Car now reduced my freedom (8)
I believe the answer is:
autonomy
'freedom' is the definition.
(I know that autonomy is a type of independence)
'car now reduced my' is the wordplay.
'car' becomes 'auto' (automobile).
'reduced' means to remove the last letter.
'now' with its last letter taken away is 'no'.
'auto'+'no'+'my'='AUTONOMY'
(Other definitions for autonomy that I've seen before include "Self-rule" , "Independence, freedom to govern" , "Freedom of action" , "Freedom to choose" , "form of self-control" .)