One car fits all, or comfy cruiser and sunny day weapon?
Discussion
ORD said:
It's a bloody discussion. Give the guy a break. He is interested in cars and likes talking about them. 
Yeah, OK. What the hell. He can talk about cars. That's what it's for after all.I just wish he'd said, upon launching the debate, "oh, by the way, I have a garageful of really tasty machinery, probably about £200k-worth all up, so it's a bit academic, but I just fancy a yap on a wet Sunday".
Why? So you could have a school boy class war rant about it? Do you want low earners to add to every post that they can't afford a decent car but want to discuss them anyway? It's utterly irrelevant.
Incidentally, I don't think the OP's garage is worth even half of the figure you mention. And I expect the depreciation is minimal. One could spend more on cars running a diesel Audi.
Incidentally, I don't think the OP's garage is worth even half of the figure you mention. And I expect the depreciation is minimal. One could spend more on cars running a diesel Audi.
Realistically, one car for me. I live in a flat so car has to be parked in the street, having two would definitely complicate matters (especially as OH has a car as well). I don't do many miles, just drive to work and back, to visit friends and family, and the occasional hoon. Definitely a jack of all trades for me. Hoping to either be in a Z4C or 350Z in the not too distant future which I think (based on previous ownership of a 350) will tick most boxes satisfactorily.
swerni said:
battered said:
ORD said:
It's a bloody discussion. Give the guy a break. He is interested in cars and likes talking about them.
Yeah, OK. What the hell. He can talk about cars. That's what it's for after all.I just wish he'd said, upon launching the debate, "oh, by the way, I have a garageful of really tasty machinery, probably about £200k-worth all up, so it's a bit academic, but I just fancy a yap on a wet Sunday".
Poor bloke has to drive a. Momdeo, give him a break
battered said:
ORD said:
It's a bloody discussion. Give the guy a break. He is interested in cars and likes talking about them.
Yeah, OK. What the hell. He can talk about cars. That's what it's for after all.I just wish he'd said, upon launching the debate, "oh, by the way, I have a garageful of really tasty machinery, probably about £200k-worth all up, so it's a bit academic, but I just fancy a yap on a wet Sunday".
Yes, I do enjoy debate and discussion and tend to say things exactly as I see them.
BTW. Chip and shoulder is correct. If I sold all 4 vehicles tomorrow I would likely get £110,000 all-in. Or around 2 DAYS wages for Wayne Rooney.
I think your criticism of people having too much needs to be redirected elsewhere.
battered said:
ORD said:
Chip. Shoulder.
Nope. I have no reason to. As it happens I've enough money to do as I wish. I just don't talk about it.It's not that hard, strangely.
Anyway, the fact remains that I go down the route of several cars, many others do too for their sins, but ORD and some others choose one car which is flexible enough to cover the bases they want.
Relax.
ORD said:
battered said:
ORD said:
Chip. Shoulder.
Nope. I have no reason to. As it happens I've enough money to do as I wish. I just don't talk about it.Stop digging, Battered, (the soil is already up to your neck) and stop being such a misery guts!
Come on then, what car/s DO you own then?
Spill.
macky17 said:
Similar to another thread on here. As I've said there, whatever you drive every day, the novelty will wear off. Have two cars, each focused on their own particular jobs/strengths. Why have a jack of all trades if you have the option? M400/WR1 working very well for me right now.
Corrr, what a cracking combo, am jealous! Hows the M400 as a daily driver? hehe!! ;-)I've tried to do one size fits all in the past, but on my budget I just couldn't get it to work for me, was always just a bit too compromised. The great thing for me about a weekend car is that I neve get bored or fed up with it and I have something to look forward to when I pln to get out in it, gives a sense of occasion that would get diluted a bit if I drove it every day.
I think if your budget is reasonble and you're not reliant on having something really practical one car fits all can work nicely too.
I think its a fair question. You can set a budget, and decide if you want to run one car, two cars, more cars, or a car and a bike, a car and a boat... even if your budget is GBP 2000, you could still run two fairly interesting sheds - at least according to this internet site.
What I don't understand is when some punter rocks up in a new car (or rather a car he bought new, because he wanted the new car smell, to choose his own options/colour scheme, "all the toys" and such, and still ends up in a BMW/Audi/Merc saloon) and then complains that I must be the father of all extravagance because I have two cars at home all to myself.
Earlier this year, I bought a second car. It was a Subaru Impreza WRX in perfect condition, a great colour (ie not WRC blue or black), and it had some choice mods, 280bhp, and a bit of potential. It was a great daily driver, to drop off the children, leave at the airport, and to use in winter. It was also a 2005, so it wasn't that much to buy. It was a perfect complement to my other car, which had become a bit too hard and a bit too compromised, even if I had been running it since 2007 - an R53 MINI Cooper S for the track (BBK, semi slicks, chassis and engine work...). I was super happy with the combination of a noisy, grippy, fast, FWD hooligan and the (slightly less) noisy AWD saloon with compliant suspension.
Am I so greedy and so bad? Personally, I reckon that I get more back for my buck with two interesting cars than with one competent one.
What I don't understand is when some punter rocks up in a new car (or rather a car he bought new, because he wanted the new car smell, to choose his own options/colour scheme, "all the toys" and such, and still ends up in a BMW/Audi/Merc saloon) and then complains that I must be the father of all extravagance because I have two cars at home all to myself.
