Owning a second car.....

with the 911 ofcourse being the 1st... Ive been given the advice of not to part with my current car, (3 series) as it will be needed for the "run-abouts", so i figured I'd get second (or few more!) opinion.... - How many 911 have another car (merely for run arounds), as in one used for shopping, leaving in public car parks, milage eaters etc... Ive aware how versatile the 911 are but im pretty sure a door dent from the tesco car parks will be painful for almost everyone Ideally, I'd like to free up some cash (and maintenence cost ) with my existing car. Any advise at what I should do? There a few cars in the family, so reduced space on the 911 wont be a issue. Cheers

Really depends on what your other options are. A 911 is perfectly practical as a single car, I believe. I run a couple of others, using the RRS for day to day stuff.

Apart from the 993 and Mrs Fuchs Merc estate, i run a Mk 3 golf vr6 just for winter time. The swiss system works well, you can run 2 cars on one set of number plates and you can run 2 cars on the same insurance , with the most expensive car dictating the premium. It works well for me, but then i have 2 garage spaces at work and just swop over cars (and plates) when the weather dicates. i do occaisionally feel guilty that i have 2 cars and one is always just sitting there, but snowy winters in the 993 are no fun. Just to add to the madness Mrs Fuchs is hinting that she would like a new Fiat 500 as her "summer" car, meaning that another car might be on the cards. :lol:

I never feel guilty that I have 3 cars & 2 are always sitting there do nothing :twisted:

I wish we had the Swiss system here.

maybe guilt is the wrong word, perhaps "worriedaboutacarsittingidlewithabigbillaroundthecorner" is a better word. Not something you need to worry about Rob - you just send your bills to "Q"... :wink:

Went through this debate myself, and ended up selling my BMW and just using the 996. 996s are very good day to day. I use mine for 25k commuting and business and pleasure miles a year. The extra running costs (tax, insurance and servicing will be £1k a year even for a runabout) will negate the saving made on any extra costs incurred on the 996. Depreciation is a function of age as well as miles, so it'll lose value even if you don't use it. Also, playing devil's advocate, I'm not sure the 996 is a 'tuck in the garage for high-days and hols' car in the same way that a 993 or 3.2 etc is. Use it and enjoy it I say!

I had mine as my only car for about 8 months then started doing more miles for work and was getting increasingly worried about the car park shopping dents so got a spare car. Since then I've changed it and now have a diesel which is eating the miles quickly, doing about 20K per year now of which only about 7K now in the 911......... The good thing about having the other car is I am much less worried about it. In the 8 months I've owned it so far, it has acquired 4 shopping car park dents and a few scratches which whilst annoying are a lot less worrying than had they been in the 911.

I have a Mk IV Golf as a run around which my wife uses as her commuting car. The only times i use it is if we need to transport a lot of stuff or giving lifts to others for long distances, otherwise i drive the 911 everwhere and find it does the job. I have even been to Ikea and got a set of drawers. Re Tescos etc, whenever in a carpark like that, i make a point of parkign a million miles away from anybody else even if it means i have to walk a bit more to get to the shop. (although i do often find that on my return somebody has decided despite the space all around me to park right next to me. :roll: )

I too have a MkIV Golf as a spare car which I use for the shopping run. However, as its a limited edition GTI model, I am also @nal about where I park that as much as where I park the 996...... :roll: ~ Maxie

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO :x :shock: I can never understand this - buy a car which you just love to drive and then use a heap of %^&* 5 days a week to 'save' your 911 ??? Buy the car you want - drive it.

I Drive a diesel van much of the time for my business and tend to hop in it for the shopping or town runs, coz its there ready where as the 911 is in the garage. If I am going anywhere else, always use the 911 - perfectly good for any type of driving. The one thing about not using it all the time, is that when I do drive it, I really appreciate just how good it is.... But as a choice of second car... I too would have a Golf I think, they are sooooo good.

I have an Isuzu Trooper as well - it does about 3,000 miles a year now, and only gets used for hay and dogs and towing (the only things I really CAN'T do with the 911 - although I have taken a single dog in it)!!!! The way I figure it, buying a runabout is going to tie up say £8,000 + tax + insurance ... OK, you'll save about 15p per mile in maintenance and fuel costs compared to the Porsche, but will probably lose more in depreciation compared to the extra mileage on the 911. So unless you are doing silly mileage (i.e 20,000 + per annum) drive the Porsche and enjoy it :lol: 8) Just been to a meeting in Dartford in mine today - and I wouldn't have opened the windows and roof for the tunnel if I'd been in some horrible diesel Golf!

PS: What's a garage? :wink:

before today, I would have said, use the 911 everyday..I have been! but I am now on Autotrader looking for a banger to leave at station everyday.. maybe a pug205..for about £1k...or a more sensibly mondeo!!! there will always be someone who will be jealous of your car!