1 or 2 car dilema

[Zero7]

FFS, your thinking another bloody post.... Mine really is a bit of dilemma.

The dreaded return the the office CALL has come through loud and clear, starting from next week.

Good news it's only 3 days per week. I take the 40 minute train into the office and being city centre driving is not an option. I also don't want to spend £96 per month parking at the stations as there is decent on street parking for free not far from the station albeit in a bit of a rougher part of town.

Don't want to leave my M2C on the street, some nights I'm away so will need to be left overnight.... I've not had the M2C long and was thinking about moving it on anyway as prefer something a bit more raw for my sunday blast (had an FK8 civic which I enjoyed more for just a sunday drive).

I could go down the two car route, a boring shed to park up and something nice in the garage but then there are dual running costs. Got a budget of around 30k. Whatever I get I need it to be a bit more of a visceral experience than the M2C, but I don't want to go down the elise / caterham route.

[Haltamer]

Interesting that you prefer the FK8 For a sunday drive over an M2c; Would have thought the comp would be a bit more raw.

Back to the point at hand, how far is the station? Would cycling be an option? - Something like an E-Brompton might be perfect.

[Zero7]

Haltamer said:

Interesting that you prefer the FK8 For a sunday drive over an M2c; Would have thought the comp would be a bit more raw.

Back to the point at hand, how far is the station? Would cycling be an option? - Something like an E-Brompton might be perfect.

nope, the FK8 was more of an experience for me, the M2C is amazing but heavy and full of creature comforts, as a daily its great. I should really have put this into car buying section..

[georgeyboy12345]

This is entirely doable, I think you have a good plan

Get this Citroen C1 1.0i VT - it's cheap to buy, fuel and insure, £0 to tax, the bodywork is already a bit ropey according to the seller. Should be ideal for your station runs.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202108196...


Then get one of these

Lotus Evora
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202107165...


BMW Z4M
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011156...


Porsche 997 Carrera 2
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202107245...


TVR Chimaera
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202106063...


TVR Griffith
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202106193...

[cerb4.5lee]

Zero7 said:

Haltamer said:

Interesting that you prefer the FK8 For a sunday drive over an M2c; Would have thought the comp would be a bit more raw.

Back to the point at hand, how far is the station? Would cycling be an option? - Something like an E-Brompton might be perfect.

nope, the FK8 was more of an experience for me, the M2C is amazing but heavy and full of creature comforts, as a daily its great. I should really have put this into car buying section..

Switch the traction control completely off in the M2C and absolutely floor it would be my suggestion! If you still don't think it's raw after that...then you definitely need something else more exciting I reckon.

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say the Lotus Evora will really tick the boxes they're a special car & a great steer:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202107094...

DS3 DSport Plus with change to spare:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202108246...

DStyle Plus 120 smart cheaper to run than the DSport with the 1.6 N/A being pretty unburstable whilst still being a smart steer.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103210...

[flying-banana]

ZX10R NIN said:

I'd say the Lotus Evora will really tick the boxes they're a special car & a great steer:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202107094...

[Gad-Westy]

I'm becoming a big fan of the two car (or more!) option. Having just 1 car has it's perks in terms of parking, maintenance and general admin and running costs but... The big appeal of two cars to me is that you don't really need to compromise at all on each of their uses. Daily driver for me is all about being comfortable, easy and practical. If it's remotely interesting to own or drive, then great but it's still unlikely you'll want to hop in it for the sake of it on a Sunday morning when you've been stuck in the thing all week for the daily trudge. Having a weekend car that doesn't get used so much makes it feel like an event every time you use it which I place a lot of value on.

Can't say how you should split the budget as that pretty circumstantial but definitely the two car route if it's doable.

[Lester H]

This is anecdotal rather than researched, but the post could refer to two scenarios.The first is having a fun car for weekend which you would fund in the same way as any hobby, and accept it. The second is the banger or station car situation. It is almost invariably dearer to have a cheapie to help to preserve the ‘posh’ vehicle. Two sets of costs for everything. yes I, m familiar with the ‘if it throws up bills, chuck it away’ argument but then you start all over again.

[Gad-Westy]

Lester H said:

This is anecdotal rather than researched, but the post could refer to two scenarios.The first is having a fun car for weekend which you would fund in the same way as any hobby, and accept it. The second is the banger or station car situation. It is almost invariably dearer to have a cheapie to help to preserve the ‘posh’ vehicle. Two sets of costs for everything. yes I, m familiar with the ‘if it throws up bills, chuck it away’ argument but then you start all over again.

Quite car dependent though. Depends what the toy is but if it has particularly expensive running costs, it can work out cheaper to pile miles onto something else and offset the costs. Obviously at some point you also have to accept that your chosen route is never going to be the cheapest option and as you allude to, we sometimes have to be prepared to pay a little petrol head tax to enjoy our hobby whether that ends up with 1 car or more.

[cerb4.5lee]

Gad-Westy said:

I'm becoming a big fan of the two car (or more!) option. Having just 1 car has it's perks in terms of parking, maintenance and general admin and running costs but... The big appeal of two cars to me is that you don't really need to compromise at all on each of their uses. Daily driver for me is all about being comfortable, easy and practical. If it's remotely interesting to own or drive, then great but it's still unlikely you'll want to hop in it for the sake of it on a Sunday morning when you've been stuck in the thing all week for the daily trudge. Having a weekend car that doesn't get used so much makes it feel like an event every time you use it which I place a lot of value on.

