I've been in the unfortunate position for the last couple of years of not having off-street parking with my apartment, living in a residential neighborhood in Chicago. Since I bought my MINI (Vanessa) last March, I've been renting an off-street parking space down the street from my house. The space actually shares the same alley that my place backs up to, so its very, very convenient. I'd love to move to a place with parking, but for every reason other than parking, I don't want to leave this apartment until I'm ready to buy something.

I've put just over 9,000 miles on the car in the past 10 months. Thanks to living close to the train, and being within cycling distance of the office, I just don't drive all that often, except for road trips.

I've parked on the street with other cars before and they were scratched, keyed, and got generally banged up. That's just part of the street parking experience. I got the off-street space last year because I just couldn't subject a brand new car to that experience. But, even after my year of minimal use, I've still collected some scratches and dings. In other words, the car isn't perfect anymore.

I'm just not sure whether its worth $720/yr in parking space rental charges to protect a car that is no longer showroom fresh. In a city where people use the bumpers liberally during parallel parking, its just going to get worse and worse, no matter where the car sleeps at night. And most days. I'm not going to stop driving the car in the city, since its the only one I have.

But on the flip side it feels like I'm abandoning it, and being a bad owner, if I don't take every opportunity to protect it.

Am I a bad person to leave my car on the street all the time? The money saved would go towards a down payment on a house/condo with parking. But by then, it'll already be too late for poor Vanessa.

 

That's a tough dilemna. My previous car was plastic bodied and the original paint held up for 22 years. When I bought my car, one of the things I got my dealer to include was a bottle of touch-up paint. My dealer even offered to fix all the dents (I have 3) for $100. I said I would get it done when I have it in for MINI Spa this spring. If you are in a relatively safe neighborhood, I would suggest just do the street parking thing. At $750/yr for a parking space, I would think you're in a fairly well off (and should be safe) neighborhood.

 

i would've bought that 720/yr plan and placed it in its garage space
from the getgo.

but now...probably just live the remaining life of your daily driver out
in the street, i suppose.

 

But that's what I did. I accumulated the wear and tear during driving events. Like the time I was rear ended. Or when flying aluminum debris on the Stevenson broke my AC condenser.

 

NO. Your a practical owner. The fact has always been that many people who actually live in cities with onstreet parking know already that owning a nice car isn't worth the hassle. Its going to get hitted, banged, dented, and vandalized ... You got the good and the bad ... easy access to city amenities and the downside of city driving. The drives some owners to just owner a beater for city driving, especially in the winter.

You have the positive atttitude that says save the money for a deposit on a house ... much wiser ... car payments on a depreciating asset are money out the window. The almighty is NOT making any more land (except in Hawaii). I think you know exactly what the right answer is

 

If it's $720/month, I would definately park on the street...but if it's $720 per year...It's going to take quite a while to save up a down payment for a house/condo from that & I'm sure you would spend twice that in ding repair by then.

Personally, I wouldn't park an 82 Volvo Wagon on the streets of Chicago. I've seen people do some really inconsiderate things with/to cars down there.

My $.02

Rick

 

I can understand your predicament. You can always tell a street parked vehicle by the bumpers - most of them are quite marred, even on nicer vehicles. It would be worth it to me to pay the $60/mo. to not have to deal with it.

I'm lucky in that I have a garage for my MINI and I can park my other car off the street right behind the garage - but whenever I go anywhere where I have to park on the street I just deal with it if there is a parking ding on the bumper. Since moving back to the city (I'm in Wicker Park) I've stopped worrying so much about stuff like that. Your bumpers would look much better though if you parked off street - and MINI bumpers (especially the front) can get pretty banged up if people aren't careful. I hear the banging every morning/evening out my front window when someone is trying to get their car in or out of a spot.

I'm right down the street from the blue line, so I drive my MINI once or twice a week at the most. Good luck with the decision - but I'd keep the spot.

 

Hey J... I know your pain,, sort of. I used to street park when I lived in CHGO... but that was far northside and it was on a quiet side-street. As a daily driver, it's one of those things you have to live with. Parallel parking is a lost art I believe. People just don't know how to do it without bumping the other car (or scraping the corner of your bumper )

As mentioned already... $720/month for parking is a bit steep.. especially if it's only a space, not in a garage. Put that money toward your downpayment... or your next major MINI trip

 

This is true, but I'm also trying to undo years of unbridled consumerism. Eliminating recurring monthly bills seems to help me with that.

I've got an ace up my sleeve on the front bumper, though. My front plate is mounted on the tow hook, so as long as nobody steals it, it's a bumper for the bumper. And I can tell its been used before, I've come out to a bent license plate many-a-times.

EDIT:
Just want to clarify that its $720 for the year, not per month. Only $60/month. Seems like a small amount on a monthly basis, but like I said, I'm trying to minimize monthlies.

 

The biggest advantage to having my own parking space now as opposed to parking in the street is during winter in my opinion. Not sure how bad Chicago is, but roaming around the block trying to find an available parking spot during snow clearance can be a pain. Clearing snow from your car is also much easier even in an outdoor space, when you don't have to deal with the 10 feet wall of snow that the snow clearing trucks piled on your vehicle.
For summer though, it's convenient but not necessary then. Scratch and dings can happen, but then again I'm more worried about getting dinged parking in a mall. If you have the option, I'd pay it for the winter months only.

 

oh, i must not have read your long post correctly then.

 

In that case... pay for the spot... maybe put a cover over your MINI??