Do you have both a towing vehicle and a regular car?

[Shinx]

Do you keep two separate vehicles? I can't decide if I'm crazy to consider buying a separate runaround. My tow vehicle has a monster of an engine and as much as I need and love it, it's horribly fuel inefficient. I spend hundreds on petrol every month. I tow rarely but have plans to get out and about more and I love the freedom that having a trailer gives me. I don't want to buy a lorry. The tow vehicle is also quite old, replacement parts are harder to find and it's getting a lot of additional wear and tear from being used daily.

I'm considering buying a £0 tax, extremely fuel efficient car for normal everyday driving. I'd be buying used because I'm allergic to car payments so will get something I can buy outright. But the idea of having two cars feels wild to me, like a crazy luxury, even though the amount I save in petrol will pay off the new car within two years (and will be better for the planet in the meantime).

My husband also has a car, but it's only a two seater and is useless for kids and dogs (of which there are quite a few), and it's a very old classic car so isn't reliable either. So three cars in total (!), each with a special purpose? Is that absurd?

I could just get rid of the tow car but then I'd need something with a bigger engine and would lose the fuel efficiency, so why bother swapping?

That was a very long way of saying, is this sensible or nuts?

 

[Widgeon]

I have a compromise - a single trailer and an old, medium sized diesel tow car that I drive every day. That works for us because we live in the country and use the car for all sorts of other things as well. My husband also has a little car, but it's a "real" car that despite being small will fit passengers, dogs, and Other Stuff.

I don't think yours is a mad idea at all, but I would say that leaving an older car sat about between trips out may not be the best idea - if it breaks, chances are it will happen with a horse on the back.

It's quite a difficult situation really - personally I'm not a fan of towing with petrol because you can see your salary disappearing as you drive. I would suggest buying a slightly less old, more fuel efficient tow car, but buying second hand cars is such a minefield - you might end up swapping your old but reliable car for something that has faults.

P.S. I'm not sure I would count the classic car as a genuine part of your family fleet - I'd categorize it under "hobby" instead. So perhaps just try to ditch the three car guilt - it sounds like you've thought it all through very sensibly!

 

[asmp]

I know someone who has 3 cars - the towing car, a company car, and the everyday car. Apart from the company car the others are fairly old. Luckily they have a big drive!

 

[Yeomans]

I have a BMW X5 that I use for towing only which was costing a bomb. Went out and bought a little Fiat500 petrol car and use it all the time.

 

[Shinx]

Thank you Widgeon for your very sensible reply! I hadn't thought about the likelihood of my tow car breaking down while towing the horses, but you're right, that would be much more likely to happen if it was otherwise sat on the drive.

What's getting in the way is my unreasonable attachment to my car. While it's not what most people would consider anything special, I love it and would hate to part with it, but it's old and nothing lasts forever. It's silly to be so attached to a machine really.

And yes, my husband's car is very much his hobby. I bought it for him one year as a birthday present and it felt very appropriate that the guy selling it was going to use the money to buy his wife a new horse!

 

[Shinx]

asmp and Yeomans, thank you, really glad to know I'm not alone on this!

Yeomans do you have any issues with your BMW sitting around a large part of the time?

 

[Spotherisk]

Three vehicles here, a big Isuzuand a Toyota RAV4, both for towing, and an old Fiat Doblo van. Mileage on the Isuzuhas dropped a lot since buying the van.

A friend and husband have a Shogun, a Smartcar, and an AMG Merc. The Merc barely gets used, the Smartcar does all local stuff (but not motorways, just feels too small). The AMG is the no dog stay clean car!

 

[AmyMay]

Four cars here too. Two Mercs (estate and sports) a Fiat Panda and a RAV4. The Rav is a new purchase and is going to bankrupt me. But I love it soooo much. The Fiat is completely underpowered and is about to be sold. It’s a great city car, but useless around here.

No dogs allowed in the Mercs.

 

[conniegirl]

Tbh, if you are only taking one then buy a single horse trailer and a smaller more efficient tow car that can be used everyday.
I have a skoda yeti that is very good on fuel and a cheval liberte single trailer. The trailer weighs 500kg and the cars max towing capacity is 1800kg. So we could put a lot in that trailer before we got anywhere near the limit.
My husband uses the yeti as his daily run around.