Earlier this year, I bought a second car. It was a Subaru Impreza WRX in perfect condition, a great colour (ie not WRC blue or black), and it had some choice mods, 280bhp, and a bit of potential. It was a great daily driver, to drop off the children, leave at the airport, and to use in winter. It was also a 2005, so it wasn't that much to buy. It was a perfect complement to my other car, which had become a bit too hard and a bit too compromised, even if I had been running it since 2007 - an R53 MINI Cooper S for the track (BBK, semi slicks, chassis and engine work...). I was super happy with the combination of a noisy, grippy, fast, FWD hooligan and the (slightly less) noisy AWD saloon with compliant suspension.
Am I so greedy and so bad? Personally, I reckon that I get more back for my buck with two interesting cars than with one competent one.
CorvetteConvert said:
Precisely.
Stop digging, Battered, (the soil is already up to your neck) and stop being such a misery guts!
Come on then, what car/s DO you own then?
Spill.
Right now, a Mondeo shed. Just a workhorse. I'm shopping for something nicer, maybe MX5 flavoured, or MR2 mk3, or Z4 / Z3. This latter will live in the garage most of the time but when weather permits it will get used for work etc. I do 12k-15k a year, depending upon where I'm working. I don't want anything too flash, I run a consultancy business and rocking up in a Porsche will see the rates questioned. Yes, even an £8k Boxster, because of the badge. I can show up in a 5 series, nobody bats an eye, but a Porker sends out the wrong messages.Stop digging, Battered, (the soil is already up to your neck) and stop being such a misery guts!
Come on then, what car/s DO you own then?
Spill.
I don't like to use anything too nice for humdrum crappy drives on the M1 and M62. What's the point? That's most of my motoring, out to (yet) another factory on some s
tty industrial estate in Grimsby or Liverpool or Cardiff. I'm not wasting a Boxster at 50mph in the rain. I wear old clothes in the garage and garden after all. So the shed, or something a bit better but workaday, will be fine.A few years ago I had a Cat 7, a 2CV (well, I lived in France, it's the law) and a ratty Volvo, so the speed itch is scratched. At that time I still chose to cycle to work. Why not, when it's 10km through vineyards and woodland tracks?
The 7 is been there, done that. The 2CV is too slow to use for the kind of trips I do, and in addition they have become very expensive for what they offer. A deuche makes sense as a £1k bit of fun, when rough ones are £2k there are better choices. I'm also interested in getting a bike. No licence yet so it would have to be a 125. Obviously that would be weekends only so there's a question about how much use it would get.
So, let's say a budget is £5k. Tax band K at worst, ideally less. (z4 2.0 is surprisingly good here). Insurance not too scary, but I'm 40-odd, full NCB, outer Leeds postcode, garage, so no horrors there. Usage is weekends out, not bothered about massive performance (been there, in the days before cameras every 10 feet), occasional long trips of 200 miles or so to a hotel, then a bit of local pottering to and from the factory in the week, then home. The bulk of these, esp winter, would be in the Mondeo or its replacement come Spring.
So let's talk about cars. What d'you think?
CorvetteConvert said:
Essentially, would you prefer a great car that can do everything, maybe the new M5 or M3, perhaps an XFR or maybe even a 911 or Cayman, depending on the amount of flexibility you need
For me, and hence why I own what I do.Is the fact, I'm yet to find a 'one car fits all' vehicle.
I enjoy cars and motoring very much.
But I want a vehicle I can do this with:
Holiday and touring, including green lanes.
Which means comfy, big and off road capability. 4/5 seats and a good boot.
But I also want something that can do this:
Off road trials events.
Which means competitive, small and potentially can take damage.
While on face value both of these are off roading. The trouble is, a nice holidaying off roader that you green lane, is likely going to be too big, too nice and too uncompetitive to trail.
And a vehicle good for trialing, won't really be comfy or big enough for holiday/touring duties.
But on top of that, I also want a vehicle to take things like this:
So it needs to be special enough or old enough to display at classic car shows.
And then there is the reality bit... it needs to do this too:
76 mile a day commute. So it not only needs to be affordable enough to run, in fuel terms. But durable, dependable and something that won't get ruined being used as the daily hack.
I'm yet to discovery a single car, or even a pair of cars that can cater for all of this.
And honestly, I do like access to a fast/speedy car too and I really enjoy open top motoring. So would regret not having a convertible of some kind.
Lastly, if we get snow, it is ever so nice to have a vehicle that you can enjoy in such conditions and still be able to get from place to place.
And as a hobby and interest, I do enjoy tinkering on cars too. Which I think I'd miss.
CorvetteConvert said:
or would you rather go for something like a Golf/Mondeo/CRV and have an Exige/Caterham/TVR/etc for the fun side of motoring?
Which way would, or do, you do it?
My biggest issue with the boring car & weekend car is. I spend far more time and miles doing the commute. Ok there can be traffic, but some of it is a good drive. So why would I want to spend so many hours and so many miles sitting in a car I hated?Which way would, or do, you do it?
And I don't.
Sure it would be nice to consolidate and maybe have a single vehicle to achieve some aspects of what I want. But the trouble is, you can't just over night sell multiple cars. So downsizing can be awkward. And of course you need the money to do it. The cars I've got now, I've gained over a numbers of years. I didn't one day wake up and buy them all in a weekend. Some I've also owned for a long time, so annual cost for them is very low. And none ever cost much as an initial purchase either.
So I just can't mentally justify spending a largish amount of money (relatively speaking), on a car I don't really want to own. Hence why I try and find a more interesting daily driver. Some might call them sheds, but the reality is, I'm just working within my means. And generally get a lot of enjoyment from the cars I own and the things I'm able to do with them.
So I guess I'm probably not in either camp. But then I suspect I'm not alone, I know quite a few people who own a collection of vehicles. And it's normally because each vehicle has a specific use.
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