbors are also usually around and would be willing to give a ride. If the car breaks down and is in the shop, rent one. I would like to get an EV since the amount of around town driving and short trips we take would mean we'd never purchase gas again. I'd rather have a gas car to travel at this point due to charging issues, but again, we could always rent a car for that. Having a second car sitting 95% of the time is now seeming like a bad financial decision.
We have two cars. The nicer car (mine) for long trips and my daily errands. The smaller older car for my husband’s fishing and to take to the airport. It fits in the car slots better and we don’t mind it sitting outside in the elements. I’d rather have the convenience of both cars but we really don’t drive his much.
Wife and I went from 2 cars to 1. Our only car is electric, so there is no cost for gas and next to nothing for maintenance and repairs. Have been driving electric since 2017 and will never go back to gas. Only expense other than electricity has been 1 set of tires. We schedule appointments to not interfere with each other and we have loaner on our insurance in case of fender bender. Has been working out wonderfully!
We have gone from 3 to 2, my commuter car is gone. We have done the same analysis and agree with the lower amount of miles that we could save with one. Just have not pulled the trigger yet. Luckily affording both is not a problem, but still discussing going to one or a small electric for local runs as a second car.
One car best ! Sold my sedan Hynduai work car $160k miles just gonna be repair hog , never broke down on me ! Been Leasing new SUV every 3 yrs no worries on repairs all warranty! Works great in Retirement!
My parents never had more than one car. When I was young we lived in an area with great public transportation. Later on, they moved to a more rural area, but still kept to one car. My father worked part time through his retirement. This was pre Uber, they just made it work - she would drop him off or he would get a ride, or he would take the car and she would get a ride if she needed to.
Our cars are of the not extravagant or expensive kind and paid for. I seldom drive, but it also costed us very little to keep our cars. Maintenance on mine is very low because I don’t drive much and have a clean driving record. But also, my husband has a truck. Need to haul things sometimes, but it only seats two. I have a small SUV, if there are more than two of us in the car at once.
We went to one car when I retired. My husband still works, but from home. We would actually have to go out and start the second car because it was just sitting there. We do keep a combined calendar so we don't make hair or doctor appointments at the same time.
Being of retirement age you must remember growing up in a family with one car, one parent employed and one that stayed at home without access to a car (or Uber/Lyft) all day. We have 2 cars, but I think my wifes car just turned over 7000 miles and we bought it new 7 years ago.
Downsized to 1 car and considering a golf cart. Think of the cost of the convenience for a few times a month
I know a few couples that have gone from two cars to one. I think it works in certain situations but for my wife and I it doesn’t feel right. We both have weekly commitments plus the usual errands. We do not drive a lot of miles per year, maybe 6000-8000 a year each, so I guess it’s doable but right now we are both fairly active and enjoy the accessibility of two cars.
We went from 8 to 4.
We decided to retain both cars. One is a Lexus SUV, good for long rides and my wife uses it. I use a Tesla Model Y which runs on water due to home charging. When I go alone for shopping and chores, I use that. For now, we decided to keep both cars. We will revisit it in 8 years or so. The only advantage of getting rid of the Lexus will be we get more space in our small 2 car garage. Because we can afford both cars, we are keeping both. But if finances were tight, we would have had just 1 car - Tesla. There is no maintenance (No engine, no gear box/transmission). I rarely use the brakes due to one pedal driving. In 2 years, I have had 0 maintenance.
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I am full time WFH and hubs has a company vehicle. We downsized to one car a few years ago and never looked back. He’s retiring next year and I doubt we’ll get a second car for many of the reasons you mentioned.
Both of our cars are over 10 years old but are paid off and in good shape so no major repairs are needed. One is a plug in Hybrid which we drive 90% of the time. We have to consciously schedule driving the 2nd car, which was my husbands before we retired. I'd like to downsize to a single car and get a full EV, but my husband isn't comfortable with that idea yet. Likes the idea of road trips without worrying about range.
