I have already learned the most valuable lesson about having two cars

"TDIGuy" (owenrosier)
08/13/2017 at 12:13 • Filed to: None

So for about two months now I have had the 65' Mustang Fastback under my watch. I still have my Golf to drive every day and I still enjoy just going for a drive in the Golf. But since having the Mustang, I have already learned what could be the most valuable lesson of having more than one car.

You just can’t drive two cars at the same time. Now most of you will say, well duh of course not. As a car enthusiast, we all dream of having these vehicles for all of these fun scenarios we can dream up. Drive the ____ Everyday, Drive the ____ on the weekends, drive the _____ when the weather gets bad, and drive the _____ when the _____ needs to be towed. While all of these scenarios sound like fun in reality, and they are, they happen far to infrequently. I end up driving the golf every day, and I have the intention of taking the mustang out on weekends, and sometimes I do, but most of the times when I would have a chance to take it out, I also have to do something responsible while I am doing whatever it is I am doing. This means, finding time for the Mustang, enjoying it, going back home and swapping cars to do whatever is on my list. Then I am just left wanting to drive it more. Not to say I don’t enjoy my time in the golf too because I certainly do. But having a second car makes you wishing you could drive it more. And even more so with this car in particular, I really have a hard time trying to take it to work because I work an hour away and it has no A/C and unreliable wipers/door seals.

So anyways, having a secondary fun car is a great experience for some weekends. Besides that I don’t get to use it nearly as much as I wish I could. So if anyone is looking for advice and time is not on there side let me suggest that finding a car that is a good mix between the fun weekender and the good commuter is not as bad as it seems.

DISCUSSION (26)

BeaterGT > TDIGuy
08/13/2017 at 12:26

I’m at four months in of Z06 ownership and it is now my daily driver and highway/beach cruiser. For really wet days or when I need to take the bikes somewhere, I hop in the LGT.

Another fun scenario to consider is “when the other vehicle is down”, something turbo Subaru owners should be well aware of.

Kinja'd!!!

KnowsAboutCars > TDIGuy
08/13/2017 at 12:30

Fix the wipers and door seals, add air conditioning, proceed to daily during summer months?

KevlarRx7 > TDIGuy
08/13/2017 at 12:37

My rx7 is lucky to come out once every couple of weeks, damn British weather.

Nerd-Vol > TDIGuy
08/13/2017 at 12:41

I think it depends on the toy car. If it’s something that has modern conveniences, it’s a lot more practical to take out and use.

I don’t commute with my Honda, but I don’t hesitate to take it out on the weekends for mundane tasks. If the Honda was an older car, I am certain I would fall in the same position as you.

XJDano > TDIGuy
08/13/2017 at 12:46

This is a reason why my jeep has been hibernating for a decade. I have had reliable cars with better gas milage and if we do a family outing take family car.

Alfalfa > TDIGuy
08/13/2017 at 12:47

Personally, I’ve always felt that doing responsible things in the “unresponsible” car is half the fun.

sony1492 > TDIGuy
08/13/2017 at 13:08

I had an 01 Elantra with my SC and when I was commuting alot it just made since to drive the Elantra. Well after having the SC just sit for a month, with its interior leaks in winter and the fact that mice were moving in I had to just sell the Elantra. If I was driving one I wasn’t driving the other and the mice would set up shop eventually ruining wiring. Plus with the SC I would forget how to drive it after driving something nicer, like the clutch would be impossibly heavy and the same for the steering.

WilliamsSW > TDIGuy
08/13/2017 at 13:14

So true, I have a DD and a BMW convertible that I don’t drive as much as I’d like- there’s always some excuse as to why.

Part of the trick I think is to have some utility to the second car- mine is reliable and has AC, so I can daily it when there no snow at least, and run errands as long as I’m not hauling a lot of crap.

Your long commute really hurts though- mine is about 20 miles, and traffic is heavy enough that I’d worry about overheating in a 60s car like yours.

E90M3 > TDIGuy
08/13/2017 at 13:17

I found having two cars made me love my fun car more. Do I drive the M3 on weekdays? Rarely, but I do every chance I get on the weekends.

