How many cars do you have?

MintBerryCrunch · July 2012

We have 2 cars and I'm considering selling one. We're making payments on both and I hate it. I drive the one I'm thinking of selling (Honda Accord) to work 3 nights a week, where it sits in the hospital garage for 13 hours, then gets driven home. That's basically all it's used for. Our other car sits in our driveway *just in case* DH needs to use it while I'm at work, though he never actually has gone anywhere w/ DD at night w/o me. DH works from home and rarely leaves the house, so we essentially never drive both cars at the same time. If we go anywhere together, we use our other car (Mazda CX-9) because that's our babymobile. If he knew he would need a car while I'm at work, he could just drop me off as it's only a few miles away.

I have over 2 years of payments left on the Accord and I'm starting to think we really don't need two cars for our situation, but DH doesn't think it will be a good idea to sell it. It's worth about $13-14K so we would get a nice chunk of change even after the remainder of the loan is paid off, plus we would get rid of the payment too, and our car insurance would go down.

So, how many people here make it work with just one car? Is it really a PITA?

ETA: We live in FL with essentially non-existent public transportation.

numeria11 · July 2012

We only have 1 but we live in the city and I take public transpo to and from work everyday. Most of the time it's not really a big deal but I will say it kind of stinks when one of us wants to go do something with friends or family without the other person it essentially leaves them stranded at home so that they can't run errands or get groceries etc during that time. It takes a bit more stratgic planning since if you only have one car and the other person's got it you can't just hop in the car to go pick it up if you run out of milk or diapers or something.

That said if you have stores close to your home or good public transpo then I think it's doable you just need to be willing to compromise on who gets the car some days.

ETA: That said when we move to the burbs in a few weeks I will be buying a car because I can't exactly walk the 3 miles to the nearest Metra station in the winter or heat of summer vs. the city where I walk 2 blocks.

BlueRidge8 · July 2012

We have two - but only one car payment.

We couldn't do it because of DH's crazy work schedule. During the season (football) he works 20 hour days and we live too far from work to use alternate transportation.

Swainb · July 2012

Just one, I'm a SAHM and it's not necessary for me to have one. DH comes home early enough I can appointments and run errands for after he gets home.

ATMmom324 · July 2012

We have 2 cars and 2 car payments. We discussed trying to go to one car but it just wouldn't work. We work opposite shifts but if I had to sit home all day with DD and no car I would lose my mind. Also I am not dragging the kid(s) out in the winter to take him to work.

kaydee77 · July 2012

We have 3 - 2 cars and a pick up truck. Both cars are paid off. DH needs a car for work, because he has a long commute each way and wants to get decent gas mileage. He has the truck so he can tow his trailer, and haul crap with it. It's nice having an extra vehicle, so that if one of ours breaks down we always have a backup. We could easily do it with 2 vehicles, but DH can't live without his truck lol.

ByeBabyBunting · July 2012

2 cars and one on the way! One payment and one paid off - the one on the way is my FIL old work truck

ThePolishHammer · July 2012

2 cars, one motorcycle. One car payment.

jess60 · July 2012

One. SO is a SAHD & I only work 5 miles from home.

Wufroggy79 · July 2012

Two. No way could we do just one.

[Deleted User] · July 2012

1 paid off car, 1 paid off truck, 1 new car with payment, but it's sthuper gas efficient.

shadypines · July 2012

2 cars. No car payments!

penguingrrl · July 2012

We have one, will be buying a second in the near future. A month ago we moved from Manhattan, where we lived for 5 years. Without kids we wouldn't have had, needed or wanted a car at all, but with kids we still needed it. Now that we're back in the suburbs we'll need a second soon.

DH will need a car to commute with and I'll need a car to get DD1 to kindergarten and DD2 to preschool. Our town is so small there are no school buses but we're too far to walk to school (a little over a mile, so too far for a 5 year old). Since DH will be working 45 mins away we won't be able to get by on only one car.

ETA: we don't have a car payment and plan to buy a used car for cash this go round. We don't want a car payment tying up our budget right now.

missymo · July 2012

We have 2 cars, but only one payment. When we sold our older car earlier this year I had convinced myself having one car would be no biggie. A few months later, my parents offered us a 20 year old car that is still in decent condition (and a convertible - woo hoo!), and I jumped at it. After 2 months of being a 1 car fam, I was happy to be back to having 2.

MintBerryCrunch · July 2012

numeria11:
We only have 1 but we live in the city and I take public transpo to and from work everyday. Most of the time it's not really a big deal but I will say it kind of stinks when one of us wants to go do something with friends or family without the other person it essentially leaves them stranded at home so that they can't run errands or get groceries etc during that time. It takes a bit more stratgic planning since if you only have one car and the other person's got it you can't just hop in the car to go pick it up if you run out of milk or diapers or something.

That said if you have stores close to your home or good public transpo then I think it's doable you just need to be willing to compromise on who gets the car some days.

