How Many Cars are In Your Household and What do you Drive??????????

[dougules]

2 cars 2 commuting adults

2002 Honda Civic - me
2013 Acura ILX - husband

I'm hoping my Civic lasts until we hit the magic number, then I'd like to go down to being a 1 car, 2 bicycle, several pairs of walking shoes household. 

[gaja]

1 fullelectric van that doubles as our RV (Nissan eNV200, 2014), for 2 drivers and 2 kids. The van has 25 000 km, mainly from summer vacations.

We had a second car, a Mercedes 90-something beater, but it recently died after 350 000 km. It will probably be replaced in a year or two, because we want a biogas car.

[RelaxedGal]

Love this:

2.5 Drivers 3.5 Vehicles.

My Vehicle - 1994 Honda Civic has around 98k miles
Wife's Vehicle - 2007 Lexus RX350 about to hit 160k miles
Toy Vehicle - 1992 Honda Civic. Just sitting, collecting dust.
Kids Vehicle - 2015 Jeep Wrangler Frozen Edition (Power Wheel)

It's like you are our twins.

We have two drivers and 1.5 kids. 2 cars: a 2013 Leaf and a 2011 Outback with the 6 speed manual.

Given where we live, this is close to as practical and economical fleet as we can manage, though we are always kicking around the idea of moving back into town.

2 adult drivers and 1 child

• 2012 Honda CR-V, used for his 9 mile/day commute when he's not biking, and for longer trips. Purchased new, cash.
• 2012 Nissan Leaf, used for my 38 mile/day commute and grocery/around-town trips.  Purchased Certified Pre-owned from a Nissan dealer.
  

I see a lot of people in this thread saying they bought new and paid cash.  I don't understand why anyone would pay cash in this interest rate environment? 

The Loan on my Accord, now paid off, was only 0.9% and the used rate on my truck is only 1.9%.  I put that money to work in the market, no sense in paying them off early. 

Because it's no fun to smugly brag on the internet about your low interest loan.

.. and yet I will.
 
We were going to sell some stock to pay cash for the Leaf but got a sweet 1.25% interest loan and left those stocks to keep doing their thing.  Car has gone down in value 1/3 in the 18 months since I bought it (I see them on Craigslist for $8500, I bought at $12,000.)  I have a little buyer's remorse about that, but it's such a great car that I'm willing to "pay" the depreciation over a 2012 Toyota Yaris.

[GhostSaver]

We have a note on each of our cars at 1.9%.

And we are some of the folks who picked up the Leaf for $8500. Ours was at a used car lot. The used car salesbro at our local Nissan dealer tried to screw us on our purchase, so we walked. We don't have the benefit of CPO, so I'm sure we will end up paying more for service.

I didn't love financing either car and I'm less than comfortable with what we owe on the Subaru, but at 1.9%, we are better off shoveling more money into tax-advantaged savings accounts where we are 100 percent long equities.

[Sailor Sam]

This entire thread blows my damn mind! I thought we were Mustachians? There is so much waste going on here... and so much not being creative about transportation... I'm shocked.

I thought minimizing car use and ownership and financing was one of the main pillars of Mustachetitude? Have you folks with the bazillion cars even read those posts? How in the world do you justify it?

By recognizing that slavish devotion to dogma, in the absence of personal evaluation is a little silly.

Biking makes the slipped disc in my spine hurt, my hemorrhoids hurt, and repeatedly gives me crotchal infections. Am I a little jealous of all the folks who just hop on their bike and go? Yup. Have I made a sincere effort to bike? Yup. Is it worth it to me? Nope.

I think you're a sincerely enthusiastic dude, who is honestly puzzled. So please don't read this as an overt attack on you. The jab about true mustachianism is annoying, but your point about trasportational creativity is valid. As is your later post about community. But bikes and busses and metro lines just aren't my thing. Happily I (generally) save 50% of my gross, my power bill is soooper low thanks to this site, and my phone is imminently affordable. Do I still have to surrender my MMM card because I own 2 cars?

Also, sorry, sorry, I can't not; again this is more lighthearted than heavy, but don't you work in the oil patch? Because, hullo pot, I'm kettle.

Okay, done!

edit: your vs you're

[Drifterrider]

One 13 y/o truck (long ago paid for) and one new (last Saturday) car.  ZERO % for four years so I'm using Hyundai's free money for the next four years.  And some motorcycles.

