Owning multiple cars. How do you deal with it.

[javacontour]

Originally Posted By: 90Notch
Ok I've owned multiple cars in the past and present. The most at any one time was 4 and it was sort of a pain. Moving the cars to get to another, paying the insurance/registration, buying different grade oil and different filters, different parts etc...

For me having the 2 cars is fine but I soo miss driving manual. This is the first time where both my cars are auto because in the past I had at least on MT car. So for those of you that have multiple vehicles, say 3 or more, are you fine with it? Wish you had only 2? wish you had more?

I'm at a point where I'd like to get a manual but don't really feel like selling the cars I own now. IF I did it would be something relatively inexpensive(really missed my first manual '95 GSR, such a fun ride).

Any comments is appreciated. Thanks.


We have four cars. Parts are no real problem. Two oil filters cover the four cars, so that makes stocking them easy. All of them spec 5W30 or 10W30, so oil isn't a problem. Three car garage and the leaker parks on the street, no problem there.

I have an oil change a month with the fleet. Seems there is always something that needs attention, but that's what happens when you have four drivers.

I'd like another car. One is going off the college this fall, so we'll be down to three cars and drivers for the most part. Will probably buy another car for the other teen next spring as she'll be off to college next fall. The 226K mile Camry will go into reserve beater status in case one of the other cars is in the shop.

We'll probably try to find another Vibe/Matrix, Prizm/Corolla or Camry for her.

 

[ron917]

There are 4 cars in my fleet, and something always needs attention. But my son is 21 and mechanically inclined, so I don't have to go it alone.

Both of my kids are driving now, so we have 1 car per driver. Plenty of parking space here - I can fit 14 in the driveway and 1 in the garage. The other garage bay is the workshop and storage. We have had some non-running "projects" in the past, but none now.

The '03 Montana van is my wife's, the '07 Outback is mine. I handle all maintenance, repairs and expenses for those two vehicles.

The '11 Honda Fit is my son's, he's 21 now so it's all in his name. He deals with all of the maintenance (none yet! only a month old), paperwork, insurance, registration and payments. He could have paid cash for it, but decided to put half down and took a 12 month loan to establish a credit report because he will be looking to get a mortgage in a few years.

The '97 Civic is a beater. My son paid for it (cheap), but we titled it in my name. He reimbursed me for insurance, registration, etc. but did all maintenance and repair himself. We keep it around so my daughter (age 17) can use it and learn to drive a manual transmission (she's pretty good at it!). Not sure how we will split expenses on it, maybe I'll take over the ongoing costs until my daughter gets a job and can reimburse me for them. We will probably replace it for something nicer when my daughter has a real need for a daily driver like a job or college commute. When we sell it, the proceeds will go to my son since he paid for it.

 

[Norm Olt]

Read my signature.

The '91 420SEL is licensed and insured (liability, medical, etc. and comprehensive) and driven almost every day. Putting on quite a few miles between OR & the WA beach.

The '92 SVX had the job of long trip cruiser (got 28+ mpg on an 11K cross-country trip in 2009) and really bad weather vehicle. Insured for liability, etc. as needed: we carry comprehensive .

The '87 F250SC has a 3K lb. FSC camper in the bed and gets used very occasionally for camping, towing or moving big long stuff: at 9-10 mpg you can understand why. I remember buying gas for $0.99 per gallon on the way to the beach not that long ago. Cost per mile has quadrupled. Insured as needed as above including comprehensive.

The 1st '88 420SEL was originally thought to be a parts car: with a recently rebuilt tranny, rebuilt top end, R-134 climate control conversion & 2 new tires at the time of purchase 5 years ago, all I've done is add 2 new tires, shocks & front calipers & rotors. Could use a paint job (no rust at all) and front seat covers. I would not hesitate to start it up and drive to DC in a heartbeat. Insured as needed as above.

