Car Free Lifestyle

Is the “Car Free” Lifestyle the way of the future?

Where do you start? You can go into dealership after dealership, and search online for as much as you want, you can read all our reviews here, you can read all the other reviews everywhere else, but all this can only take you so far. If you want to make your own educated decision, the only thing you can do is drive.

A car might look one thing on the outside and even inside, but you’ll never truly know if you like it until you get the roar of the engine going and the wind in your hair. And if you’ve ever bought a car, you’ll know that a five minute test drive sometimes just isn’t enough time to make an executive decision.

Renting a car for the weekend is a commonly used tool for car buyers to get a good idea of what they want from their car and which model delivers best for them. By renting, you can have as long as you want to learn the ins and outs of your vehicle, without signing a contract. The best part is, if you change your mind, you can just hand the car back to the supplier.

On the other hand, if you can’t decide between a few models, you can give them all a spin and finally whittle it down to your favourite. Whats better? Having the car you really wanted, or being stuck with a car that annoys the crap out of you?

Live in the city? If you catch a lot of public transport, you might not even need to buy a car. Let’s face it, parking is awful within city limits and peak hour traffic is even worse. Here in Brisbane, finding a car park in the city is about as difficult as a quantum physics exam. There just isn’t any space!

Something to consider is renting your favourite model on the weekend, a cheaper and hassle free way to go places without the financial ties of owning a car. A rental car gets you on road trips to the beach and country, or that friend’s house out in the suburbs for the Saturday afternoon barbeque. With petrol prices on the rise I can only imagine that this car-free lifestyle will be a very common trend in the near future.

Weekend renting is fast becoming the chosen method of transport for young city dwellers who don’t want to pay registration, parking costs and insurance for the days when their car is sitting in the garage. You can also chop and change models week to week, matching your destination and mood to your car of choice.

Now I am not recommending you go and sell your car and start renting straight away, but if you live in the city or if you only use your car on the weekends, then perhaps its worth considering if its worth having a depreciating asset sitting in your driveway 5 days a week?

However if you’re like me, and you love your car and you can’t imagine catching public transport and still find yourself curious as to how other cars feel and drive, occasionally hiring a desired car can be heaps fun!