Looking at buying a long distance car and smaller run about or is better to have a single car?
Looking at a large car and small car, eg Holden & Daihatsu VS Honda Accord.
Whats your thoughts?
morrisjvan,
Dec 27, 3:08am
just 1 will do .unless you like paying 2x insurance, 2x rego, 2xW.O.F, 2X repairs, 2x maintainance.etc, etc, etc.
jantar,
Dec 27, 3:12am
I have 1 general purpose vehicle (4wd) which is mainly used by my wife, and 2 motorcycles (a sport tourer and an adventure bike). The bikes travel 3 times the distance each year that the 4wd does. I don't think a single vehicle can do everything for everyone.
socram,
Dec 27, 3:14am
Agree. Go for the two. Always useful to have a back up - even if only a cheapie. Rego is cheaper now than it has been for years and you may as well save on fuel whilst pottering around.
Grocery grabbers get dinged at supermarkets anyway, no matter where you park and in many places, a target for the lowlifes when you have a decent car.
You won't be paying twice the maintenance as you won't be doing double the mileage. Your fuel bills should be slightly lower. You might get an insurance deal with the two.
tigertim20,
Dec 27, 3:20am
we have two, but there are 2 adults and a 5 week old baby.
If it was just me, I would only have 2 cars if one was a toy. something rare / expensive / fast
mr_lovebug,
Dec 27, 3:27am
My thing is that I am looking a V6 Holden or Honda and a 3 cylinder Daihatsu for shopping and running to and from work, work is only 10 to 15 kms per way.
I know that the Mira is a cheap to buy and run no matter how you look at it, 3rd party would do on that.
My other pick is a 2.4L Honda Accord which is costly around town and be fine on the open road for gas and handling.
Am I on the right line of thought?
Is 1 car better or 2 cars as I have listed above. ? .
Thanks to all for looking at this thread.
franc123,
Dec 27, 3:39am
Being reliant on a single car is a pain in the butt, especially if it gets damaged or is otherwise in need of repair, having backup wheels is great. What's best for you to do is very much up to you, only you can assess what your needs are and what is required of each vehicles role, what the purchasing budget for both vehicles is, and whether reducing servicing costs through DIY will help. The above argument about doubling costs simply isn't always true, the costs of say operating two latish model (2000 plus) cars instead of one pre 2000 might not be that different, the amount of WoF checks is the same, if both cars are rego Band 4 instead of one car in Band 1 the licensing isn't much different, insurance, well yeah ok more costs there, longer service intervals on a newer car may save money also. Fuel and tyres on small cars are cheap, and providing the amount of overall kms isn't going up then theres not likely to be much more other expenses. Research what will suit your needs and do some basic costings.
joanie04,
Dec 27, 3:41am
We have 2 cars, both work different hours. The mere male has always wanted a Commodore and now has an older one. Being on the short side I don't really like it that much. I prefer my Nissan Avenir even if it's 16 years old. Can be a bit gutless on the big hills on long trips. What I really like about the Nissan it still does close to 40 miles per gallon on the long trips and that's being stuck in Auckland motor traffic as well.
vtecintegra,
Dec 27, 3:49am
IMO something like a Mira is well past the point of diminishing returns when it comes to smallness - they aren't really any more convenient or economical than the next size up (think 2/Fiesta/Polo even Sirion) and are uncomfortable and unpleasant to be in even for only 10km at a time.
socram,
Dec 27, 4:04am
Three cylinder Daihatsu we hired in Oz some years ago was most impressive for a small car.
whqqsh,
Dec 27, 4:10am
although from a quick financial view one car sounds more sensible but a backup is always handy, if friends or family come to stay theres always a spare for them to use, the bigger car will probably have a towbar & with a bit of grunt whereas a midsize often struggles in such areas etc etc. Running a small economical car can often offset the other ownership costs too compared to driving another option
ianab,
Dec 27, 4:19am
If you buy a car that's "uncomfortable" to drive to work, to get economy, the problem is that you spend 90% of your driving time in it.