The 2nd '88 420SEL is a running parts car: it passed OR DEQ less than a year ago and has all the various and sundry MB engine & system control parts (ETC.) that are all still available from the dealership and which range from $300-$3000, airbag & control modules, no body damage and great glass & trim. And a broken windshield. I already saved $300 on a driver's side window regulator that finally gave up the ghost on the '91. Came with a never on the ground OEM Mercedes alloy wheel in the spare tire well, 4 pretty nice chromed MB wheels and two brand new tires. No insurance: this is the reason we don't carry collision on the other two.

The '93 Lexus SC400 is licensed and insured (full coverage including collision!) and gets driven as needed. It may take over the long trip duty as it needs a good workout. Now that it is broken in, that is.

The motorcycles are usually "insured as needed" = when they are actually ridden: only the Valkyrie Interstate has collision.

Have 4+ garage spaces at the beach + RV parking if needed, and a 2 car garage in OR. Also very understanding neighbors. Kinda' makes sense as we are among the oldest (longest term?) residents on the street.

How can we do this? All vehicles are long ago paid for. We monitor our insurance costs. Stay away from warranty claims & Stealerships when and where ever possible. Do 90% of my own service and maintenance work.

Buy oil (&filters, and rotors, and etc.) when on sale + rebates, of course!

Cheers!

p.s. We are probably the "last of the species" as the media, the Guv'ment, the educational system and the Al Gore's of the World have decided that our freedom is something that THEY will define based upon their agenda.

 

[Cutehumor]

I have two vehicles. one for me and one for my wife. don't really need more than that. like other have said, extra vehicles cost more money in sales taxes, interest, tags/registration, and insurance costs really add up.

 

[SOHCman]

We use two cars for commuting and have a third small truck that gets little use for moving large/dirty items. Its a godsend to have that third vehicle when something like an AC compressor seizes or other mishap rendering a car useless for a few days. Everyone can still get to work while parts are being shipped. Plus I have a low milage (7500mi limit) insurance policy on the truck so its not much to insure each year.

I would never consider going back to two vehicles unless absolutely necessary. Too much of a headache when something goes wrong.

 

[wander2039]

3 cars in our stable and 1 borrowed. No driveway either. I park 2 on our side and 2 on the other in a manner that doesn't annoy the neighbors. The Festiva and Aspire is the regular drivers. The Escape rarely gets driven and really should be put in the backyard, use it to haul the bigger stuff and trailers. The boy would probably find a way to tear it up in the backyard. The Focus is my sisters and I drive it on occasion otherwise it would just set on the farm. Besides the exhaust I'm amazed the shape it's in for setting sometimes 6+ months.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: crinkles
the costs to insure another, and register, are astronomical trivial.


Seriously, it depends on where you live. Adding additional cars without collision coverage only adds a few dollars a year to my insurance, and registration about $30/year per car. Which amounts to "trivial" in my case. Two of my seven are covered under collector vehicle insurance, which lets you cover loss/collision for very low cost, also. The only restriction is that they 'suggest' that you drive them less than 5k miles per year, which is no problem with a big-block v8 and premium at $4/gallon :-/

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Originally Posted By: crinkles
the costs to insure another, and register, are astronomical trivial.


Seriously, it depends on where you live. Adding additional cars without collision coverage only adds a few dollars a year to my insurance, and registration about $30/year per car. Which amounts to "trivial" in my case. Two of my seven are covered under collector vehicle insurance, which lets you cover loss/collision for very low cost, also. The only restriction is that they 'suggest' that you drive them less than 5k miles per year, which is no problem with a big-block v8 and premium at $4/gallon :-/




It sounds like your insurance company is insuring the drivers and not so much the cars. Which makes sense, but like Crinkles, to have a spare car with minimal insurance would be a ~$500/year cost here. Add the cost of maintaining it and depreciation, its probably a $1000/year before you actually drive it. Not worth it to me from a practical stand point but not outrageous for a summer toy either.

