Yearly Parking for Little to Moderate Driving in Chicago (Lincoln: rent, insurance)

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by CSD610

Personally if I lived in the City I would not take my vehicle, I would sell it simply because of the numerous ways to get around the City with public transportation and it is much cheaper to rent a vehicle for a few weekend trips than to pay for parking in addition to all the other necessary costs of owning a vehicle.

I agree. And there is igo and zipcar.

[jsk1983]

The other option is to rent out your car when your not using.
https://relayrides.com/how-it-works?...campaign=brand

[JBVirtuoso]

Originally Posted by hindukid

My buddy lives in Lakeview and its really easy for him. He generally has no problems. Of course its zoned so if you are a visitor you can't park there. If you are a visitor its real tough to park in either of those areas in an unmetered spot if you don't have a permit.

I used to live in lakeview east of broadway which is not permitted. It was real tough in evenings and weekends but not too bad the rest of the time. There I really had to think about whether I wanted to move the car or not and eventually ended up getting a private spot.

So in short. Its easy if you have a permit but difficult otherwise.

That makes sense. I didn't realize that parking east of Broadway didn't require permits. That's kind of counter-intuitive, as that's the densest part of the neighborhood. But I suppose those decisions are generally made at the ward level, so it doesn't necessarily reflect how hard it is to actually park there. The northern part of Woodlawn also requires permits, but aside from a little spill-over U of C parking, parking is pretty noncompetitive.

[IAmEverywhere]

If you store your car on the street, it's a good idea to check on it once per day to make sure the city didn't put up tow zone signs for some reason. This can happen with only one day's advance notice. Usually, it's because they need to do some kind of repair on the street. But one time they put up tow zone signs on Alta Vista Terrace, where I was parked at the time, because someone was filming a commercial there.

Try to confirm that you really don't need the car before selling it. Until you know where you're working, where you're living, who you socialize with (and, by extension, where they live), where you spend your free time, where you shop, and the like, you can't be sure that you really don't need it.

If you find you need the car occasionally but not on an everyday basis, it may make sense to sell the car and join a carsharing service such as iGo or ZipCar (as already noted by Vlajos). I haven't personally used either one. But I've used carsharing in another city, and it's surprisingly convenient in this use case.

@ChiGuy2.5: That car has NY State license plates and looks like it's parked in NYC. Chicago does have a problem with people bumping the cars in front of them or behind them while parking and then just driving off. NYC is actually much worse in this regard. There, it's common for people to put this rubber device around their bumper to absorb some of the impact. You could probably do the same thing here, although I'm not sure where you'd get that device around here.

@JBVirtuoso: My understanding is that only streets adjacent to lots in specific zoning categories are eligible for residential permit parking. Last I checked, not only do the lots have to be zoned residential, but the highest density types of residential zoning don't qualify.

[paytonc]

Originally Posted by jdiddy

Renting a car on the weekends is cheap and easy. If you only want a car for the occasional weekend trip, its a better option.

Particularly since Chicago is largely a business-travel city, and rental cars are always on special on weekends. Companies like Hertz, Avis, and Enterprise have locations in neighborhoods around town, and have frequent renter programs that eliminate all the forms and fuss.

On weekends and for trips longer than a few hours, a rental car will be cheaper than a car-sharing car. Plus, you always get to drive a variety of relatively new cars.

[Drover]

Most here are talking like parking is difficult everywhere in town. I could park a moving truck on my street with room to spare. Whether it's worth it to keep your car from a convenience standpoint will be highly dependent on which neighborhood you move to. In some neighborhoods, street parking is a genuine pain in the ass. In others it's relatively easy.

From a monetary standpoint it doesn't make sense to bring a car you only plan to use occasionally regardless of the parking situation. State registration is $100 per year; city registration is $85 per year plus another $25/year if you live on a zoned street; insurance will probably run you $50/mo minimum for basic liability coverage; and if you want off-street parking you're looking at a minimum of $75/mo even in low-density neighborhoods and up to $200+ month in high-density neighborhoods. If you're making payments then it makes even less sense to keep it. As others have pointed out, you can rent a car for the occasional out-of-town trip and there are a number of options for in-town travel (public transportation, cabs, car-sharing services, etc.).

Originally Posted by ChiGuy2.5

Street parking costs $150 per year per zone pass.

How do you figure?

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by Drover

From a monetary standpoint it doesn't make sense to bring a car you only plan to use occasionally regardless of the parking situation. State registration is $100 per year; city registration is $85 per year plus another $25/year if you live on a zoned street; insurance will probably run you $50/mo minimum for basic liability coverage; and if you want off-street parking you're looking at a minimum of $75/mo even in low-density neighborhoods and up to $200+ month in high-density neighborhoods. If you're making payments then it makes even less sense to keep it.

Don't forget maintenance costs. Even a car that's still under warranty for repairs needs tires, oil changes, air filters, wiper blades, washing, etc. Once it's no longer under warranty you never know when you might have a $500 or $1000 repair bill. That would cover a lot of weekend rentals.

I'd say if you're going to use your car every weekend, keep it. If you're going to use it one weekend a month, rent one. If it's going to be 2-3 weekends a month, then the decision gets a little tougher.

[hindukid]

I also think though that there is a tendency here to overestimate costs. Our second car is a 2000 Toyota Echo. I'd estimate that I spend $500 a year on insurance, $200 on registration, $100 on parking tickets, $20 on maintentance, $180 on gas and $500 on depreciation. So I am spending only $1500 per year or $125 per month.

In the last year I have only driven 1000 miles, but that was probably close to 200 trips. I think zipcar would have cost me more like $2500. I've considered going zipcar but I think maintaining my beater is cheaper. If it dies though I'll probably go zipcar instead but I think running my beater is cheaper. Also the hassle of walking a block to get a car and reserving it online is way more difficult than parking in my neighborhood.

[Ann Arbor 02]

People are massively overestimating costs. It's not particularly difficult to own a car in Chicago. I'd say it's much more difficult to not own a car. Try big-box shopping on Clybourn, or going on a date by CTA.

Everyone I know in Chicago has a car, and many people do not have reserved off-street parking.

You can easily park your car on the street, even in Lakeview/Lincoln Park. As long as you have a residential parking sticker, you're good. You can even get stickers for visitors, so when out-of-towners visit, you can have them park right on the street, for free, even overnight.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by hindukid

$20 on maintentance,

$20 on maintenance per year? So you change the oil less than once a year, and never wash it? Or do you wash it twice a year and never change the oil? Or maybe you get new wiper blades once a year but never wash it or change the oil? You also apparently have the original tires from the year 2000? Impressive. If you've never had to replace any hoses or belts on a 12-year-old car you've been beyond fortunate, let alone shocks, struts, bearings, etc. You will likely have a major repair bill soon unless you can do all the work yourself and get all your parts from a junkyard.

Originally Posted by hindukid

So I am spending only $1500 per year or $125 per month.

And even with that very low estimate, one could rent a car one or two weekends a month and still come out ahead.