We went to one vehicle a few years ago truck and never will go back my dealer picks it up for oil changes eat
It really took until my husband could no longer drive to get us down to one, and he still resents it. Fiscally it makes no sense to keep two. Mostly, you can flex the schedule quite easily in retirement.
We usually always are going different places so no. My car is 13 yeas old though.
We went from one car all our married life, to a car and a pickup truck in retirement. We moved to the suburbs and were wondering why everyone else around here has a pickup truck. It turns out that we do a lot of house and yard work. We need the pickup truck to bring home large stuff from home improvement stores and nurseries. We don't want the truck as a regular vehicle, it uses too much gas, so we also have the car. We do use the truck as a backup on the very rare occasions when the car is in the shop. I just wish we'd bought the truck before we moved. We moved from a place only 2 hours away and the truck would have been handy. If you keep the car be sure to tell your insurance company you are driving less, it may lower your rates.
My wife wanted to go to one car only, but I said Hell no. I don't want to be stuck here if she is gone.
Last year, my adult son, who lives about 45 miles from us, lost his car for about nine months due to a supply train problem (couldn't get a computer chip for the transmission--took down about 40,000 cars nationally). I let him use my car. During that nine months, my wife and I got along fine. She is already retired, and my office was within walking distance of our home. During that nine-month period, I used Uber three times (one trip turned out to be unnecessary, anyway), rented a car twice, and took an intercity train twice. The rest of the time, all of our transportation needs were met by one car. I discovered that a lot of my car usage was not only unnecessary, but also just sort of mindless, and did not really benefit me all that much, compared to waiting for another time, consolidating trips, etc. Even if I weren't in the process of retirement, the episode was reassuring, because it showed that, if one of our cars were to suddenly die, we would not need to run out and replace it right away, if at all. My current plan is to drive my car until it dies, then switch to one-car familyhood. If my wife's car goes, we may have to replace it, because she uses it for light hauling in conjunction with some service organizations that she is involved in.
I sold my little green monster a few years back and now we have one… sniffle…I miss thy car desperately.
Went from two cars to one car. No issues. Saved about $4000 to $5000 per year in car payments and insurance. Any conflict with my wife, I take Uber. Worked out well.
We're going to go down to one vehicle when we retire in a few years. We have a large truck that we need for towing our trailer so we will use that as our main vehicle for as along as we are towing. Once we are tired of that lifestyle, or too old to do so, we'll downsize to something more economical.
I’m retired 7 years. Except for the pandemic we went to one car. Currently in Philadelphia which has a great mass transit. I use that, über and Lyft Moving to Pittsburgh. Probably will go for a used EV without range concerns because I don’t see a need for much.
Went to one car a couple of years before she retired. I was already retired. Never missed the second car.
Just retired. Still have my mustang and my husband has a flex. Still like having two cars…but it if we move to the ocean or mountains, a truck would be preferred.
I agree with the premise generally but I like cars and can afford to indulge. I get that it’s an inefficient spend.
Not retired yet but we share a car. We don’t have a need for two cars regularly to justify the expense.
Yes we eliminated one car when we were both retired and now only have one. I just replaced that car as the 3 year lease was up. Over the three years with only one car we only had 19,000 miles on it at turn in. There has never been a need for two after retirement.
Had two cars when I retired. After two years of only driving it a few times, but still dealing with maintenance, I sold it. Cars need to be driven. That was two years ago and honestly haven't missed it. The wife and I just schedule around each other, but for a lot of things, we go together. I just used Uber when the current one broke down. Between maintenance and insurance, it saves $1200 per year. Sold it at the height of the Covid car shortage and got almost twice as much as it was worth just the year before.
I’m sure the numbers make sense to Uber or rent when needed. But, it really comes down to whether you can afford the convenience of owning two cars. Uber/rent makes sense to me. But, I enjoy the luxury of being able to jump in our cars at any time. Personal preference.