[Jack]

I see a lot of people in this thread saying they bought new and paid cash.  I don't understand why anyone would pay cash in this interest rate environment? 

The Loan on my Accord, now paid off, was only 0.9% and the used rate on my truck is only 1.9%.  I put that money to work in the market, no sense in paying them off early. 

The trouble with that strategy is not the loan; it's the fact that in order to be eligible for the loan you have to buy an expensive new car!

Paying cash for a new car is stupid.
Financing a new car at a very low interest rate (e.g. 0.9%) is slightly less stupid.
Paying cash for a <$5K used car is smart.
Financing a <$5K used car at a very low interest rate would be even smarter, but is, alas, impossible.

Biking makes the slipped disc in my spine hurt, my hemorrhoids hurt, and repeatedly gives me crotchal infections. Am I a little jealous of all the folks who just hop on their bike and go? Yup. Have I made a sincere effort to bike? Yup. Is it worth it to me? Nope.

Get a recumbent.

[beastykato]

I see a lot of people in this thread saying they bought new and paid cash.  I don't understand why anyone would pay cash in this interest rate environment? 

The Loan on my Accord, now paid off, was only 0.9% and the used rate on my truck is only 1.9%.  I put that money to work in the market, no sense in paying them off early. 

The trouble with that strategy is not the loan; it's the fact that in order to be eligible for the loan you have to buy an expensive new car!

Paying cash for a new car is stupid.
Financing a new car at a very low interest rate (e.g. 0.9%) is slightly less stupid.
Paying cash for a <$5K used car is smart.
Financing a <$5K used car at a very low interest rate would be even smarter, but is, alas, impossible.

Thanks for a legit answer sir.  You're definitely right about it being financially smarter to buy the cheaper vehicle.  As many have said though many of us love cars for enjoyment and a hobby.  I'd definitely try to choose the method that best mitigates my loss.

I see a lot of people in this thread saying they bought new and paid cash.  I don't understand why anyone would pay cash in this interest rate environment? 

The Loan on my Accord, now paid off, was only 0.9% and the used rate on my truck is only 1.9%.  I put that money to work in the market, no sense in paying them off early. 

Because it's no fun to smugly brag on the internet about your low interest loan.

Suck a dick, I'm sure that half this forum has a higher net worth than I do.  And a higher credit score than my 808 (see what I did there).  I don't think the majority of this board would have any trouble getting a loan at the rates I got mine at. 

[MOD NOTE:  there's no need for that.  Manners, please.]

Back to the point why pay cash at loans lower than inflation? 

[CapLimited]

Two adults, no cars.  We walk or take Metro almost everywhere we go.

Zipcar once or twice a year to schlep the cat to the vet.  We rent a fun new car with all the latest gizmos when we want to take a road trip to somewhere that Amtrak doesn't go.

Living in a walkable city is great!

[HPstache]

I see a lot of people in this thread saying they bought new and paid cash.  I don't understand why anyone would pay cash in this interest rate environment? 

The Loan on my Accord, now paid off, was only 0.9% and the used rate on my truck is only 1.9%.  I put that money to work in the market, no sense in paying them off early. 

You're making the assumption that the market will return greater than 1.9% in that given 4-5 year stretch.  I think most everyone can agree that in the long run, market returns will be much higher than that, but 4-5 years is not even close to a long time in the market.  What if it drops 5-10% during those 4-5 years AND you're paying interest on the loan for the car you could have bought with cash?  I think all cars should be used and paid in cash.

[PFHC]

Two adult drivers, no cars.

We do have a membership in zipcar so we can easily rent a car if we need one. Usually only once a month or so. I take the CTA a lot and we walk and bike a lot.

Now you're talking.

[Chris22]

Suck a dick, I'm sure that half this forum has a higher net worth than I do.  And a higher credit score than my 808 (see what I did there).  I don't think the majority of this board would have any trouble getting a loan at the rates I got mine at. 

Slow your roll, I wasn't poking at you, I was making fun of those who love to brag about having paid cash even though it doesn't always make sense to do so.  Bragging about paying cash for stuff is extremely popular on the internet. 

[Chris22]

I think all cars should be used and paid in cash.

That's one way, and it's fine. 

Personally, I'd rather buy something high quality new, and keep it a long, long time.  I've had my cars almost 10 years, 5 years with like 5+ to go, and have a new car that was only purchased because the last one was totaled at 8 years old (with no plans to replace it) when my wife hit a deer.  I'm willing to pay more for a new car up front because I know I'll have the car a long time and any minor savings from buying nearly-new is pretty immaterial when amortized over 10-12 years.  I'm not interested in the "get a clunker and then drive it until it dies and get another clunker" model either.

