2 cars vs 1 car

[kprm77]

Further to my recent thread here, I have been thinking about the viability of 2 cars instead of 1.

An estate will be a must, and I'm going to want an auto, and if it's not at least fairly quick, I'll be wanting to change it within days of getting it. So, the estate is not going to be very economical.

I would love to have two different cars for the variety, though I thought this wouldn't be viable. However, I've done some very basic sums and it turns out it would be cheaper to have two cars.

Here are my monthly cost calculations over the anticipated 2904 miles per month (2304 work):

2 cars.

Workhorse diesel ....2304miles 50mpg at 1.199p per litre ..... £251.00
Workhorse diesel ....insurance ......................... ..... £25.00
Workhorse diesel ....maintenance ......................... .... £50.00
Workhorse diesel ....Tax ....... ......................... .... £13.33

Lardy Estate ........600 miles 26mpg at 1.199 per litre ...... £126.00
Lardy Estate ... ....insurance ......................... ..... £60.00
Lardy Estate ... ....maintenance ......................... .... £50.00
Lardy Estate ... ....Tax ....... ......................... .... £16.66

Total ........................................................ £591.99


1 car.

Lardy Estate ........2904 miles 28mpg at 1.199 per litre ..... £565.00
Lardy Estate ... ....insurance ......................... ..... £60.00
Lardy Estate ... ....maintenance ......................... ... £100.00
Lardy Estate ... ....Tax ....... ......................... .... £16.66

Total ........................................................ £741.66




I've assumed a slightly better mpg for the lardy estate if I have just this, as it'll be doing a lot of motorway work and hence better mpg. This doesn't take into account depreciation, and the whole argument falls to pieces if my job changes and I'm no longer travelling!

So, going by these very simplified figures, it would seem that getting 2 cars is almost £150 cheaper than getting 1 car. Have I missed something obvious?

[Garlick]

I wish I was this calculated (I think).

I see a car I like, buy it, worry about it until collection then get on with owning it. Repeat to fade.....

[itz_baseline]

kprm77 said:

This doesn't take into account depreciation

As soon as you take this into account would it not be a lot lot cheaper to just have the 1 car. The workhorse would more than likely need to be new-ish otherwise 30,000 will end up costing more than £50 per month (this probably only covers servicing and cheap tyres and not the rest of things likely to go wrong) - therefore depreciation would more than likely need to be a factor.

Is there a reason why you aren't considering depreciation? If you aren't bothered by than then an RS6 and a Mondeo\Volvo V70 Estate are probably stock answers.

Edited by itz_baseline on Thursday 8th April 14:16

Edited by itz_baseline on Thursday 8th April 14:17

[550Hep]

itz_baseline said:

kprm77 said:

This doesn't take into account depreciation

As soon as you take this into account would it not be a lot lot cheaper to just have the 1 car. The workhorse would more than likely need to be new-ish otherwise 30,000 will end up costing more than £50 per month (this probably only covers servicing and cheap tyres and not the rest of things likely to go wrong) - therefore depreciation would more than likely need to be a factor.

Is there a reason why you aren't considering depreciation? If you aren't bothered by than then an RS6 and a Mondeo\Volvo V70 Estate are probably stock answers.

Not sure about that as my workhorse is a Saab 9-5 and I would think that would cover that and you would get one more or less at the bottom of a depreciation curve and after one if not two years you can write off the entire car cost (which is what I do).

Edited by 550Hep on Thursday 8th April 14:27

[marcosgt]

Not sure about the insurance either.

I suspect you'll pay more for the second car, so either your lardy estate is too expensive in the second example or too cheap in the first.

£720 sounds a lot to me for insurance per annum, so I assumed you were not including NCB on that. If so, it'll be cheaper in the 1 car scenario.

You might have factored it in in some other way, of course.

M.

[kprm77]

itz_baseline said:

kprm77 said:

This doesn't take into account depreciation

Is there a reason why you aren't considering depreciation? If you aren't bothered by than then an RS6 and a Mondeo\Volvo V70 Estate are probably stock answers.

