*your mileage may vary
Should I buy a second car? According to my numbers, the answer is no. Sharing one car with my son was no easy feat until we joined Car2Go this past summer. Since then, I’ve used the service anywhere between 66 and 160 minutes a month, at a cost of about $23-56. I could use it that much every week and still not spend what I would if I bought that second car – even a cheap one. Here’s a breakdown comparing my Car2Go expenditures to the costs of ownership at both ends of a hypothetical price range (my old hooptie vs. a late-model one).
Weekly Cost
1991 Mazda ($1,000 cash) $59.61
2007 Dodge ($10,000 financed) $110.38
Car2Go (40 minutes/week) $14.67
Note: Estimated ownership costs include purchase price, maintenance, gas and oil, insurance (for a single driver), registration, parking, and related fees. Car2Go costs 35 cents a minute, plus a $35 registration fee. (Hour- and daylong rentals are discounted; the per-minute price increases to 45 cents after 150 miles in one trip.) Weekly costs decrease after one year for the Mazda (to $40.38) and after four years for the Dodge (to $59.61).
This article appears in December 31 • 2010.