Need a car?

We're moving to West Yorkshire in November, and have tentatively planned on not buying a car and relying on cabs/train/bus/bike etc. to get around when we need to.  I don't foresee my husband getting to work being an issue without a car, but in February we'll be going from having one child (a toddler) to two, so I'm not sure if this will make a difference.  Obviously it'll make any sort of transport trickier, but I'm not sure if y'all think it'd be doable without a car.

Does anyone here with children not have a car?  Is it a complete pain, or worth the money saved?  We don't plan on going out much, and though we don't have a place picked out yet, distance from public transportation will be a major deciding factor. 

Is it crazy to consider not getting a car in general?

Im not in Yorkshire but in an area similar to it.... I got by without a car for 2 years until I got my license (wasnt bothered for about 18 months & dont have children yet) but that said, my husband always had a car and drove everywhere.  I would have gotten my license a lot sooner if he didnt drive because things like grocery shopping, going to the doctors and dentist become a really big ordeal if your not driving. And going to work on the bus took 45 mins each way because the bus didnt go any direct route.  Now driving it takes me 15 mins.  On the bus it was a whole hour more added to my work day!    But like I said, I dont live in lovely Yorkshire only visit there so I dont know the bus routes.  But my experience has been...Do-able without a car? Yes.  Annoying? Very

I live in West Yorkshire, just outside of Leeds.  I didn't have a driving license when we first moved here, and I used to depend on the trains and the bus, but also on the fact that my husband did drive, and we could do our grocery shopping, etc, by car.  This was OK until my son started school.  Taking him to and from school on the bus was extremely difficult,and was the major factor in making my mind up to finally get my driver's license.  I would say that whether it will work to not have a car will depend on exactly where you are living, and what is available nearby in terms of shops, doctors, schools, etc.  With two kids, I certainly would not want to have to depend on public transport.  Where are you going to be living in West Yorkshire?

But my experience has been...Do-able without a car? Yes.  Annoying? Very

Totally agree and I don't have kids. I also don't have a spouse with a car, so when I need to go to the grocery store I have to schlep it all home myself. I end up going a couple of times a week because I can't carry it all. Then, like today, I forgot something. To get the bus (on a Sunday) get to the store and everything it would have taken me an hour. If I had a car it would have been 30 minutes tops. I don't mind my commute to work on the bus. I definitely wouldn't drive that and I have a really direct route. It's the day to day errands that get me cheesed off about not having a car.

Have a look at Whizzgo, which is a car club. We're pretty pleased with it so far, but we are in Leeds close to a few of their locations and don't have children. I think it would be tough to be carless with kids, but that probably depends on your tolerance for buses--mine isn't high.

It's the day to day errands that get me cheesed off about not having a car.

Definitely! But also, for me, it's going for days out. I love the countryside, and it's not quite so accessible by public transport.

I'm still learning here in the UK and don't have a car,don't have any kids though and my husband doesn't drive. It is possible to live with a car, but like the other's have said it's annoying and time consuming at times...also I find it a bit isolating. So I've vote for having a car personally.

Hi,

If you're use to having a car it will probably be quite a shock to go from being independent, hopping in and setting off at your own leisure. You can do it without a car, but the pain of having to do it took a LOT of getting use to when I got here. It took us 2 years to finally get a car, I just rented one over long weekends or for driving holidays, but that could be expensive.

I don't think I would have been able to cope if I had kiddies as I could barely cope with myself in the beginning. And if you're moving over in the winter... ick, standing at bus shelters (if you're lucky to have one) with rain, snow, sleet, and cold... not the nicest thing

Then again... public transport is MUCH cheaper than having your own car, insurance, tax, mot, petrol/diesel, and general upkeep!

Then again... public transport is MUCH cheaper than having your own car, insurance, tax, mot, petrol/diesel, and general upkeep!

Depends a lot on where you live.  In more remote/rural areas public transport can actually be more expensive than the day to day upkeep of a car.  I used to spend £7.50 a day getting from where I used to live (about 9 miles away) to work.  That still involved a bit of a walk at the end of it all. 

We haven't got a car but are planning it.  After the initial outlay costs it will be cheaper than what my husband and I are currently spending on Public transport (about £110 a month)

I got by without a car for about 5 years, my husband drove so we could run errands etc. But once I learned to drive, it completely changed my life. So while you could do without a car, in my opinion, its hard to be without one.

I'd go mad without a car having kids - especially 2. We live in a very rural location now, so it's impossible to not have one. But when we lived in Exeter we considered going car-less and still opted to keep it. Relaxed shopping in town is ok, but grocery shopping and anything like that is a real chore without a car.

We don't have a car and I would agree it is hard.

We are right outside of Cambridge, so my husband bikes it into work and I take the bus.

The trip it my office is less than 5 miles and it takes an hour going in and at least an hour and a half going home.

If we want to go places on the weekend we need to factor in the 1/2-45 minute bus ride to the station then the train ride.  Then you add in the fact the train takes longer and we still need someone to pick us up at the station when we visit his parents who live in the middle of nowhere.  

It is just ugh, but doable.  

Depends on where you live - neighbourhood, etc.  (We don't have kids, btw.)  Where I live, our town's shops are a very short walk down the street from our house:  grocery, butcher, green grocer, post office, restaurants, assorted others.  We both commute into Leeds city centre for work via bus and train, because it's too much hassle (for us) to drive in/out of Leeds (spaghetti junction!) and costly to pay for parking there.  However, we do have a car - but it's only used if we want to do a big grocery shop at a store further afield, or for weekend trips out in the country (like what Elynor described).  (We might use the car once a week, on average & some weeks not at all!)

Very true about the cost being dependent on where you live. We live right across from work so we walk every day, but we have the car for shopping, days out, visits to his family, etc. Even without the normal commute each day, we still spend about £75 a month on diesel, though... BUT the convenience of a car wins out over public transport any day... unless you are driving down to London and then that's just silly because Virgin Trains can get you there with only a 3-4 hour delay ha!

We are definitely lucky, because I think we might fill the car up with petrol - maybe every other month, if that!  (unless we are driving down to visit the in-laws in Norwich or something - a couple times a year)  Also our doctor's surgery is right around the corner from us, and schools (if we needed them, but we don't) are right nearby as well.  Sometimes I feel it's foolish for us to have a car at all...   But then it's nice to have for some things.