Moving to single car family - advice

namloc1980 · 24-06-2021 7:29pm #1

Hi folks. Can I get some of your expertise please? Currently we are a 2 car family (2 adults and 2 primary school going kids). We have a 09 petrol Avensis (grand car - never gave an ounce of trouble but has 200k km on the clock now nearly) and a 15 Ford Fiesta petrol.

We're going to be working from home long term even after Covid and seriously considering downgrading to a single car family and looking at electric options. Kids schools are close by and easily cycled/walked most days (bar very wet weather). The Avensis is doing hardly any driving at the moment while my wife uses the Fiesta to go to the shops (we live in a small town so c.5 minute trips), commute to work 1-2 days a week, which is a 40 km round trip (mix of slowish urban driving and some faster dual carriageway) and also to visit family (all within c.20km radius).

One big issue is that we live in a terraced house with no off street parking so home charger is a non-runner. Are we mad to think electric (or even PHEV) or just go for a newer petrol again? Live in east Cork so not very familiar with the charging network to date but don't think it's great (could be wrong). No charging at my wife's workplace either but it's under "review".

KCross · 24-06-2021 8:25pm

No home charging, no (PH)EV.

Simple as that really. That will change in time but that’s as it is now.

silver_sky · 24-06-2021 11:33pm

Do you have a dedicated parking space? If so, private estate with management co or is it taken in with the council?
It might be harder but still an option. Others have done it before.

Lantus · 24-06-2021 11:41pm

Keep both cars. Presumably they are paid for and owe you nothing. Save up for something now before they break down. Ev is not for you. Just get a nice petrol and enjoy.

namloc1980 · 25-06-2021 1:06am

Lantus wrote: »

Keep both cars. Presumably they are paid for and owe you nothing. Save up for something now before they break down. Ev is not for you. Just get a nice petrol and enjoy.

Yeah both paid for. The Avensis motor tax is €790 a year alone. Need shot of it fairly lively as it does virtually no driving now but still has heavy fixed costs.

I have a dedicated space alright. Estate is currently being taken into charge by the council so the developer has zero interest, and I'm not sure how open Councils are to outside stand alone chargers on what are public footpaths?

Lantus · 25-06-2021 8:02am

namloc1980 wrote: »

Yeah both paid for. The Avensis motor tax is €790 a year alone. Need shot of it fairly lively as it does virtually no driving now but still has heavy fixed costs.

I have a dedicated space alright. Estate is currently being taken into charge by the council so the developer has zero interest, and I'm not sure how open Councils are to outside stand alone chargers on what are public footpaths?

66 a month is a pretty tiny cost. Even a modest family car can easily start at 300 to 400 pcp a month for 6 years if you keep. An ev will be more. 600 to 700 as it's a 40k car give or take.

Why not start saving your monthly repayment costs now on a new car minus 50 of the car tax which will be much less. Capital car cost is always the biggest cost. Never buy a car to reduce your tax bill!

leex · 25-06-2021 8:06am

Sounds like your Avensis is a 1.6 Petrol? 200k km is not a lot of mileage for this yet. The tax is steep but there are many more miles left in that if it has been looked after up to now.

25-06-2021 8:44am

namloc1980 wrote: »

Hi folks. Can I get some of your expertise please? Currently we are a 2 car family (2 adults and 2 primary school going kids). We have a 09 petrol Avensis (grand car - never gave an ounce of trouble but has 200k km on the clock now nearly) and a 15 Ford Fiesta petrol.

We're going to be working from home long term even after Covid and seriously considering downgrading to a single car family and looking at electric options. Kids schools are close by and easily cycled/walked most days (bar very wet weather). The Avensis is doing hardly any driving at the moment while my wife uses the Fiesta to go to the shops (we live in a small town so c.5 minute trips), commute to work 1-2 days a week, which is a 40 km round trip (mix of slowish urban driving and some faster dual carriageway) and also to visit family (all within c.20km radius).

One big issue is that we live in a terraced house with no off street parking so home charger is a non-runner. Are we mad to think electric (or even PHEV) or just go for a newer petrol again? Live in east Cork so not very familiar with the charging network to date but don't think it's great (could be wrong). No charging at my wife's workplace either but it's under "review".

My advice, keep the larger car, the Avensis has 200,000 Kms which is only around 120,000 Miles, no reason that car with good maintenance shouldn't see 400,000 Kms.

Your mileage is low so your running costs are low compared to paying for a new car and loosing thousands in depreciation especially with high mileage even with 790 a year motor tax you will loose a lot more in depreciation + car payments + you will need at least 5 K for a deposit.

The higher the mileage the more you will benefit from EV but having no home charging means I wouldn't rely on public charging, that can be extremely frustrating and it will cost you a lot more than charging at home with night rate electricity.