[PFHC]

By recognizing that slavish devotion to dogma, in the absence of personal evaluation is a little silly.

Agreed. The thing is, dogma or not, he's Right. With a capital R. Owning eight cars, or more cars than people, is inefficient and wasteful. No nice way around it. To me, that's a big deal. It doesn't affect what I think about you (I still think you are a fascinatingly rad person), but it does make something you do wasteful. I'm not standing on a high horse saying I'm the almighty nonwaster guy. I have my big faults. Uge. It's just to me, cars are the biggest.

Biking makes the slipped disc in my spine hurt, my hemorrhoids hurt, and repeatedly gives me crotchal infections. Am I a little jealous of all the folks who just hop on their bike and go? Yup. Have I made a sincere effort to bike? Yup. Is it worth it to me? Nope.

Hemorrhoids and crotchal infections are unpleasant. A slipped disc is uncomfortable. I'm sorry about that. My original comment wasn't a judgement. I was honestly curious how, after learning all of this stuff, you multiple car owners justified. Now I know.

I think you're a sincerely enthusiastic dude, who is honestly puzzled. So please don't read this as an overt attack on you. The jab about true mustachianism is annoying, but your point about trasportational creativity is valid. As is your later post about community. But bikes and busses and metro lines just aren't my thing. Happily I (generally) save 50% of my gross, my power bill is soooper low thanks to this site, and my phone is imminently affordable. Do I still have to surrender my MMM card because I own 2 cars?

Thank fuck this isn't a card carrying group.

Also, sorry, sorry, I can't not; again this is more lighthearted than heavy, but don't you work in the oil patch? Because, hullo pot, I'm kettle.

No need to apologize, Sam. I, like most of us out here, leave my feelings at the dock. What you say is correct. Partially. Yes, I work in the oil patch. And yes, I fucking hate the fact that they pay my bills. But, I came to terms with it because every penny I spend goes to promoting the good stuff. Also, as you know from my journal, as of next Thursday, I'm all done with the oil patch. I'll be working my ass off helping make renewable energy a bigger deal. So, I'm putting up. Also, when I get there, still going to be a 1 car family of four who walks everywhere and bikes all the places walking is impractical.

To me, this type of shit is the biggest deal. It plays a big part in what will be the single biggest challenge to the continuity of the human race. Ya. That big.

[UnleashHell]

3 adults.
2 full time, one part time.
1 student

1 minivan, 9 years old 80k on the clock. kind of handy for family that visit from overseas and don't drive.
1 volvo.  15 years old 150k on the clock. big, thirsty, comfortable. owned for 10 years so far.

car position to be reconsidered upon fire in 11 months.

[Cranky]

We pay cash because we are old enough that we prefer to diversify our assets and lower our expenses (which includes not wanting a car payment.) We've got plenty of money in the market, and if things go cablooey, I don't have 25 years left to wait for it to recover. LOL

[Jack]

I'm not interested in the "get a clunker and then drive it until it dies and get another clunker" model either.

An old car doesn't have to be a clunker. Consider the obligatory Mercedes 300D, for example. Those things were built like tanks and will run pretty much forever, so if you find one at an estate sale with low miles you could have a 25-year-old-car that's still good to go for another 25 years.

[BFGirl]

We pay cash because we are old enough that we prefer to diversify our assets and lower our expenses (which includes not wanting a car payment.) We've got plenty of money in the market, and if things go cablooey, I don't have 25 years left to wait for it to recover. LOL

I think that it's "kablooie", as in Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie :)  (Calvin and Hobbes reference...couldn't resist)

Otherwise, I completely agree with your statement.

To the poster who asked the percentage of net worth, my cars are probably about 2.5% of my net worth, but I don't count them as part of it.

[Fodder]

In response to the poster asking why people would pay cash for a new car when there are low/no-interest loans....it's a bit of a smoke and mirrors deal.

You can negotiate a better price on a cash deal - the sticker price you pay when you finance is higher than the sticker price you pay for cash.  So the no-interest loan isn't really no-interest....the interest is just built into the price of the car.

