Yet another do-it-all car/ two car debate!
Discussion
Ive contemplated this before in the past and posted about this to get others views. It seems ive been in a minority as a car enthusiast to opt for a do-it-all car (my username is a clue as to what!) With most going for both a daily and a fun vehicle.
Before buying a house recently the amount of money available to do this along with a lack of space meant i ruled it out. Saving for a house took priority.
Now having bought my first home with a garage, the allure of having something interesting to drive in my own time and not to use for work is here again!
What is also not helping, is that i now have two family members who recently purchased MX-5s for themselves. An NC and a ND. As an ex owner this is slight torture.
I had a go in the NC, which is what i used to have - in all honesty i spent the whole of the stint smiling! It was like i just stepped back into it after all these years. Why oh why did i ever sell it ill never know.
I love the idea of having something sensible and more economical for work and something interesting outside of work to break the monotony of driving around Surrey and the Home Counties all week. I know in reality that running and insuring both cars is an expensive past-time.
The BMW would have to go as a daily as it is too expensive to run and maintain alongside something else.
The BMW is not a bad car but i am slowly ploughing money into it at 125,000 miles, especially to keep it worthy to use for work duties.
Or is this all just a pipe dream, i know a nice little Sunday car is a luxury in this day and age with motorists being taxed left right and centre and with the cost of everything rising continuously.
Or have i just been lurking on here too long and have begun to romanticise the notion of having a work car and a fun car rather than just a decent car that has its moments doing both?
Long story short has anyone done the two car thing and regretted it or found it more hassle than its worth?
Before buying a house recently the amount of money available to do this along with a lack of space meant i ruled it out. Saving for a house took priority.
Now having bought my first home with a garage, the allure of having something interesting to drive in my own time and not to use for work is here again!
What is also not helping, is that i now have two family members who recently purchased MX-5s for themselves. An NC and a ND. As an ex owner this is slight torture.
I had a go in the NC, which is what i used to have - in all honesty i spent the whole of the stint smiling! It was like i just stepped back into it after all these years. Why oh why did i ever sell it ill never know.
I love the idea of having something sensible and more economical for work and something interesting outside of work to break the monotony of driving around Surrey and the Home Counties all week. I know in reality that running and insuring both cars is an expensive past-time.
The BMW would have to go as a daily as it is too expensive to run and maintain alongside something else.
The BMW is not a bad car but i am slowly ploughing money into it at 125,000 miles, especially to keep it worthy to use for work duties.
Or is this all just a pipe dream, i know a nice little Sunday car is a luxury in this day and age with motorists being taxed left right and centre and with the cost of everything rising continuously.
Or have i just been lurking on here too long and have begun to romanticise the notion of having a work car and a fun car rather than just a decent car that has its moments doing both?
Long story short has anyone done the two car thing and regretted it or found it more hassle than its worth?
A friend bought a Dacia to use as a cheap, boring, 'in-warranty' every day car and a Alfa 'sunday car'.
The theory was good but the Dacia rarely got used.
The Alfa got used all the time, wore out, fell apart and got replaced with another one.
It depends on the OP's 'work duties', I read that as maybe needing a smart 4 seat car for business reasons, rather than just a reliable commuter?
It's not too expensive in many cases to have a nice car and a reliable shed. I've done the 'nice bike and shed car' variation a lot.
I've also just done the 'just a nice bike' option, but that was when I had the option of getting to work by train and a partner with a car for weekend duties.
Unless it's a museum piece, most 'nice' cars are for driving. You want to drive it a fair amount to get value from it. Unless you can keep it in cotton wool so it's not degrading or devaluing at all, even then I reckon many 'weekend' cars will lose a lot of value over the next ten years.
If you do 20k+ miles a year, you can talk about saving money by owning a second car and saving wear on the expensive car.
That argument is a little hollow if you only do 6k miles a year.
There's also the cost and risk of a 'special' car or bike being broken, if you don't have a plan B. The relevance of that is different for different people.
I've been in the position of needing to catch a flight so I will be four figures out of pocket if my car won't start. I've been the position where it would cost me nothing other than a bit of mick-taking.
The theory was good but the Dacia rarely got used.
The Alfa got used all the time, wore out, fell apart and got replaced with another one.
It depends on the OP's 'work duties', I read that as maybe needing a smart 4 seat car for business reasons, rather than just a reliable commuter?
It's not too expensive in many cases to have a nice car and a reliable shed. I've done the 'nice bike and shed car' variation a lot.
