I get it, and even agree, that the vast majority of us only really need one car. And even then, a lot of us could probably get along fine with zero cars, albeit with much less convenience and infinitely less happiness. But if you were to have all the optimized cars (or trucks, or transport modes) for the various use cases in your life, then how many and what kind of machines are we talkin’ about here?
Take me, for example. As a homeowner, I need something that can haul a bunch of mulch or concrete pavers or shrubs or whatever it is I need to recreate – badly – the thing my wife saw on HGTV the previous weekend. Can my 2015 RAV4 do this? Yes. Is it ideal? No. I shall need a Ford F-150, the most basic one will be fine.
But do I want to daily a Ford F-150? No, I do not. And never mind that I work from home. For my imaginary 30-miles-each-way commute, I require something frugal to own and operate, comfortable to be in, and at least kinda cool. The Toyota Prius ticks all those boxes, and if it’s good enough for Bozi, it’s good enough for me.
OK, so I’ve got my hard-workin’ F-150 and my sensible daily, but what do I drive on those four-hour schleps to Austin (I’m up near the DFW airport)? Yeah, fine, the Prius can do it, but I think I need a more dedicated highway cruiser. Toyota Crown Hybrid, maybe? I’ve seen a few on the road, I like ’em.
All good choices, I think, but do they stir my soul? Not really. And doggone it, every car person needs a soul-stirrer. I shall have a Mustang GT.
Your turn:
How Many Cars Do You Need?
Top graphic images: Ford; Toyota
When I was single, the answer was three:
Economy/grocery getter (say Honda Fit)
Truck (say F-150)
Toy (say Miata if you’re poor like me; Porsche, Ferrari, Lambo etc if you’re of better means)
Then came marriage and kids:
Minivan (preferably one you don’t have fund by trading in the convertible… Ask me how I know)
Now that we’re empty nesters…
For wife: SUV (preferably a hybrid)
For hubby: see list above 🙂
It really depends on where you are in life, and where your life is centered. In a big enough city, you really don’t need any of these.
2-3 is good, depending how you package it. A commuter and a toy, though you can have that toy be more utilitarian (think square body pickup, or off roady Toyota Tacoma).
According to Maslow, my need is zero. But in the greater scheme of things my capacity to directly attain food, shelter and clothing are not great so it becomes a very high order want.
So the wife and I share a RAV4 which satisfies our desires very handily. We carpool every day, which is great for us and hitting the shops on our way home. And it’s pleasantly long-legged for lower-order wants like car trips.
The truck – which she bought before we were married, and we have had ever since, was also a very high order want and has since evolved into a low-order want, serving as backup when necessary. We don’t need it at all, but the truck will only leave my family and household with my dead, cooling body in the cargo bed.
So: two.
Great answer.
My fourth grade teacher could literally have been a student of Maslow. Anytime one of us brats would whine “do we have to do this part?” She’d be ” all you have to do is eat, sleep, and go to the bathroom”
So that’s how many cars you need, really. Besides the mental health aspect, I need one to see family and I like to have a project as a hobby.
Oh yeah, and I always remember she had a green Scirraco ca. 1978 and she’d rip out of the gravel parking lot on break and go do her thing, so it was at least need “eat, sleep, go to the bathroom, and More Menthol 120s”
For my use cases and soul-stirring?
I have a long commute down the stairs to my coffee maker, so I don’t need anything economical at all. I took care of that with solar panels.
Need? Only 1, my RAM truck. Does dirty work, holds the family and dog, comfortable, quick etc. Probably why they sell millions of crew cab trucks.
But currently have:
– 2022 RAM crew (daily)
– 2005 Tundra (beater winter truck I leave outside )
– 2005 CTSV (fun 3 season car)
– 2019 Mazda CX5 (wife car)
– 1997 Plymouth Neon (kept from my ‘tuner’ days)
1985 Monte Carlo SS project coming soon (wife’s favorite 80s ride that I will make cool and not carbureted)
At least here, if you don’t want to subject a car to the horrors of excessive road salt the answer is at least 2. Whatever those 2 are is a choose your own adventure 🙂
The “Need” in my house is two adults and two kids. We need at least one car that can take all of us and some luggage. We have a mid-sized SUV. We need at least one more car that can fit an adult and all the kids. That’s a full-sized Sedan. I also find myself often wishing I had a truck. Not often enough to actually get one, but I’d definitely use it. I don’t have a lot of room in my life for a car that can’t fit kids, but something fun would also be great.
Other than that whole money thing, something like
Cadillac XT5 (It’s what the wife wants!)
Audi RS6 Avant (It definitely fits kids!)
Colorado ZR2 (Probably does truck things, plus isn’t the size of building)
Mustang GT350 (Or find some V8 mustang with MT and no roof)
Probably one but in reality always another one.
“How Many Cars Do You Need?”
What are you? My mother?
My answer is always 3.
