"Ich habe kein Auto."
Translation:I do not have a car.
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Also "I have no car". The point is the use of singular. Besides, there is an 'ein' being used: consider "kein = nicht + ein"
Eine Frage, darf man sagen: "Ich habe nicht ein Auto"?
No; that sounds wrong to me. Use kein instead of nicht ein, unless you are specifically negating ein and immediately following it with a correction: Ich habe nicht ein Auto, sondern drei "I don't have one car, but rather three".
This "kein" exercises are quite frustrating! "I don't have any car" cannot be considered a wrong answer... Maybe "I do not have a car" translates better what they mean in german but still... I can't understand why this is not a valid translation.
Maybe it's just me, but when I hear "I don't have any..." I expect a plural noun. So, " I don't have any car" sounds odd, while "I don't have any cars" sounds fine. Still, that would be "Ich habe keine Autos" in German. Maybe that's why your translation isn't accepts.
Would "I have no car" or "I have not a car" be acceptable here? Are they just outdated English?
Those, and "I haven't a car" are all acceptable English, even if they aren't accepted here, and are very uncommon in some places, but not necessarily outdated in others. I haven't a clue why they don't accept it. I might also say that I don't have a clue.
Vehicle is broader than car and car is broader than automobile. So if they can justify accepting car, when a car isn't necessarily an automobile, they should be able to justify vehicle, which isn't necessarily a car or automobile.
In the broad sense, a vehicle is a thing used to express, embody, or fulfill something. In the automotive sense, it includes cars, trucks, buses and more. So a vehicle isn't necessarily a car and a car isn't necessarily an automobile.
In English, when the prefix "auto" is used as a noun, it's understood to be an automobile. If you are talking about auto insurance or auto repair, it's clear what's meant. So the best translation for "auto" would be "auto." Likewise, if car is used with no additional context, it's assumed to be an automobile, but it's commonly used for train cars, elevator cars, a streetcar, a handcar, etc.
Quite often in America I hear individuals say I left it in my vehicle in place of I left it in my auto or car. while not the most frequently used it is commonly used.
I often hear people say "I left it in my room" instead of "I left it in my bedroom." That doesn't mean that they mean the same thing, but that they are understood to mean the same thing in context. If a teacher made the same statement in school, I'd assume that it's the teacher's classroom, not the teacher's bedroom at home.
I wouldn't use it to refer to my car, but might use it to refer to yours, especially if I don't know if you have a car or SUV or light truck or some other vehicle.