The Chief

I know there are a lot of variables here but i own a standard MY99 Scoob and cover around 8-10k a year - would it be cheaper for me to run a second car i.e a 1.4 Astra for the majority of that mileage- say 5-6k. i know its just not a case of fuel consumption butr servicing and running costs as well.

Does a lot of you do this to preserve the Scoob and keep running it low.

Cheers

Gillp95

I do, but my 2nd car is a company car so servicing and insurance are not a issue....And its a diesel so I am saving loads on fuel.

Try a mountain bike, depending on how far away work is.

frayz

iTrader: (7)

simple answer is yes mate i run a 02 sti prodrive and a 1.1 fiesta

fez saves me on insurance, fuel, milage... and above all,, when i get in the scoob i really enjoy driving it.

GrahamG

I run a 1.1 106 for work. 45 mile round trip to work - Doing about 45-50 MPG
Tax is 110ish a year
insurance is 290

95 WRX
Tax 170ish
Insurance 700
Weekend and some evening use.

The big saving would be petrol.

G.

pslewis

Driving the MX5 in the summer/on sunny days is GREAT fun and it's paid for by not using the Impreza for those miles

Everyones a winner ...... the MX5 is even INCREASING in value as each year passes!!

Pete

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

I worked this one out quite carefully, using a spreadsheet to compare the costs of insurance, fuel, depreciation, servicing and so on between running the scooby all the time, and having a second car as well. My scooby is an '05 JDM STI, and the second car is a '96 Nissan Primera 2.0.

For me, I worked out that I get the Nissan 'free' provided I use it to go to work about 3 days a week under normal circumstances. Obviously I also use it whenever I need to park somewhere questionable; if it saves the scooby from being dented, stolen or vandalised then that saves a whole lot more.

pnbond007

iTrader: (1)

Focus 1.8 Zetec 30k per annum 'work commute'

Landrover Discovery '54' plate 8k per year

Scoob WRX-RA only covered 2k in two years...

DonnieDarko

not on your mileage, holmes.

i do 20k a year in my 05 wrx. cost me £230-250 a month in petrol

if i did half my mileage in a diesel and got twice the fuel economy (about 55-60mpg) i'd save around a quarter of that money (half my mileage would be half the cost)

so i'd save £62 a month= £750 a year. i doubt insurance would be more than £80 less, then you add on depreciation- thats the tricky bit.

against that you have extra insurance + tax + servicing plus depreciation on a second car.

for me its probably touch & go if it would be worthwhile, and from a cashflow basis i have to find and buy a car i wouldn't hate driving...so i'm just gonna enjoy the scoob.

Graz

Wondering this myself.

Not really an issue now, 10-12k a year including commuting, but my circumstances are about to change and I will end up doing around 25k a year, about 20k of those being the commute.

Get a runabout for weekday use keeping the Scoob for weekends or just use the Scoob?

Tim W

iTrader: (1)

The inusrance and tax on my 52 Plate TDCI Focus Zetec and my MY98 highly modified Impreza Turbo cost less than insuring and taxing the Impreza alone!

My Focus is on unlimited mileage with business use and the Impreza was on 4000miles a year limited.

swtmerce

I have an 03 WRX and I love to drive it but we have a house purchase coming up and a family to start! I'm not going to let the WRX go so I just bought an Escort for £65. My work commute is only short so there's no major issue if I break down. I have breakdown cover anyway. In terms of money I haven't worked it out but I am guessing it MUST save me money. £65 for the car, £190 for the insurance, peanuts for the petrol and no servicing. When the MOT is up in July I'll get rid of it as cheaply as possibly and buy another super cheap car. Oh, it also saves me any repair work (like dents to the Sub) and worry lines (parking in dodgy areas)

Gutmann pug

1,000 miles a year is silly in any car IMHO. That equates to 20miles per week. Not worth owning it.

Gary

The Chief

A guy at work owns a V8 Dax Rush and does less than 600 miles a year, i say exactly the same thing to him

Alas

Unless its a classic(not a scoob classic) and is going to appreciate

pnbond007

iTrader: (1)

[QUOTE=Gutmann pug]1,000 miles a year is silly in any car IMHO. That equates to 20miles per week. Not worth owning it.

