Car plus UTE, or SUV?

Glowing

Hi,

We've been driving a 17 year old Golf Mark2 for the last 10 years and it's high time we upgraded! :P

We've got 2 ideas:

We're toying with the idea of getting 2 cars - a nippy hatchback (i.e. SEAT leon size) which will be my main car, and a second old UTE-style with commercial insurance (Landrover Disco/Defender) car for the surfing/camping weekends, DIY, cycle trips etc

The other alternative is to get a more comfortable Disco or SUV sized car with private insurance which can cover all situations/scenarios - as we could probably make do with 1 car between us.

The car/s in question would need to take a babyseat in the next few years as we don't intend on upgrading again.

I'm concerned about the cost of running 2 cars, and also the environmental impact, but at the same time, we do need a car with more space as my husband does a lot of work around the house and we need the space for bikes/surfboards etc.

It would be better environmentally (I imagine) to have 2 cars and to keep the smaller car for the shorter trips/weekday driving, and the bigger one for the more occasional trips - but then we have twice the insurance/maintanence/tax costs.

Has anyone any words of wisdom? I'm not too keen on the idea of an estate btw because I don't think i'd ever park something that long!!

Thanks

Cookie_Monster

would you actually be using the second one for commercial purposes most of the time though, cos you can't insure it as commercial otherwise, it'd also be private tax and insurance

peasant

I take it you mean commercial tax on the commercial vehicle ...making it affordable?

You can only use a commercial commercially, if you use it privately you're supposed to tax it privately and the bad news is that the authorities are clamping down on this lately.

As you say you could do with one car between you, my suggestion would be that you get yourselves a decent family hatchback (almost as versatile as an estate) that will allow for a growing family, possibly a fairly recent one with cheap tax and for all those bulky diy jobs/ surfboards etc you buy yourselves a decent trailer.

Job done, for minimal cost

Glowing

Thanks all. I'm a bit confused now about the commercial tax & insurance. I was under the (obviously incorrect!) impression that if your vehical adhered to commercial requirements (i.e no back seats, back windows etc) and if you didn't carry passengers, then you could insure and tax it commercially. It will be used for carrying tools etc, so in theory we shouldn't insure it privately .... but we don't have a 'company' as such either.

But if you have a commercially insured car, then I believe you can't also insure a private one (assuming you're the main driver?)

Anan1

Glowing wrote: »

Has anyone any words of wisdom? I'm not too keen on the idea of an estate btw because I don't think i'd ever park something that long!!

Thanks

Get an estate that's not too long. It'll be safer/nicer to drive/more efficient than an SUV, and it'll do everything you want without the need for a second car.

Gregor Samsa

Glowing wrote: »

Has anyone any words of wisdom? I'm not too keen on the idea of an estate btw because I don't think i'd ever park something that long!!

Just FYI, most estates aren't significantly longer than the saloon equivalent, and only a little longer than the hatch. In fact the 2008/10 Focus Estate is about 1 cm shorter than the Saloon. Also, having a (near) vertical rear window right at the back of the vehicle makes it easier to determine where the end of the car is when reversing.

Advantage of an estate over an equivalent saloon (and to a lesser extent, a hatch) is the amount of stuff you can pile up in the boot, and the access to it, not necessarily the length of the floor space off the boot.

Glowing

Anan1 wrote: »

Get an estate that's not too long. It'll be safer/nicer to drive/more efficient than an SUV, and it'll do everything you want without the need for a second car.

My husband will be delighted, he's wanted a volvo estate for as long as I can remember - all i think of when I hear the word 'estate' are those ones you see on the movies with the wooden pannelling along the side :eek::eek::eek:

comanche_cor

Glowing wrote: »

My husband will be delighted, he's wanted a volvo estate for as long as I can remember - all i think of when I hear the word 'estate' are those ones you see on the movies with the wooden pannelling along the side :eek::eek::eek:

perhaps a Subaru Outback / Legacy / Forrester will fit the bill ... if ye are into the outdoors (biking / surfing) the awd is great for dirt tracks / beaches