I've also just done the 'just a nice bike' option, but that was when I had the option of getting to work by train and a partner with a car for weekend duties.
Unless it's a museum piece, most 'nice' cars are for driving. You want to drive it a fair amount to get value from it. Unless you can keep it in cotton wool so it's not degrading or devaluing at all, even then I reckon many 'weekend' cars will lose a lot of value over the next ten years.
If you do 20k+ miles a year, you can talk about saving money by owning a second car and saving wear on the expensive car.
That argument is a little hollow if you only do 6k miles a year.
There's also the cost and risk of a 'special' car or bike being broken, if you don't have a plan B. The relevance of that is different for different people.
I've been in the position of needing to catch a flight so I will be four figures out of pocket if my car won't start. I've been the position where it would cost me nothing other than a bit of mick-taking.
OutInTheShed said:
A friend bought a Dacia to use as a cheap, boring, 'in-warranty' every day car and a Alfa 'sunday car'.
The theory was good but the Dacia rarely got used.
The Alfa got used all the time, wore out, fell apart and got replaced with another one.
It depends on the OP's 'work duties', I read that as maybe needing a smart 4 seat car for business reasons, rather than just a reliable commuter?
It's not too expensive in many cases to have a nice car and a reliable shed. I've done the 'nice bike and shed car' variation a lot.
I've also just done the 'just a nice bike' option, but that was when I had the option of getting to work by train and a partner with a car for weekend duties.
Unless it's a museum piece, most 'nice' cars are for driving. You want to drive it a fair amount to get value from it. Unless you can keep it in cotton wool so it's not degrading or devaluing at all, even then I reckon many 'weekend' cars will lose a lot of value over the next ten years.
If you do 20k+ miles a year, you can talk about saving money by owning a second car and saving wear on the expensive car.
That argument is a little hollow if you only do 6k miles a year.
There's also the cost and risk of a 'special' car or bike being broken, if you don't have a plan B. The relevance of that is different for different people.
I've been in the position of needing to catch a flight so I will be four figures out of pocket if my car won't start. I've been the position where it would cost me nothing other than a bit of mick-taking.
That's kinda what I did, have an Mr2 fun car, a model Y for blasting to places, road trips, holidays etc, and then an in warranty dacia jogger for carting kids and their friends about, towing caravan and keeping the miles off the Mr2 to make it feel more special when we do use it. The theory was good but the Dacia rarely got used.
The Alfa got used all the time, wore out, fell apart and got replaced with another one.
It depends on the OP's 'work duties', I read that as maybe needing a smart 4 seat car for business reasons, rather than just a reliable commuter?
It's not too expensive in many cases to have a nice car and a reliable shed. I've done the 'nice bike and shed car' variation a lot.
I've also just done the 'just a nice bike' option, but that was when I had the option of getting to work by train and a partner with a car for weekend duties.
Unless it's a museum piece, most 'nice' cars are for driving. You want to drive it a fair amount to get value from it. Unless you can keep it in cotton wool so it's not degrading or devaluing at all, even then I reckon many 'weekend' cars will lose a lot of value over the next ten years.
If you do 20k+ miles a year, you can talk about saving money by owning a second car and saving wear on the expensive car.
That argument is a little hollow if you only do 6k miles a year.
There's also the cost and risk of a 'special' car or bike being broken, if you don't have a plan B. The relevance of that is different for different people.
I've been in the position of needing to catch a flight so I will be four figures out of pocket if my car won't start. I've been the position where it would cost me nothing other than a bit of mick-taking.
We now a 2 car family again as don't justify the mileage now for 3 cars after MY lease ended. Ended up liking the dacia more than I thought I would so will likely keep it till extended warranty expires. A work horse and a fun car is definitely the way to go if you have the space.
there are two cars & two bikes that are going nowhere.E82_125i said:
Long story short has anyone done the two car thing and regretted it or found it more hassle than its worth?
is it hassle? yes. i have 5 cars 3 bikes and a van. some are projects, some are sorn'd. i think one of each is currently road legal, i think my best has been 5 vehicles taxed insured, mot'd and working! is it more hassle than it's worth? for me, that's a big no. i love it. sat here at work thinking about being in the garage. i have the luxury of a decent workshop, i might not be so enthused if i did not.
Mr Tidy said:
I only moved onto 2 car ownership in 2014 but can't imagine going back to just one!
It would be too much of a compromise somewhere on the spectrum between fun and practical/sensible.
Your 125i ought to work as a daily. My daily is a 128K mile E90 330i and it's great.
