Rethinking car ownership

Cars are expensive. —No shit, Einstein?!

Here's my car's breakdown:

• €450/month repayment
• €50/month gasoline
• €1300/year insurance
• €200/year services/maintenance cost

TOTAL: €7,5K/year. In the coming season, I'll also need a new set of tires (~€1,6K) which totals €9,1K ($10,7K).

Ouch.

That's a lot of money for something optional. The thing is, I don't really need a car. Before I got this one, I lived car-less for nearly a year. We have a handy shared car service in the city, and it's about €5 per my regular ride. I rented a car when I needed it for multi-day out-of-town trips, which was about €80 per day. I needed it just a few times. In that year, my annualized transportation expenses were at about €1,5-3K.

I'm perfectly clear that car ownership doesn't make any financial sense for me whatsoever.

But I went to see this car, took it for a test ride, and loved it. I still do. It was purely an emotional decision. Not an impulse purchase, as I thought it over, but emotional for sure.

I made a conscious choice. And I made a choice about not paying cash nor repaying that loan upfront. I know myself, and if there's no car payment, I'll start looking to make a change. Sell this car, get something new. Something else I don't need but might not enjoy as much as I love this ride.

So I'll keep it for now.