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We have two cars and couldnt do it without it, however we don’t have public transportation by us. But i don’t think you’ll regret it as long as it isn’t a huge financial burden

@Mrs. Carrot: oh, that's good then! For me, the accessibility would be enough, but again, its all I know. I've never lived in a place with a reliable public transportation system. We have city buses and a light rail, but the light rail only runs to downtown Phoenix, and I don't go there. I'm not even sure how many different buses it would take to get from home to work and back, and how long that would take me lol

Do you ever take the car out on your own? It doesn't sound like you drive much from your post. I like being able to come and go on my own schedule.

(Also, for reference, my car is a 2016 and I'm approaching 70k already, so, this factors into my answers to you!)

I liked having a second car when we had one. It’s just convenient with kids. That said you could buy used if you’re worried about the expenditure. I can see why you’re debating though- there isn’t a clear cut answer either way.

Would your commute be shorter with a car? If so, would you be able to do without aftercare? If a car would result in a shorter day for you, your daughter and decrease aftercare costs, I would do it. This is coming from a one car family of 11 years.

Can you walk to do errands while the other parent has the car? Like is there a grocery store you can walk to?
When we lived in the city we had one car that we hardly used. But our house is the suburbs, there is *nothing* we can walk to. I’d want to be able to divide and conquer with activities and errands on the weekend. I don’t like feeling stranded at home without a car. But again my area borders on rural.

I agree the strike is a short term problem, but the other stuff won’t get any easier as your kid has more activities and friends to visit etc.

That said we always buy used. My car has 105k miles on it and is going strong. We just paid that one off so just have DH’s car payment. Since his is mostly just for commuting to and from the train station, he went with a cheaper option.

We had a similar situation and were a one car family for many years...when we had our first kid, the logistics of public transit and bad weather and delays became so draining. It was always something. One of us would drop our son at daycare, take car to park-and-ride and bus to work, bus home. The other would bus to work and then get the car at park-and-ride and pick up at daycare. We actually moved closer to work because of this...we lasted 6 months in that situation he! What solidified the second car was the not being able to divide and conquer, the time spent commuting when we only had limited time with our son during evenings, and then DW was pregnant and we didn’t want her stuck at home with a newborn and no car and I wanted to maximize my time getting home as fast as possible.

Luckily, we fell into taking over my in laws oldddddd car because they got a new one and gave us theirs to use until it died. It was AMAZING. But then it died on the first day of our really cold winter and we scrambled because that changed us into for sure wanting the second car. We got the cheapest option we could in a small hatchback and purchased new. Our old car is now paid off in full so we just have the one payment. It is 1000000% worth it and it would not be feasible now we have 2 kids and work full time.

I would do as others said and try to rent and see what you think. We got to do this with my in laws car and it was the game changer. Personally, I’m a fan of a new car because of the warranty and we seem to have iffy luck with used. And now our old car is past warranty so I didn’t want two cars without that. FWIW our old car is a Toyota RAV4 and our new one is a Nissan Versa Note. I highly recommend both! And I think sanity is worth paying for

We have a pretty similar setup to you and are also very financially conservative. I'd do it, but get a car that isn't brand new and isn't expensive (like, not an Audi SUV). It's too prohibitive in the suburbs to be chained to your house AND your spouse, especially as your daughter gets older and you want to do things more. The fact that your commute would cost you the same either way is the thing that tipped it for me reading your post.

We moved to the suburbs a year and a half ago with a beater ('08 Civic with 100k miles and pretty rough shape inside and out) and our first kid. Then we got a dog and had a new baby and got a Forester which we love, and we come by situations where it's nice to have both cars several times a month. All our neighbors who have only one car in the marriage are either constantly planning around it or are working up to buying the second one. (one couple on our block actually just asked if they could buy our Civic! and I was like, sorry guys she's taken.) It feels wasteful, I know, but it's so much easier if it's not a financial hardship for you.

I would also look at the average price of Uber/Lyft for the trips that are the greatest hassle for you and calculate based on that what is cheaper.

I'm a prolific uber/lyft user, the vast majority of the time have LO along with the car seat belt installed. Obviously would be tougher with multiple young kids and car seats. It ends up being much cheaper and less hassle than owning a car, with all the associated expenses. Granted we live in an area where parking for the places we need to go is very, very expensive and a huge pain, and where public transit is widely available when you are willing to deal with the extra hassle...

@Mrs. Carrot: one thing I’m surprised no one has mentioned is how different commuting “feels” when you’re the driver vs. the passenger or on mass transit. If you’re able to use your commute time either as “me time” (reading, watching Netflix, etc.) or to get a jumpstart on work in the AM/wrap up on the way home, you may find your self really impacted by driving to and from work. Even though DH likes to drive, and switches to driving every once in awhile when he gets fed up with train seats/cancellation/feeling like the train schedule doesn’t work for him.... he always ends up complaining that rush hour driving in our area is so stressful and he needs to be so attentive that he can’t even listen to music or a podcast. I get that the bus may not be an option for a period of time, but hopefully that isn’t long term, and you could cover with Lyft for now if you don’t think you’d prefer driving.

We are a two car, city moved to suburbs family, and buying a second car was the first thing we did while the ink was drying on our home purchase at closing. So I think it’s wonderful for our weekend divide and conquer mentality, I just wanted to bring up the point that you might want to make sure you like your driving commute (maybe try it with a rental, or have hubby take mass transit for a week).

I’m a freelance writer and just did a piece on the auto industry. One thing I learned is that leasing costs and the cost to buy new have continued to rise DRASTICALLY, whereas the cost of buying used has stayed relatively stable. You also lose most of the value in a new car just by taking it home. So if you decide to take on a new car, I would seriously consider buying used.

@Mrs. Carrot: it’s not available quite yet and I’m not sure when it will be. It was awful to write but I did learn a lot! 🙄

Not to threadjack, but for those of you who recommend buying used @MrsSCB: @mrsrain: @graceandjoy: @Anagram: @Foodnerd81: where do you start, in terms of figuring out whether something is a lemon or not?

We are a zero car family, considering becoming a one car family to make a complicated childcare situation after the arrival of LO2 work. I've lived in a city my entire adult life, don't even remember how to drive (DH also has lived in a city his entire adult life with no car but at least kept us his driving skills with zipcar ) and neither of us know a single thing thing about how cars work. Cheaper car and cheaper insurance is appealing, but the fear of getting a lemon that will turn into a time and money suck given our lack of any knowledge looms large!

@periwinklebee: We bought a used car through Hertz car sales and you got to take the car home for a few days before you purchased (basically it's the car's last rental). During that time we took it to a mechanic and had them check it out for any issues. We are now on year 7 and 100,000 miles and have had no issues other than routine maintenance, so we are quite pleased with how it turned out! I would definitely buy through a rental agency again.

@graceandjoy: @hitchhiker: @MrsSCB: Thank you, this is super, super helpful!!!

@periwinklebee: Just a note that when we have bought cars recently, we ended up buying new cars because we could actually negotiate a better deal on a new car than on a low mileage used car. So I would look at both and figure out which seems to be a better deal. We just found that they wouldn't really negotiate price on the used cars which was a surprise.