Interesting...What is your second car? It would be too much of a compromise somewhere on the spectrum between fun and practical/sensible.
Your 125i ought to work as a daily. My daily is a 128K mile E90 330i and it's great.
It's ok, quite comfortable, decent handling and nice stereo (Only the pro stereo too). Its just quite thirsty for stop start driving and im being met with a regular decent sized bill every other month for things that are starting to fail. Currently the fuel pump is on its way out.
OutInTheShed said:
A friend bought a Dacia to use as a cheap, boring, 'in-warranty' every day car and a Alfa 'sunday car'.
The theory was good but the Dacia rarely got used.
The Alfa got used all the time, wore out, fell apart and got replaced with another one.
It depends on the OP's 'work duties', I read that as maybe needing a smart 4 seat car for business reasons, rather than just a reliable commuter?
It's not too expensive in many cases to have a nice car and a reliable shed. I've done the 'nice bike and shed car' variation a lot.
I've also just done the 'just a nice bike' option, but that was when I had the option of getting to work by train and a partner with a car for weekend duties.
Unless it's a museum piece, most 'nice' cars are for driving. You want to drive it a fair amount to get value from it. Unless you can keep it in cotton wool so it's not degrading or devaluing at all, even then I reckon many 'weekend' cars will lose a lot of value over the next ten years.
If you do 20k+ miles a year, you can talk about saving money by owning a second car and saving wear on the expensive car.
That argument is a little hollow if you only do 6k miles a year.
There's also the cost and risk of a 'special' car or bike being broken, if you don't have a plan B. The relevance of that is different for different people.
I've been in the position of needing to catch a flight so I will be four figures out of pocket if my car won't start. I've been the position where it would cost me nothing other than a bit of mick-taking.
For work duties, not even that really. I work as a photographer and do a mixture of motorway and town driving. Since ive moved the 125i has surprised me as im sitting at around 28mpg mixed with the occasional blast down the A roads. Most likely due to a longer drive at constant speeds.The theory was good but the Dacia rarely got used.
The Alfa got used all the time, wore out, fell apart and got replaced with another one.
It depends on the OP's 'work duties', I read that as maybe needing a smart 4 seat car for business reasons, rather than just a reliable commuter?
It's not too expensive in many cases to have a nice car and a reliable shed. I've done the 'nice bike and shed car' variation a lot.
I've also just done the 'just a nice bike' option, but that was when I had the option of getting to work by train and a partner with a car for weekend duties.
Unless it's a museum piece, most 'nice' cars are for driving. You want to drive it a fair amount to get value from it. Unless you can keep it in cotton wool so it's not degrading or devaluing at all, even then I reckon many 'weekend' cars will lose a lot of value over the next ten years.
If you do 20k+ miles a year, you can talk about saving money by owning a second car and saving wear on the expensive car.
That argument is a little hollow if you only do 6k miles a year.
There's also the cost and risk of a 'special' car or bike being broken, if you don't have a plan B. The relevance of that is different for different people.
I've been in the position of needing to catch a flight so I will be four figures out of pocket if my car won't start. I've been the position where it would cost me nothing other than a bit of mick-taking.
All I need is basically something with enough space to cart some photography equipment around and something that doesnt drink fuel and is ULEZ friendly.
I do roughly 10k miles a year with a likeliness that it'll go up. Ive toyed with a diesel next but I don't think I can bring myself to do it, well not as an single car at least.
As for a second car my biggest worry is that it wouldn't get enough use to warrant the cost. My dream is a Lotus Elise/Caterham 7 - however I would happily climb back into an MX-5 or alternatively an MR2 as a compromise!
Edited by E82_125i on Monday 30th June 21:42
I don t think I could ever go back to just one car-I ve got an R53 mini that is the main car, it does all the stuff I need it to do, and I have a classic mini (tax and MOT exempt)that I won’t use when there is salt on the roads. I’m also lucky that I don’t need to use the R53 on a daily basis, I get supplied a van for the short commute to where I’m based at work, currently I m using an old Astra van that has 345,000 miles on it! Yes it is a bag of s
te, but goes like stink!!
If I ever decide to sell the classic mini, it will be replaced with another toy of some sort,the R53 is never going to be sold.
te, but goes like stink!! If I ever decide to sell the classic mini, it will be replaced with another toy of some sort,the R53 is never going to be sold.
Edited by and31 on Monday 30th June 21:49
You can use an MX5 every day you know!
I do the two car thing but sometimes wonder why as I do not drive the garage car much with family life and also I have kind of lost the urge to go for weekend drives, I am not sure why.