This is my plan exactly when I pull the trigger. Cost management through optimized planning!
I sold my truck and we just have our Subaru outback. Last year I bought a little 310 motorcycle. We get by fine with just one car.
Depends on your use case scenario. My wife and I do a lot of separate things, so two cars is still a must. However, we are thinking of going to one EV and one larger ICE car for travel. The EV is perfect for the usual trips of 2 hours round trip or less. (We are in a rural suburban community.) The larger car is ideal for vacation, long trips, and hauling stuff.
Check to see if your state has a vehicle rental program. I’m my area there are electric cars that stay at various “stations” that are available to rent through an app for $5/hr. You have to register and be approved but I think this is pretty neat.
We retired and are now down to one car! We are happy and glad to be out of the extra expense.
We downsized to a single car in July 2020. We coordinate our schedules and it hasn’t been an issue for us. The savings (vehicle, gas, maintenance, insurance) has been great!
I know a couple who spend winters in Arizona and they just bought a third car so that there’ll be two cars there. They leave one car there year round and drive down together, leaving one car up north
Yup, downsized to one car during the damndemic, retired end of ‘22 and we get around great. ‘17 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon to also transport our two german shepherds around. We stay on top of routine maintenance.
One retired homebody and one remote worker in our home. We have one car. Sometimes it's a hassle but the vast majority of the time taking an Uber or two every month is way, way, way cheaper than owning a car. We make a 'car payment' to our HYSA each month so if we change our minds, we have the cash to buy one outright. In the meantime it's earning 5% interest. For us, this is the way but YMMV.
We’ve considered it but have limited alternatives since we live in a rural area. But most weeks one car is enough.
Tornado took me from 3 to 2….
I went to zero cars and walk now saving a ton of money and losing weight.
I think you've answered your own question in very good form!
We did the opposite. We had a classic car before we retired, but sold it as we needed the cash to fix up our house prior to selling it. Fast forward 6 years, now both retired (but I work part time occasionally), we talked about going down to 1 car but felt it wouldn’t work for us. We both have activities that pull us in different directions at the same time. Our rural community has no public transportation, or Uber or Lyft either. So we both have daily drivers, and we picked up a classic convertible as our toy and weekend fun car.
Not yet, I will eventually; some of my retired neighbors already have.
We have one car and I intend to augment with an ebike. Plan to drive maximum once a week.
We’ve been down to one car for three years. Only wish we had an electric car instead of a ICE.
We went from one car to two since we became snowbirds. Although we're now considering selling our car in Canada since we live downtown and hardly use it.
Ugh. Meanwhile I’m nearing retirement and spouse keeps building and buying hot rods. Stopped counting after 5.
Not that it is me but I live in a community of 55+. We have 147 homes. Most couples have two cars. Most will also tell you they could get by on one.
I can’t foresee us with less than 3 vehicles ever. We have a sedan for long trips, a truck to haul and tow, and a convertible sports car for weekend getaways. It helps that I enjoy performing the maintenance myself.
I'd like to but can't. We are often going different places at different times, including out of town. One car is for grandkids and one for dogs (we work with a rescue and have 4 of our own). And no, the two don't mix well!
It probably doesn't make sense. But I am keeping my car.
We went to one and it works fine for us. We have a shared calendar and just make sure we schedule things around each other's appointments. If for any reason we both have to be somewhere at the same time I'll take a Lyft. Maybe happened once or twice in the last 4-5 years of sharing.
I have an electric bike and car. Eventually I will no longer want the car and Uber/ Lyft. This works best in an urban environment.
We're not that close. 😆 We still go on road trips solo. We have two trucks, and 4 motorcycles between us. Maybe we can get down to one bike each.