Case in point, I paid cash to the dealer for my recent car purchase and was able to negotiate an additional $2k off the price versus what I could have negotiated for financing (overall got 4500 off the price).  I didn't have quite enough actual liquid cash, but I have arranged to pay off the rest at a rate that will cost me much less than the $2k penalty I would have had for the 'no-interest' loan.

Not sure if that's how it works in the States, but that's how it is in Canada.  Buying a car can be such a miserable experience - we found it very difficult to get sales people to talk straight up price, even though we TOLD them up front (and in advance via email) that we would be paying cash.

[2Birds1Stone]

2 Drivers

2008 Infiniti g37s
2004 Hyundai Santa Fe
2005 Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe
2004 Nissan Sentra 1.8 (recently sold)

[HPstache]

In response to the poster asking why people would pay cash for a new car when there are low/no-interest loans....it's a bit of a smoke and mirrors deal.

You can negotiate a better price on a cash deal - the sticker price you pay when you finance is higher than the sticker price you pay for cash.  So the no-interest loan isn't really no-interest....the interest is just built into the price of the car.

Case in point, I paid cash to the dealer for my recent car purchase and was able to negotiate an additional $2k off the price versus what I could have negotiated for financing (overall got 4500 off the price).  I didn't have quite enough actual liquid cash, but I have arranged to pay off the rest at a rate that will cost me much less than the $2k penalty I would have had for the 'no-interest' loan.

Not sure if that's how it works in the States, but that's how it is in Canada.  Buying a car can be such a miserable experience - we found it very difficult to get sales people to talk straight up price, even though we TOLD them up front (and in advance via email) that we would be paying cash.

If that's the case, it would seem it's the opposite here... from my experience there's no benefit to walking up to a new car dealership with cash.

[RWD]

We have 4 cars currently.  I drive a 2004 Ford Ranger and the wife drives a 2005 Honda Accord. 

The other two vehicles are projects/flip jobs.  The first is another Ford Ranger, a 2003, that I bought for $500 due to an angry girlfriend starting the interior on fire.  I completely replaced the cab of the truck and expect to sell it next month for $3500-$4000.  The other is a 1974 Datsun 260Z that I am doing a full restoration on.

No Mazda RX-7 with a V8 swap?!

[RWD]

We have two cars right now:
2005 Subaru Legacy GT
2013 Subaru BRZ

[HPstache]

We have 4 cars currently.  I drive a 2004 Ford Ranger and the wife drives a 2005 Honda Accord. 

The other two vehicles are projects/flip jobs.  The first is another Ford Ranger, a 2003, that I bought for $500 due to an angry girlfriend starting the interior on fire.  I completely replaced the cab of the truck and expect to sell it next month for $3500-$4000.  The other is a 1974 Datsun 260Z that I am doing a full restoration on.

No Mazda RX-7 with a V8 swap?!

Sold my last one this spring... I've built 3 of them.

[Chris22]

I'm not interested in the "get a clunker and then drive it until it dies and get another clunker" model either.

An old car doesn't have to be a clunker. Consider the obligatory Mercedes 300D, for example. Those things were built like tanks and will run pretty much forever, so if you find one at an estate sale with low miles you could have a 25-year-old-car that's still good to go for another 25 years.

It will also be slower than shit, and should piss off you dirty treehuggers with its smog belching.

[Jack]

In response to the poster asking why people would pay cash for a new car when there are low/no-interest loans....it's a bit of a smoke and mirrors deal.

You can negotiate a better price on a cash deal - the sticker price you pay when you finance is higher than the sticker price you pay for cash.  So the no-interest loan isn't really no-interest....the interest is just built into the price of the car.

If that's true (it may not be in the States), it would only be true if you're stupid enough to get your financing from the dealer. There's nothing stopping you from negotiating a cash purchase but then paying using funds you borrowed from an actual bank or credit union.

An old car doesn't have to be a clunker. Consider the obligatory Mercedes 300D, for example. Those things were built like tanks and will run pretty much forever, so if you find one at an estate sale with low miles you could have a 25-year-old-car that's still good to go for another 25 years.

It will also be slower than shit, and should piss off you dirty treehuggers with its smog belching.

On the contrary, a 300D is treehugger-approved because you can run it on waste veggie oil (or biodiesel)!

[vitaminsea]

2 people, normal cars

2004 Nissan Xterra (124k miles) - gonna drive her until the wheel fall off
2005 Chevy Suburban (200k + miles)
Some newer company SUV for my DH

Toys

1968 Chevrolet RS Camaro
1972 Chevrolet Chevelle

We would have more classic cars but we don't have any more room.

