Two cars or one nicer one?

[tigerkoi]

AdamW said:

tigerkoi said:

Two-car strategy is always the way to go. To be honest, I'm starting to contemplate a three-car strategy

Me too. I currently have a Mondeo for carrying stuff (which also gets used daily) and a kit car for fun. I'll soon add an MX-5 to the fleet for daily use so that I don't have to lug a boring estate car everywhere I go.

[nodding sagely]
Thank God, someone agrees with me.

[H_Kan]

I was paying for 2 cars, but tbh I thought it a waste of money- though working in Central London at the time meant I drove either very little.

Insurance, service, MOT, road tax etc can easily add upto a grand and this is merely to keep the car on the road. For me, that was too much and so I regretfully got rid of the old MX5.

I am now looking to consolidate and replace the Astra with something that can be a dd but reasonably swift at the same time.

[Ari]

You've got to factor depreciation into that somewhere too I guess...

I think this is what I struggle with, it's got to cost more per annum to run two, and yet you're constantly driving a cheaper car than you would otherwise be.

But all the pro arguments above do make such good sense also.

I can see this coming down to a coin toss!

[AdamW]

Ari said:

You've got to factor depreciation into that somewhere too I guess...

Totally!

My Mondeo cost £575. If I gave it away, it would owe me nothing after 36,000 miles (and counting) of stirling service. I could sell my kit car for about £600 less than it cost me to build four years ago. If I add an £800 MX-5 to the collection, it ain't gonna cost much in depreciation, and may even appreciate given enough years.

All this from a fleet that cost less than £10k to buy. Makes you feel smug when you pass depreciation-laden Audis on the motorway.

My head says yes, and so does my heart. There's a car for every occasion; I know whose side I'm on.

[Chris_w666]

As a household we have 2 working cars, which is not enough. But if I get the cheap shed to prove reliable it will help the case for something fun later in the year.

[tigerkoi]

tigerkoi said:

Two-car strategy is always the way to go. To be honest, I'm starting to contemplate a three-car strategy so I'm not kept awake at night working through optimum permutations:

- nice, clean (preferably quick), weekend and sunny day, garage queen
- roomy, practical 4x4, able to transport friends and family to ski resort as well as keep up with the traffic (X5 or similar)
- diesel/lpg ready 'hypermiler' for business and chores, roomy, comfortable and fault-immune, something like a black 1.8/2.0 MK3 Mondeo TDCi

Update - 'hypermiler' on hold. Really want an ex-CID, black, steelwheeled, runner TDCi; waiting for the right one, however.

Three-car strategy will involve a Smart, soon.

[ChairsWithHairs]

£7,000 of your hard earned cash on a Vectra? Are you mad!

[RobM77]

I've tried both and prefer the two car strategy. For starters it's cheaper (that is based on fact, not assumption), but mainly you can get two cars that are better at what they do, rather than one compromised car. I've currently got an Elise S2 111S and a BMW 320d, which in my mind is the perfect combination for what I want.

[ajcj]

Two car strategy all the way. Alpina B5 is the 'sensible' one, TVR T350 for weekends. Might need a Westerham/Atom/thingy at some point too, thinking about it.

[fel71]

It has to be the two car route, much better to have a choice, go for a fast saloon for the mileage option and in 12 months time add a 4x4 as a third car, then you will need a track day car when you have saved up again, and on and on.;)