 

[Mr_Joe]

We just dropped down to 2 vehicles, with 2 drivers. We may buy another in a few months to a year, the older Son is 15. For now I'm liking it, we mostly drive the economical Vibe. Less maintenance, insurance, registration, & more room in the garage/driveway. I also plan to ride my motorbike more this Summer - 54MPG.

 

[Craig in Canada]

Originally Posted By: IndyIan

It sounds like your insurance company is insuring the drivers and not so much the cars. Which makes sense, but like Crinkles, to have a spare car with minimal insurance would be a ~$500/year cost here. Add the cost of maintaining it and depreciation, its probably a $1000/year before you actually drive it. Not worth it to me from a practical stand point but not outrageous for a summer toy either.


Not to mention that in Canada we have to pay sales tax (13% HST in Ontario as far as I know) on a vehicle at the time of registration. We are required to pay tax on blue book or actual sale value, whichever is HIGHER. I think there's an exception for immediate family (i.e. fatherson) to sell vehicles for $1 but other than that you're screwed.

You can't just jump in and out of beaters or other used cars in Canada like you can in the US - you simply lose too much money.

 

[TheKevin]

I've got 5 cars and would like more. camry, tC, SC400, MR2 and Celica. i dont really have a problem with any of them. i'm lucky to have a 2 car garage, 3 car driveway and street parking. the only problem i have is that i want to mod all of them but dont have any $ to do it.

 

[Rix]

With the corolla just sitting, I'm down to 3 between me and the wife (plus the old man's truck), and MY truck is mostly recreational use, so it doesn't really create any issues for me.
Insuring the 4 of them isn't all that much, now that I'm not 20 anymore.
Occasionally I have to play musical cars, but it's not too bad.
Once a few more projects get done, it could get very interesting though.

 

[addyguy]

One car, one condo parking spot. No spare or visitor parking, except on the street.

Wife and I work a block apart d/t and drive in together.

Things are kept really simple for us....

 

[CBR.worm]

Argh. I'm just about to get into this boat. we are looking for a third vehicle (SUV probably) for hauling stuff. Pulling the trailer with the G35 on weekends is just getting old. And the trailer takes up a space in the garage that could be used by a car. We sold the Tundra when gas prices went up, but we still need a truck and should have held onto it.

 

[CharBaby]

I'll tell you what! I'm getting a bit tired of the ownership cost and work of multi-vehicles. I currently have 3 but, often have had as many as 5 several time in my life. I've had three vehicles always since the early/mid '70s and never less than two. I can't even remember owning one vehicle(well, yeah I can!).

Ya see, I always want my vehicle looking respectable and operating the way they should. And for the most part, they do! And too, I want my home and yard to look very nice as well. Always gardening, cleaning, fixing, painting etc. Ya gotta!

I have always love keeping my vehicles well into their teens and maintaining them along the way. At least I always knew what I had and where I stood...You all know what I mean?

Although we as a family keep quite active and fit, crawling on the ground to fix something just doesn't excite me as much as it used to. I just spent 6hrs on my daughters car(#4 car if I include her's) and really loved every minute of it but man, my right shoulder and neck are killing me.

Had to fix the underneath splash pannels as she must have scraped something under the car, changed the oil/filter, rotated the tires, and since the tires were off the car, I installed 4 new mud guards since the others had broken from winter snow/ice and probably kicking off the snow/ice when the temp was in the single didgets. And then to top it all off, I wash the whole thing in and out. My wife's car need a few things as does mine. The garage queen doesn't need anything at the moment but if it did, it might have to wait.

I'm just getting tired and score. The next morning I didn't even want to "workout" (get on the treadmill for my 45 min walk/run and then light weights). But, I did. Ya gotta!

Right now, we're replacing the furnace and central air. It's a perfect time!