Yes...cars are our thing.

[Secretly Saving]

We're with Grimm.  Our vehicles are not depreciating assets.  Two drivers, seven vehicles.  Making repairs and/or improvements, and watching them go up in value.

[vitaminsea]

1968 Shelby GT500 KR
2007 Ferrari FXX
1963 Corvette Stingray

Oh sorry I misread, I thought the question was, "what do you want to drive???"

Nevermind. :)

Yeah!!!!!!!!

[Clean Shaven]

Five:
68 Ford Bronco
16 Ferrari GTC4 Lusso
14 Range Rover HTE
14 Suburban
11 Toyota Camry

This person wins the thread.  Or loses, depending on your point of view.

[SeaEhm]

Chris22, how can you even be on this forum?  I am surprised that you are not in bankruptcy court right now or chasing the tow truck driver that is towing your S2000 because you can't afford it.

I know, it's amazing, right?  It's been paid for since 2009 (acquired in 2007) and the damn thing just keeps getting repo'd!  Unreal.

Seriously! You must be a money magician!

[southern granny]

This entire thread blows my damn mind! I thought we were Mustachians? There is so much waste going on here... and so much not being creative about transportation... I'm shocked.

I thought minimizing car use and ownership and financing was one of the main pillars of Mustachetitude? Have you folks with the bazillion cars even read those posts? How in the world do you justify it?

Actually, to me the main pillar of mmm is to save money on things that aren't important to me (cell phones, satellite tv, manicures, expensive dinners) so that I can spend the money on things that are important to me, like keeping the candy apple red 1970 fastback mustang that I bought when I was 18.    Our retirement is secure, so I think I can justify it. 

[YK-Phil]

One that we rarely used, a 2012 Fiat 500 with less than 35,000 km that we mostly used for road trips. We just sold it a month ago and replaced it with a 4x4 diesel van which will be our home on wheels for the next 2 years for a road trip from Northern Canada to as far south as the road will take us.

[jengod]

1 car, 2 drivers, 3 kids

2008 Honda Fit - bought new paid cash - 70,000 miles
1 bicycle

~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~

We had bought-new paid-cash Ford Edge until last year but under the partial influence of MMM, sold it and went down to one car. DH works for an office-less startup so he just walks/bikes/Ubers to meetings or wherever he needs to go.

Getting rid of the Ford Edge felt great--we love the reduction in gasoline expense, insurance, registration, etc.--and it is SOOO much easier to drive and park the Honda Fit.

I am a SAHM and do the school run with the 6yo, 3yo and infant. The Honda Fit with three car seats is tight but so far it's working.

We are lucky to live in an urban neighborhood that, while not perfectly walkable, has a lot of accessible and frequent public transit. We even just got a new bus line that goes almost directly from our house (6 block walk to stop) to my parents' house (1 block walk to stop) that I even use with all the kids.

[darkadams00]

2 drivers, 1 car, 4 bikes (trolling for a CL road bike at the moment)

2006 Nissan Sentra
Trek 7.5FX
Public C7
Surly Crosscheck
Bianchi Volpe

We joke that we're keeping the average car count down in our neighborhood. Our neighbor family across the street has 4 drivers, 6 cars (only one of them is not a truck or SUV). Also parks his boat in the street on some Friday evenings during the summer before his weekend trips to the lake. Not one of these ever sees the inside of his garage.

[Drifterrider]

I think all cars should be used and paid in cash.

That's one way, and it's fine. 

Personally, I'd rather buy something high quality new, and keep it a long, long time.  I've had my cars almost 10 years, 5 years with like 5+ to go, and have a new car that was only purchased because the last one was totaled at 8 years old (with no plans to replace it) when my wife hit a deer.  I'm willing to pay more for a new car up front because I know I'll have the car a long time and any minor savings from buying nearly-new is pretty immaterial when amortized over 10-12 years.  I'm not interested in the "get a clunker and then drive it until it dies and get another clunker" model either.

I'm with you on this.  I just bought a new Hyundai Accent.  It is a nice car.  No public transportation here.  As to the prior poster "...all cars should be used....", no one builds used cars.  Someone has to buy them new in order for them to become used.  Happy to have helped.  You can buy my "used" car in about 15 years.

[Cranky]

In response to the poster asking why people would pay cash for a new car when there are low/no-interest loans....it's a bit of a smoke and mirrors deal.

