We all know how stressful it is to own a car in a busy city.

Car parking spaces, have you heard of them? Not outside my home anyway.

Along with that there are the environmental impacts and the costs associated with owning a car. Finance, insurance, tax, maintenance, petrol. Imagine what else you could be doing with that money.

These are things that will have crossed everyone’s mind in the past but more so in the past year when most of us have been working from home and our cars have been sat unused. In fact, even before the pandemic our cars sat idle for 90% of the time.

When you couple this with the environmental impacts of not only using a car but owning a car, then it seems crazy for us to still have our cars right?

Car ownership has become too ingrained in us to just go cold turkey straight away and give up our cars, but we can make baby steps to a big change. If you are part of a multiple car household, then maybe try to go a month without using one of the cars and see how you find it.

Giving up a car won’t be easy because they offer us so much freedom and accessibility, but you don’t have to give that up.

Have you ever heard of pay-as-you-go cars?

They are in most cities across the UK, and they will likely be one in your city.

Pay-as-you-go cars have their own designated parking bays (meaning no more desperate searches for a space) and are charged by the hour meaning you only pay for the car when you use it. You can book a car online or via the app just 15 minutes before you need to use it and you have access to hundreds of vehicles, from small cars to vans.

Here are 5 ways we can reduce stress with pay-as-you-go cars:

1. No up-front cost

When purchasing a car, most people opt for buying second hand. However, the worry about how the previous owners treated the car can cause stress.

Also, if you’re buying the car on lease or finance, you have the additional worry of making payments each month. It can be another monthly outgoing that we wish we did not have.

All of our cars are modern, efficient, and paid for by us, we just give you access to them. You will have access to cars with a NAC rating of 4 and above, making their impact on the environment low. In addition, they will be fully spec’d vehicles with sat nav, heated seats and comfortable rides. All of this without the huge initial up-front cost that would usually come with buy a new or used car.

2. Insurance

You don’t need to worry about insurance, we’ve got it covered. Insurance is another additional cost that can be tricky to navigate, which provider can offer you the best quote? At Co Wheels, our vehicles are fully insured for all drivers. You only pay excess if you have an accident, and we offer a collision damage waiver for just £5 per month which reduces the excess by £100 for all drivers.

3. Fuel

The price of fuel fluctuates constantly, this can make budgeting this expense difficult. What if you only paid for the distance you travelled at a set rate? Our fuel is charged by the mile for as little as 18p per mile, and you don’t pay anything for an electric vehicle.

4. Parking space

Whether you are parking at home or in a city, you will be paying the price to have it sat there not moving. Our cars are always on the move and are being made the most of by our community. We have parking bays in central city locations funded and supported by the local councils in each area. This agenda is to reduce congestion through city centres and from polluting harmful emissions. Share a car and never be stuck in traffic again? That sounds ideal to us.

5. Servicing

If you look after your car, your car will look after you, isn’t that the old saying? When paying for an MOT, oil checks and the unexpected broken part can be a pain. Also, booking into a garage that fits your schedule or even trusting them not to rip you off, can be problematic. We fully service of our cars, and you do not pay a penny for it. It is a part of our commitment to you, we will look after the cars, that look after our community.

The list goes on and on. We know owning a car can be costly and we also know the convenience of owning a car is priceless. We are helping people everyday to get the best of both worlds.

Find out how it works.