*UPDATE* So I get 1 speeding ticket and...

[actuarial]

Just FYI-

If I remember correctly you mentioned earlier in the thread that you are in your early-20's. If that's correct, understand that you will NOT get a large premium decrease when you turn 25. That's a common misconception. Most insurance companies do NOT give a large decrease for turning 25, they give a small one. What they DO give a large decrease for is 9 years of driving experience. It just so happens that most people licensed at 16 gets their 9 years at 25, so they see a large decrease and make a wrong assumption.

Maybe not in Canada though. They usually start counting from G2, which I didn't get until I was 18, and my wife got when she was 17. We both got massive discounts when we turned 25 this year.

 

[bhanson]

I like riding in my own car. I like going wherever I want, whenever I want. I like not having to huff it to a bus stop that may or may not be covered in graffiti and gum and smell like bum piss, then stand for ages waiting for a bus that may or may not show up. I like not being on a bus full of people who couldn't possibly care about anyone but themselves and smell awful. I like not choaking on bus fumes. I like stopping my transportation right where I want to and not risk the bus driver not paying attention, blowing by my stop, then having to huff it several blocks backward and being late.

Sorry, I rode public transportation including lightrail from 4th grade up through 11th grade.

Fuck public transport.

Oh I like all of that as well, but right now I like saving $3k/year in insurance and gas a bit more.

I've had a car since 10th grade (I'm 22 now) and this is the first year I've even tried public transportation. There's a little inconvenience, but when I ask myself if its worth $200/month the answer so far has been a definitive "hell yes." There's the occasional smelly bum and late arrival but when you're young and often working on borrowed time (ie. money) that $3k/year compounds to terrible sums I would probably hate paying later.

My car transportation costs were already low because I owned (no payment) an economy car with no points. I know other people who take loans on cars before they even finish school and have car payments from $200-700/month. Plus insurance and gas to me this seems like a ridiculous sacrifice just to have a little extra mobility.

(I actually know someone with a $700 car payment as a full-time student.)

There's also the environmental side of public transport. I'm not a green fanatic but if given a choice I'll pick the environmentally friendly one.

 

[BoomerD]

Fuck...some of youse get raped by your insurance companies...

I pay just over $100/month for 3 vehicles:
2005 Expedition-full coverage
2003 Jetta-full coverage
1987 BMW 735i comp only (non-op, runs about $15/month)

we don't have just the minimum liability either. IIRC, it's 250,000/500,000.

Public transit here is a total joke. Perhaps the worst I've ever seen in a "large town." Hell, Spokane (about the same population) had much, much better bus service in the 60's and 70's.