I try to keep the second car as something cheaper, and reasonable to run tax and fuel wise.
I always think about going for a nice daily such as an M2 as I have a soft spot for M cars but have never owned one, I would try to sneak a cheap MX5 into the garage though at some point!
I do the two car thing but sometimes wonder why as I do not drive the garage car much with family life and also I have kind of lost the urge to go for weekend drives, I am not sure why.
I try to keep the second car as something cheaper, and reasonable to run tax and fuel wise.
I always think about going for a nice daily such as an M2 as I have a soft spot for M cars but have never owned one, I would try to sneak a cheap MX5 into the garage though at some point!
There are many advantages to two cars:
- you get to experience variety and pick the car for the job
- you get to take your time working on (or having work done on) one while using the other
- no more late nights in the garage on a Sunday night trying to get the car working for Monday morning
- you can change one without rushing and be “between cars” while waiting for the right car to turn up
The main disadvantage is you won’t stop at two. Others include:
- increased running costs although these can be mitigated through the right insurance, SORN etc
- increased logistical hassle
- two sets of forums/Facebook groups to keep on top of
- you get to experience variety and pick the car for the job
- you get to take your time working on (or having work done on) one while using the other
- no more late nights in the garage on a Sunday night trying to get the car working for Monday morning
- you can change one without rushing and be “between cars” while waiting for the right car to turn up
The main disadvantage is you won’t stop at two. Others include:
- increased running costs although these can be mitigated through the right insurance, SORN etc
- increased logistical hassle
- two sets of forums/Facebook groups to keep on top of
I'm not sure I'd want to go back to a single car - what if it breaks down? (Even though I'm walking distance to work, and have a motorcycle as a backup and my wife has a car.......)
A few years back I part exchanged two cars for one, and hence reduced from 4 cars to 3. Just over a year ago, I decided I didn't need the cost of 3 cars so sold one - and got down to 2. All very sensible.
Decided to replace one of the cars, and found the replacement at the weekend. At which point, my wife told me we should also keep the car I was replacing. So I'm going from 2 to 3 again, but this time I can blame the wife!
Second cars don't have to cost so much to run. Obviously there is insurance / tax, but you'll be limiting how much you use it so the running costs don't get too high. You're not using petrol twice as much or wearing out tyres twice as much - you're just spreading these things across two cars.
A few years back I part exchanged two cars for one, and hence reduced from 4 cars to 3. Just over a year ago, I decided I didn't need the cost of 3 cars so sold one - and got down to 2. All very sensible.
Decided to replace one of the cars, and found the replacement at the weekend. At which point, my wife told me we should also keep the car I was replacing. So I'm going from 2 to 3 again, but this time I can blame the wife!
Second cars don't have to cost so much to run. Obviously there is insurance / tax, but you'll be limiting how much you use it so the running costs don't get too high. You're not using petrol twice as much or wearing out tyres twice as much - you're just spreading these things across two cars.
davek_964 said:
....
Second cars don't have to cost so much to run. Obviously there is insurance / tax, but you'll be limiting how much you use it so the running costs don't get too high. You're not using petrol twice as much or wearing out tyres twice as much - you're just spreading these things across two cars.
That falls down flat if both cars are depreciating.Second cars don't have to cost so much to run. Obviously there is insurance / tax, but you'll be limiting how much you use it so the running costs don't get too high. You're not using petrol twice as much or wearing out tyres twice as much - you're just spreading these things across two cars.
Something like an MX5 will depreciate with both years and miles to varying degrees.
Is it even about cost?
If you can well afford two cars and choose to spend your money that way, so be it.
I like to run an estate and a motorbike. The cost is not huge, many people pay more for less, but it's not the cheapest solution.
I didn't work long hours to always look for the cheapest solution.
I've got four. I need at least three as my wife needs one and I do 20k miles plus a year so to keep my fun car from getting wrecked I needed a daily too. I ended up with four as the R53 I have is worth so little (and I got fed up with the "£500 cash m8, collect 2moro" ebayers plus i have the space and its a fun car for the winter etc), what was intended as a stop gap four years ago I've kept.
On the whole, they make me happy (not this week with the Disco 3...) however if you do have an eye to budget, make sure you take total cost of ownership into account and that that cost doesn't exceed the happiness factor otherwise it just becomes a burden
On the whole, they make me happy (not this week with the Disco 3...) however if you do have an eye to budget, make sure you take total cost of ownership into account and that that cost doesn't exceed the happiness factor otherwise it just becomes a burden
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