Is owning 2 cars a viable option?
Discussion
Rather than having 1 family car worth say £6k would it a good idea to have that economical family motor worth around 3k & that man motor for around £3k or would you be looking at a financial pit doing things that way?
Not gave much research/thought into this so I was wondering if anyone else does the same & if there is much of a cost increase. The man motor would probably be something like a Skyline R33 or similar which would be on the 1 day p/w insurance while set around 2k miles p/y & the family motor would be something of the Mondeo, Saab, Vectra type cars.
What 2 cars would you like to go for?
Not gave much research/thought into this so I was wondering if anyone else does the same & if there is much of a cost increase. The man motor would probably be something like a Skyline R33 or similar which would be on the 1 day p/w insurance while set around 2k miles p/y & the family motor would be something of the Mondeo, Saab, Vectra type cars.
What 2 cars would you like to go for?
FellowPazzini said:
Rather than having 1 family car worth say £6k would it a good idea to have that economical family motor worth around 3k & that man motor for around £3k or would you be looking at a financial pit doing things that way?
Not gave much research/thought into this so I was wondering if anyone else does the same & if there is much of a cost increase. The man motor would probably be something like a Skyline R33 or similar which would be on the 1 day p/w insurance while set around 2k miles p/y & the family motor would be something of the Mondeo, Saab, Vectra type cars.
What 2 cars would you like to go for?
R33 for 3k, no thanks Not gave much research/thought into this so I was wondering if anyone else does the same & if there is much of a cost increase. The man motor would probably be something like a Skyline R33 or similar which would be on the 1 day p/w insurance while set around 2k miles p/y & the family motor would be something of the Mondeo, Saab, Vectra type cars.
What 2 cars would you like to go for?
Contigo said:
If you can make do with one motor then I'd run one. Get something for the full 6K and it will be more enjoyable plus the cost these days to keep two cars taxed, insured, fuelled and in a state of repair is not a cheap task.
Unless, of course, you buy something easy to work on and cheap to insure. My "new" 924 cost £900, and classic insurance is about £120 for the year. Parts are pretty cheap and the owners network is excellent. And if it all goes horribly wrong, it's worth £600 spares or repairs.So that would leave £5k of the OP's budget for something else.
Two cars is the way forward!
Gruber said:
Contigo said:
If you can make do with one motor then I'd run one. Get something for the full 6K and it will be more enjoyable plus the cost these days to keep two cars taxed, insured, fuelled and in a state of repair is not a cheap task.
Unless, of course, you buy something easy to work on and cheap to insure. My "new" 924 cost £900, and classic insurance is about £120 for the year. Parts are pretty cheap and the owners network is excellent. And if it all goes horribly wrong, it's worth £600 spares or repairs.So that would leave £5k of the OP's budget for something else.
Two cars is the way forward!
That depends very much on insurance and VED. Obviously one can only drive one car at once so fuel costs aren't particularly different but if you're adding another £1500ish of fixed costs on top then that will hurt. I should know 
If you get a classic or a low tax band man motor and can insure it cheaply then I would go for it.
If you get a classic or a low tax band man motor and can insure it cheaply then I would go for it.
FellowPazzini said:
Rather than having 1 family car worth say £6k would it a good idea to have that economical family motor worth around 3k & that man motor for around £3k or would you be looking at a financial pit doing things that way?
Not gave much research/thought into this so I was wondering if anyone else does the same & if there is much of a cost increase. The man motor would probably be something like a Skyline R33 or similar which would be on the 1 day p/w insurance while set around 2k miles p/y & the family motor would be something of the Mondeo, Saab, Vectra type cars.
What 2 cars would you like to go for?
The short answer is yes it is viable.Not gave much research/thought into this so I was wondering if anyone else does the same & if there is much of a cost increase. The man motor would probably be something like a Skyline R33 or similar which would be on the 1 day p/w insurance while set around 2k miles p/y & the family motor would be something of the Mondeo, Saab, Vectra type cars.
What 2 cars would you like to go for?
But a few things to consider:
-how many miles will you do a year in each?
-for what types of journeys?
-and how many people?
-do you like to tinker and maintain your own cars?
-are you open minded about ownership?
The obvious costs are insurance, tax, mot and maintenance. Fuel isn't really affected as you are likely to cover the same gross distance per year, just spread over multiple vehicles.
On the insurance front, well multicar policies can be worth a look, but also consider the type of car. Kits and classics are often very cheap to insure. My cousin used to have a Triumph GT6 insured on a classic policy for about £100/year.
Road tax is a more real concern, so consider pre 1973 for tax exempt, or if pre March 2001 then smaller than 1.6 litres will be a lower rate of tax.
