Two cars become one or do they?

[DaveOrange]

Sorry all, another "What Car" thread.

My daily driver is a Cayman R and my wife has a Renault Koleos (think Nissan X- Trail with a Renault body) Unfortunately due to medical reasons my wife has had her licence revoked. Now I need a family car that can carry decent amounts of stuff and I need something with 4wd. I also need something fun to drive.

My options are
1.Keep both the DD's and just use the Koleos when I need a family/4wd/tip car
2. Keep both the DD's and use the Cayman less thus keeping the mileage down
3. Sell both DD's and get something that satisfies all my needs.

The trouble with 1 is that I don't particularly want to pay out for insurance/ maintenance etc for a car that would be used maybe once a week at most. The problem with 2 is that I enjoy my daily commute in something a bit sporty. So that leaves me with 3 and I am struggling to think of anything that takes my fancy apart from an RS6.

Anybody got any suggestions?

[IanCress]

Porsche Cayenne?

There's plenty of sporty 4wd's on the market these days. What kind of budget are you looking at?

[RizzoTheRat]

Do you really need 4WD, and how often do you the extra space? If the answers are No and Not Often then maybe replace the Renault with something like an older Volvo estate that'll cost less to insure, if you're not using it much maintenance costs won't be particularly high.

[Fastdruid]

Why do you need 4wd?

[RobM77]

IanCress said:

There's plenty of sporty 4wd's on the market these days.

I guess that the crux of the OP's question is what his definiton of sporty is, which is a very personal thing. In my opinion, something with the centre of gravity and weight of a Range Rover or Cayenne with 4WD and suspension tuned for off road use will never ever be 'sporty', not even remotely so (in fact I can't think of anything road legal that's less sporty without getting into commercial vehicles!). My reasoning for that is that everything you need to do to a car to make it suitable for off road is the opposite of what you'd do to make a car sporty on the road. I don't even consider an RS4 or RS6 particularly sporty; but that's just me - over to the OP on that one I guess! If it was me and I needed 4WD then I would keep the Cayman and the wife's car as a two car set, or change her car for a Land Rover or something similar. An Impreza or Evo is the closest thing I can think of for one car that makes an attempt at being sporty and retains off road credentials (minus ground clearance...), but most Cayman owners would be pretty dissapointed with one I would have thought.

Edited by RobM77 on Thursday 8th January 12:09

[TooMany2cvs]

Fastdruid said:

Why do you need 4wd?

This. And what features of "4wd" do you need?

Ground clearance? (Guess not, else the Cayman would never get to/from the house?)
Winter? (Tyres will solve 90% of the requirement)
Towing ability?

[DaveOrange]

Thanks for the input so far.

AWD is a requirement. The Koleos although not doing extreme off roading does spend a lot of time in muddy fields carrying a fair bit of camping equipment.It is also the vehicle we take to the Alps when we go skiing. AWD and snow tyres means no problems at all and I don't have to arse around with snow chains.
I really don't fancy any of the traditional SUV's, Cayenne/RR/ML etc so I keep coming back to the RS4/6. RobM you mentioned sporty,perhaps I should have said something with decent performance as I know I am compromising too much to get a "sports" car. I will certainly miss the CR should I let it go.

[Jabosoc]

Keep the Porsche. Sell the Renault. Buy a classic Range Rover and insure it on a classic policy.

[WreckedGecko]

The above.



Otherwise I can heartily recommend a B7 RS4. Fast with tonnes of grip. Not a huge about of room in the back seats though.

[VladD]

Subaru Forester.

[RobM77]

DaveOrange said:

Thanks for the input so far.

AWD is a requirement. The Koleos although not doing extreme off roading does spend a lot of time in muddy fields carrying a fair bit of camping equipment.It is also the vehicle we take to the Alps when we go skiing. AWD and snow tyres means no problems at all and I don't have to arse around with snow chains.
I really don't fancy any of the traditional SUV's, Cayenne/RR/ML etc so I keep coming back to the RS4/6. RobM you mentioned sporty,perhaps I should have said something with decent performance as I know I am compromising too much to get a "sports" car. I will certainly miss the CR should I let it go.