I'm not considering depreciation because neither car will be worth much to start with. I'm going off what I can get for my current car, so I'm left with something like:

Diesel snotter - £500 to £1750
Estate - £2500 - £4500

[Chris_w666]

Not sure on the figures but over the last 3 and a bit months we have ran 2 cars instead of 1. Insurance costs more, depreciation on 1 has been ruinous and will be nil for a year or more on the other, obviously servicing will cost a little more over x,000 miles but they do now seem to be piling on less frequently, the biggest difference I have noticed is that we appear to be saving roughly 30% on our monthly fuel spend.

[itz_baseline]

kprm77 said:

itz_baseline said:

kprm77 said:

This doesn't take into account depreciation

Is there a reason why you aren't considering depreciation? If you aren't bothered by than then an RS6 and a Mondeo\Volvo V70 Estate are probably stock answers.

I'm not considering depreciation because neither car will be worth much to start with. I'm going off what I can get for my current car, so I'm left with something like:

Diesel snotter - £500 to £1750
Estate - £2500 - £4500

Is there not a risk that they will cost more than £50 per month to run. £1,000 for a diesel snotter may end up costing a lot more. If anything at all needs replacing you are looking at higher costs.

On that basis I would say spend it all on a fast estate and keep something for repairs.

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1569348.htm

[kprm77]

itz_baseline said:

Is there not a risk that they will cost more than £50 per month to run. £1,000 for a diesel snotter may end up costing a lot more. If anything at all needs replacing you are looking at higher costs.

On that basis I would say spend it all on a fast estate and keep something for repairs.

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1569348.htm

That 850R would be nice, but would cost a fortune in fuel. (And it's a manual )

[Gizmo!]

Garlick said:

I see a car I like, buy it, spend the same as I bought it for on servicing and upgrades, keep it six months and then realise I don't need three cars. Repeat to fade.....

Far too easy EFA.

[Chris71]

I went into huge detail with a spreadsheet on this recently. Sure enough one car (an E36 M3) worked out more expensive than two (the current Mk1 Focus and Caterham line up).

The thing is, though, you will come across a fantastic road in the boring car at some stage. What's more it makes sense to make the second car something fairly extreme that you couldn't use day-to-day. Then you realise you have no doors, no windscreen and no security, which is great on a track day, but useless for a weekend away with a passenger and luggage...

I think the best thing is one reasonably affordable but fun all rounder and a bicycle.

[snotrag]

Chris71 said:

I think the best thing is one reasonably affordable but fun all rounder and a bicycle.

This.

I've also experimented with the two cars thing. I'm at the real budget end of the scale, so slightly different circumstances, but again - it just didnt work out.

Regular occurences of 'Damn, loook at this road! I'm in the wrong car!, added to getting double the number of VED reminders in the post, two MOTs to worry about, two lots on insurance... I had high hopes for the two car lifestyle, but it just doesnt work as you think it will.

I think until a time when I'm significantly richer than I am now, and doing significantly more mileage, then I've realised that one car will suit for all, and putting up with some 'nuances' is worth it.

And ride a Bicycle.

[excel monkey]

Doing 2300 miles a month in a cheap diesel shed won't be much fun.

I'd stick with one car in your situation. Your existing Skoda Superb TDI is probably a pretty good car for your needs/budget.

A Merc W210 was mentioned in your other thread. Yes they do suffer rust problems, but that can be repaired/managed/prevented, and they're still good cars. Would be a nice place to sit when racking up large mileages.

[plenty]

It sounds like you would simply rotate two fairly similar cars across the same journeys, whereas the multiple-car solution IMO makes best sense when you can clearly differentiate between your driving occasions and have two very different cars: for example, a workhorse for the commute, and the funmobile for the weekends.

The counterargument to the single-car solution is that you will always be driving a compromise which will never be quite as suitable as something expressly fit for purpose.

Alternatively, if your typical journey involves a combination of motorways, town-driving and B-roads then an all-rounder makes a lot of sense.