 

[Britestar]

Yes. DMax for towing, Dacia for everything else.
OH has a Renault Zoe electric.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

No, but I have a 3.5 and a tiny smart car (no tax, low insurance, v economical on fuel) which suit me, as I dont have others to run around and can still fit tack, a dog and a weekly shop in the car.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

1 tow/ everyday car!! I have a kia sorrento. Fab for towing and brilliant on fuel!

 

[Steerpike]

We have an L200 for towing, heavy work and a Suzuki swift for shopping trips or visiting relatives ect

 

[nagblagger]

2 cars here, one for work and taking passengers so 'relatively' clean inside !!!
One geriatric 4 x 4, more mud and hairs inside than out, for dogs, horse gear, towing and off-roading if necessary. The amount i saved in diesel costs not using it to commute work in a year etc paid for the smaller car.

 

[94lunagem]

Yes two here also. One for commute and day to day, kept clean and doesn’t go near the yard. The other is a pickup for towing and yard trips and jobs, I don’t care about mud/hair/dirt, it’s better built for my off-road track, it ferries things to and between fields and is useful for throwing feed and bedding in the back. It gets cleaned once a year at the most!

 

[whirlwind]

I did. I’ve got an elderly shogun which I love and pulls like a train but similar to yours is not the most economic vehicle i don’t do loads of driving day to day though and found by the time I’d mot and insured both I wasn’t saving anything. Also we’ve got loads of dogs and they didn’t really fit in the Peugeot without inevitably destroying the back seats when they were filthy and wet so I used to end up taking the truck half the time anyway.

 

[Bayracer]

I have two cars, I have my truck for towing and a fiesta for everyday. My fiesta is only £25 tax and under £150 insurance so for me it is far cheaper to run two cars than use my truck for everything. It also means when I do want to go to town or shopping (which I avoid like the plague) it’s much easier to find a little parking space than a pickup size one. Also means I have a “clean” car and a horse/dog car but I can fit a spaniel and a lurcher in the boot of a fiesta (snuggly) if needed.

 

[EventingMum]

I did have two, a Ford Ranger and a Toyota Yaris Hybrid. Unfortunate circumstances meant I sold the Yaris and I really miss it. It was great for nipping into town, easy to park and pretty good with fuel. The Ranger is comfortable but being 3.2L is not great on fuel and is big for a lot of parking spaces plus I rarely tow with it but feel I need to keep it for emergencies as I'm a YO and also it takes my mobility scooter if we are going away. I feel replacing it with something smaller would be a compromise and wouldn't really work, I would definitely consider getting another small car again to run alongside the Ranger.

 

[YourValentine]

I have 2, I do a lot of miles for work and wouldn't want to drive a big 4wd all the time, but like the power and stability of one when towing. And the fuel bill would be crippling.

So the big car is for towing only, and I make sure it has a run once a week, so if I don't go with the horse I'll unhitch it and use it as my car for the day (a day I'm not doing loads). Its older and seems to cope find with this routine, every now and then if it hasn't done much I'll do a longer trip just to give it a good run.

I run a small 1.2L as my main vehicle that I love, so easy to park, cheap to run.

Cost of MOT'ing and servicing 2 isn't cheap but my fuel bill of running a big car all the time would be even more.

 

[TRECtastic]

I only tow 1 pony so just have 1 car , toyota avensis estate , for everything
Trailer weighs 750 , pony 420 , car can tow 1800 so we're well under weight
Car is £30 a year tax , good on fuel , and has plenty of room for our 2 dogs as well

 

[MagicMelon]

We have always had 2 cars as my OH and I live with our 3 kids rurally so we have no option and are often going different directions. We have a Kia Sorento 4x4 as our tow vehicle and for family days out (7 seater) and a fiesta for day to day run about. We need a 4x4 anyway as in NE Scotland we often get snow

 

[Widgeon]

What's getting in the way is my unreasonable attachment to my car. While it's not what most people would consider anything special, I love it and would hate to part with it, but it's old and nothing lasts forever. It's silly to be so attached to a machine really.

I feel exactly the same about mine, which is equally not particularly special - but it's been a faithful servant! If you could make sure that the old car got regular outings, I would probably keep it until a part goes pop / bang / crunch in a way that isn't financially viable to mend. But I am also unreasonably attached to my car so I'm not exactly the voice of reason

Little new cars are so cheap to run anyway the saving on petrol for the big one might even pay to run the little one.

