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We're not retired...nowhere near it, but we have had 1 vehicle for years. My husband works from home. I worked form home until 2 years ago. The only time it's an issue when I'm out of town for work and take the vehicle with me. It's because of that that we are looking at getting another vehicle. If I still worked from home and didn't travel with work at all, we'd never need a second vehicle. I certainly don't miss the payments, insurance, registration, inspections, etc.
We went the opposite way. Got the third car. Husband always liked car and truck but many times when I needed to go somewhere he had the car and I got tired of driving the truck to the grocery store or church so bought a third vehicle which was a small car.
Downsized from a pickup and an SUV. What a mistake! Carrying lumber and bags of cement in a fancy SUV doesn't really work well. Two vehicles cost more but it looks like it's worth it.
We retired with two cars and then hubby added a third collectible car.
Today we have a 2014 Cadilac SUV, my old 2000 Pontiac Bonneville that has only about 56K miles and a collectible Mustang.
In reality, we probably could survive fine with one car.
But, hubby is a car nut so long ago I realized its better for him to lease and have the thrill of the hunt/chase for a new car every few years. Plus now he also needs the fun of a collectible car he couldn't have when he was young. OK.
For me, a car is simply a means for transportation, although I do appreciate the "fun" in my Pontiac and that it drives well.
So, I am guessing it will be a while before we downsize to one car.
One thing that has been so pleasant about this thread is the welcome absence of the anti-car crowd. Those holier-than-thou folks can be found in rather large numbers in the Urban Planning Forum, where they bemoan the "auto-centric" nature of American life. Their lack of car ownership makes them so morally superior that it is downright sickening.
It's not only they are anti-car..... Not everyone wants to live in an urban area. I hyperventilate and get claustrophobic. I need my wide open spaces. It's not that I hate public transit - (but I do hate the Uber concept as I have a nephew who drives a Union Cab)... I just don't like living in a hive.
And besides - why live in California and NOT travel around? We expect to be visiting family and friends all over the state when we retire... and we have them in all areas. Cars are necessary.
2002 Buick started needing too much work. Came close to giving it away to a single parent. She had a boyfriend who works on cars so we were both happy. We planned to try one car for a while. Our 2012 Impala has more than 50,000 miles on it and we are talking about buying one for our road trips. "Jimmy Johnson" loves his car so we may soon be a two car family again. We mostly go places together but my husband mentioned with the higher mileage that he would like to be able to call me to pick him up if he gets car trouble. Sometimes I miss being able to go shopping when he is at a meeting.
One car is less stressful. I don't have to ask which car we are taking with one car in the driveway. I am hoping for another Buick. They are so much more comfortable when traveling. I also like to leave a car people can see when we leave home.
We just had a death in the family and wondered how we were going to get him to the funeral of his first cousin more than 100 miles away and me to a medical procedure I had already cancelled twice. Funeral was delayed so it worked out but there are times when two people need two cars. I will have to say I don't miss having to rotate cars to make sure they both get driven.
We just got a new car last year, but the second car, though old, is still in good shape. When it goes, we will go to one car. The old car will need $1000-$2000 of work this gear, but it is still a nice car, so it's worth it.
Besides, hubby still has a PT job, and I go places several times a week, so while one car would be doable, it would be slightly inconvenient.
We currently have 3. I have a 2011 GMC Terrain that hardly gets used as hubby insists on driving his 2003 Town & Country with almost 200k miles on it, and we have a 1985 Dodge 600ES convertible which is getting hard for me to get out of. Would like to go down to 2 cars but hubby still works out of state 2 weeks a month and I need my SUV for the ease of getting in and out. Our plans are to get rid of both the T&C and the Dodge and buy a newer convertible (Mustang or Camero), but hubby has been talking about this for 2 years. He keeps thinking the van is going to die, but it keeps going. I am retired and he is planning on retiring the end of this year, but will probably still work a little bit and might need to go out of state for a week every couple of months. I told him that he needs to plan his visits so that he can drive the convertible as I'm not going to be stuck with it, especially in the winter since they are all rear wheel drive.
Even though my Terrain doesn't get used much now, once we get rid of the other 2 it will become the main car. I can't foresee going to 1 car unless one of us becomes totally incapacitated. I like knowing that I can do errands while he is off doing his thing. It would be a sure thing that as soon as he takes the car I would need it for something. Unfortunately his driving makes me nervous and I hate how he drives my car. I would prefer to drive myself.
We have 2 autos. The Jetta TDI that gets 48 MPG and a pickup to tow our camper. I would love to go down to one auto but our road trips are monthly for hundreds of miles and the pickup gets about 14 MPG. It's cheaper to keep them both.
We have been a 1 car family for years. Hubby does not drive any more, so having 2 cars was too expensive. The 1 car works out fine for us. Luckily, I live only a mile from my mechanic, so when the car needs work, I drop it off and walk the mile home and then the mile back to pick it up. It would be harder if we didn't have such a close mechanic.
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