2 cars vs 1

I'd guess #2 but that depends on how much of your soul the Camry sucks out of you.

I share irish's opinion. I tried DD my parent's 91 Camry V6 for ~9 months. I wound up hating that car with a passion only surpassed by my hate of German engineered E36 M3boxes ala BMW and VAG. That was the only car that I ever fell asleep driving more than once.

I think I'd sooner get an old Civic with a manual trans. Those get good MPG and are a bit more fun to drive than the Camry.

Back in 2003, I thought I should consolidate my daily driver and track car. Bought an Evo VIII to serve as a dual-purpose car. I soon came to regret the decision.

I found it was stressful tracking a car that I was (a) still making payments on and (b) relied on to get me to work. More important, I didn't feel safe on track in such a fast car without cage/harness/seats/etc.

Also, there's something to be said for a boring daily driver. With the Evo, I was always tempted to speed. And there was tons of attention from police, what with the obnoxious wing, blaring exhaust, and all.

I ended up selling it and going back to two cars, each fit to their respective purposes.

2

Now knowing the lady of the house has a car that is reliable I would consider option 1 as well.

But to do option 1 your track car would have to be streetable.

Also you would need to get the Mrs's involved in your plans. Having two older cars you will have a day you need to switch with her because you are going to need the most reliable car for what ever reason.

She doesn't need to be a fanatic, but explaining to my wife how her dd rotted my soul every time we made a trip got her to understand. She would also claim she "hated" driving, but with time I was able to show her she hated econoboxes with no soul just as I did. She now enjoys her car and understands a few basic automotive workings that make the car enjoyable and not just an appliance.

After gaining her confidence and since cars are so important to me, my wife lets me choose the cars for the family. This has lead to a nice dynamic of fun cars that are nice to drive on any day.

This took time, patience and work to get this plan into action but the automotive harmony we have achieved makes it all worth it.

2 FTMFW. You can always sell the boring Camry and get something else, but 1 car + 1 track = not having a ride sometimes.

I'm not sure I comprehend the question, are you meaning two at a time, or umm buying two at a time.

No way you mean just owning one or two cars total, that I can't be right.

walks away muttering under breath.

jdbuilder wrote: Now knowing the lady of the house has a car that is reliable I would consider option 1 as well. But to do option 1 your track car would have to be streetable. Also you would need to get the Mrs's involved in your plans. Having two older cars you will have a day you need to switch with her because you are going to need the most reliable car for what ever reason. She doesn't need to be a fanatic, but explaining to my wife how her dd rotted my soul every time we made a trip got her to understand. She would also claim she "hated" driving, but with time I was able to show her she hated econoboxes with no soul just as I did. She now enjoys her car and understands a few basic automotive workings that make the car enjoyable and not just an appliance. After gaining her confidence and since cars are so important to me, my wife lets me choose the cars for the family. This has lead to a nice dynamic of fun cars that are nice to drive on any day. This took time, patience and work to get this plan into action but the automotive harmony we have achieved makes it all worth it.

I'd like to hear more about how you did this.

2, although I prefer 5.

Option 2 here as well. Man, it's nice to have a boring PAID FOR reliable PAID FOR comfortable PAID FOR daily driver.

Did I mention having a PAID FOR daily driver is a great thing?

amg_rx7 wrote: I'd guess #2 but that depends on how much of your soul the Camry sucks out of you.

Also "#2 with reservations"

I've gone through a series of "fun/weekend/autox cars" over the past few years, but have my '03 TDI wagon as the reliable DD. However, the TDI is still a car I like being in after 10+ years and 322K miles. Being a 5 spd probably helps.

I thought 2 was the minimum requirement for GRMers.

Gearheadotaku wrote:

I'd like to hear more about how you did this.

I just think, its important to involve the lady of the house now, set that tone and get her involved to avoid bigger problems later on. For example if he puts into practice Option #1 and has to borrow her car one day, she may become resentful / upset when she has to use the beater with no fair warning. (with women its not that " she had to drive an old car" its that she didnt KNOW she had to drive the old car....get it? )

Mainly communication is key. I dont need her to obsess over cars like I do, I just need her to understand its my passion. Its important to me so I have more weight when it comes to these decisions. She also has this power on things that are important to her. Not that we can trump each other completely, but that if its important to the other person its worth being patient with.

Thats the philosophy of it. If interested how the dominos fell over the years Id be more than happy to explain it in another thread?

The mrs and I have talked about it and She is fine with me owning more than one car as long as I can get myself to work. Even a newer performance caris fine. She will not let me borrow her car on a regular basis. Blame this on her dad. For all his toyota and Honda leanings for her, he is a car guy with an e39 BMW that is constantly in need of attention and so he was always borrowing her car. So, I don't need the headache of dealing with all those years of frustration coming back at me.

I would say two if it wasn't a Camry. I would buy a backup DD/ fun car then sell the Camry then buying something equally reliable but more fun like a Civic or Maxima or something.

