How many cars is too many?

[ds666]

Interesting question .
I have 9 plus the daily driver . I’ve bought cars from my growing up years plus a couple that were part of my career experience . 2 Astons , 3 jags , 2 lotus a Riley and a hillclimb Force . I don’t drive any of them enough, costs a fortune in tax and insurance . But I do love sitting on the sofa in the garage with a glass of red and music in the background looking at the shapes lol .
Porsche 928 next .
Sorry got to go , matron is coming .

[Fessia fancier]

I tend towards the following principles
Trying to ensure all are ready to go, or at worst just one off the road
A good place to store them.
Quality over quantity.
Those away from home get used less because of the faff.
Currently have five old cars which is enough life admin, though always keeping an eye open !

[WombleCate]

3.

I have two toys (one sports car & one race car) and spend c. 4 hours each day planning what the third should be. A classic run-around (2CV or Mini) or would an Elise S1 fill a gap?

Fortunately both limited storage space and pocket money keep me planning.

[John D.]

Turbobanana said:

This opens up another question. Where I live there is a growing problem of overspill parking. So many houses have one (or more) cars above the number of off road spaces available, meaning they end up on the street. Case in point: my neighbours have a car each plus one for their 17 year old son. Their garage is full of crap (like most people's), so one car on the drive and two on the road.

I'm lucky in that I have the corner plot, and I had my front garden paved, so our two dailies sit on that (with a space to spare, if needed) while the classic lives in the garage.

While I'd love another, I've reached the limit on space so it's not fair on everyone else.

We've got a corner plot too. The garage and driveway was always round the back of the house, and like you we've paved the front garden (and had a drop curb/cross over put in).

I've just got a weekend car, so that's a total of three in the household. I'm planning a couple of motorbikes as well and won't be getting tight on space.

There's a house a few doors down that pisses me off with their parking. It's opposite a junction and there is permanently a VW Transporter minibus thing parked on the pavement. Never seems to move. Some other car next to it (recently got clamped for no tax). They have a drive way but it's full of caravan!

[Hoofy]

Running, road legal, insured etc? No more than 2 (so the answer is 3). I just cannot be arsed to deal with more than that.

[classicaholic]

I used to have 20 classics, all drivable, but got divorced and they all went. Now I have 7 drivable and 3 projects but have only driven 2 so far this year and only 3 last year.
It dosnt stop me looking for more though!

[Hoofy]

classicaholic said:

I used to have 20 classics, all drivable, but got divorced and they all went. Now I have 7 drivable and 3 projects but have only driven 2 so far this year and only 3 last year.
It dosnt stop me looking for more though!

Where do you store them all???

[classicaholic]

Hoofy said:

classicaholic said:

I used to have 20 classics, all drivable, but got divorced and they all went. Now I have 7 drivable and 3 projects but have only driven 2 so far this year and only 3 last year.
It dosnt stop me looking for more though!

Where do you store them all???

2 industrial units and at home, its starting to cost far too much in storage, £7500 Pa rent!

[Hoofy]

classicaholic said:

Hoofy said:

classicaholic said:

I used to have 20 classics, all drivable, but got divorced and they all went. Now I have 7 drivable and 3 projects but have only driven 2 so far this year and only 3 last year.
It dosnt stop me looking for more though!

Where do you store them all???

2 industrial units and at home, its starting to cost far too much in storage, £7500 Pa rent!

Ah, I did wonder if you'd need somewhere else to store them. I wouldn't be paying for it unless there's investment potential in them.

[swisstoni]

There’s 4 very occasional use classic cars and 2 dailies in my setup.

Everything is insured on a separate policy despite some barely turning a wheel some years. Any insurance I’ve looked into barely seems to knock off much for ‘laid up’ so everything is on a normal policy.

I’d be interested to hear from anyone who’s gone down some kind of fleet cover, whether all classics or a mixture, and found it worth doing.

I should add that I have a slight distrust regarding putting all eggs in one basket, generally.

[HorneyMX5]

5.1 here, soon to be 4.1

2021 Mazda MX5
2003 Lotus Elise 111s
2008 RX8 231
2001 Mini Cooper
1994 Cinquecento 899cc SX
1984 Sinclair C5 (the .1)

The MINI never gets used and it's taking up storage space, so it's up for sale shortly (£750 is anyone is after a cheap runabout). The others get used at least once a month with the MX5 being my daily.

[Discombobulate]

WombleCate said:

3.