You can negotiate a better price on a cash deal - the sticker price you pay when you finance is higher than the sticker price you pay for cash.  So the no-interest loan isn't really no-interest....the interest is just built into the price of the car.

Case in point, I paid cash to the dealer for my recent car purchase and was able to negotiate an additional $2k off the price versus what I could have negotiated for financing (overall got 4500 off the price).  I didn't have quite enough actual liquid cash, but I have arranged to pay off the rest at a rate that will cost me much less than the $2k penalty I would have had for the 'no-interest' loan.

Not sure if that's how it works in the States, but that's how it is in Canada.  Buying a car can be such a miserable experience - we found it very difficult to get sales people to talk straight up price, even though we TOLD them up front (and in advance via email) that we would be paying cash.

If that's the case, it would seem it's the opposite here... from my experience there's no benefit to walking up to a new car dealership with cash.

We negotiated a price for our car, then said we would be paying cash. The salesman disappeared into the back, as they do, and then came back and gave us a lower price.

[Fishindude]

I'm one of those "stupid" guys that recently paid cash for a brand new pickup.
Really kicking myself in the ass for not taking on debt and several years of payments and interest.

[johndoe]

We have 2 drivers and 8 vehicles.

Out of curiosity, how does your insurance work out?  Do you switch any coverages at certain times of year? I winter one of my two cars and feel silly paying insurance that whole time.

[Spork]

In response to the poster asking why people would pay cash for a new car when there are low/no-interest loans....it's a bit of a smoke and mirrors deal.

You can negotiate a better price on a cash deal - the sticker price you pay when you finance is higher than the sticker price you pay for cash.  So the no-interest loan isn't really no-interest....the interest is just built into the price of the car.

Case in point, I paid cash to the dealer for my recent car purchase and was able to negotiate an additional $2k off the price versus what I could have negotiated for financing (overall got 4500 off the price).  I didn't have quite enough actual liquid cash, but I have arranged to pay off the rest at a rate that will cost me much less than the $2k penalty I would have had for the 'no-interest' loan.

Not sure if that's how it works in the States, but that's how it is in Canada.  Buying a car can be such a miserable experience - we found it very difficult to get sales people to talk straight up price, even though we TOLD them up front (and in advance via email) that we would be paying cash.

If that's the case, it would seem it's the opposite here... from my experience there's no benefit to walking up to a new car dealership with cash.

We negotiated a price for our car, then said we would be paying cash. The salesman disappeared into the back, as they do, and then came back and gave us a lower price.

This does not surprise me... especially for the teaser interest rates that are below inflation rates.  It also wouldn't surprise me if it were higher (when teaser rates are not currently the trend.)

I use cash because I don't want to deal with the mental gymnastic bullshit of the whole 4-square technique.  If you're in a dealer and they start using the 4-square page (trade in value/down payment/purchase price/monthly payment) -- they are likely trying to confuse you.  They do this all day, every day.  They're not outright lying to you, but as you negotiate, they're changing one thing on the form (that affects the other 3) to try to appease you.  As they change it, they do math to make up their money on the other 3. 

The way to absolutely beat them at this game is to take away 3 of the squares.  In other words: you negotiate the price only.

[MudDuck]

By recognizing that slavish devotion to dogma, in the absence of personal evaluation is a little silly.

Agreed. The thing is, dogma or not, he's Right. With a capital R. Owning eight cars, or more cars than people, is inefficient and wasteful. No nice way around it. To me, that's a big deal. It doesn't affect what I think about you (I still think you are a fascinatingly rad person), but it does make something you do wasteful. I'm not standing on a high horse saying I'm the almighty nonwaster guy. I have my big faults. Uge. It's just to me, cars are the biggest.


My cars are wasteful in the sense that they get poor fuel economy, that's absolutely true.

Aside from that, I do think that the way you're picturing the situation is a bit off from reality. It's not as if we're driving 8 cars simultaneously, or for long-distance commutes, or for every little errand. We don't live in the city and pay $1000's in rent to store them- they're in my driveway, just sitting there. We're not carrying loans on any of them, or paying interest, or raiding 401(k) accounts to buy them. When they're driven so rarely, maintenance and repair are minimal.

So, yeah, it's inefficient and wasteful, just not nearly the degree to which you're imagining.

[MudDuck]

We have 2 drivers and 8 vehicles.

Out of curiosity, how does your insurance work out?  Do you switch any coverages at certain times of year? I winter one of my two cars and feel silly paying insurance that whole time.

