ShareOurCars - People's stories

Ways people share their cars informally

Sarah shares her car with 2 other families, they are on her insurance, fill up the car with petrol when they use it, and schedule via WhatsApp. (Walthamstow, London)

Katy shares one car with 3 other friends, scheduled via Google calendar and WhatsApp on a first come first serve basis. They split all maintenance and other costs and fill it up with petrol when they use it. (Islington, London)

Al shares his car with 10 of his neighbours. 5 of them are insured directly on it, 5 of them use Veygo when they need to borrow it. They cover his costs on a per mile basis and pay petrol. (Oxford)

Claire borrows two neighbours cars, insuring herself with Veygo and transferring 45 per mile driven to them at the end of the journey. (Oxfordshire)

Sam shares a campervan. One family own it and store it, and share it with a group of 6 other families, who contribute to all the costs of maintenance and running – making it much more affordable to use for leisure trips and if a van hire is ever required. They schedule via WhatsApp and shared Google calendar. (Manchester)

Pamela shared a car with a good friend for 7 years. They would have the car for a week each, and agree several months ahead who had it which week so they could arrange holidays etc around it – sometimes they swapped. They could also usually borrow it when needed for an errand if the other person had it (London)

Stories of people in Oxford who have given up owning a car

We’re a family of five, with three children under the age of 8 – two at primary school, and one still a baby. We sold our car around a year ago mostly for environmental reasons but also because it was a hassle and expense to maintain and we didn’t use it that much. We’ve joined Hiyacar and Co-wheels, and have successfully borrowed cars for short trips or a couple of weekends away, we leased an EV for 3 months over the summer as an experiment (and shared it with other people via Hiyacar when we weren’t using it). Mostly, though, we’ve shifted away from car journeys: our eldest child cycles to football practice, and we generally stay more local at weekends or take the train and bus to visit places. It’s been a lot easier than we thought it would be. - Alex, East Oxford

We gave up our car a few years ago. The reasons were many and there were 'push' and 'pull' factors. It was hard to find parking space, constant vandalism/attempted theft. Co-wheels had a car on our street, and our daughters were big enough to cycle, walk or go by bus where they wanted to. I was commuting to Warwick - by train and bike so no need for a car. Easy to book a car club car when needed, bus and train travel had always been important, cycling always a central part of our lives, so the transition wasn't hard. Lifestyle choices always help. Local schools (walking distance) for children, sports or cultural activities also walk or cycle. We never regretted it, and the huge amount of money we saved meant we had enough the occasional taxi. - Martin, St Clement’s, East Oxford

We gave up our car a few months ago. We weren’t really using it and it was more of a burden than anything else. Neither my husband nor I enjoy driving and we find we can manage well with buses, trains and the occasional taxi. We’re retired” – Helen, Oxford

We were thinking of buying a car when we had our first child but are trying to do without one; we’ve got another baby due next year. We do lots of cycling and buses, and use Co-Wheels when we need to for holidays. We’ve also used Enterprise. Long term we plan to get an electric cargo bike for the family, but parking is the issue. My wife is Italian so our other holidays are often there – we get trains or buses or sometimes get a lift with family members. – Edward, Oxford

We’re a family of two adults and two children (age 10 & 12) living just outside the ringroad. We sold our car in August 2021 to see if we could manage without it - and we do. Us adults work in Oxford, so we cycle to work. We have an informal network of neighbours cars we can borrow casually and arrange insurance by the hour and pay mileage. We also hire cars from Hiyacar and Co-Wheels for longer journeys. We reckon we drive a car 2-4 times a month. We also walk loads, and love the way our mindset in relation to locality, community and convenience has changed. Our travel is now part of the journey, and we enjoy the adventure! – Claire, Kennington

We have two children (and a third on the way) and don’t own a car. In our everyday life, we don't need a car as the children go to school nearby. When I am not working from home, I commute to work using a folding bike and train. I love it as this makes me do some exercise and enjoy the journey. It makes me feel relaxed to start the day - rather than being in a car, often stuck in traffic and stressed about the road. When we want to do a day trip in the weekend, we use Co-wheels or Hiyacar. And we also sometimes use other rental companies when going on holiday if we need a car for a week or more. I love the idea that we limit our carbon pollution. I also love the concept of not owning and being able to share cars, you can chose the car depending on your needs, have no parking issue, no maintaining or insurance worries, etc. I really don’t miss owning a car at all! – Sophie, St. Mary’s, East Oxford