You can only drive one vehicle at any given time. Despite this, there are many good reasons that owning multiple vehicles is a good idea. Whether this applies in your case will depend on your circumstances. Let’s take a closer look at the topic.
Advantages of having another car
Convenience is often the best reason for owning a second, or a third, car. When one car is off the road, you can simply use the other one. You might be sharing ownership of two cars with a partner, and having a car each will allow you to meet all of your social and work-related commitments.
There’s also the extra cargo space to consider. The more cars your household has access to, the more stuff you can move at any given time.
In some cases, the qualities of the two cars might complement one another. You might have one large and capacious car for big family road trips, and a sleeker, sportier two-seater for personal use. If you find that you’re making compromises when it comes to your choice of vehicle, then going for two vehicles might be more than worthwhile.
You might also view a second vehicle as an investment. While newer cars will tend to depreciate, the same is not always true of desirable classics bought on the used market. Often, these vehicles will actually increase in value over time.
Disadvantages of having another car
Naturally, if you buy multiple cars, you’ll have to deal with a number of additional costs. You’ll need to insure both cars, and to pay for an annual MOT. You’ll also have to deal with extra spending on fuel – particularly if the second car is a high-performance vehicle with poor fuel efficiency.
If you’re juggling two cars that require different kinds of fuel, then you risk extra stress (and potentially major expense) when you come to fill up. Depreciation is another cost that you’ll need to think about. You can expect larger, luxury-focused cars to lose value rapidly, especially if they’re bought new.
We should also think about where you’re going to park the extra vehicles. If you’re in a built-up area with limited parking, you might be forced to keep one car outside of the garage – or even on the street. This will increase the amount you spend on repair work over the long term, and will drive up your insurance costs, too.
Considering car insurance for your second car
Of course, one major expense that comes with car ownership is that of car insurance. There are several ways of minimising this expense. Perhaps the best is to look at multi-car insurance quotes. Typically, the cost of insurance is substantially (or subtly) reduced if you’re splitting it across several vehicles at the same time.