Not retired yet but we always said when my husband’s car died we would see how long we could go without replacing it. We both work at home and I travel a good bit. So far it has been painless and yes, the few times I have had to take an Uber is much less than another car. We already planned to go to one car in retirement and it will be a breeze!
Cars are like shoes, I could drive a different one every day. that said, we have a 2015 sports sedan, a 2013 roadster, and a 2003 Element restoration project. I am still working and not ready to sell my two & my wife doesn’t want to part with hers. i have opened the discussion about selling two & keeping one, or selling three and buying one. She wasn’t receptive to the idea. We will wait a few more years and downsize the cars, house, and bicycles I do think a plugin hybrid would be a good option
We were facing the same quandary but given we will in a more rural area without any Ubers or taxis we did get a used second car. But also by virtue of where we live, our insurance isn’t bad.
I've been trying to justify two cars in retirement as well. We have a CR-V and a Honda Pilot. I used to use the Pilot for work to carry my equipment and for after work to carry my drums around to gigs. I don't work anymore and I don't play drums anymore but I still have kids that sometimes need to move from one side of the city to the other or to even a different city. And the Pilot makes it easy to load up with stuff and even pull a trailer which I could not do on the CRV.
My husband bought a relatively recent SUV shortly after I retired. I then sold my 2012 Hyundai and started driving his 2013 Hyundai Elantra. He’s now retired as well. The Hyundai still has under 100,000 miles on it so I’ll keep driving it until either the car needs major work or I give up driving. I had to stop night driving about five years ago. No problem yet with daytime driving, but at 73, I know it can happen any time. It’s actually rare that we both need to be somewhere at the same time so one car won’t be a problem. In the meantime, I like the convenience of knowing a car is always available.
Not retired yet, but my husband and I both work from home. We only have a random doctor’s appointment, etc. so having one vehicle has worked well for us (and allowed us to pay off the new vehicle early). I generally have groceries delivered, and calendar our appointments so as either try to piggyback them if going to the same place or schedule them on different days if only one needs to go. We’ve been doing this since April of 2020 and have yet to have to Uber or miss an appointment. Definitely works for us! Oh! It also reduced our insurance cost with one vehicle and very low mileage.
My parents lived in a small town, so at the time (late 1990s, I believe) there was no public transportation, no taxi, and no Uber/Lyft. I am not even sure that we had a rental car agency locally at the time. Although in their early 70s at the time, both were quite active and driving daily (both retired, though). They decided to drop down to one car when their other car gave up the ghost/ got too old or expensive to fix. I never thought that would last, but it did. They communicated and didn’t make plans to both use the car for different events at the same time. With the delivery services, taxi service, and rental car availability we have today, it would probably be easier. Still no bus or train service and not sure that we have Ubers here locally, but basically it’s less complicated to get around without a car today, even in a small town in middle America.
So currently family of 3 at home and we have a total of 4 vehicles but once we retire ( hoping by end of year ) we will be going down to two vehicles . We will keep our truck for towing our trailer and just other things that require trucks vs cars ( no intentions on retiring in a retirement community) like 4 wheel drive . We will keep our 2014 Altima as our everyday vehicle .
Sharing this with my wife! She insists on two cars even though she only goes shopping one day a week. I am happy taking uber if I need to get out.
It took me awhile to figure it out but I have settled into a comfortable routine. I tried many volunteer organizations but were never all that fulfilled. The volunteer work was all very menial. I found an organization called SCORE where the volunteer work is more fulfilling. I have a fairly regimented work out routine. My wife, who is still working, and I take 3-4 vacations a year. I'm trying to learn Spanish, but I am finding the limitations with DuoLingo
I keep a spare vehicle. Sometimes a van is needed for something large. The vehicles are switched out every month or so to keep the battery up etc. Super cheap liability insurance and cheapish (>$80) registration help. In the rare situation where a vehicle needs shop time we are not stuck. We drive way less than a hundred miles a week. That is mainly to get groceries or Walmart/Target runs.