I would certainly not rely on work charging either, even if your Wife's work place install charge points they are not guaranteed to be available all the time, colleagues can really fight over them and then you have to deal with on site idiot staff who could try prevent you from using them just because they're assholes, security staff might not allow you use them for no other reason other than they think they have the power to stop you and meanwhile by the time you find someone who can actually give you access or not you simply just won't bother with the hassle.

Work charge points can be broken for weeks or months as management couldn't care less and it's more nonsense for them to deal with as they might see it, believe me, having work charge points doesn't at all mean you will be able to use them and they can remove access permanently for no reason or if colleagues are squabbling over them.

I've seen it all since I got the Leaf in 2015.

But my advice is not to get any EV or PHEV until at least you have home charging and can avail of night rate because you will pay a lot more at public charge points.

JustAThought · 25-06-2021 8:56am

I took my car off the road a few years back because I wasn’t needing it & decided to save on the insurance bill. BIG MISTAKE. After 4 months my work location circumstances changed & I needed it again and I could not get insurance. I’d been driving for donkeys years & had full clean license, no claims etc.

I had to go through absolute hoops and it took me months to get insurance again - and it was double what I’d paid before. Whatever you decide be very careful about leaving someone with a gap in their insurance. Its a big swindle but ALL the companies do it - they set you back to zero and you lose your no claims & good driver status and history and are treated almost as a new driver & that was even if you had been with the one same company for 6 years & they know you have a record of zero claims or accidents. I went theough the phonebiok and could not gef a quote. And no - they are ‘entitled’ to refuse to quote you after a 3 month gap of no insurance. The industry has it sewn up & neither the regulator nor the ao called ombudsman will help you. I urge caution. And named driver is NOT the same.

Flinty997 · 25-06-2021 10:19am

I think you have to look at the monthly costs and roll-up yearly costs including depreciation, servicing into that.

It maybe that a little used second car has much lower standing costs than an EV.

irishgrover · 25-06-2021 10:32am

personally I would not go EV without a home charger. I know others would and have, but not me.

Purchasing a new car, especially a new EV is a very big financial committment. This would potentially be a big shock to the system and given your driving requirements and lack of home charging, you would gain very little in terms of reduced running costs.

I think if I were is your position, and you wanted to go down to a one car family then I'd consider getting a well spec'ed 2nd hand car that was nice, but also practical and big enough to be the sole samily car. Something like a good spec Skoda Suburb

MeadowMaker · 25-06-2021 10:36am

My main car has 320K and I figure it has another 80k at least in her. The 2nd is a 06 year. I have gone now to practically full wfh so whilst an EV would be nice it really isn’t needed. And we wouldn’t be able to get insurance now on a 06 car so it’s nice to keep it when it owes us nothing.

beardo81 · 25-06-2021 10:46am

JustAThought wrote: »

I took my car off the road a few years back because I wasn’t needing it & decided to save on the insurance bill. BIG MISTAKE. After 4 months my work location circumstances changed & I needed it again and I could not get insurance. I’d been driving for donkeys years & had full clean license, no claims etc.

I had to go through absolute hoops and it took me months to get insurance again - and it was double what I’d paid before. Whatever you decide be very careful about leaving someone with a gap in their insurance. Its a big swindle but ALL the companies do it - they set you back to zero and you lose your no claims & good driver status and history and are treated almost as a new driver & that was even if you had been with the one same company for 6 years & they know you have a record of zero claims or accidents. I went theough the phonebiok and could not gef a quote. And no - they are ‘entitled’ to refuse to quote you after a 3 month gap of no insurance. The industry has it sewn up & neither the regulator nor the ao called ombudsman will help you. I urge caution. And named driver is NOT the same.

I think your insurance company shafted you big time there. I also needed to take my car off the road and when I contacted my insurance company (I was at the end of my insurance year) they advised I could cancel my insurance for up to 2 years, keep my full no claims bonus and no penalties. Got a new quote in May and am back driving paying similar price to 2 years ago.

_Brian · 25-06-2021 10:52am

Family like OP should rotate the insurance policies between the remaining cars annually to keep both NCB active until they are sure they only need one car.
Insurance broker advised my brother to do this a few years ago and it saved a full NCB from being lost and they are back using both again with no impact.

ineedeuro · 26-06-2021 8:31am

JustAThought wrote: »

I took my car off the road a few years back because I wasn’t needing it & decided to save on the insurance bill. BIG MISTAKE. After 4 months my work location circumstances changed & I needed it again and I could not get insurance. I’d been driving for donkeys years & had full clean license, no claims etc.

I had to go through absolute hoops and it took me months to get insurance again - and it was double what I’d paid before. Whatever you decide be very careful about leaving someone with a gap in their insurance. Its a big swindle but ALL the companies do it - they set you back to zero and you lose your no claims & good driver status and history and are treated almost as a new driver & that was even if you had been with the one same company for 6 years & they know you have a record of zero claims or accidents. I went theough the phonebiok and could not gef a quote. And no - they are ‘entitled’ to refuse to quote you after a 3 month gap of no insurance. The industry has it sewn up & neither the regulator nor the ao called ombudsman will help you. I urge caution. And named driver is NOT the same.