 

[ihatework]

I run 2.
An older pick up for ad hoc towing, beating, shifting stuff etc.
The original plan was to run a tiny cheap run around alongside, was a picanto but turns out I’m a snob and like a bit more horsepower, so it’s now a sporty Audi A1

 

[M1lbie]

We have an elderly land cruiser for towing and a Honda HRV for every day use, OH also has a small van and his hobby is classic cars so there are a few of those in the workshop that only see the light of day in good weather! The land cruiser is great for towing and when there are floods to get through but too big and expensive for every day use.

 

[Birker2020]

I have a compromise - a single trailer and an old, medium sized diesel tow car that I drive every day. That works for us because we live in the country and use the car for all sorts of other things as well. My husband also has a little car, but it's a "real" car that despite being small will fit passengers, dogs, and Other Stuff.

I don't think yours is a mad idea at all, but I would say that leaving an older car sat about between trips out may not be the best idea - if it breaks, chances are it will happen with a horse on the back.

It's quite a difficult situation really - personally I'm not a fan of towing with petrol because you can see your salary disappearing as you drive. I would suggest buying a slightly less old, more fuel efficient tow car, but buying second hand cars is such a minefield - you might end up swapping your old but reliable car for something that has faults.

P.S. I'm not sure I would count the classic car as a genuine part of your family fleet - I'd categorize it under "hobby" instead. So perhaps just try to ditch the three car guilt - it sounds like you've thought it all through very sensibly!

I have this too. A trailer and a insignia diesel which is fuel efficient although costly in the clear air zone..

 

[gallopingby]

I had two cars and a lorry at one time. Small economical car for work and an older disco that l used as a ‘snow car ‘ and for the dogs as well as towing, and kept it when l sold the trailer and bought the lorry. Then moved and didn’t need a work car so had a Freelander and the lorry until l realised it would be better to have a more economical car so now have a new more fuel efficient small car and a new lorry. Definitely save on fuel costs but miss the bigger car for longer trips and if we have snow.

 

[JGC]

When we had a trailer, we had a Toyota 4runner to tow and a Peugeot 106 and Fiat Punto as our day-to-day vehicles for getting to and from work. We just made sure to run the tow car regularly - same as we do for our lorry now.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Do you keep two separate vehicles? I can't decide if I'm crazy to consider buying a separate runaround. My tow vehicle has a monster of an engine and as much as I need and love it, it's horribly fuel inefficient. I spend hundreds on petrol every month. I tow rarely but have plans to get out and about more and I love the freedom that having a trailer gives me. I don't want to buy a lorry. The tow vehicle is also quite old, replacement parts are harder to find and it's getting a lot of additional wear and tear from being used daily.

I'm considering buying a £0 tax, extremely fuel efficient car for normal everyday driving. I'd be buying used because I'm allergic to car payments so will get something I can buy outright. But the idea of having two cars feels wild to me, like a crazy luxury, even though the amount I save in petrol will pay off the new car within two years (and will be better for the planet in the meantime).

My husband also has a car, but it's only a two seater and is useless for kids and dogs (of which there are quite a few), and it's a very old classic car so isn't reliable either. So three cars in total (!), each with a special purpose? Is that absurd?

I could just get rid of the tow car but then I'd need something with a bigger engine and would lose the fuel efficiency, so why bother swapping?

That was a very long way of saying, is this sensible or nuts?

I have a 4x4 as my regular also a Lifesize American tv conversion and also a horsebox and also a caravan, hubby has 2 cars too

 

[Belmont]

Yes I've found myself with 2. For a few years, I ran my super Tucson that could tow a single trailer and one horse. New horse I bought this year prefers a partition, so I bought a double trailer then a 4x4 to tow the heavier trailer and it's nice being able to take both horses out together. I very nearly sold my Tucson to get a cheap run around instead, but I love it and it's economical and I've paid it off, so it made sense to keep it. I bought the 4x4 from a friend so got a good price and knew it had been looked after. It's not cheap running two, but not much in it if running a smaller car too or a 3.5t. Just feeling the pinch this month as both in for MOT's and servicing... 4X4 needed some welding but otherwise ok.

 

[SDMabel]

We are a three vehicle household, Nice Volvo V60 as a family car , Other half has a Ford ranger pick-up as his work vehicle and i use this to tow with. We could have it as a daily vehicle but it guzzles fuel and isn't the comfiest for motorway driving. Thirs car is a Honda civic that is used to ferry hay up to the yard in , collect christmas tree, skip runs etc .... she sails through MOTS and costs peanuts to keep on the road !!