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Separate cars

(76 Posts)
kittylester Fri 21-Dec-18 12:30:34

Following on from the thread about suitable new cars, do those of you with a DH and 2 cars have your own car or are they interchangeable?

I've said previously that I have always driven the bigger family car while DH has had various smaller or sillier cars.

We have recently changed both the cars and neither of us like Dh's car so 'my' car has become 'our' car.

Lots of my friends refuse to drive their Dh's car but ours have always been interchangeable - are yours?

Lynne59 Fri 21-Dec-18 19:36:43

His is automatic, and he's let me drive it a few times, just short distances. I didn't like it, as I find it really low.

M0nica Fri 21-Dec-18 20:29:28

We have one each. DH has the big estate and both of us drive that. We share driving on long journeys. He rarely drives mine

Like tinaf1, despite not much difference in height we both have very different driving positions, but the big car can be set to remember preferred seating positions. There are some buttons beside the seat. DH is 1, I am 2 and I just need to push a button before I get in to get the seat and back automatically adjusted to my setting. Mirrors need adjusting, but I can usually get away with just adjusting the central rear view mirror and leaving the wing mirrors unchanged.

Davidhs Fri 21-Dec-18 22:38:04

My wife dislikes the 4x4 because it is too difficult to park at the supermarket small spaces. I quite like her small zippy shopping car, ideal for town driving, as cheap as chips but no street cred whatsoever. I'm happy, she's happy, harmony!.

ginny Fri 21-Dec-18 23:42:15

We have what we refer to as our own cars.
DH drives mine occasionally but I hate that he changes the seat and mirror positions and complains that it doesn’t have rear parking sensors.
I don’t drive his as it is a geared model and I drive an automatic although I would if I really needed to.
I don’t like driving any car when he is in it. Too much advice !

phoenix Sat 22-Dec-18 00:33:04

Very much like that Marydoll but Mavis is black!

Previously I had a Mercedes SLK 2300, which was pretty low, but the Roadster is even lower!

Marydoll Sat 22-Dec-18 00:40:29

I got stuck getting out my coupe which looked like a squashed batmobile.?
I knew then it was time to be sensible.☹️

I envy you!

Willow500 Sat 22-Dec-18 06:09:36

Yes we have our own cars - I never drive his - it's big Merc GLC and I couldn't handle the size of it although the automatic part doesn't bother me. I've never driven any of his recent ones come to think of it although he did used to have an MG ZT estate years ago which I would borrow. He does have an old Fiesta which he uses for the daily 2 hour commute to work and back as he didn't want to put the mileage on the other one and I've taken that out once. He's been quite happy to drive mine over the years but now I've got a little Aygo which he can only just squeeze into so he's not that keen. Both my SIL and friend hate their OH's cars and won't drive them either.

Niobe Sat 22-Dec-18 09:19:19

My husband was a marine engineer and spent long periods at sea so we only ever needed one car and it was always in my name in case anything happened while he was away. When he retired , and I was still working ,we bought a small Corsa in his name but we each drove both at times. Nowadays we only have one car, a Mercedes still in my name, and he does not drive as he has been told he has a cataract starting .
Since we moved to London the car is so seldom used that we have toyed with the idea of selling it as a tank of petrol lasts us for 4-5 months.

dragonfly46 Sat 22-Dec-18 09:26:16

We have two cars but strangely I own the one my DH drives and he owns mine. It all started when he retired and had no no claims bonus so I got a little KA in his name so we could build up the no claims. Now I own the BMW but drive the Juke which I love as it is high up and easy to get in and out of. We recently changed the BMW from a 3 series to a 2 as that is higher.
I tend to be the only one driving the Juke but we both drive the BMW.

Shazmo24 Sat 22-Dec-18 09:54:19

My husband has a Landrover as he does a lot of off roading with being in Scouts etc. I have a Ford Focus..we interchange depending on who's car is at the top of the drive

grannytotwins Sat 22-Dec-18 09:55:05

We retired at the same time and realised that my car hadn’t been driven for weeks. We decided to have one car and it’s worked out well. I can use my bus pass to go to the nearest big city if I want to go clothes shopping etc.

Grampie Sat 22-Dec-18 10:26:13

We share a Ford Focus Ecoboost.

