the car - necessity or luxury??

I have been thinking about this question for a while... Many people would say that their car is a necessity, but is it?

For many, their main use of the car is for travel to and from work yet I'm sure most of those live within a suitable distance to travel by public transport. So really for these people, the car is a luxury that allows them the freedom to avoid the delays and expense of public transport. Admittedly I am one of these people, I regularly use a car to travel to and from university and work. However for myself, public transport is simply inadequate... with two trains an hour either way from the next village, travel by public transport is an inconvenience that would waste more of my time than it's worth!

I found an article regarding this topic from a surprising location... Is owning a car in the financial crisis a necessity? a blog post from Nemo personal finance. The post discusses whether cars are financial viable anymore and brings into question whether we still need them. It recognises that people living within different areas of the UK will have different requirements from the car, with those living in urban areas having less of a need compared to those in rural Britain.

I found the post very useful for putting your need for the car into perspective... It certainly made me think about what I currently use my car for and perhaps how I cut its use down. Maybe I could use public transport to commute to work??