do you think we need a car?

we may move to HK this fall. My company is at IFC II in Central, and DH will probably stay home first while search for a job. We have two young boys (todder and infant), and a dog (full of energy). To get more room for the kids and the dog, we probably will choose to live out in the burb, instead of the mid-level jungle.


Do you think we would need a car, if we live in Clear water bay, or Sai Kung, or GC? I know DB won't allow car, so if we choose to live on DB, that won't be an issue. I just think with a car, DH can get out more and make friends instead of trapping at home. Plus, with two young ones, we can buckle two car seats in and carry all the kids stuff around , not worrying about taking them in a taxi. What's your thought on this?


I know it is expensive to maintain a car in HK. I am thinking more like a second hand Camery or Accord. price around 10K USD. If consider the apartment/house will come with parking. What other cost I am looking at here? and how much are those cost? thx!!!

If you live in Clearwater Bay or Sai Kung then a car is a huge bonus. Houses out this way usually have at least 1 car park space, often 2, as do most apartments. If you're food shopping in either place you can get free parking. 2nd hand cars are reasonable, road tax depends on size if engine, mine is just under $6000 a year, insurance is about the same as uk, maybe even cheaper. Petrol is really expensive. People say public transport is cheap here, but when you times it by 7 (my family) plus a wheelchair, not to mention convienience, I'd have the car any day. We travel around HK much more than we would if we didn't have a car. Just a trip to the beach is so much easier if you have a car to put all on the beach toys, sandy towels in etc.

I agree that if you do live in those areas a car is a plus. They are a bit further away from Central. On the Island you can mostly live without it. We don't have one. I think we might buy one as the kids get older and we can do more outings during the weekends. It would probably stay home during the week as taxi/public transport is simpler.


It also depends on your lifestyle. We are total homebodies and with beach/grocery store/school/coffee shop/hiking trails all within walking distance we don't really move around much apart from work. HK public transport is excellent. We do a lot of bus/minibus. At pretty much any hour I only have to wait 5 minutes for a bus to Central or CWB. For the occasional day out we just hire a car and driver. If you do that once a month it still works out to much less than buying and owning a car.