Here are 6 Reasons We Bought a Car as Expats in Seoul

First, let me say that I am a HUGE fan of the public transportation system in Korea. It’s really one of the best (if not THE best) I’ve experienced worldwide. The first two years we lived in Korea we relied solely on buses, subways, and the occasional taxi ride (for instance when I was in labor and heading to the hospital to deliver our middle child). Public transportation worked great for us, for a long time.

We eventually decided to buy a car for our last year in Seoul, though. And I’m VERY happy that we did!

Here’s the thing– I know lots of expats and locals in Seoul that are equally happy with and without cars.

Everyone’s situation is so unique, so instead of persuading you to either path, I’ll just explain the factors that influenced our decisions, in hopes that our thought process will be helpful to you with yours.

Here are the 6 reasons we ultimately decided to buy a car for our young family while living in Seoul, South Korea:

1. Used cars are very reasonably priced in Korea!

It’s very affordable to buy a Korean-made used car in South Korea. That includes brands such as Hyundai, Kia, and Daewoo. (It won’t be hard to find those brands, they make up over 90% of cars on the road in Korea.)

You can find a well-running used car for GREAT low prices, because many Koreans want to purchase & own a brand new car.

The low prices made it feel less risky to buy a car, even when we weren’t sure how many years we’d be living in Korea. We ended up only having the car for one year, but we were able to sell it back at a decent price. It felt very worth it to us!

2. The majority of places I wanted to drive had accessible (not $$$ and stressful) parking lots.

One of the main reasons city-dwellers rely so heavily on public transportation is because parking is expensive and stressful! Admittedly, if you’re just driving down to Gangnam or Myeongdong for an evening out on the town… parking IS a headache. It’s not impossible, but in those situations I definitely just took a bus or subway (even once we owned our car).

However, the MAIN places I wanted to drive to had really cheap (or free) and spacious (not stressful!) parking lots. For instance, me & my kids were usually going to museums, large parks, the zoo, church, malls, and Costco.

Our apartment building also had a large underground parking structure that we could use at no additional cost.

3. We wanted to spend time OUTSIDE of Seoul and see more of Korea!

After a few years of living in downtown Seoul I was growing weary of the constant concrete jungle. Seoul Forest and other great green spaces helped for awhile, but I still wanted to get further OUT into the country. South Korea is a beautiful nation with beaches, mountains, and so much history to explore. Buying a car let us do that so much more easily.

I wrote about four of our favorite weekend trips out of Seoul in this article.

For what it’s worth: A rental car will suffice for a weekend getaway as long as you have an International Permit and are older than 21. It’s also possible to get around in other cities without a car, just much more difficult. We had a successful trip down to Busan pre-car with our baby + toddler. We took an express train down, which my boys loved…then we used the local subways + buses the whole trip.

We also had a few friends who had moved to various cities about an hour out of Seoul, and our trusty car made it so much easier to meet up and visit them.

4. A car cut down our travel time significantly, saving time + energy for the activities themselves.

Before we bought our car, my kids were often worn out by time we actually got to where we were going. Although the subway/bus rides themselves are pretty restful, the long walks on either end PLUS a tedious transfer in the middle can really add up.

Being able to drive straight to our location would usually cut our travel time in half. That’s a huge win when planning out naps and feeding schedules.

Huge exception: Rush hour!! Do not, under any circumstances, expect to go anywhere quickly above-ground (in a car OR bus) from 4:30 pm-6:45 pm.

It was also great to not have to keep my children QUIET in the privacy of our own car. We could play a podcast, music, sing, joke, and eat food more freely.

5. The increased mobility of our second child.

Getting around on public transportation got significantly more difficult once my second babe was majorly mobile. Once he turned one and then started walking soon after, he was much less interested in the baby carrier and sitting in the stroller for long periods of time. If his older brother was walking & moving around, HE wanted to, too!

For our family, THIS was our tipping point. I know other families that get around pretty well on public transit with 2 or 3 children just fine! Perhaps if our guys had been further spaced out, or less talented runners…it wouldn’t have phased me as much. But alas, they are, and it did… hence our Hyundai!

6. My friends bought cars and I noted their joy 😉

I don’t think we would’ve taken the plunge to buy a car if we hadn’t had multiple friends do it first. They reassured us that the process was worth the hassle, and that navigating the HUGE city of Seoul was actually doable. (Not EASY, mind you…but doable.) I was grateful for their wisdom and encouragement! It gave us the confidence we needed to buy our car finally.

That’s it!

Hooray for cars!

Now, for the next question… to license or not to license? An article is coming soon all about HOW TO GET A KOREAN DRIVER’s LICENSE as an expat. Now that a few years have passed, I think I’m ready to re-visit that emotionally draining process. 😉

Be sure to check out our other articles about getting around with kids in Seoul:

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