Can't say how you should split the budget as that pretty circumstantial but definitely the two car route if it's doable.

Completely agree with this if it is feasible. Even if the 1 car you have has some amount of specialness to it...that will soon wear off if you are using it everyday in my experience. The 1 car just becomes the norm I reckon.

However I suffer from getting a little bit frustrated because I hardly ever use my weekend car though(and paying tax/insurance etc and not using it that much). So it isn't always easy to find the ideal I think.

[Evil.soup]

Much like you, I have recently been heading back to an office more often and find myself doing a commute to multiple destinations 3 times a week.

Running an Impreza as a daily is expensive, plus I don't want to use it for the commute, I want to keep it for when I want to drive it, not because I have to drive it.

I sat down and worked out some of the figures and it turns out I can run 2 cars and actually save money each month as long as the second car is economical enough to be saving the fuel I would have used in the Impreza. So I bit the bullet and bought a £700 2006 Fiesta and it has been exactly the right choice. Its nice to have a car I am not too concerned about parking and it turns out it's quite a nice place to be as well.

There is of course the risk of issues with a second car, but the way I see it, if I am doing 10k a year in one car, it is the same risk in terms of unexpected bills if I am spreading that 10k over 2 cars, in fact, the Fiesta seems to be 75% cheaper on equivalent parts over the Impreza, so yet another saving even if something goes wrong. Certainly prefer a bill for a wheel bearing on the Fiesta over the Impreza!

As for a second car option, I do like the Evora idea and I am sure you won't lose any money on it either...

[cerb4.5lee]

Gad-Westy said:

Quite car dependent though. Depends what the toy is but if it has particularly expensive running costs, it can work out cheaper to pile miles onto something else and offset the costs. Obviously at some point you also have to accept that your chosen route is never going to be the cheapest option and as you allude to, we sometimes have to be prepared to pay a little petrol head tax to enjoy our hobby whether that ends up with 1 car or more.

I did the shed thing as my daily(a Mondeo V6 Ghia X) when I had my Cerbera. There wasn't anyway that I could trust(or afford) to run the Cerb as a daily, but the Mondeo was a nice compromise at the time I thought. The Mondeo was comfortable/quick enough and well equipped, plus it only cost me just over a grand so I was happy to leave it anywhere as well/not worry about it getting damaged etc.

I had that Mondeo for 3 years and I have very fond memories of it, more fond memories of the Mondeo than the Cerbera to be fair...because the Cerbera was an absolute pain in the backside to own!

[Zero7]

Thanks for all the suggestions, so I have put a deposit down on the new Emira, and the M2C is sold... I now need to find a 'stop gap' car for 18 or so months.

Some criteria:

Needs to have a decent boot, I ferry a bag of footballs and nets around every other week...
Fun to drive around the twisties, want to get out on a Sunday drive, so nothing boring and no diesels.
A bit of feel good fact, also needs to hold it's value over this time.

Got a budget up to £15k.

Things I've discounted.
BMW 1 series - boring
Golf GTI or R - Boot too small
308 Gti - Just don't like the shape or inside, also will probably plummet in price once this madness is over

Tempted by either:
Focus ST - Not keen on the interior though, seems like it's full of plastic
Megan RS 275 - Most I've seen have lots of parts changed so worried about reliability. Although I don't want it constantly in the garage having work done on it.

Anything else worth considering.

[Haltamer]

Could try an older Type R? There were (prior to bump) a few leggier FK2's knocking on the door of 15k, but I think now you'd be looking at an FN2 at best.

Quite raw, very practical - A fair way under budget, so you'd be compromising a touch on the modernity, but as long as it's a reasonable example there's not much to go disastrously wrong.

[anonymous-user]

How is the Golf boot any smaller than any of the other cars you've mentioned there?

[Zero7]

Haltamer said:

Could try an older Type R? There were (prior to bump) a few leggier FK2's knocking on the door of 15k, but I think now you'd be looking at an FN2 at best.

Quite raw, very practical - A fair way under budget, so you'd be compromising a touch on the modernity, but as long as it's a reasonable example there's not much to go disastrously wrong.

Getting a bit leggy now and starting to rust (FN2), the FK2 is way out of the price range, price gone crazy.

[Zero7]

ajap1979 said:

How is the Golf boot any smaller than any of the other cars you've mentioned there?

Not sure it is actually. so will put it back on my list....

[acme]

Apologies for being slightly off topic, but as I'm seriously considering a move to a FK8 (& possibly a M2C after that) I'm intrigued on your thoughts on how the two compare? Though I kind of assume as you got rid of the M2C and note your fondness for the FK8 that might answer the question.

Currently I have a Mk7 Fiesta ST and an E92 M3 as dailies, and want to go to one. Don't discount the costs of running two cars (I have others too), not only the actual costs but the feeling you're constantly paying out - first world problems and all.

The counter argument of course is that with ICE under so much pressure we should enjoy whilst we can.

Re the stop gap I'd suggest a MK7 Golf GTI, though note your boring comment, they're very competent, perhaps too much so.

Perhaps time to try something totally different from what you've had before?

Cheers

[JS2808]

In your situation id go for 2 cars, hate leaving a nice car somewhere dodgy all day - particularly on a regular basis.

Edit: just saw your latest comment

Megane RS are great cars, and they are very reliable. Just make sure belts have been done.

Edited by JS2808 on Tuesday 14th September 16:03