I have two toys (one sports car & one race car) and spend c. 4 hours each day planning what the third should be. A classic run-around (2CV or Mini) or would an Elise S1 fill a gap?

Fortunately both limited storage space and pocket money keep me planning.

My 4th is a 2CV. Great fun to drive (locally) and the only car I can fix (mostly).

Recent problem with a speedo that meant the dash and front wing had to come off to gain access to something. I handed that to a local 2CV expert. Total bill (in VAT) for labour and parts was £81

[WombleCate]

Yes! That’s exactly what I want a 2CV for, going to the village shop/ school run instead of the i3.

I have a Caterham, so, I’m covered if I want to pick up a spanner (speedo rarely works).

Storage (and money) still a problem

[ettore]

swisstoni said:

There’s 4 very occasional use classic cars and 2 dailies in my setup.

Everything is insured on a separate policy despite some barely turning a wheel some years. Any insurance I’ve looked into barely seems to knock off much for ‘laid up’ so everything is on a normal policy.

I’d be interested to hear from anyone who’s gone down some kind of fleet cover, whether all classics or a mixture, and found it worth doing.

I should add that I have a slight distrust regarding putting all eggs in one basket, generally.

I have a fleet policy covering my cars (bar one that is co-owned, so 8 in total) - and you can set independent mileage and driver limits across them. Saves an absolute fortune. I use a specialist broker (Routen Chaplin) because some of them have challenging insurance requirements.

[swisstoni]

ettore said:

swisstoni said:

There’s 4 very occasional use classic cars and 2 dailies in my setup.

Everything is insured on a separate policy despite some barely turning a wheel some years. Any insurance I’ve looked into barely seems to knock off much for ‘laid up’ so everything is on a normal policy.

I’d be interested to hear from anyone who’s gone down some kind of fleet cover, whether all classics or a mixture, and found it worth doing.

I should add that I have a slight distrust regarding putting all eggs in one basket, generally.

I have a fleet policy covering my cars (bar one that is co-owned, so 8 in total) - and you can set independent mileage and driver limits across them. Saves an absolute fortune. I use a specialist broker (Routen Chaplin) because some of them have challenging insurance requirements.

Thanks. Sounds just like the sort of thing I’m looking for.

[mk1coopers]

it is a hard question to answer, all based on personal circumstances and the ability to look after the cars in a way that keeps the costs reasonable, I've just renewed the insurance on a few of them, I keep thinking that going to a broker to get them all on one policy, without the daily on it, would be the way to go, something to look at for next year.

I've not driven mine enough, however, as I've said on other threads, I do try to book something to do during the year for each of them, so I have to keep them up together, once you are driving them they are great.

[Hoofy]

ettore said:

I have a fleet policy covering my cars (bar one that is co-owned, so 8 in total) - and you can set independent mileage and driver limits across them. Saves an absolute fortune. I use a specialist broker (Routen Chaplin) because some of them have challenging insurance requirements.

Idiot question: my insurance policies end at different dates; how do you resolve this without paying an early cancellation fee on the old policies?

[Yertis]

WombleCate said:

Yes! That’s exactly what I want a 2CV for, going to the village shop/ school run instead of the i3.

I have a Caterham, so, I’m covered if I want to pick up a spanner (speedo rarely works).

Storage (and money) still a problem

2CVs are great on long runs too though, as we've recently seen. One of my memorable runs as a student was all the way from Bristol to Caterham (Cars) and back in one day. It took forever and ever, even slipstreaming behind National Express coaches.

My wife has declared two classic cars is too many, so I've said well in that case it's both, because I cannot choose.

[cerb4.5lee]

We have 4 between myself and my missus, and being honest that feels like too many for most of the time. The M4 and the GLE400d get used a lot, but the 370Z Roadster and Caterham not so much though(they both feel like a bit of a waste really in some ways).

There will be 5 cars next year though, because our eldest daughter will be learning to drive. God help us!

[ettore]

Hoofy said:

ettore said:

I have a fleet policy covering my cars (bar one that is co-owned, so 8 in total) - and you can set independent mileage and driver limits across them. Saves an absolute fortune. I use a specialist broker (Routen Chaplin) because some of them have challenging insurance requirements.

Idiot question: my insurance policies end at different dates; how do you resolve this without paying an early cancellation fee on the old policies?

I started it with two new additions and didn't worry about any cancellations for existing policies - tbh, I don't really remember any and the saving combined with an element of returned premium didn't make me worry!