How many cars for a full time working family?

[M1Accord]

For 2 working adults, how many vehicles we should have? This is not counting classic, toys, projects, and untaggd vehicles. Also, f the region see all types of weathers and the commutes are over 35 miles each way, what types of vehicles would be ideal? Bare minimum, average, and self indulging.

For me, a bare minimum would be 2 cars unless public transportant is great like some parts of Washington State, San Francisco, and a few places in the U.S. For average white collar family with office jobs, i can't see myself taking public transportstion. I tried public transportant before when i worked in D.C and it was horrendous. Parking was a pain at the train station and i still had to drive 30 miles to get the the station. If i got there after 0700, there was no parking left so i normally just drove another 15 miles in as I had free company garage pass with wide parking space. I bought a 15 years old Corolla and did that commute for 3 years and tranfered back to Virgnia office which is 40 miles away with no morning traffic. Evening traffic is bad as people from surrounding counties pour into my town to shop and do stuffs.

Ideally, i think 2 reliable cars that get great fuel economy is bare minimum. For my region, a Forester and a Imprezza would be awesome. A small trailer hooked to the Forester for hauling trash or an ATV would be a plus. If i was living Denver, Aspen, or some serious weather region, i would opt for a 4x4 such as a Tacoma, Tundra, or FJ as a 3rd vehicle. If self indulging is possible, i would get a Landcruiser or Sequoia.

 

[Fleetmon]

I like three for two people....just in case. My wife and I work at the same place so we are able to commute together but there are times when we have to ride separate...meetings and stuff.

I also keep my Dakota at work so I have something to drive there without using the BMW for errands or visiting other facilities. The Jeep stays home 99% of the time but we use it if it's really icy (the BMW is better in snow/ice but it's the other drivers that worry us).

 

[01rangerxl]

Going to vary a lot by location and family dynamic.

In general, given that public transit in most places in the US is poor or non-existent, someone who works full time and lives more than a mile or so from work will need some kind of personal motor vehicle.

Sure, you can get by without your own car, but it does require more planning and sacrifice. No jumping in the car to go to the store. If something comes up and you need to leave work right away, coordinating a ride could be difficult or impossible. Taxis are expensive.

I have worked with people who share one vehicle with their spouse, and around here, even that situation is hard. There will be days where both really need the car, or work schedules conflict. Often times people whose financial situation only allows one car for the household have varying schedules rather than a predictable 9-5. To top that off, the one car is often not particularly reliable and needs attention to keep going. A major breakdown can be devastating, as public transit may not provide a straightforward way to work. If you live in an area conducive to walking where you need to go, or you have enough money to always be able to afford a cab if you need it, one car between two people can work fine, but I think that's an unusual situation in the US.

I have also known a couple people who had to get by with no car at all, relying on the [censored] poor and totally unpredictable public transit system here. Often times commuting across the city can become a 2-3 hour ordeal, when it would be 30 minutes in a car. Maybe the bus driver just decides not to make the stop that day, then you are really screwed. I remember when one guy I work with was in this situation...the bus just skipped the stop that day. It wasn't late, it just never showed up. After I got off a couple hours later, I ended up driving him and a homeless guy (really nice guy and super appreciative for the ride) to the bus terminal so they could get on the routes they needed to be on. Having to rely on the bus here daily would absolutely suck, and takes hours out of your life each day that you can't really do anything with.

If you think public transit in DC is bad, you should see many cities in the South. Years ago I went to DC for a week and was able to get around pretty well on the Metrorail, but I was just going to touristy stuff, and all of that is accessible via the Metro. Charlotte, NC has a joke of a rail system that seems to be for just show. Not sure how ATL's is, I just used it at the airport. Bham's public transit is a total disaster and basically useless. I haven't used it, but that's what I have heard from people who do.

In this country we have allowed cars to become a total necessity in many places. Getting by without one is a totally different lifestyle and not a very desirable one.

One reliable vehicle that I can fix quickly is all I really need.

 

[dparm]

Unless you live in a big city (literally downtown, not in the suburbs), it's one car per person. That's the problem with building at "the auto scale" -- cars are mandatory.

 

[99Saturn]

Between 2 of us, we drive ~40K miles a year just to commute to work (separately). If we car pooled, we could probably keep it to 28K miles a year. We could do it with 1 car, and have to weeks here and there with car problems or just to save some gas. Problem is, the 10 miles it adds to one of our commutes (round trip daily) could cost about 30 additional minutes to a 1 - 1.5 hour commute already.

For us, 1 good car and either another good car or another okay with some safety net for that person (third car as backup) or coordinating departure time in the am is ideal. Though honestly, IMO, there are so many variables/different combinations. Third car is great unless you break down halfway to work. A lot depends on type of job, workplace, etc.

We held onto the third as a safety net, but I think a lot of the time it's more trouble than it's worth.

 

[Eddie]

A work car and a fun car for each. )

 

[MCompact]

Four to six. Avoid boredom at all costs...

