Car owners: Does owning influence your purchase?

No one here has a car and lives (or is thinking about it) in Manhattan?! :)

Are you garage parking regardless of location? High end I've seen $700, low end mid - $200s. How much is your rent? What kind of car do you drive?

I use my car every day.
I had to rule out Soho because the parking was way too high.
I had to rule out East Village because there are nearly no parking garages.

I pay $400 a month for a alfa in midtown. SUCKS

Im actually on a waiting list for a nice Crooklyn garage for $130

any shot youd share the name, since youre already on the list?

Trick is to have more than garage (if you can) that can work for you.
Then shoot an email to all of their offices as I did the following;

"I am considering your garage for monthly parking.
My majority parking time would be evenings and weekends.
What is your rate?"

I was quoted 20% below what the manager at the garage quoted me at my preferred garage.

Good question ... Its a building garage on Ocean ave n Ave M. I just drove by and asked the super if he had any spaces. For a car I may only drive on the weekends in the summer it was perfect.

If you don't use the car everyday and your destinations are mostly west of Manhattan, then you may consider renting a parking space near the exchange place PATH station in Jersey City. You can get monthly parking there in the two hundred dollar range.

Commuting half an hour each way to the garage would take the fun out of having a car. If I were to get a car again, I'd just cough up the money to park near home.

zipcar if using it sometimes.

Parking was a critical factor when deciding where to live. i drive to work and like to use my car ad lib and therefore refuse to park in a garage w "valet" service, for me this is a significant quality of life issue. i wanted my own deeded spot in my building. that pretty much takes manhattan out of the discussion with few restrictive exceptions. additionally if your lifestyle is one which requires frequent use of your car, why would you want to live in manhattan.

Now im talking about a car I may only use when the weather is perfect. Like a 89 alfa spider. Why park it in the middle of the city anymore ? Trying to achieve that

Having a building with a garage directly influenced me in my condo purchase in DUMBO. However, I found out that street parking (within my work hours) was actually easy, and I didn't actually have to pay to use the garage.

@ Penpal ... How much they are charging in DUMBO for parking ?

In my building I have slight residential discount so its around 300. I think the going rate in the other buildings in DUMBO is 300-400, depending on overnight or daytime, SUV, exotic, etc.

My car is safer in the street. I put my wifes car in the garage and the idiots valets not only dented it, stole her GPS, and then denied they did anything. Had to go to small claims which we easily won and were reimbursed, but it was a pain in the ass.

Fortunately for me, there is enough street parking overnight in DUMBO for me. When I come home to DUMBO in evening, most people are leaving so parking opens up.

@ Penpal ... that sux about your wife ride. I pay $400
at a icon parking but those guys were nice when i had a dent in my car. They sent my alfa to fix right away. Nice that you get street parking. I could get street parking after 7pm but leave at 7am

Availability & cost of garage did not influence my choice of unit or location. (purchased on the UES, always garage car). I did consider a co-op unit that came with it's own dedicated space, but decided the long walk to the Lex subway overwhelmed the benefit of the space (I only use the car on weekends but take the subway every day). Maintenance would have been slightly cheaper (~$100/mo) than comparable apt maintenance w/o space + separate garaging.

My guess is that for most people, the answer to this question will change dramatically once price range goes up. If you're in the $2 million+ arena, unlikely that you're going to factor in cost of parking as a percentage of your total monthlies. In that range, it's all about convenience, for most. Of course, you'll always have exceptions...

We rented in Tribeca and moved to UES where we bought...parking was not a factor in our decision, we simply assumed we'd find a spot somewhere in the vicinity for <$400, which we did...though we are also mostly warm-month weekend drivers, with occasional use for work, so convenience was less of an issue for us.

NYC10007
Yes that is generally true though a couple of my Soho friends with $4mil lofts cant stop bitching about their $600 a month parking.

Not worth it at all. I bought a new convertible that I babied like crazy by over-tipping the garage attendants and covering it up with bumper bras and a cover (when parked). It was so much of a hassle that on most days, I decided to take the subway. And parking it in the city caused all kinds of dents and dings, not to mention the $450 I paid for parking monthly.

i accept that my cars will look like shit quickly here in the city--my newset car has <7000 miles--dents on like 5 panels already, none my doing--whatever--i love ny--it think

Manhattan is one of the least car-friendly cities in the US. In Chicago, the in-laws have a beautiful lakeshore drive condo with floor to ceiling window views of Lake Michigan AND a drive in garage that is on the same floor as their apt. Amazing convenience.

It's mostly non-native New Yorkers who seem to love this place. I'm only here for the work. Otherwise, give me traffic-free commutes in Montana anyday of the week.

I pay $500 a month to make sure no one dents my bright yellow Ford PINTO

in all seriousness, I park in midtown west for 300/month. Small SUV (no overage for large car) and find it very useful when getting out of the city. Use it atleast twice a month.

>It's mostly non-native New Yorkers who seem to love this place. I'm only here for the work. Otherwise, give me traffic-free commutes in Montana anyday of the week.

Commute to what job in Montana?

hfscomm1

i pay 325 a month to park, drive most weekends, and have no idea where all the dents came from. i dont care. it's what happens when you use a car in NYC. i love ny.

also, born, raised, and work here. love it, thank you.

montana....aryan nation?