One car garage

[Chairmanvlad]

Long time reader, first time posting!

First baby arriving Jan 2026, which I am over the moon about. However, I have to face the reality that my beloved 991.2 will need to be swapped out for something that fits rear-facing baby seats and luggage after only 10k miles (now @ 35k). Planning on another baby soon after - let’s see how it goes!

Searching for the holy grail one car garage - fun to drive on the weekend, capable of destroying miles, luxurious inside and enough space for the family to go on roadtrip holidays for probably max £90-100k. For now, we live in an apartment block with no working charging facilities (apparently can’t get them insured), so needs to be full ICE. I’d like to run this car for at least five years.

Considering estates / SUV - never been a fan of the latter (wife is though!) but could be convinced. Considering the following:

- B3 Touring (2023) / 10k miles
- Panamera Sport Turismo GTS - non-hybrid versions of the Turbo S impossible to find
- Cayenne Coupe GTS

I’ve looked at the M3 Touring, RS6 and E63 S AMG. Audi interiors really don’t do it for me relative to the price. I prefer the B3 to the M3 as suspension is more supple, a bit more understated.

Would love to hear opinions / other suggestions.

[Alex_225]

E63S estate would be my choice, for no other reason than I like AMGs and that would tick all the boxes for a family! haha

[NDA]

I had a Range Rover for family duties - it was perfect for it.

I would keep the 911 for your own amusement, you can get babies in the back in emergencies.

[SuperPav]

Cayenne Coupe GTS or a Panamera Sport Turismo as you've said. Panamera boot is really odd shape/shallow, and you'll need the 5 seat bench option as the 4 seat is really sculpted so you might struggle with some child seats.

I wouldn't worry about seeking out a non-PHEV verison of the Panamera, even if you never plug it in. GTS and Turbo are both great, but if a decent Turbo S (PHEV) came up for sale for a good price I wouldn't dismiss it.

[Lefty]

Pretty much all the options covered there i think, personally i'd get the E63 i think but in your shoes I would do my very best to have two cars - one special fun car and one for normal duties, doesn't mean the normal one has to be slow or boring, but one car is such a huge compromise I would't want to be limited.

And, if you have a normal car your special car can be as extreme/ridiculous/unreliable/impractical as you like.

I'm very much in the camp of multiple vehicles to do specific roles. Between the 4 of us (me, wife, two kids) we have 11 vehicles (plus a tractor and a manitou. Quite fancy a digger. And a dumper. And a roller).

[Wheel Turned Out]

Aston DBX starting to come in under 100k now. Some horror stories, but no more of a risk than a Range Rover.

Looks not to everyone's taste, admittedly.

[Chairmanvlad]

Thanks for the posts so far. To clarify, I cannot keep both cars. Cost of parking spots in a central London apartment block are beyond reasonable for the amount of use I’d get from the car.

[Lefty]

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/20030154

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/20726071

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/20702026

[dbhenshall]

Have a 2022 B3 Touring Fabulous car, understated ( if you take alpina stripes off which I have ). Plenty room for baby paraphernalia etc. my wife loves it ( but would like an suv ) as torque is so effortless.
Not many to chose from, did wonder for 90% time if I should have bought a 340i touring but some days and some trips which are not normal roads / days you never ask yourself that question. Done 60000 miles in mine now and no problems so far. Seem to hold their value OK too

[Chairmanvlad]

SuperPav said:

I wouldn't worry about seeking out a non-PHEV verison of the Panamera, even if you never plug it in. GTS and Turbo are both great, but if a decent Turbo S (PHEV) came up for sale for a good price I wouldn't dismiss it.

Fair enough but it eats 100L of boot space, leaving no advantage despite the size and weight vs the B3

[Chairmanvlad]

dbhenshall said:

Have a 2022 B3 Touring Fabulous car, understated ( if you take alpina stripes off which I have ). Plenty room for baby paraphernalia etc. my wife loves it ( but would like an suv ) as torque is so effortless.
Not many to chose from, did wonder for 90% time if I should have bought a 340i touring but some days and some trips which are not normal roads / days you never ask yourself that question. Done 60000 miles in mine now and no problems so far. Seem to hold their value OK too

Thanks - very helpful. In the same boat on SUV with the wife… As for stripes, at the mercy of the original owner unfortunately!

[biggbn]

...okay, so I am going to totally ignore some of your points and suggest you use maybe half, likely less of your budget to buy a Lexus RX450L and that is your daily transport sorted for the next decade at least, all bases other than the 'enjoyment' aspect covered. You know what to do with the change...don't you?

I think one car to do it all becomes unsustainable. If you view it as a fun thing you will become resentful of any mess, if you simply view it as a tool it loses its fun factor because you use it every day.

You're welcome...

[edc]

If you live in central London presumably you use a good amount of public transport already. Could you get away with use of a car club for the daily/family situation and keep your parking spot for a pleasure car?

[Ed Banger]

How often do you use the car from family duties if in London? If once a month then I'd hire a car when needed and keep the 911.

[Chairmanvlad]

Lots of reasonable suggestions… too reasonable 😂

I am not looking to keep the 911 and not for financial reasons. The reality is it will get no use and gather dust for 3-4 years (I.e. until front facing seats). The reality is we always drive together and will do it as a family going forward.

We use the car 2-3x a month to go for weekends away, once or twice a year for longer week to two-week long road trips. A performance estate or SUV makes sense to me. Appreciate some may disagree!

[fflump]

Chairmanvlad said:

Long time reader, first time posting!

First baby arriving Jan 2026, which I am over the moon about. However, I have to face the reality that my beloved 991.2 will need to be swapped out for something that fits rear-facing baby seats and luggage after only 10k miles (now @ 35k). Planning on another baby soon after - let s see how it goes!

Searching for the holy grail one car garage - fun to drive on the weekend, capable of destroying miles, luxurious inside and enough space for the family to go on roadtrip holidays for probably max £90-100k. For now, we live in an apartment block with no working charging facilities (apparently can t get them insured), so needs to be full ICE. I d like to run this car for at least five years.

Considering estates / SUV - never been a fan of the latter (wife is though!) but could be convinced. Considering the following:

- B3 Touring (2023) / 10k miles
- Panamera Sport Turismo GTS - non-hybrid versions of the Turbo S impossible to find
- Cayenne Coupe GTS

I ve looked at the M3 Touring, RS6 and E63 S AMG. Audi interiors really don t do it for me relative to the price. I prefer the B3 to the M3 as suspension is more supple, a bit more understated.

Would love to hear opinions / other suggestions.

Do you have requirements for seat numbers and boot space, and any attitudes to running costs?
I presume a saloon is out of the question?

PS. I cringe when I here terms like one-car-garage but that's my problem not yours ;-)

[v8notbrave]

Babies make mess, will ruin any car, it becomes a family workhorse that's not loved. Keep 911 and get something uninspiring that can deal with supermarket dings and general detritus

[127Sport]

Public charging is a cinch, and cheaper than petrol, so not really a reason to discount EVs. I bet you'd only need to add any charge once every couple weeks at most. Can be done whilst in a supermarket or similar. Charge points are all over the place in central London.

[Wheel Turned Out]

Op - repeats several times they do not want/intend to keep second car.

Responses - "So have you thought about just keeping both?"

[AB]

Upping the budget a smidge gets you into a DBX707.