If you need a heavier car to tow. then that's what you need to buy.
If you only commute in town, then buy an econo-box.
Otherwise, buy something like an Accord, that's not too bad on gas, and is perfectly fine on a road trip. Arguably nicer to drive than a Commodore.anyway. Cant see how justifying 2 cars makes economic sense.
I have a Toyota Blade, 2 adults, 2 kids, and it's a great car for a road trip. Perfectly sensible for commuting to work. Looks like a Corolla, drives like a V8. ;)
If you are a 2 car family anyway, then an econobox and a nicre car is an option. and flip a coin about gets to take the box to work. Road trip, then you take the nice car.
vtecintegra,
Dec 27, 4:26am
Was it a Mira or a Sirion?
berg,
Dec 27, 12:24pm
Dropped from 2 cars (Commodore ute and Suzuki Swift) to 1 (Suzuki Kazashi) last year without too many issues. We do however have a motorbike each so can use them if the other person has the car. Definately cheaper for us as the Commodore was doing less than 1000km per year yet costing over $1000 in rego and insurance
zirconium,
Dec 27, 1:37pm
We have found that without including the petrol and depreciation, and just being on 3rd party fire and theft insurance, an extra car costs $50/week. ($2600/y). You can drive a lot of extra miles for that without changing the depreciation much.
msigg,
Dec 27, 1:50pm
Yes as above, If you can afford two cars and waste a bit more money then great, I have 5 x cars and waste lots of money, That's me, As for financial you will be better of with one reasonable car, you can't beat that, you can never pick up the loss from petrol costs. It's a life style choice, Simple as that.
kecal,
Dec 27, 2:15pm
2 person family here , wife has her company car and i have my v8 commy also my trumpy. we use the wrk car for around town and the v8 i drve to wrk and use as a going away car, more comfort in the commy for travelling. if we lost the wrk car we would buy another to replace it but not a letter box, smallest wed go would be the new mini shape.
vr4_legnum,
Dec 27, 2:27pm
I've got two car myself, Both Legnum VR-4's, One is going to be the "toy" while the other one is my every day car, Don't need two as I've got a work car that doesn't cost me anything to use, But I can afford to have two, Only cost me other $40 a month for full insurance, under $200 a year for rego and 2x $40 wof a year, plus I can do most of the maintenance myself, But they not the cheap things to run, but that is ok since one is off the road at the moment till early next year.
budgel,
Dec 27, 2:47pm
I think two cars is best if you can afford double the rego etc. I have a large car and a ute, the large car is comfortable on longer trips, and is nice for a special outing. The ute is the everyday workhorse. Neither do a lot of k's, but having backup is great. Oh yeah, I have a third car, but that is my hobby for trackdays and doesnt really come into a rational discussion!
socram,
Dec 27, 3:02pm
Can't remember - but neither name rings a bell! Maybe a Charade? (It was a fair few years ago. ) Near neighbour is the ex-CEO of Diahatsu and I think he and his son still race them.
justwotever,
Dec 27, 3:09pm
ive got two cars myself one everyday holden colorado ute and second car 1966 oldsmoblie Delta 88 coupe for sunny day drive
whqqsh,
Dec 27, 3:10pm
agree as well as my ute is cheap to run & saves at least $50 a week in gas compared to using the Falcon, hence the 'pretty well pays for itself' theory
pge,
Dec 27, 3:23pm
Currently we are down to one car.
The biggest P.I.T.A. situation possible.
Mrs. pge uses her car for work (home-based health-care), she needs a handy back-up just in case.
I often need a vehicle for my own purposes, mine was also the tow-car.
mals69,
Dec 27, 3:33pm
Double cab ute pretty much does it all ?
kazbanz,
Dec 27, 5:01pm
One person one car 2 people 2 cars. that's easy
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