 

[JR402]

I was thinking about making a topic similar to this. I have 3 vehicles, 2 of which I can't decide what to do with, (99 A4 1.8t quattro manual, 02 S10 4.3 auto x-cab 2wd).
I would like to sell them both and buy one 4x4 full size truck. Why I can't decide what to do is because they are both in real good condition, have long been paid for, fairly low miles, ect. I'm not really attached to either one but I find them hard to sell because they really won't bring much money and I know I could continue to drive them for a long time, many years.
I sometimes think I should keep the Audi as a winter beater, seems like its worth more to me to keep it for that than what it would be worth to sell it, so I wouldn't have to take a perfectly good 4x4 truck out in the snow (salt).

 

[Norm Olt]

If you limit yourself to only spending, say 150% of what you can reali$e from the sale of the two on your " 4X4 full size truck", then it probably could make good sense...

You would be getting rid of one insurance/maintenance/operating cost in exchange for a bigger, more expen$ive to operate truck, but I can see how it would simplify things a bit.

You probably are not considering this because you NEED to, but rather because you just want "change" for some reason. If you took the money that you anticipate putting into this "change", whether as a capitol expenditure or as a stream of truck payments, into a savings account how long would it take to build up a fund big enough to buy something you really would cherish?

Cheers!

p.s. If any vehicle is "too good" to use I might question your NEED for it. Having grown up in Ohio I do know about salt and its ability to turn something nice into a rusted wreck in the blink of an eye.

There are times when I wonder what I would buy "NEW" if I sold all the motorcycles and cars, the F250 and the camper?

Probably a Sprinter, a BMW GS1200 & a MB E350 4Matic Wagon.

Let's see: $35-45K for the Sprinter, $20-something K for the BMW & $50-60K for the MB. Say $120K... Insurance would be through the roof, if one was in the shop for service or warranty work I'd be looking for something to drive/ride...

All the fun of dealing with the Stealerships, again...

NAH! NO WAY!

Cheers! II

 

[JR402]

Thanks for your input, it is appreciated.
It would simplify things for me, one thing that would concern me though is driving the 4wd truck all winter long with the gas mileage, that is also where I would find it hard to let go of the Audi for just running back and forth to work, and out to other places when I'm not needed to haul anything. I understand what you mean about really needing a full size truck. I can get by without one but I'm thinking in the long run it would fit better with future plans. I do haul a lot around with the S10 and a 6x12 trailer, when cutting trees and hauling firewood, supplies, equipment, ect. and it would make it easier sometimes to just use a full size truck without always needed to tow a trailer too. I also can cut firewood at some of my neighbors farms but I am limited right now where I get into without 4wd. Also with a snowplow I could get in very easy with a couple people I know who already have many businesses and places they have been plowing for years, and could use extra help, especially at a few places that are near where I live but are kind of out of the way for them.
I would not be looking at a brand new truck, rather something 5 or so yrs old and just a regular work truck, reg cab long bed truck, with not many extra options ect.

 

[stockrex]

pain, just pure pain I tell you, I have a few more that is not in my sig, just getting tags, insurance is just pure pain.
and I am paying 3200$ in insurance, ouch,

I do have storage spots for 3 of them to get them out of the drive way. that helps a bit.

Let's talk insurance, pls quote insurance for op too.

I need to shop around for mine soon.

 

[raffy]

We have three vehicles. The Ridge and the Saturn go into the garage (mainly because the slot where the car goes is too tight for the van) and the Odyssey van stays outside on the driveway. Our driveway is double wide and is at right angles to the garage and there is enough space to back cars out and turn them to face the road. This means that there is usually never an issue of having to play "musical cars". In about 3 years or so our oldest kid will be learning to drive, so I will probably get another (old and cheap) car for her. Our Saturn is a stick shift so I don't want her learning on it, nor on the van or truck either (big and valuable). That means the 4th car will probably get parked on the street to avoid playing musical cars.

Right now we're paying a little less than $100 per month for insurance for all 3 vehicles. That will no doubt change drastically once we have a teenage driver!