Perfect two car fleets...
Discussion
OK – so i'm not talking 'money no object' – i'm talking about actual real life choices based on a realistic budget...
...And you ought to factor in running costs too!!!
In the past i've been guilty of chopping and changing my cars on a (sometimes very) regular basis in search of the perfect vehicle that will cater for all of my motoring needs. Myself and the Mrs both need our vehicles for work and get through our fair share of miles – so frugality has always been something that has relevance to us. For years and years I restricted my choice of vehicle to something that would return 'acceptable' MPGs – but recently I had something of an epiphany...
I decided to try running two cars (well three in total as the Mrs has her XC60 too). I'd buy a cheap snotter for daily duties and then have a 'nice' car for when the fancy takes me. I've had several different combinations of 'nice' car & 'snotter' car (or 'turd' as they have affectionately come to be referred to in our household) – but i've settled on a current combo that just seems to be absolutely perfect for my needs. The combo is as follows:
Porsche 911 (996) Carrera 2 Convertible (manual) & Land Rover Freelander Td4 (auto)
I do love a bargain fixer-upper and both were acquired as such. The 911 was snapped up over the winter for a mere £8k. It had a non functioning roof and just required some general sprucing up. I absolutely love this car. I used to be really pretentious and derogatory about anything with a soft top – but as i've become older (and stopped going to the 'ring chasing lower lap times) i've come to realise that the wonderful sense of occasion that can be felt by having fresh air envelop you as you drive around the countryside of East Sussex outweighs the penalty of additional weight and reduced rigidity by a factor of around a million percent. I would never have been able to justify running one of these back in the days of having just the one car. Simply awesome. I'm now a fully signed up Porsche saddo nerd.
The Freelander was also a total bargain. Sub £400 due to a knackered waterpump – but once fixed it has proven to be an incredibly reliable, comfortable and versatile hack. We have two very big Labradors and I occassionally go into some woodland that a friend owns – so this is just perfect. It has heated leather and the all important BMW Td4 engine. I'm a total convert to auto gearboxes for the daily commute too. Allows significantly easier coffee / snack consumption and makes stop-start jams a doddle. Following some wiley e-Bay 2nd hand purchases and some DIYing i've also now installed an Alpine Bluetooth audio system with i-phone charging dock that caters for all my telephony / DAB / streaming needs along with some upgraded speakers (including a Bose sub). The desire to keep spending to a minimum given the vehicles value meant that this was all done for under £100 and just makes it a pleasure to spend my commuting time in.
So that's it – this is my optimum 2 car fleet for my motoring needs. A cheap, comfortable 40MPG dog-&woodland-friendly daily commuter with 21st century media capabilities (and that actually looks good to my eye once it's caked in mud) paired with one of Stuttgart's finest rag-tops...
I don't think I can come up with a better pairing for me at this price point... Suggestions welcome though of course!!!
Has anyone else out there found their ideal 2 car fleet for their motoring needs???![](http://thumbsnap.com/sc/iWjPhiUa.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/NNNxR65j" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/NNNxR65j.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/uzTIdxIw" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/uzTIdxIw.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/qvRBkQO3" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/qvRBkQO3.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/NNNxR65j" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/NNNxR65j.jpg)
...And you ought to factor in running costs too!!!
In the past i've been guilty of chopping and changing my cars on a (sometimes very) regular basis in search of the perfect vehicle that will cater for all of my motoring needs. Myself and the Mrs both need our vehicles for work and get through our fair share of miles – so frugality has always been something that has relevance to us. For years and years I restricted my choice of vehicle to something that would return 'acceptable' MPGs – but recently I had something of an epiphany...
I decided to try running two cars (well three in total as the Mrs has her XC60 too). I'd buy a cheap snotter for daily duties and then have a 'nice' car for when the fancy takes me. I've had several different combinations of 'nice' car & 'snotter' car (or 'turd' as they have affectionately come to be referred to in our household) – but i've settled on a current combo that just seems to be absolutely perfect for my needs. The combo is as follows:
Porsche 911 (996) Carrera 2 Convertible (manual) & Land Rover Freelander Td4 (auto)
I do love a bargain fixer-upper and both were acquired as such. The 911 was snapped up over the winter for a mere £8k. It had a non functioning roof and just required some general sprucing up. I absolutely love this car. I used to be really pretentious and derogatory about anything with a soft top – but as i've become older (and stopped going to the 'ring chasing lower lap times) i've come to realise that the wonderful sense of occasion that can be felt by having fresh air envelop you as you drive around the countryside of East Sussex outweighs the penalty of additional weight and reduced rigidity by a factor of around a million percent. I would never have been able to justify running one of these back in the days of having just the one car. Simply awesome. I'm now a fully signed up Porsche saddo nerd.
The Freelander was also a total bargain. Sub £400 due to a knackered waterpump – but once fixed it has proven to be an incredibly reliable, comfortable and versatile hack. We have two very big Labradors and I occassionally go into some woodland that a friend owns – so this is just perfect. It has heated leather and the all important BMW Td4 engine. I'm a total convert to auto gearboxes for the daily commute too. Allows significantly easier coffee / snack consumption and makes stop-start jams a doddle. Following some wiley e-Bay 2nd hand purchases and some DIYing i've also now installed an Alpine Bluetooth audio system with i-phone charging dock that caters for all my telephony / DAB / streaming needs along with some upgraded speakers (including a Bose sub). The desire to keep spending to a minimum given the vehicles value meant that this was all done for under £100 and just makes it a pleasure to spend my commuting time in.