Your NCB last I think 12 or 24 months.

ineedeuro · 26-06-2021 8:35am

namloc1980 wrote: »

Hi folks. Can I get some of your expertise please? Currently we are a 2 car family (2 adults and 2 primary school going kids). We have a 09 petrol Avensis (grand car - never gave an ounce of trouble but has 200k km on the clock now nearly) and a 15 Ford Fiesta petrol.

We're going to be working from home long term even after Covid and seriously considering downgrading to a single car family and looking at electric options. Kids schools are close by and easily cycled/walked most days (bar very wet weather). The Avensis is doing hardly any driving at the moment while my wife uses the Fiesta to go to the shops (we live in a small town so c.5 minute trips), commute to work 1-2 days a week, which is a 40 km round trip (mix of slowish urban driving and some faster dual carriageway) and also to visit family (all within c.20km radius).

One big issue is that we live in a terraced house with no off street parking so home charger is a non-runner. Are we mad to think electric (or even PHEV) or just go for a newer petrol again? Live in east Cork so not very familiar with the charging network to date but don't think it's great (could be wrong). No charging at my wife's workplace either but it's under "review".

If I was you I would keep both cars as they owe you nothing. The car market at the moment in Ireland is in turmoil and second hand prices are crazy and going up.

If you want sell one car and keep the other. A 2015 petrol will cost little to run and will be better for the environment than buying a new car.
With no parking you can't go full electric which is the next step you should look to go so I would work out how much you would spend now, how much the repayment are and then set up a savings fund and just transfer money into the account. Then save up that money towards a big spend when the market balances out a bit. Also when public charging is up to the standard you would need for no home charger.

maestroamado · 26-06-2021 8:48am

JustAThought wrote: »

I took my car off the road a few years back because I wasn’t needing it & decided to save on the insurance bill. BIG MISTAKE. After 4 months my work location circumstances changed & I needed it again and I could not get insurance. I’d been driving for donkeys years & had full clean license, no claims etc.

I had to go through absolute hoops and it took me months to get insurance again - and it was double what I’d paid before. Whatever you decide be very careful about leaving someone with a gap in their insurance. Its a big swindle but ALL the companies do it - they set you back to zero and you lose your no claims & good driver status and history and are treated almost as a new driver & that was even if you had been with the one same company for 6 years & they know you have a record of zero claims or accidents. I went theough the phonebiok and could not gef a quote. And no - they are ‘entitled’ to refuse to quote you after a 3 month gap of no insurance. The industry has it sewn up & neither the regulator nor the ao called ombudsman will help you. I urge caution. And named driver is NOT the same.

I think you be entitled to make a complaint about this though you said its a few years back so likely too much bother.
The NCB is valid for two years and in my view the insurance company would need good reason to refuse quote.
I had a friend who had this problem a couple of years ago and had no insurance for about 20 Months.
They insured on-line, after few weeks they got letter from insurance company asking for confirmation of NCB from previous insurer stating that if the could not provide premium would almost double or be cancelled..
The one from almost 2 years was accepted.

Sorry OP this has nothing to do with your post...

amdaley28 · 27-06-2021 9:43am

namloc1980 wrote: »

Hi folks. Can I get some of your expertise please? Currently we are a 2 car family (2 adults and 2 primary school going kids). We have a 09 petrol Avensis (grand car - never gave an ounce of trouble but has 200k km on the clock now nearly) and a 15 Ford Fiesta petrol.

We're going to be working from home long term even after Covid and seriously considering downgrading to a single car family and looking at electric options. Kids schools are close by and easily cycled/walked most days (bar very wet weather). The Avensis is doing hardly any driving at the moment while my wife uses the Fiesta to go to the shops (we live in a small town so c.5 minute trips), commute to work 1-2 days a week, which is a 40 km round trip (mix of slowish urban driving and some faster dual carriageway) and also to visit family (all within c.20km radius).

One big issue is that we live in a terraced house with no off street parking so home charger is a non-runner. Are we mad to think electric (or even PHEV) or just go for a newer petrol again? Live in east Cork so not very familiar with the charging network to date but don't think it's great (could be wrong). No charging at my wife's workplace either but it's under "review".

My wife & I were in a similar position to you.
We had two cars, 2910 petrol & a 2015 diesel.
We are older & no longer needed two cars.
We decided to get a self charging Hybrid. We bought a 2018 Niro Hybrid. Plenty of room for five adults & a good sized boot.
Best decision we ever made.
We are careful drivers so no racing around.
Brilliant car & on a mix of distances will do 4Lts petrol to 100 Kms.
€180 tax a year, low insurance & low running costs.
Might be the car for you if you can get one.

Moving to single car family - advice

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