Not using my car enough - what did you do?

[Frimley111R]

Life has got in way of using my new Emira this year and I have a disappointing number of miles on the clock (about 1500!) and with Autumn kicking in rapidly it doesn't look like it's going to increase much. I don't care that it gets wet/dirty, its just that wet/cold crappy roads are pretty unexciting to drive.

I need to fix this and have signed up to a Euro tour next June but that's it. I suspect I am not the only one who has been through the 'not using the car' phase. What did you do?

[jeremyc]

Use it to travel to work/meetings.

Find local car meets/events and use them as an excuse to drive to for an hour or two.

Choose to travel in the Emira rather than the car you would normally take, whether shopping or visiting friends/relatives.

Go for a drive just for the sake of it, perhaps early Sunday morning.

[Mr E]

Waited for my kid to be old enough that he didn’t want to go out with his parents any more.

Any. Day. Now.

[MikeM6]

I've been the same with my cars, and a good Euro trip does really help her some use out of them.

Maybe plan a winter trip to Spain? Might get some good weather and if you get the ferry you won't have to drive as much in the wet windy weather.

[Matty_]

Sell it.

I tend to find that there's usually a reason I'm not using it - assuming you're using a different car instead - and the bigger issue is because I'm just not bothered enough about it to warrant getting the keys to take it.

[AB]

Go to some car shows as a reason to get out and drive it. That's what I'll be doing.

[LightweightLouisDanvers]

I doubt I've done 250 miles in my Mk1 Mini this summer but that's OK, it's safe and dry in the garage. 2 car shows and a couple of trips to pick up a Chinese and one trip to work is as far as it's got.

[vaud]

Find some road trips in the UK with a night or two away.

Euro trip. As noted Spain (and Portugal) are normally lovely in Nov/Dec and hotels will often do you a deal for a few nights.

I stayed down in Calpe (ok bit of a drive) last year and the mountain roads were lovely, even in a basic hire car.

[Nickp82]

I bought more cars, now I have five that I barely use.

[MDL111]

I try to switch around the car that I use daily/more regularly, but it still means some don’t get driven at all / sometimes for multiple years without any significant mileage added. I think I will sell some and turn two into one during winter.

[BlackStang5point0]

I had a 205 gti that I finished restoring 2 years ago and it just sat in the garage ever since. Got offered a decent price for it so sold it a few weeks ago.

Similarly my mustang that I've owned for over 11 years had only done about 1,500 miles in the last 5 years so I also made the hard decision to let it go which it did last week.

[Alorotom]

This is my current concern and what’s holding me back.

I’ve been debating on buying something either a bit special (DB9 / Ferrari Cali / Corvette / etc.) or a permanent open-top 2 seater (like a Zenos or KTM) and just not sure I’ll get the use out of whichever option I plump for to warrant the spend.

Seems a shame to buy something to then just have it languish in the garage for 50wks of the year.

[biggles330d]

Eurotrip does it for me. My A110 isn't my daily and I work from home mostly so it can sit for a long time without use. I do try and get out in it when I can for a drive, but rarely for just running around. Not sure it's done 1000 miles this year, but last year it made two euro trips to the south of France and I put over 5k on it just doing those. Next year it'll be another euro trip, not sure where yet. Italy or Sweden, can't decide.

I do wonder if I use mine enough as I'm not bothered by miles or getting it grubby, but sporadically as I do, it does feel pretty good whenever I do use it properly!

[White-Noise]

Mines become a bit of a garage queen but that's ok

[vaud]

biggles330d said:

Eurotrip does it for me. My A110 isn't my daily and I work from home mostly so it can sit for a long time without use. I do try and get out in it when I can for a drive, but rarely for just running around. Not sure it's done 1000 miles this year, but last year it made two euro trips to the south of France and I put over 5k on it just doing those. Next year it'll be another euro trip, not sure where yet. Italy or Sweden, can't decide.

I do wonder if I use mine enough as I'm not bothered by miles or getting it grubby, but sporadically as I do, it does feel pretty good whenever I do use it properly!

Italy via Switzerland (don’t speed)

[The Rotrex Kid]

Put it in the garage and shut the door

[Panamax]

If it's not being used, sell it. Sell it now.
You can always buy something that's relevant to your life when the time comes.

[Lester H]

Use it (imho). A waste not to . Try not to be precious about driving in dreary English weather while still avoiding extremes of ice and salt. With the bad news this week re Lotus, these will become sought after eventually, but don’t mollycoddle it to the extent that it becomes a seldom used museum piece.

[Riley Blue]

LightweightLouisDanvers said:

I doubt I've done 250 miles in my Mk1 Mini this summer but that's OK, it's safe and dry in the garage. 2 car shows and a couple of trips to pick up a Chinese and one trip to work is as far as it's got.

Why keep it 'safe and dry' all the time? It's a car, designed and built to be driven - your choice though but one I'll never fully understand.

By contrast our Riley does at least 200 miles on weekends during the summer months participating in scenic tours from Wiltshire to Cumbria in company with dozens of other classics. It gets more use than our 'daily driver' does throughout the year.
Pic from last Sunday's Lindholme Motor Sports Club's Diamond Tour:

[Robertb]

Nothing wrong with only using a car a bit as long as when you use it you look forward to it and enjoy it.

I enjoy polishing, fettling etc as much as I do driving my 4S.

Sometimes life gets in the way