 

[Shannow]

Compulsory Third Party Insurance (personal liability) $430/car/annum
Registration $450/car/annum
Comprehensive $5-700/car/annum

Two is all we can afford to run

 

[95busa]

See sig

 

[rjundi]

As many as your garage or barn holds. I am not a fan of excess cars in my driveway. So for me stuck to two vehicles however I don't commute instead telecommute.

 

[Hokiefyd]

We had three..."my" car, my "wife's" car, and then we bought a Dodge Dakota truck very used from a friend. I had fun with that for a while, learned a lot (rebuilt the entire front suspension, learning about alignments along the way), and did haul a lot. After a few years, I did tire of having it in the driveway and the 2-car garage also full of vehicles. An opportunity to buy an excellent 5x8 utility trailer from a friend presented itself, and we were considering selling the truck at the same time. So we did that, and do enjoy being back to 2 cars again.

The truck served a purpose as an extra vehicle during a time in our lives where my wife's vehicle was very unreliable and was at the dealer all the time for warranty work. But with a vehicle trade, that phase in our lives has passed, along with the need to have an "extra" vehicle to fill in when one is laid up at the dealership.

 

[glock19]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
If you think public transit in DC is bad, you should see many cities in the South. Years ago I went to DC for a week and was able to get around pretty well on the Metrorail, but I was just going to touristy stuff, and all of that is accessible via the Metro.


Public transit in DC is actually really good. I work with a few people who don't own vehicles at all and a bunch of people that have cars but never drive them because it's easier to commute on public transit. It's pretty easy to not own a car in DC, besides public transit we have tons of ride sharing services and car sharing services that end up being cheaper than owning a car.

 

[ls1mike]

2 is good for two working adults.

I have my Toy and The truck which is used to trailer, rounded it out to 4.

 

[Whimsey]

We are two drivers with three vehicles. My wife has a 2005 Explorer and I have a 2002 F-150 and a 1996 Ford Contour. All were bought new and are well cared for. The Contour has become our vacation car and my warm weather car, it's garaged in the winter. It's also used if one of our trucks is in for repairs. All the vehicles are long ago paid for and not worth selling as they all run well and don't cost a lot in maintenance or insurance by NJ standards. Besides I'd not get the value I derive from them by selling them. There is no real public transportation here in rural NWNJ

Whimsey

 

[Mykl]

My wife works at home, our aim is two vehicles. We could survive on one, but the convenience of two is worth the extra cost.

 

[spasm3]

I'm at 5 plus a motorcycle, but when my son's saturn is rebuilt this summer, the olds may go.

 

[ram_man]

I have 3 that are legal.

 

[97f150]

We have 2. Due to my schedule 1 would not work for half of the month, even if my wife didn't work full time.

 

[earlyre]

My Brother seems to think it's 4.
he has about a 80 mi round trip commute, in the DFW area.
he's single, and currently has 4 vehicles, cuz he keeps buying cars to replace the old ones when he gets bored with them, then just doesn't sell them.

he Currently owns 4, V8 powered, RWD Vehicles.

Regular Residental neighborhood, typical 2 car garage w/ 4 car Driveway. 1 car can fit in the garage, the other side is filled with a waverunner that hasn't seen water in 6 or more years, old electronics, and mustang parts.

His current vehicle collection, from oldest to newest:
98 Mustang GT 5 speed (14,500mi)-bought new, grew tired of the manual in rush hour traffic, sat in the garage most of it's life.

06 Mustang GT auto (~69,000mi) - bought it in late '09 w/ 20k or so, has more parts/upgrades for it than he should. daily driver until last fall (it replaced '05 Neon he bought new, and 4 yrs later "it wasn't fun to drive anymore", sold to me feb '10 w/ 54Kmi)

07 Dakota quad cab, 4x4 HO 4.7l auto (6mo @ a time.

13 Challenger R/T Blacktop, MDS Hemi auto, bought new last fall, is his new DD

then both my parents and I drove down for vacation last fall, so for a week there were 2 MORE cars parked @ his house....

 

[fdcg27]

My wife drives fifteen miles in one direction each weekday while I drive twenty five miles in another.
Transit is not an option for either of us.
Thus, we need at least two cars.
A third as a spare is handy and my old BMW is in that role, although it's mainly a good weather daily driver for me.
If I really had to drive it in the winter for a few days, I could.
Most cars are okay on AS tires through the average winter.
A Subaru is a luxury that will cost you more in fuel for every mile you drive in exchange for easy driving on those few days when you really need AWD.
We like Subies and have had three of them, with two in the extended fleet at the moment.
Still, they aren't nearly as cheap to run as something like a Honda Accord, which is also a better car to drive in every way aside from days when the roads are really bad.
If I were in your position, I'd have two reliable daily drivers plus one fun car that could be pressed into daily driver use if needed. I'd aim for good fuel economy for the two primary cars and maybe the toy as well.