1) Efficient, comfortable and cheap to own/maintain daily driver
2) Comfortable, powerful and beautiful long distance cruiser for road trips
3) Small, nimble, manual sports car for back road/weekend fun
examples
1) Bolt, Prius, Civic Hybrid
2) Corvette, Mercedes SL, Vantage, 911
3) Miata, GR86, Elise
I vote three as well, but:
1) Normal daily
2) Truck
3) Fun car
I am amazed at the people who would rather own a truck as a second(3rd?) vehicle and park it, maintain it, insure it etc., When a utility trailer would be so much easier to to all of those things with and they can tow it as needed with their main vehicle.
U-Haul pickup is $20/day + mileage. If I need a truck, I’ll go rent one.
Yes! also near me Menards and Home Depot rent trucks by the day for the ubiquitous mulch runs.
A utility trailer won’t haul eight people+gear or do bad-roading/off-roading like my Suburban will. But you’re right that if your hauling is the occasional Home Depot run for mulch or home maintenance supplies a utility trailer will do nicely. I spent time convincing my best friend that he’d be better off with a trailer than a pickup seeing as he already has my old MDX to serve as an AWD vehicle for winter and what little he does on dirt roads.
Depending on one’s situation, it’s easier to store a truck than a trailer.
Depending on one’s situation is easier to use a horse and cart.
2019 Lexus ES300h for commuting – 45 mpg all day w/o the negatives of econoboxes
2021 Toyota 4Runner – Biking, Dogs, Camping, Trips with lots of luggage…
1993 Dodge D250 w/ Cummins 5.9L – runs top, fun to wrench on and modify
If i had the space and money, there is no limit to how many cars i would have.
I think I’m good with the three currently in the fleet. The wife has her daily (2018 Acura TLX), which is also good for extended road tripping, the snow and off-road warrior (2021 Bronco Badlands, also good for most of what I need to haul), and the “fun” car (2018 Porsce Cayman), which is also good for shorter road tripping. If anything had to go into the shop for an extended priod of time, we always have a spare vehicle, although I wouldn’t want to daily the Porsche in a PA winter. Unless there’s salt on the roads, I alternate my daily between the Bronco and the Cayman. Would I also like to have a fully resto-modded FC-170 with a diesel engine and a dump bed? Absolutely. Do I have anywhere to keep it? Unfortunately no.
The answer is 3.
I need one, My jeep wrangler unlimited meets all my motoring needs and a few wants. I can camp with it, tow my utility trailer, haul canoes, 4 dogs, and with my roof rack haul lumber or whatever I need. I would like a little manual transmission hot hatch just for fun but that is a want.
Need? One and maybe a trailer.
Want? More. So. many. More.
Of course the want ignores real world things like insurance, maintainence, parking, risk of theft, emissions tests, registration fees, neighbors, etc. Once I remember those things the want shuts up real fast. So I placate the want with bicycles which do not have those real world things.
I’ve got 6 at the moment:
3 months ago my wife and I both owned a Mazda 3 (hers the hatchback, mine the sedan) and I’ve got a Jeep Comanche with a Willys Wagon under restoration. 2 dailies, a work truck and a fun vehicle.
We’re getting rid of the Mazdas and Comanche for a used Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and a new Maverick hybrid AWD. Give us daily drivers, a truck for everything I need and the Willys will be on the road in spring for cruising and some mild off-roading.
N+1 (N = the number of vehicles you currently own)
Just like bicycles!
Came here to say this. Currently just 3 cars, but out of digits to count the bikes even with the shoes off. Depending on what counts as a bike, some are rideable some need a little work some are boxes of parts.
Which begs the question, what counts as a car?
If I had two Camaros with no motor and a 350 under the workbench that “ran when pulled” is that two cars or one car or no car?
Irrelevant to the equation, but better buy two more cars, just to be sure.
Four. A convertible and a station wagon for each house. I have that covered. ’14 Mercedes E350 and ’11 BMW 128i in Florida, and ’11 BMW 328! and ’74 Triumph Spitfire in Maine.
Though currently I have five – anybody want a pretty nice early stick shift Land Rover Discovery with no rust? Though there is something to be said for having one more car than you need, so maybe I should just keep Rover. 😉
I would like to have a few but the cost and space is prohibitive.
So, for me, my Model Y Performance checks as many boxes as possible (AWD for weather, enough space for a tall family of 4 plus stuff, great commuter, fast and relatively fun to drive. For my wife, a VW Atlas which travels half the mileage of mine (~12k vs my 24k miles per year) and is used when hauling stuff, her daily commute hauling a ton of kids to school and road trips. Will likely have to pick up a third car as the kids get older in a couple years, looking for a used Jeep or Bronco type car – durable for a teen, can handle some winter driving instead of me worrying about charging when heading north to ski and can take the top off in the summer – plus won’t care as much if it gets dinged up.
One.
I can get 177hp to feel fast-as-hell no problem, I just need something that could do something similar while getting more MPG. And be more useful.
So, a Maverick hybrid AWD would be perfect for me!
Fleet size is 3. Would like to make it 4, but I don’t even drive the cars I already have.
’07 Honda VFR800 for commuting.
’98 BMW 540i for general use.
’97 Chevy K3500 for snow and hauling trash to the dump (overkill).
Since I’ve always driven old shitboxes, having two increases the odds that at least one of them will be drivable at any given time.
Yes.