It's 999cc three-cylinder supercharged engine amazes us with its get up and go. It sips petrol too and costs only £30pa in road tax.

65,000 miles and looking forward to another car as good or better.

We're saving for a hybrid/plug-in but Ford has been a dead loss in offering this technology so we will probably have to consider some other brand. It's as if they exhausted their design and engineering budget with their Ecoboost engines.

gerry86 Sat 22-Dec-18 10:28:26

I don't like driving my husband's car much as I feel it's too big for me. Mine is a manual and he always has automatics so doesn't choose to drive mine very often, although mine has seats in for the grandchildren so if we take them out we use mine rather than change them over.

lesley4357 Sat 22-Dec-18 10:32:11

We have a 2 door Alfa Romeo and 4 door Juke. Both of us drive whichever is at the end of the drive. Juke is for ferrying grandkids around and Alfa is for the 2 of us. Tried to rationalise idea of 1 car but it wouldn't work. First World problem!

M0nica Sat 22-Dec-18 10:50:18

DavidHS, We have always gone out of our way to make sure that all our cars have no street cred at all. They say nothing about us except that. Own an old large car and nobody can work out whether you cannot afford a newer car, or can afford a newer car but choose not to have one.

We once owned an elderly Volvo estate, for very practical reasons and when I changed my job one of my leaving presents was 'The Sloan Ranger's handbook (remember that? It dates to the early 1980s). I know it was a joke, at least I think it was a joke and that has always bothered me).

Sar53 Sat 22-Dec-18 10:56:53

I own a Kia Venga and OH has a company BMW 2 Series, both automatic. I prefer mine but will drive his if I have to. Both cars are higher to get into which suits us both, I always feel like I am sitting on the floor in a lower down car.

Stella14 Sat 22-Dec-18 11:05:00

We share a car. We are both retired. It’s very rare we might both need a vehicle to go on different journeys, and there is always a solution. It’s better financially and better for the environment.

grannyactivist Sat 22-Dec-18 11:16:58

We each drove our own car when we had two - his was big so he could get his 'manstuff' in it (cycles/kayak/windsufers etc.) - mine was small like me. Since we have had only one car it's too big for me to feel comfortable driving it, so I don't.

Magrithea Sat 22-Dec-18 11:19:48

We don't 'do' his and hers cars, never have! We have 2 - an estate and a hatchback and drive both interchangeably. Mind you a good friend has 'her' Mini and rarely drives her DH's BMW. She does occasionally let him drive the Mini though!

My DH has had various models of Ferrari over the years (boy's toys!!) and I've driven all but one of them too

00mam00 Sat 22-Dec-18 11:25:09

My OH is a retired builder and still chooses to drive a rickety old van. I drive the Ford C Max eco boost, no street cred but cheap on petrol and road tax and easy to climb in and out of. And of course a big enough boot to bring plenty of wine back on our trips to France.

KnittyNannie Sat 22-Dec-18 11:26:16

We have two cars. Mine is the one most used because it’s electric and costs very little to run. We don’t pay road tax on it, either. We just plug it in overnight and are ready to go the next morning. It has a range of about 100 miles on one charge. My husband’s car is used for carrying bicycles around and for long journeys and holidays. It works well!

Conni7 Sat 22-Dec-18 11:28:13

Try a Honda Jazz, Tanith. It has quite a high seating position.

Emelle Sat 22-Dec-18 11:35:01

We have two cars - a smaller one which I drive most of the time and then we have an estate which I have always been happy to drive. In the Spring we changed to an automatic and DH insisted I go out with him for a 'lesson'. As I have been driving for nearly 50 years and have experience of driving automatics, I refused so I haven't driven the new one yet. I don't know which one of us is the most stubborn.

Funnygran Sat 22-Dec-18 11:41:38

Davidhs it's exactly the same in our house. We bought a small nippy Skoda for me at a time when we needed two cars for family reasons. DH's is a 4x4 automatic and too big for me to park. But I often find I have to fight to use mine as he prefers mine in town too. Much cheaper to run and next to nothing for car tax.

LadyGracie Sat 22-Dec-18 11:45:20

We have a Hyundai ix20, automatic, we can just slide into it, which is ideal and necessary with my back and his rheumatics. It's a very comfortable car.