ETA: That said when we move to the burbs in a few weeks I will be buying a car because I can't exactly walk the 3 miles to the nearest Metra station in the winter or heat of summer vs. the city where I walk 2 blocks.

MH is somewhat of a hermit I guess, he really doesn't go out much as his friends are several hours from us. I know every now and then we may run into a minor inconvenience, but since I work nights and don't leave for work til after 6:30pm, his only concern is if DD had some kind of emergency and needed to go the hospital, in which case, ambulance, or I can be home in 10 minutes to get them if it's not ambulance worthy. I'm just having a hard time justifying the $400 a month for a "what if" that hopefully will never happen. I get home from work around 7:30AM, which is way earlier than he would need the car to go anywhere.

penguingrrl · July 2012

What if you sold it then bought a cheap used car for "just in case?" There's no reason to have a $400 car for that, but at the same time a second car may be helpful. You can get a used honda civic for a few thousand dollars and not have a payment. For what it sounds like you'll use it for you would probably get several years out of it.

thisplaceisstupid · July 2012

14

bearfootz · July 2012

We have two cars, one payment.

We've actually considered adding a 3rd less expensive vehicle with better mpg for me to drive to work. That way the minivan would be available for the sitter to use if she needs to pick up the kiddos from preschool next year (she watches one other child at our house and we're not sure if her vehicle will fit three and if it would be nicer for her to drive our vehicle vs. adding wear/tear to hers). But three vehicles just seems a bit much. Maybe if we find a good deal on a used car.

LovesMM · July 2012

3

1 car and 2 pick ups.

The car is mine and it's a 2002 paid off

The trucks are 1997 Ranger with good mileage and MH takes that to work and back and the 1996 Chevy Silverado (Lifted with huge tires) it sits in the drive way most the time and we take it out every once in a while, usually on the weekends. both are paid off.

LaCally4 · July 2012

2 cars, a 2011 Honda Odyssey and a 2010 Acura RDX. We have a small payment on the Odyssey but the Acura is paid off. DH works about 5 minutes from home but we have 3 kids who have school and various activities, plus I work some days so the second vehicle is a great convenience.

SortaCrunchy · July 2012

2 cars and 0 payments! We bought both Certified Used from the dealer, put some money down, and paid them both off early.

Public transportation is not the best here. We tried making due with one car for awhile, and it was a huge PITA. DH works at different locations depending on various factors, and one of his locations is nearly 40 min away. I SAH, but his schedule was insane for awhile, like leave at 6AM and get home at 8PM insane. In order to take him to work so that I had the car for errands and taking DS out, I would've had to wake DS before dawn, drive DH to work, and then keep DS up past bedtime in order to pick up DH from work. DH's schedule is much better now, but I think it would still be a PITA to drop off/pick up every day, and we can afford 2 cars, so 2 cars it is.

kerribear1717 · July 2012

We have 3. All paid off.

MrsPteranodon · July 2012

We have 2, but 0 car payments. If we had 2 car payments I would probably drop down to 1 car as well.

klondikebar · July 2012

Sh!t, I'm no help. We have 4 right now. DH has a car, I have a SUV and we have two fun cars.

fancynewbeesly · July 2012

Just one--and not by choice. Due to my epilepsy--as of now I can't legally drive. So we have one car--which frustrates me to know end since we live in the suburbs with a less than par transportation system. However, we also live by family and during the summer when I am off of work--I am usually able to get out during the day.

However today was one of those "stuck at home" days.

MrsSR · July 2012

We have two cars, but one is paid for.

We used to only have one, and DH would take the train to work. I had to wake up early to take him to the station, then get myself to work. When he was on the train coming home he'd call for me to come pick him up.

It was the biggest PITA ever.... Shortly before getting PG he took another job and we got another car because we needed it. He works from home often, but I still like having two cars.

I wouldn't go back to one car (unless obviously I HAD to).

stdldb29 · July 2012

There is no way in hell we could make it without our 2 cars. Our situation is different-but no.

LLBangs · July 2012

We have 2, a GMC Yukon, the family car and a F-250 Ford that I use for hauling the horsetrailer for rodeos.

LoveBeingAWife33008 · July 2012

2. We had one for a while and sharing sucked. I am a little sister and you can tell by my lack of wanting to share.

kwitt22 · July 2012

We have 2 and there is no way we could only have one. My car I bought and paid cash for and had no have no payments. DH's car has a payment. I hate our cars though. They are 2 small for someone with a kid, and a dog. I really feel like I need a bigger car, but our budget cannot take another car payment.

ASmallWonder · July 2012

We have two - one with a payment and one without. There's no way we could do with only 1 car even though DH takes the train to work. He still has to drive to the station and he leaves before us and often gets home long after Aiden is asleep. On the days he works from home, I leave for work early and he takes Aiden to daycare.