RPM esq. > TDIGuy
08/13/2017 at 13:30

I drive both my cars all the time, often both in the same day, but that’s because they don’t overlap in personality or purpose as much. My default is thr C63, but if the weather is bad or I need to cart my dogs around, I drive the 4Runner. If I had a toy to tinker with on the weekends (someday!), though, I’ll bet I would run into this dilemma a lot...I would love something old and cool to play with, but would probably find myself choosing modern comforts and convenience a lot of the time.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > TDIGuy
08/13/2017 at 13:58

I feel your pain, even though my cars are both modern and in excellent working order. I simply lack the free time and don’t drive one or the other enough. It doesn’t help that I only drive about 5-7k miles a year (including long trips, which I only take my “daily” on), so split that between two cars and you end up with neither getting 6-month oil changes.

NYankee1927 > TDIGuy
08/13/2017 at 20:47

I think it can be mitigated by finding the right car with two personalities. I drive my M3 everyday and sit in traffic. Then it is a normal car. Tame, pretty practical. On the weekends driving it though, my average MPG takes a huge dip. Lots of redline, canyon runs, driving for the sake of driving. You catch my drift.

I mostly dropped in for the pic of the Mustang. Beautiful car! Drive the hell outta it!

TDIGuy > E90M3
08/13/2017 at 23:09

See I think this also boils down to the fact that car number two just isn’t very good for my daily use. This time of year, the weather is good for it but the drive just isn’t cut out for the car. As a few other have commented, if the car has some more modern conveniences then driving it a few days a week would have to be so planned

TDIGuy > XJDano
08/13/2017 at 23:10

Yup pretty much

TDIGuy > Eric @ opposite-lock.com
08/13/2017 at 23:11

See I am just about the opposite in a sense. The golf sees about 25k miles a year, but the mustang might only be a few hundred, maybe 1500

TDIGuy > BeaterGT
08/13/2017 at 23:14

Yeah that was how it was when I had the 90' 4Runner and the 05' Mustang. The mustang became the DD even though the 4Runner was supposed to be the daily. Problem with that is that it make the mustang extremely boring.

TDIGuy > WilliamsSW
08/13/2017 at 23:16

That is exactly my problem, one of the biggest holes in being able to drive it more is the long, highway only commute with lots of traffic. I just don’t trust it enough to handle a 80 mile round trip on a hot day on the highway

TDIGuy > sony1492
08/13/2017 at 23:17

Yeah that was similar to my situation when I had the old 4Runner and the 2005 Mustang. The 4Runner was supposed to be the daily but it just sat so I sold it. And then coincidentally wrecked the mustang.

TDIGuy > RPM esq.
08/13/2017 at 23:19

Yeah I think you hit the nail on the head. A large part of my issue is that the second car indeed needs lots of tinkering. And in my every day I have a hard time taking it to work, which is where most of my driving is

WilliamsSW > TDIGuy
08/13/2017 at 23:20

I don’t blame you for that- - I guess the trick is to maybe give it a shot in cooler weather, or maybe shift your commute times around to avoid traffic. If you have the flexibility.

That’s basically what I’m doing this week - I’m going to DD the BMW, because I don’t have to drop off my son in the morning, and the weather looks good for at least part of the week.

TDIGuy > Nerd-Vol
08/13/2017 at 23:20

Yeah most of my problem has to do with it being an old toy. That is for sure

TDIGuy > KnowsAboutCars
08/13/2017 at 23:22

Wipers and door seals, sure. A/C kind would kill of half of what I like about it. It is extremely manual. Manual steering, brakes, and transmission. There is no room for A/C in that equation

TDIGuy > WilliamsSW
08/13/2017 at 23:25

Yeah I am actually looking at doing that this week as well. Leave about an hour or so early for work and then there is a long way home. It is very long but there is no traffic.

WilliamsSW > TDIGuy
08/13/2017 at 23:32

Great! The long way is what the Mustang is for, right?

KnowsAboutCars > TDIGuy
08/14/2017 at 03:50

But if not having A/C prevents you from actually using it wouldn’t it make sense to slightly compromise the ethos of the car? I wouldn’t install A/C in it either but then again I’ve never lived with a car that had one and it doesn’t get extremely hot where I live.

TDIGuy > Alfalfa
08/14/2017 at 09:12

I see that too, which is fun, but I am not taking the dog anywhere in the Mustang