For the past few years, DH and I have been a 1-car family. We now have the need for a second car but had a minor disagreement tonight. I assumed that one car would be mine, one car would be his. He assumed that we would trade off so we each are able to drive the new car. This hadn't really occurred to me before he brought it up tonight and it made me curious. How do you divide cars in your household?
Post by rupertpenny on Dec 23, 2013 21:00:59 GMT -5
When we had two cars one was nice and newish and the other was old and got terrible gas mileage. My h only drove the old car to work and I never drive it. We both always took the new car otherwise.
But one of our cars got stolen last month so it's now a moot point. At least they stole the shitty car
Post by thedutchgirl on Dec 23, 2013 21:01:06 GMT -5
We each have our own cars. I will drive his occasionally if the need arises (like mine is in the shop), but he never drives mine because it is a stick and he can't drive one.
It would have never occurred to me to switch off either. One person gets a new car at one time, the other person the next time.
Post by rootbeerfloat on Dec 23, 2013 21:04:03 GMT -5
We have two cars. I primarily drive one, and he primarily drives the other, but I picked the one he drives, and he picked the one I drive. We don't drive "our" cars because mine is better suited for hauling real estate signs, and his is better suited for hauling kids.
We switched a lot, depending on who was taking care of the kids (their carseats fit better in the bigger car.) It didn't bother me to drive both equally. We paid for both out of the joint account.
Both of us drive our two main cars. H drives his truck because it's free to drive (runs on used transmission fluid) and I drive our Tahoe. On the weekend or when we go together H drives my Tahoe.
We have two cars, but occasionally switch cars. We both label them as his car (he had it before we got married) and my car (we bought it a couple of years ago).
Post by marylennox on Dec 23, 2013 21:12:31 GMT -5
Currently we have one car that we share.
Before the last car died we briefly had two, and we would switch back and forth depending on who was driving where, etc. The newer car was used for driving longer distances, older car was more for running errands around town.
If we were to get another car now, we would probably split them up and each have "our own."
Post by fuckyourcouch on Dec 23, 2013 21:12:34 GMT -5
We have 2 cars and they are distinctly our own. It doesn't matter which we take if we were both home and wanted to go eat or run an errand or something, but we often take mine because his commute is much longer. I often drive his car, he does not drive mine unless I end up having too much to drink at dinner or something. This is because he drives like a timid grandma and it drives me crazy. Lol
We switch. Now, because of DS. DH works 2 weeks on/ 2 off. When he's on, I have the van because I'm the primary for DS. When DH is off, he has the van.
Before DS, though, after we each got rid of our "college cars", we started to lose the "his/mine" mentality.
We got rid of his car first. But because I had a longer commute, I got the "new" car - a used manual BMW (i.e. fun to drive). When we got rid of my old car, we got a wagon. He wanted to start driving the BMW more, so he took the BMW and I primarily drove the wagon. But because we had a wagon and a sedan, sometimes we'd switch up based on function of the car (needing to haul stuff, etc).
SO - by the time we had DS.... we no longer had a strong sense of "mine/his". It's more about function of the car. And as we got a new car about 1.5 years ago, it does allow us to both drive the fun, new car.
We both have our own car, but my vehicle (small SUV) is the family car and we take it everywhere if all three of us are going.
Same for us, except we both have SUVs. We don't keep car seats in H's car, so I only drive it when I'm going somewhere without the kids. He drives my car when we're all together, or when he's driving with the kids on weekends.
eta: Last summer we traded in his old car to get a new car for me (better suited for three kids), and he got my old car which he had picked out in the first place, so I got two new cars in a row but now we each have the cars we want.
Even though it was mine for five years, I now hate driving his car because he keeps it such a mess. It's amazing the change in just the year he's been driving it. I would NOT want to switch cars with him regularly. I like keeping "my" car my way.
Thanks for the input! It just really surprised me that he wants to switch off since we'll most likely be getting a minivan. We currently have a small SUV that I hope to replace late next year with a small sedan/hybrid of some sort so the new vs. old car thing won't be a permanent thing anyway.
Post by IrishBelle on Dec 23, 2013 22:15:18 GMT -5
I have my own which DH will drive if we're going somewhere together since its our main car.
DH has a truck which I only drive if I have to. He also has a car which he drives to and from work since his truck is awful on gas. I rarely drive his car.
ETA: DD2 is still in a car seat and we have one in my car and one in DH's which he moves to his truck when needed.
H and I primarily drive our own cars but we'll switch off for various reasons.
Growing up my mom and stepdad (and myself once I learned to drive) rotated vehicles all the time. I used to get so annoyed when they left me with the giant creepy van as opposed to the cute little car.
Post by stephm0188 on Dec 23, 2013 22:51:33 GMT -5
We traded in his old car for an SUV. That became the family vehicle, and I drive it the majority of the time. He drives my old car to and from work because it's a bit snug for the kiddo and it gets better gas mileage. He takes it on the weekends or to work from time to time, but typically only when he knows I'm not going anywhere with the kid.
We each have our own. I'm still driving my first car, so it was "mine" before we starting dating. We got H a new car last year, and I've still not driven it. I will need a new one in the next couple of years.
Post by Norticprincess on Dec 23, 2013 23:03:02 GMT -5
We have our own. Mine is the bad weather car. His is the commute car. Long trips we usually take mine if we are both going and taking the dog - more room for the dog and it is newer and more comfortable. If just one of us is going - DH's car gets better mileage.
We each have our own cars. H has the new one, because he drives farther. When it's time to upgrade mine I will then have the new one. If we are both going to the same place, we take his car because he doesn't like mine. We do have only a one car-width driveway, so if I need to run a quick errand and he has no plans to go out then I just steal his car rather than moving his to pull mine out.
For the past few years, DH and I have been a 1-car family. We now have the need for a second car but had a minor disagreement tonight. I assumed that one car would be mine, one car would be his. He assumed that we would trade off so we each are able to drive the new car. This hadn't really occurred to me before he brought it up tonight and it made me curious. How do you divide cars in your household?
H and I have been a 1 car family for 4.5 years (our entire marriage). This summer we're buying our second car and we'll join the land of the 2 car families.
H has said in passing he'd drive our current car and I'd get the new one but we'll work it out when the time comes.
Post by thinkofthesoldiers on Dec 23, 2013 23:17:30 GMT -5
We have a 4 door sedan and a minivan. We switch off regularly and it is just based on what is going on that day. For instance, if it is just me and one kid running errands, I'll take the car because it has a large trunk and gets great gas mileage. If I'm taking the kids skiing, I will take the van and leave him the car so that he can go and do whatever and we have enough room for equipment. If the dog is coming, it is almost always the van, but once in a while I'll make her sit in the front of the car to freak people out. LOL