So that's it – this is my optimum 2 car fleet for my motoring needs. A cheap, comfortable 40MPG dog-&woodland-friendly daily commuter with 21st century media capabilities (and that actually looks good to my eye once it's caked in mud) paired with one of Stuttgart's finest rag-tops...
I don't think I can come up with a better pairing for me at this price point... Suggestions welcome though of course!!!
Has anyone else out there found their ideal 2 car fleet for their motoring needs???
Funny thing I'm just start to think about this myself. The current fleet is my Accord Tourer and the wifes Mk3 MX5. But since having a baby in September the Accord has almost exclusively been used by the wife and I've been using the 5. It's great driving it but it's 10 years old and only 50k on the clock and it seems unfair to be putting 1k miles a month on it trudging up and down the motorway. So my man maths was to get a small 5 door hatch for daily use by me and/or her and then garage the Mx5 and try and keep it forever. I think I've got the wife on board so I was thinking of something like a 5 year old 1.0 Kia Picanto, which can be had for about 2.5k but still have 2 years warranty left and with £0 tax irk only be the purchase and then insurance to deal with.
It's taken a while but I think I have got to my perfect 2 car pairing:-
E63 AMG - modern, comfortable and super quick family bus
+
Cayman S - fun, not too flashy drivers car. It's 11 years old with a few marks so not massively OCD about it - which only makes it even more enjoyable 🤓
That was until baby number 3 was on the way so a QuashQai was added to the fleet...really should have got a 7 seat E63...
E63 AMG - modern, comfortable and super quick family bus
+
Cayman S - fun, not too flashy drivers car. It's 11 years old with a few marks so not massively OCD about it - which only makes it even more enjoyable 🤓
That was until baby number 3 was on the way so a QuashQai was added to the fleet...really should have got a 7 seat E63...
Mine would probably be keeping my DS5 and adding another Land Rover, probably a 110.
I found my 90 was hugely useful for carrying all sorts of odd loads and towing stuff and going places you wouldn't take a normal car, something utilitarian and solid about it. Main problem I had to it related to interior space being a pick up, so if/when I get another I'll simply go the whole hog and get a 110 station wagon. Then take off the stupid Boost alloy wheels and put on steelies as they should have. And maybe a better heater.
Anything requiring long-distance/economy/comfort = DS5
Anything requiring short-distance/all-weather/people mover/big loads = 110
I found my 90 was hugely useful for carrying all sorts of odd loads and towing stuff and going places you wouldn't take a normal car, something utilitarian and solid about it. Main problem I had to it related to interior space being a pick up, so if/when I get another I'll simply go the whole hog and get a 110 station wagon. Then take off the stupid Boost alloy wheels and put on steelies as they should have. And maybe a better heater.
Anything requiring long-distance/economy/comfort = DS5
Anything requiring short-distance/all-weather/people mover/big loads = 110
I think the OPs combination is great - my first thoughts would be large 4x4 (towing ability / 5 people / tip runs / off-road / etc) and then small 2 seater convertible (handling, open, fun)
I have a RR Classic for the 4x4
and a z3 for the two seater convertible
perfect combination... both gently going up in value, so no depreciation which means I can enjoy making them better for the same cost...
The only addition I would consider would be a 2 seater GT such as an XK coupe (might get one!)
I have a RR Classic for the 4x4
and a z3 for the two seater convertible
perfect combination... both gently going up in value, so no depreciation which means I can enjoy making them better for the same cost...
The only addition I would consider would be a 2 seater GT such as an XK coupe (might get one!)
Some excellent suggestions there - in particular I do have a soft spot for Easy_Targa's M roadster... Awesome car, awesome engine and probably within the capabilities of even a ham fisted oaf like me to do skids in.
turboteeth also makes a good point about the Cayman - it's important that the 'fun' car is presentable enough to be proud of as you walk away from it in a pub car park on Sunday afternoon - but at the same time sufficiently imperfect such that you don't experience the slightest bit of guilt / trepidation when wringing it's neck down your favourite section of local country road (in my case the Beachy Head loop)
turboteeth also makes a good point about the Cayman - it's important that the 'fun' car is presentable enough to be proud of as you walk away from it in a pub car park on Sunday afternoon - but at the same time sufficiently imperfect such that you don't experience the slightest bit of guilt / trepidation when wringing it's neck down your favourite section of local country road (in my case the Beachy Head loop)
akirk said:
I think the OPs combination is great - my first thoughts would be large 4x4 (towing ability / 5 people / tip runs / off-road / etc) and then small 2 seater convertible (handling, open, fun)
Agreed.My current combination:
I maintain that the perfect fleet really needs three vehicles, a 4x4, a roadster and a fast comfy barge. Unfortunately that's expensive so currently I just have the two above though an Audi W12 or similar would round it out nicely.
I disagree. Luxo 4x4 and a roadster, leaving 3rd car to be a classic or a balls out racer.
Currently looking for a ffrr to add to my Elise to make the weekday/weekend pairing. I need a 4x4 for towing my race car and having driven a 4.2 sc Rangerover just can't see past them when browsing the classifieds.
Currently looking for a ffrr to add to my Elise to make the weekday/weekend pairing. I need a 4x4 for towing my race car and having driven a 4.2 sc Rangerover just can't see past them when browsing the classifieds.
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