So it then comes down to maintenance, but if you are prepared to get your hands dirty and not over pay for main dealer servicing, then this can be managed rather well.
Also if you buy the right kind of 2nd car depreciation maybe very low on, e.g. buy today for £3k and in 5 years time it might still be worth £3k. Whereas a £3k Mondeo today will struggle to be worth £600 in 5 years time.
Re: the family car. £1500 can actually buy a lot of car these days, so make sure that by spending double you are actually getting more, rather than example the same vehicle but only a couple of years newer. In reality would owning a 52 plate 'xx' car really be any worse than an identical but 55 plate version?
Contigo said:
If you can make do with one motor then I'd run one. Get something for the full 6K and it will be more enjoyable plus the cost these days to keep two cars taxed, insured, fuelled and in a state of repair is not a cheap task.
Really? You drive more total miles if you own more cars? Madness. Fuel costs increase with mileage driven, not the number of cars you own. Also I find repair costs are often mileage depandant too.I run a fleet. Classic insurance is often very cheap (about £100 fully comp for last years RX7 and last months CRX quote).
Also if one of your fleet is a banger (like my RX7s and BMWs) servicing costs are zero, you just by another one for a few hundred quid every year or so.
Currently I'm running an Elise (a base S1 can't be much over the £6k budget) and an MX5 (which can be had for a few hundred quid). I'm spending maybe £500 a year on tax, insurance and servicing on the MX5, but saving on mileage, depreciation and servicing on the Elise.
In my view the two cars have to be sufficiently different to make this necessary. e.g a small 2 seater + a family car. This is where I have gone wrong as the supra, although less practical than mazda, is still a large car and could almost do everything - consequently it plays on my mind a bit, especially when I am handing out for 2 lots of tax and maintenance.
nottyash said:
Yes it is, Far better than having one car.
I bought a Honda S2000 and a Subaru Legacy B4 RSK. £6600 Both are quite thirsty, but who cares?
I bought a Honda S2000 and a Subaru Legacy B4 RSK. £6600 Both are quite thirsty, but who cares?
I had a Legacy GTB / Mk1 MX5 (and then turbo MX5) combination - back to just the Legacy now though in the interests of freeing up money for other things.
Edited by GravelBen on Friday 13th April 12:58
More than one car? Incredibly liberating.
Crap van for work, shopping, lugging stuff down the dump, booze cruising ect. Takes all the carpark knocks and dents and you don't give a s
t where you leave it or if it gets dirty.
Nice cars for holidays, weekends away, tinkering, driving pleasure and the occasional hoon.
Our case: Shared Kangoo diesel van, about 10-12k miles a year, My XJ8 5-6k per year, and Mrs JS's Pug GTi, about 4k a year .
Savings in fuel alone, let alone reduction in wear and tear more than cover the extra VED and insurance and nice car values are kept up to the max by pristine condition and low annual mileage. It's the way forward.
Crap van for work, shopping, lugging stuff down the dump, booze cruising ect. Takes all the carpark knocks and dents and you don't give a s
t where you leave it or if it gets dirty.Nice cars for holidays, weekends away, tinkering, driving pleasure and the occasional hoon.
Our case: Shared Kangoo diesel van, about 10-12k miles a year, My XJ8 5-6k per year, and Mrs JS's Pug GTi, about 4k a year .
Savings in fuel alone, let alone reduction in wear and tear more than cover the extra VED and insurance and nice car values are kept up to the max by pristine condition and low annual mileage. It's the way forward.
A few great replies there. Looks like I'm swaying that way then, now just need to persuade the boss & get an idea of insurance costs.
I think it'll be a case of fingers crossed nothing goes wrong with them or it'd be an expensive affair. Would love to add more muller to the equation but as it stands I'd be happy with a crappy family motor and a cheap chav mobile in drive.
Is there such as a 1 day insurance policy or would it be a case of guessing how many miles you'll do in a year (1-2k)?
I think it'll be a case of fingers crossed nothing goes wrong with them or it'd be an expensive affair. Would love to add more muller to the equation but as it stands I'd be happy with a crappy family motor and a cheap chav mobile in drive.
Is there such as a 1 day insurance policy or would it be a case of guessing how many miles you'll do in a year (1-2k)?
Got to be done, as posted already though, they have to be sufficiently different to be worthwhile. Classic insurance and pre 2001 for road tax, doesn't stretch the budget too much. Personally 55 plate VW Bora £135 road tax 12 months, with 4 doors 4 seats for taking family out. MGB roadster £118, 6 months road tax £111 insurance limited mileage to 3000,22mpg, for solo hooning. TVR S2 V6 £221, 12 months road tax £127 insurance limited mileage to 3000, allegedly 25 mpg, for cruising with Other Half. All bought for under £6000.
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