Which is the best ownership prospect and why
Which is the best ownership prospect and why

Poll: Which is the best ownership prospect and why

Total Members Polled: 69

One car to do it all, hot hatch or similar: 12%
2 cars, one practical and one performance: 88%
Author
Discussion

patmahe

Original Poster:

5,919 posts

234 months

Monday 26th July 2010
quotequote all
I know there are several combinations you could go for, but which of the two options above would/do you have and why?

Personally I currently have 2 cars, but I am getting to use my performance car (elise) so little I find it ver hard to justify the outlay. So just wondering what other peoples opinions are?

Original Poster

5,429 posts

206 months

Monday 26th July 2010
quotequote all
Much better to have two cars IMO, makes it much more of an occasion, second car dependent of course.

mrmr96

13,736 posts

234 months

Monday 26th July 2010
quotequote all
patmahe said:
I know there are several combinations you could go for, but which of the two options above would/do you have and why?

Personally I currently have 2 cars, but I am getting to use my performance car (elise) so little I find it ver hard to justify the outlay. So just wondering what other peoples opinions are?
Why don't you use the Elise much?

MTFU and get on with it?

marcosgt

11,498 posts

206 months

Monday 26th July 2010
quotequote all
If you're wealthy and motivated enough, there's much to be said for two, but in reality one car that does performance and practical as balanced as a) you can afford and b) you can live with is much easier and much cheaper.

Only one RFL, only one insurance policy, only one set of servicing (even if you it yourself, it's time and money for parts).

Obviously if you have something really thirsty and need to do a lot of miles for work, the balance shifts towards two, but that's really a case of having to get a second car to avoid selling the first and compromising, rather than it being 'better' to have two cars. Lots of people have limited parking, so that's another factor against having two for many.

M.

Edited by marcosgt on Monday 26th July 16:54

slipstream 1985

13,768 posts

209 months

Monday 26th July 2010
quotequote all
this is an age old battle on ph it seems.

ludicrous speed

959 posts

224 months

Monday 26th July 2010
quotequote all
It depends on your budget. Ideally 2 cars would be better, but for me insuring 2 cars is not really possible, especially if one is going to be something a bit special. My st170 is all the car I need at the moment. Yes I'd like something a lot faster, but it is still a lot of fun to drive.

kambites

71,499 posts

251 months

Monday 26th July 2010
quotequote all
I think it depends on your personal circumstances. I find that an impractical car for me, and a practical car for the wife, works very well. We couldn't easily live with only one car but one two seater and one hatchback is fine.

If I was on my own I'd go for just an impractical car, unless I needed the practicality for my job, and just hire something when I needed more space.

Zordrak

1,503 posts

201 months

Monday 26th July 2010
quotequote all
Depends on how wealthy you are, if you're rich you can have 2 cars or more likely 10.

I have gone for the one car approach with my Z4 because:

- I get to drive a 'nice' car all the time rather than having to drive to work in something boring.

- Still fun to hoon on a sunday.

- 1x service, 1x repairs, 1x MOT, 1x Tax, 1x insurance, 1x depreciation - it all adds up quite steeply, plus 1x parking space.


Don

28,378 posts

314 months

Monday 26th July 2010
quotequote all
We went for the three cars option.

Two silly, impractical sports cars and a practical Estate.

Therefore on a sunny day there is no argument as to who gets to take the sports car. On a crappy, winter nasty day it's a good thing my wife works from home!

Downsides are the ludicrous cost of maintenance, insurance and taxes. Upside is that the P&J doesn't have to go to Sainsburys and get dinged.

tr7v8

7,622 posts

258 months

Monday 26th July 2010
quotequote all
Valid point, I have 2 cars the S-Type is the daily driver & a Porsche 944 as a toy. I was quite shocked to see that the 944 has done 1400miles since its last MOT & did under 2K the year before. So its cost per mile is very high relatively.
But advantage of having 2 is that they are a backup for each other & maintenance on the 944 can be done by me saving labour costs.

Matt UK

18,084 posts

230 months

Monday 26th July 2010
quotequote all
2 cars for me

BMW would be rubbish on track and the MX5 is crap at really long motorway journeys.

scotty_d

6,795 posts

224 months

Monday 26th July 2010
quotequote all
I have tried both these option had a Scooby wagon as my only car i did a good few miles pa at the time and it cost a fortune to run. I now have a Volvo v40 tdi which owes me nothing with 185k on it £125 a year to tax and does 40-45mpg and very little to insure. Great.

Have the TVR as a special car for weekends and nice days works out very well for me and makes me appreciate the TVR so much more after driving the old Volvo

mr_tony

6,351 posts

299 months

Monday 26th July 2010
quotequote all
You can never have too many cars.
You can have not enough places to park.
These are the only rules you need to worry about.

Edited by mr_tony on Monday 26th July 17:23

Phil Dicky

7,194 posts

293 months

Monday 26th July 2010
quotequote all
I use the Cerb at least twice a week and have a Mondeo for the high miles I do...though an old 80s smoker might be on the cards as well wink

Austin.J

888 posts

222 months

Monday 26th July 2010
quotequote all
Jack of all trades, master of none.

If you can have 2 why not, means you can break the toy and not worry about getting to work in the morning.

Fetchez la vache

5,903 posts

244 months

Monday 26th July 2010
quotequote all
Another vote for 2 cars, though having just sold the interesting car, the in-between times of being left with only something ordinary, and "useful" really sucks smile

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

220 months

Monday 26th July 2010
quotequote all
patmahe said:
I know there are several combinations you could go for, but which of the two options above would/do you have and why?

Personally I currently have 2 cars, but I am getting to use my performance car (elise) so little I find it ver hard to justify the outlay. So just wondering what other peoples opinions are?
a hot hatch is just a compromise, if you can live with a compromise - go for it. I'd rather have multiple interesting cars.

So why not use the Elise more, or buy a 2+2 coupe if you need more space. DC5 anybody or Mustang biggrin

ludicrous speed

959 posts

224 months

Monday 26th July 2010
quotequote all
300bhp/ton said:
a hot hatch is just a compromise, if you can live with a compromise - go for it. I'd rather have multiple interesting cars.

So why not use the Elise more, or buy a 2+2 coupe if you need more space. DC5 anybody or Mustang biggrin
funny that you should say that a hot hatch is a compromise and then go on to suggest a mustang. i mean, what if he wanted to turn at some point?

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

220 months

Monday 26th July 2010
quotequote all
ludicrous speed said:
300bhp/ton said:
a hot hatch is just a compromise, if you can live with a compromise - go for it. I'd rather have multiple interesting cars.

So why not use the Elise more, or buy a 2+2 coupe if you need more space. DC5 anybody or Mustang biggrin
funny that you should say that a hot hatch is a compromise and then go on to suggest a mustang. i mean, what if he wanted to turn at some point?
He'd have the correct wheels doing the steering and the correct wheels putting the power down hehe


Your not one of these Top Gear/Fifth Gear believers are you laugh

ZeeTacoe

5,444 posts

252 months

Monday 26th July 2010
quotequote all
ludicrous speed said:
300bhp/ton said:
a hot hatch is just a compromise, if you can live with a compromise - go for it. I'd rather have multiple interesting cars.

So why not use the Elise more, or buy a 2+2 coupe if you need more space. DC5 anybody or Mustang biggrin
funny that you should say that a hot hatch is a compromise and then go on to suggest a mustang. i mean, what if he wanted to turn at some point?
use that funny round thing infront of the driver