Rubbish

It's my choice, I enjoy owning it, adding discreet visual modification without loosing it's original appearance, also knowing that it's in absolute prime condition, and has & is also building a pedigree of it's own, which at the end of the day will command a high price.

Non of this bolt it on & expect a fortune rubbish that floods the scooby world.

GrahamG

my wrx is insured for 4000 a year. where the 106 is on about 15000.

That 76 miles every weekend....(for the scoob) the last 2 weekends it has not been used. so think it works out about right over a year..

jasonius

iTrader: (1)

Slightly off tread;

IMHO a car needs to used regularly (sp?). In my experience the cars that suffer from more problems are the ones that are not driven 'properly' on a regular basis (ie short or infrequent use). As opposed to cars that cover above average milage. This is regardless of regular maintenance/servicing etc..!

Just my experience mind..

Buckrogers

Just remember that No Claims Bonus can only be used on ONE car at any time.

aggs

Driving a Scooby for the daily commute can mean that the power becomes a habit which can lead to the spiralling costs of wanting more power with additional mods.
Driving a slower car for the daily commute can really let you appreciate the Scooby at Weekends and Evening B road blasts.
Hence only sensible mods and a saving in money!!

Also agree at that times a cheap car can be left unmolested if parking for a long period of time or in a iffy area.
A wise buy can mean a cheap car could be fun to drive as well.

Trap2Terrorist

iTrader: (3)

A good post and something I'm considering too. I own a modified bugeye WRX and it cost me £1500 to insure last May (0 NCD's ).

The WRX is my everyday car and I cover about 15k miles a year in total so am considering buying a second car, something with a lawnmower diesel engine for my 20 mile round trip to work each day.

I intend to see what the insurance company quote me for limited mileage on the scoob and as long as it's economical I'll give it a go.

pnbond007

iTrader: (1)

Wow,
I know why I keep my Scoob, even if I only do a few miles a year.

Just covered 100 miles of sheer excitement & economically too

mpr

Each to their own I suppose.... but I just couldn't drive a **** heap all week knowing that I'd got something decent in the garage. I'd be very surprised if people doing less than 15k a year could save much by having 2 cars. With the vicious depreciation on scoobs nowadays, low mileage might mean you get an extra bacon sandwich for it when you sell it if you're lucky. Therefore the only real saving is on the fuel, which will hardly amount to covering the insurance,tax, and depreciation of the second vehicle.

Also, if I could save a couple of grand a year, what would I do with it that would be as much fun as driving a "proper" car everyday instead of a bag of crap?

Spec'c'57

iTrader: (1)

save a fortune running a second car..... ah its company owned thats why......

fastfrank

I invested in a second car - a Nissan Micra. It costs jack all to run but is incredibly boring with no luxuries.

The problem with two cars is that I feel I have to alternate between them regularly to keep them going. Don't like leave them sitting around for more than a few days.

Raartoot

fiesta Saves insurance??...Dont you insure your scoobs?

Raartoot

..oh n yeah, I Thrash my Diesel van round to save the milage on My scoobs, I also use it for Shopping trips to, cos who gives a **** if you get that mad BiT** ramming your door with hers, or even worse...a trolley!!

hades

It's definitely saving me money at the moment, as my daily commute is about 80 miles each way. I spent £1500 on a Pug 306 D Turbo which is comfortable, quick enough to keep with the flow at motorway speeds, suprisingly entertaining to drive, and useful economy. My insurers from the scoob have let me use the full NCD on both policies, servicing is less than £50 DIY every 6000 miles, and when I finally move house and stop commuting so far, I could probably sell it for very little loss, and it's saving me a good £100/week at the moment compared with using the scoob every day.

Downside is that the scoob isn't getting as much use as ideally it should, just comes out most weekends at the moment.

jowl

I do about 12k miles a year,

Scooby does about 5k of that, M-reg 1.3 Polo does the rest.

At the moment, I reckon it''d save me about £50 a year just running the scoob. Not a lot in the scheme of things. Would rather keep the lower mileage on the Scooby and rack up all the stuff on the Polo

GrahamG

i guess my annual milage will be about 16000. The scoob will cover around 4k of that. 106 doing the dirty work.