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I recently totaled my Chevy Malibu. Debating whether to purchase an equivalent vehicle OR purchase two less expensive vehicles.
An uncle is selling a 10 year old SUV with low miles and I can get a good deal for it. I was thinking about buying this to drive in the winter and a compact car (with excellent gas mileage) maybe around 4-5 years old to drive the rest of the year. Compact cars are easier to park and have excellent gas mileage but don't seem as safe as mid size.
My commute is nearly 100 miles round trip (almost all highway miles).
Thought a second vehicle could come in handy when I am in a bind (due to vehicle needing repairs or the like). I've had to rent a car on a few occasions this past year.
Could it be worth owning two vehicles or best to stick with one?
Ever since 2001, we kept a second car as spare. I was caught once, when two of our cars died Friday and I had to drive out of state Monday am to work.
ever since, we keep a spare car of a kind. Whatever is older, gets liability only. New one gets full coverage. I alternate them, to put less miles onto a new one. I commute daily about 65 miles plus unpredictable escapades caused by work. So mileage builds up fast.
Unless paid for by insurance, long term rentals are cost prohibitive. 1200-1400 $$ a week. My entire 05 RAM cost was $5200. Got it from auction, fixed. You can get super deals on rebuilds. Son has 11 Civic that he can't kill, rebuild, and he is not the best take care of car person.
Your plan seems to make sense, since you have a lead on a good SUV for the times when you need it. I have several cars, since I tend not to get rid of them, and if I find one that I like, and/or a good deal, I will buy it. I have one that is used only to go to and from the airport, usually without fuss, though it has cost me more to maintain/repair than a Mercedes E-Class and it's a Mercury. Just be sure that the vehicles you plan to purchase are in good order, and with the daily commuter car, make sure that it's comfortable and easy to repair. If you could deal with something like a Camry Hybrid or a Prius, that may make an ideal commuter car, though the Camry is a mid-size.
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All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
A spare vehicle is always handy, as long as one of them doesn't turn into yard art. I have seen a lot of broken down cars that "only need a yada yada," but as long as there is one that runs the junker never gets fixed.
Could it be worth owning two vehicles or best to stick with one?
I had two cars like this.
One was a Chevy Tahoe and the other was a Mazda Miata. They were a perfect pair.
There's no reason the commuter has to be boring and Miatas are known to be very reliable. Mine was.
a friend of mine once had ten vehicles, there were a few times when he had to go through six or seven of them to find one that would start in the morning, and it wasnt because they were junkers either, just dead batteries and flat tires and other minor bull crap noe has to deal with when cars sit for some time without being run.
a friend of mine once had ten vehicles, there were a few times when he had to go through six or seven of them to find one that would start in the morning, and it wasnt because they were junkers either, just dead batteries and flat tires and other minor bull crap noe has to deal with when cars sit for some time without being run.
Perhaps your friend should have dumped the funds used to keep all of those cars, into just 1-3 cars.
I had two cars like this.
One was a Chevy Tahoe and the other was a Mazda Miata. They were a perfect pair.
There's no reason the commuter has to be boring and Miatas are known to be very reliable. Mine was.
A colleague went car-shopping one day. He came back with a Miata and whatever the Mazda minivan-critter of the day (late '90s) was. Worked perfectly for him.
A spare vehicle is always handy, as long as one of them doesn't turn into yard art. I have seen a lot of broken down cars that "only need a yada yada," but as long as there is one that runs the junker never gets fixed.
Ha! A neighbor has a Saturn sedan. It's been sitting for at least three years. It's not exactly "art."
He seems to be some sort of contractor. His truck apparently broke one day. So it sits in the driveway, two or three flat tires. He's appropriated his wife's Honda CRV for work, I guess she doesn't get to work any more. We'll see how long that lasts.
See below.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rbohm
a friend of mine once had ten vehicles, there were a few times when he had to go through six or seven of them to find one that would start in the morning, and it wasnt because they were junkers either, just dead batteries and flat tires and other minor bull crap noe has to deal with when cars sit for some time without being run.
They WERE junkers. They ARE junkers. If one or two out of 10 will start, the other eight are junkers.
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