Would you rather have three cars or two?

Status
Not open for further replies.
We have 3 cars for two drivers. The Honda is the errands car, hwy trips are split between the Buick and the Impala. I like tinkering and puttering on the cars for now, but will go down to two cars when I retire in a few years, to reduce costs.
 
Last edited:
Of course everyone's situation is different. For us, fewer = better. After I take care of our needs (food, shelter, clothing, retirement saving, no debt.), an extra car would fall into the "want" status and use up discretionary funds. My choice is to spend discretionary $ elsewhere. In my case, it is more economical to not have an extra car. In severe emergencies, I could get transportation from friends or family. I have a bicycle too, but not feasible in winter. In my situation, the savings is higher priority than the convenience. Again, in my case keeping an extra car for any reason would be more for want/convenience, not need.
 
We've had a fleet of three forever. Having a garage queen is a lot easier when you don't have to drive it. As you can see, the Mustang is the toy and is treated like royalty. Three different vehicles, with three different shapes, with three strengths. Wouldn't have it any other way.
 
Have three prii and an f150 across two people and need them all.

Registration and insurance just sitting there are $300/year or so, very reasonable.

I have one prius waiting for a mail order part that would have been more expensive (and inconvenient) bought locally in a hurry. Am in another state with another one, and getting paid mileage for the trip, so it helps that it, too, saves gas.
 
We have 3 cars for 3 drivers. One driver is moving out on her own. So that leaves 3 cars for 2 drivers. The 2 drivers are retiring. I think we can go down to 2 vehicles. Car and truck.
 
I'd rather have one versatile car, and a motorcycle! When I was growing up that was a normal household no matter how many people in it. Lots of people simply walked to work, or hitched rides with someone, or took a bus or something. On the block in a small town where I grew up I would guess there was less than one car per household. Kids were expected to either walk, bike, or take the bus to school. Even in college, I only knew a couple of people that owned cars. I didn't get my first car until after I graduated from college. Today, every driver in a household has at least one vehicle, they often commute 30-60 miles to work, and half the kids are driven to school in personal vehicles. I am working on changing my lifestyle to reduce the need to drive a lot so I have less expense, less maintenance, more time to do other things, and reduce my carbon footprint somewhat. Having said that, I still love to drive, and would happily drive across the country tomorrow if for some reason the opportunity was there. My motorcycle helps to scratch that itch quite a bit.
 
LOL I have 3 and my wife has 2. I have a 2012 Chevy truck, 2000 Mustang GT and 2010 Mustang GT. Everything is automatic trans. Wife has a newer Jeep Cherokee and a 2018 Mustang GT Premium automatic. I only keep one car payment at a time and I put a substantial amount down (at least 1/2). It looks excessive on the surface, but I have very little debt. Little debt is what I recommend to everyone. Debt is very stressful.
 
I don't know what a good number of vehicles is, but I do know I don't like how insurance is set up in the US. Each of my trucks costs basically the same to insure, but I can only drive one at a time, and it's liability only because they are old and low value. When I added my third vehicle it was a straight up 50% increase. Insuring as a pleasure vehicle does almost nothing. It's probably time to shop around again, I just hate having to do that.

Other than that, I like having multiple vehicles.
 
Having a spare car is always nice, especially one that can be considered a beater.
OTOH, we are now empty nesters and have been for some years.
Simplification is always nice.
Why do I need to allocate parking room to an extended length E350 that gets used only now and then when I can rent a pickup or cargo van from U-Haul for twenty bucks a day for those occasions when I really need a hauler?
I'm thinking I'm going to dispose of it as well as an old Subaru and my BMW and just keep the newer Accord and Forester for my wife and my use.
Of course, that would then open the door for a new fun third car at some point.
 
I park it on the drive when snow is forecast as a Grand Marquis leaves a big spot that I don't have to shovel.

Originally Posted by Danno
When you live in a snowy, cold region, having a 3rd car would be a bother.
Such as:
Snow removal issues
Keeping it in good running condition through the winter - plugin? And if yes, all the time? And if not trying to start in a really cold spell is just a bad time.
Unless the 3rd car is used weekly, and if it is parked outside, they just become too unreliable.
 
Always been a two car household. But occasionally I think I need a small truck in the mix. Contemplating adding a Suzuki Equator, or used Nissan Frontier to my driveway. Could be useful now and then.
 
Mine are all paid off.

2 each 1-Ton Duallies
A Cobra Mustang
A 1993 Ranger with a hot V8 in it
A 2008 F150 with 190,000 miles
A BIG ol' 60-series Chevy truck (weighs 14,000+ lbs empty!)
A Harley Softail..... a Ninja 650...... etc etc
 
Originally Posted by Danno
When you live in a snowy, cold region, having a 3rd car would be a bother.
...

I thought a lot of people up north had a 3rd vehicle as a "winter" vehicle?
 
One of the very rare times I've agreed with Triple Seven. I had three cars for this exact reason, and unfortunately was persuaded to sell my Forester. While it wasn't anything fancy as the third vehicle, it always started stopped and made it to where I wanted to go without fuss. Now down to two vehicles, when there are repairs I cannot handle in the driveway, I make my wife arrange her own work transportation since this is her fault!
lol.gif


This will be remedied upon our next vehicle purchase, as I am keeping both Subies and adding a third.

Since every vehicle I've owned in the past 8 years has been bought free and clear, I see no reason to offload a known, reliable vehicle that may take $250-500 per year in preventive and corrective maintenance and take on a new vehicle with $400-600/mo payments PLUS preventive maintenance. I've conquered the "me too" syndrome of financial indebtedness by not wanting the latest and greatest vehicles.
 
My wife and I have 3 vehicles. I store my nice car during the winter (Minnesota winters are horrible on cars) and drive a 05 accord during the winter. During the summer we use the accord as a care free beater.
 
The 3 vehicles in my sig plus two tractors an atv. Bought a 75 GMC with grannie gear 4 speed minus engine for 500 bucks for a project. Have a 327 365hp to install then determine if we will clean up for resale. If it doesn`t sell will use as a woods beater to haul fire wood.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top