It's surprisingly not too bad. The daily drivers are insured all year, the classic/antique/elderly ones only for the summer. The coverage on all except the one expensive classic is just liability, since none are really worth anything.

[Spork]

We have 2 drivers and 8 vehicles.

Out of curiosity, how does your insurance work out?  Do you switch any coverages at certain times of year? I winter one of my two cars and feel silly paying insurance that whole time.

It's surprisingly not too bad. The daily drivers are insured all year, the classic/antique/elderly ones only for the summer. The coverage on all except the one expensive classic is just liability, since none are really worth anything.

Your insurance must be a better deal than mine...  Or we have different ideas of not bad.  My Triumph gets driven some idiotic 3-4 times a year.  For insurance, registration and inspection, I pay about $500/year.  I get a little mad at myself when I think about it.

[Shwaa]

One:

2013 Toyota Tacoma.  Originally financed 25k on it (stupid I know) but was able to pay off the 60 month loan in 2 years due to discipline.  I use this truck for everything (daily driver, road trips, mountains etc), I love it.  Maybe not the most fuel efficient (to me that is the ONLY negative, and the positives outweigh it) but I know it will last me for years, and get me wherever I need to go.

[Jack]

Your insurance must be a better deal than mine...  Or we have different ideas of not bad.  My Triumph gets driven some idiotic 3-4 times a year.  For insurance, registration and inspection, I pay about $500/year.  I get a little mad at myself when I think about it.

Well, it's an old British car, so the insurance company must be expecting you to make a claim when the electrical system shorts out and sets the thing on fire!

[Spork]

Your insurance must be a better deal than mine...  Or we have different ideas of not bad.  My Triumph gets driven some idiotic 3-4 times a year.  For insurance, registration and inspection, I pay about $500/year.  I get a little mad at myself when I think about it.

Well, it's an old British car, so the insurance company must be expecting you to make a claim when the electrical system shorts out and sets the thing on fire!

LOL.  While that makes perfect sense, I have liability only.  And it's kept in my shop, not an attached garage, so ... you know, less chance of burning down the house.

[FireHiker]

I'm newer here and we are just starting out on making changes towards FIRE. With that disclaimer, here are ours:

2008 Honda Civic (mostly mine, manual), 42k miles
2009 Honda Pilot (ugh I know), 100k miles

Both bought new. Paid for Civic outright, and then bought the Pilot with a super low interest loan but after a few months DH just couldn't handle having a loan and paid it off (we had cash in the bank or never would have bought it in the first place).

The pilot is not the best choice, I know. Here are our particulars: 3 kids in 3 different schools, DH and I work in the same building (2 miles each way from home, but with an additional 5 miles round trip out of our way twice a day to preschool, now driven in the civic...counting down until June when the youngest is in elementary and we walk or bike everywhere). If we need both cars after work then we'll take one to work, walk home for lunch, and drive the other back. I'm really trying to minimize our driving or at least be smarter about it. I have looked into closer preschools, but everything has a wait list and we pay less in gas (total, for all of our driving) each month plus the current preschool price than anything closer (by a BIG margin, yikes preschool/daycare is outrageous closer to our house), and it's only until next June. Counting down the months though!

The oldest kid now has his learner's permit, and we had planned to share the two cars between the three of us, but his grandparents are willing to buy him a car. He'll be getting something like the Civic, but probably an automatic (although I WILL teach him to drive stick). I'm actually somewhat giddy that I now get to keep the Civic and drive it into the ground (10 more years? 15?) instead of gifting it to him in college and replacing it with something "nicer", which was the plan before I found MMM. I'm going for incremental progress, which is better than nothing right now.

[kanga1622]

We have one vehicle (2013 Altima) that we bought when it was a year old. We have under 30,000 miles and more than half of that was on it when we bought it. We may buy a second car when our oldest can drive (hopefully newish used for us and pass down the Altima to him).

[SnackDog]

0, unless you count a fancy company provided SUV (gas,insurance, maintenance included) that we use for personal as well.

[MisterTwoForty]

Two cars.

I drive the 4 door sedan to work (17 miles) due to the better gas mileage

My wife drives the 4 door pick up to work (2 miles) in an effort to save gas and mileage.

Both are late 2000's vintage and fully paid for. The truck will be used during our FIRE to pull our 27' travel trailer full-time and the car will then be sold for whatever value is left in it.