Car Conundrum

[2002 Maxima SE]

Hello All! I've got a situation approaching that I've known would one day come. I'm looking for input on options I haven't considered. Adding an additional car with limited space. We currently own 3 cars and are looking at adding or replacing our Subaru Outback.

Our house has a 2 car garage and a flat pad beside the garage that I can park 2 cars on one side of our home. We live on a steep incline at the top of a hill. The entire front yard is septic and the opposing side is narrow yard bordering our neighbors driveway. The garage space is limited. One side is short and could barely fit a small car.
The pad borders my other neighbors drive and the end of the pad is a 4 ft retention wall into the backyard.

We're looking to add another Outback for my wife but considering keeping her current Outback as it's in good shape at 115k miles. The logical choice is to get rid of the Taurus however I've got some emotional attachment, it runs well at 173k miles though paint is starting to peel due to poor quality repaint before we bought it.

So, we can fit 3 cars, but 4 breaks our parking situation. We cannot add parking to the front yard. This problem will come up again soon as my two boys get closer to driving age.

 

[supton]

Sounds like a problem. When the boys start driving, do they have to get cars? as in, one each. Could car sharing work? 3 vehicles for four drivers, I know the pain, but sometimes that’s life.

For a while I parked a vehicle on a grassy spot. Not ideal as moisture rises up and causes rust. But that’s life. For a while I had cars parked in front of the garage, and a form of musical cars ensued. Could that work for you? last in, first out?

 

[NibbanaBanana]

Skip the car. Invest the money. Buy a house with more acres.

 

[Astro14]

I would replace, not add, since parking is the constraint.

 

[2002 Maxima SE]

Sounds like a problem. When the boys start driving, do they have to get cars? as in, one each. Could car sharing work? 3 vehicles for four drivers, I know the pain, but sometimes that’s life.

For a while I parked a vehicle on a grassy spot. Not ideal as moisture rises up and causes rust. But that’s life. For a while I had cars parked in front of the garage, and a form of musical cars ensued. Could that work for you? last in, first out?

We will do car sharing until they go off to school. Musical cars works for 3 but 4 would be tough. No grassy spots available otherwise I'd consider extending and paving the driveway.

 

[bullwinkle]

The Taurus wagon would be a good choice for a new driver-it would be challenging to get into trouble with that (although not impossible). Kind of like my '82 300D was for my oldest-slow, tank-like.

 

[2002 Maxima SE]

Skip the car. Invest the money. Buy a house with more acres.

Yes! That's the longterm plan. We just moved here about 3 years ago and property was getting snatched up fast. The house meets our needs but the land size and layout does not.

 

[2002 Maxima SE]

I would replace, not add, since parking is the constraint.

That's what I keep coming back to. I can only keep one. As a card carrying BITOG, the simplicity and reliability of both and knowing anything later on will just add more electronics is where I want to have my cake and eat it too. I know both cars history and reliability.

 

[dogememe]

Can you modify the property to fit your needs better?

 

[Sequoiasoon]

Raise the garage and add this. Is on street parking an option? I have 6 vehicles between the 6 drivers. 1 currently up at school so 5 daily. My driveway only does 3 with the car shuffle. Fortunately I'm on a 5 house cul-de-sac so I have curb space in front to utilize.

The house next to my daughter was in last year at school had a "parking area" the landlord added. 20 x 40 gravel, 2-3 high railroad ties as a small hill. Town/city code was no parking on "grass", not even 2 wheels. This was rental for 4-5 college students.

 

[ATex7239]

People > machines.

Transportation is supposed to be beneficial not a hindrance.

 

[2002 Maxima SE]

Can you modify the property to fit your needs better?

I see two options or maybe combine the two. The driveway is about 25 years old and though we have resealed it (this is an old picture) it needs some maintenance. We could extend it over a few feet into the front yard (red) (need to verify the endpoints of the leach field) and/or we could push back the end of the driveway into the backyard (blue). We're on a steep incline and going to the fence would create about a five-foot drop at the fence line. My main concern with these changes is keeping with the aesthetics of the home.

 

[2002 Maxima SE]

Raise the garage and add this. Is on street parking an option? I have 6 vehicles between the 6 drivers. 1 currently up at school so 5 daily. My driveway only does 3 with the car shuffle. Fortunately I'm on a 5 house cul-de-sac so I have curb space in front to utilize.

The house next to my daughter was in last year at school had a "parking area" the landlord added. 20 x 40 gravel, 2-3 high railroad ties as a small hill. Town/city code was no parking on "grass", not even 2 wheels. This was rental for 4-5 college students.

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We could get one and maybe two at the curb any more cars would block my neighbor's driveway. The neighborhood street is narrow with curbs. I like the lift idea! We eventually would like to have a property with a workshop.

 

[dishdude]

Keep the current Outback or replace it. No point selling the Taurus if there's an emotional attachment, it won't bring in much when you sell it but I'd think a 2015 Outback would still have a decent amount of value.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I had this same scenario years ago. Had room for 3 cars and no more, and I had to move one car to get the furthest one out, so it never was used. I still miss it, but I sold the 3rd. It was simply an cost and encumbrance at that point. I made sure I don't have that problem again when we moved.

Replace is my suggestion also. Perhaps you can find a needy home for the Taurus which will make you feel better about its departure.

 

[Cujet]

I'd replace the Taurus without a moment's regret. Older vehicles do consume time and money, and fall short on MPG and safety.

I recently purchased a new F150 to replace my 2009. The workload reduction is obvious. No more blend door motor changes, no more dealing with the pax door that won't unlock properly, and the old hoses and rad/heater core, and so much more.... All those little problems are solved. I hope the new truck is as reliable and lasts as long as the old one.

Now I have a faster truck that can tow more, and is 3mpg better.

 

[wander2039]

We sold our 02 Focus couple weeks ago. It was my sisters before she passed in 2011 and my parents gave it to us. Strong emotional attachment but that thing was a pain the entire time we had, laughably very similar to my little sister. After it broke the inner tie rod my wife didn't trust it anymore and we got the BMW. One thing I know my sister would of loved the BMW. Sometimes it's just time to move a vehicle on to someone else. I was really surprised how quick the Focus sold with what it was, they knew what they were getting but they were just glad to test drive one with brakes.

 

[gfh77665]

I never want to do anything that causes an additional problem.

 

[zzyzzx]

Can you modify the property to fit your needs better?

I was going to ask for pics. A retaining wall someplace to create a flat spot for parking near the road is something someone near me just did.

 

[supton]

My old house, the land had a good slope to it. The owner got a permit to make a tire wall--no idea what was used to secure, maybe there is railroad ties in it. No idea. But he made a good 5' tall wall, then backfilled, so as to get a flat parking area. On the top of it he put Jersey barriers for a stop. Bit hard to accidentally drive off! Lived there for nearly 15 years and I saw no movement in the fill, tires or barriers.