I was quite careful to say "what's the OP's definition of 'sporty'", because for me it's pure handling, whereas for others it's purely about performance. If it's just performance you want then you've got quite a few cars to choose from, either true cars, such as the Impreza, Evo, Audi Quattro models, Volvo 4WD models and BMW four wheel drive models; or, if you need more ground clearance and wheel travel, then you can go for a true off roader with a 'sporty' or performance edge, such as the highly regarded Cayenne, Range Rover Sport or the BMW X3/X5 etc (the latter of which I've driven on some serious off road and they coped just fine). Obviously, as soon as you make that switch to an off roader you have a penalty to pay in the handling stakes, due to the higher CofG and suspension suitable for off road, but in terms of performance that's just a matter of throwing horsepower at it and giving it grip in the corners, which most of the cars I've mentioned do with ease.

If you enjoy the Cayman's handling and light footedness, then you're going to be pretty miserable in any of the cars I've just mentioned. Even an RS4 is dreary and uninspiring comared to a Cayman in terms of sportiness (in my humble opinion, having driven both). The trouble with keepin the Cayman is that if you're driving all the way to the alps in the other car, then you don't really want to do that in a £2k runaround that you bought for tip duties. It's a dilemna! Perhaps trade the Cayman R in for something cheaper and still sporty, such as a Boxster S, Elise etc and then spend a reasonable amount on a comfortable 4WD car for the other duties? I've toyed with 2 or 3 cars for the last twelve years and am happiest when my daily driver is something that I enjoy driving and of decent quality, which I should imagine is especially important if you're going all the way to the alps in it (as we also do, in summer though...).

[andburg]

keep the koleos, sell the cayman and buy a bike.

keeps costs down and will increase enjoyment

[TA14]

What about a modification of 2: drive the Cayman three times a week to work, K twice and at w/e ends for family use?

[RobM77]

andburg said:

keep the koleos, sell the cayman and buy a bike.

keeps costs down and will increase enjoyment

That depends what the OP's enjoying about the Cayman. I can't speak for him, but if it were me, it would be the delicate and nicely balanced handling up to and on the limit. The vast majority of bikes never get ridden anywhere near the limit (for a good reason!) and the enjoyment is purely the feeling of cornering on two wheels and the immense straight line performance; ergo the Cayman offers completely different enjoyment to a bike. With regard to keeping the Koleos, that again depends what sort of driver the OP is - as I said above I've toyed with various 2/3 car options and I know for a fact if I'm in something FWD or 4WD that's not tuned for handling then I'm very miserable indeed, no matter what I've got in the garage for sunny days and weekends.

[toon10]

First of all I'm sorry to hear abot your wifes troubles. I think you would regret selling the Cayman R for something more compromised and I'm not sure you would be happy using the Koleos most of the time.

An RS6 will satisfy your family/4wd needs and have plenty of poke to enjoy but will it be agile or comuunicative enough for you? It may well be but I'm just posing the question. Would an RS4 Avant fulfil your needs and provide something a bit more agile?

I'm in the situation where my partner has just got a 4x4 family wagon which we use for most things and I want something for my short commute and occasional fun drive. Funnily enough the Cayman is at the top of my wish list but out of reach at the moment. If she lost her license, I think I'd still prefer to have her Volvo and something fun even if it's a cheap MR2 or similar. May be an option that you ditch the Porsche and buy a cheap but fun car to get your kicks.

[jayemm89]

I'd keep the status quo. Assuming your other half will get her licence back (I hope she does) then just use the Renault. The Cayman is a fairly rare one so I guess will hold its value relatively well compared to the garden variety ones.

If the Koleos fulfills all your needs, just drive it when you need it and drive the Cayman when you can

[CYMR0]

I'd flog the Koleos and get something reasonably pleasant for similar value, whatever that might be.

[VladD]

Seriously Dave, the Koleos must cost naff all to insure and maintain. With your wife not driving it any more, the amount you'll save in fuel costs will probably be more that just keeping the status quo. You'll lose money on one or both cars if you sell them and there will be a mark up on any car you buy if you get from a dealer. I'd stick with what you've got.

[Viperz888]

Legacy Twin Turbo
Passat 4 Motion

[Benbay001]

Viperz888 said:

Legacy Twin Turbo

I was about to say this!