Although for what you could sell the Camry for you could get an X300 Jag XJ6 or a X308 XJ8.

sanman wrote: As for me, I plan to do a few auto-x events as time permits and I would love a drop top for weekends away as we travel to visit friends fairly often and often head towards the beach/water. The other thing is my commute will vary as I travel to different facilities throughout the day and I tend to work out of my car a little bit. I will not necessarily be a long commute, but possibly multiple places a day.

I actually do not like a 'vert for roadtrips. I like a drop top around town. Covering miles, I want quiet and protection from the elements.

You are not planning to do anything so extreme with your car that you really need a spare beater for.

You know you would really like something fun to DD. I say, get the one car you know you want, rather than compromising on a second car the you think will be so much fun on the weekends that it will make up for all the soul-sucking of the week.

Beer Baron wrote: You are not planning to do anything so extreme with your car that you really need a spare beater for.

Lies! All Lies!

If she is on board but your hesitant to borrow her car on occasion stick to Option 2.

Since the Camary is paid for, use that as your back up. Then get a nice performance car you could you use daily and beat on. Im thinking E46 and up. BMW 330 with performance package, M3, ZHP. Unless you have a lot of track time already under your belt, your most likey going to do a lot of auto X / learning. So a dedicated track car is not really needed now. Then as the car ages, you able to turn it more and more into a dedicated track car.

Definitely 2.

I currently have 1 car, a Miata. My long-time girlfriend has an 03 refrigerator white Corolla. If (when) we get hitched, we'll probably keep both, and add in one of her parents cars (Lexus ES or 4Runner)--the one with the longest commute gets the car with the best gas mileage and the Miata will stay in the garage.

There is a LOT to be said for a car you don't care about. Driving the Miata every day makes me hesitant to autocross it as much as I would like to. If I had the Corolla, or 4Runner, or that Lexus Camry--that ding in the parking lot? It really is just a car at that point. I don't have to worry about the tires lasting me 3 years. I don't have to worry about the salt and snow. The Miata still would probably be driven 50% of the time, but for the times when I'm traveling to an ice rink in a shady part of town, I won't have to worry about my roof getting slashed.

In my college days and early career I always had a single car (Saturn in my avatar). I autocrossed it pretty much non-stop.

For the past 5 years or so, I've had 2+

Having a single car is less stressful and WAY cheaper (even though my DD usually gets better mileage than my "fun" car). It just means you can't go as nutty with modifications and you need to choose something a little practical.

I will also say that when I had a single car, I got way more seat time than I ever did after getting 2 cars.

I have 14 mostly unreliable, mostly non-running vehicles. When i get down to 2-3 drivable vehicles i get a little perturbed. VERY RARELY i have been down to one drivable vehicle (not anytime in the last ~4 yrs), and when that happened it BOTHERED ME EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY.

The idea of having just one car seems ridiculously limiting to me as a car enthusiast. I currently have 5 drivable cars and have driven all of them in the last month. Unfortunately the government makes it financially difficult to keep them all road-legal at the same time. I just found out that my state is limiting temporary registrations which puts an even bigger squeeze on my hobby. If i were to keep all my cars fully road legal at all times it would cost me.. at the minimum about 8k a year, mostly from liability-only insurance. So i just accept that when i pay $60 for a yearly registration im really paying $60 for 1 or 2 months of driving time, and i shuffle cars on and off insurance ceaselessly and constantly drive vehicles without current safety inspection (but im an ASE master tech and i know a hell of a lot better than a cop or a court what is safe, so it's certainly not for disregard of safety).

Would i go back to even two cars? HELL NO. Would i go back to 1 car? I would literally enact violence upon whoever tried to make me.

Anyways, you dont need my vote to see which way the wind is blowing. EVERYONE thinks multiple cars is, at minimum, the right answer here, with some smaller number voting against 'boring' DDs which i dont really relate to or agree with because a boring car is more often a boring owner. There are tons of things you can do to a car to make it more entertaining without affecting reliability.

I think a lot of people are just jaded and i actively try to avoid that. I've never gotten over the novelty of strapping into a self-propelled machine that can go 10 times faster than you can run and piloting yourself out into a larger world. All cars are, fundamentally, still cool to me.

Well, it seems like most people are suggesting option 2 with some suggesting a version of option 3 (more entertaining reliable DD and a fun project car). So, keeping in mind the recent project failure at GRM, any suggestions on how to make the Camry more fun on a small budget. I was thinking the Camry SE strut brace, larger wheels, and maybe a mild suspension upgrade. I figure that is most of the difference between a Camry and a mazda 6 anyway. The other reason I like the change in DD is a hatch/wagon for utility appeals more than the sedan. Tough decisions

sanman wrote: Well, it seems like most people are suggesting option 2 with some suggesting a version of option 3 (more entertaining reliable DD and a fun project car). So, keeping in mind the recent project failure at GRM, any suggestions on how to make the Camry more fun on a small budget. I was thinking the Camry SE strut brace, larger wheels, and maybe a mild suspension upgrade. I figure that is most of the difference between a Camry and a mazda 6 anyway. The other reason I like the change in DD is a hatch/wagon for utility appeals more than the sedan. Tough decisions

If I were ever to end up with the probably-future MIL's Lexus Camry (wow, lot of hypotheticals in that statement) I would likely do shocks, the biggest rear sway possible, and that would be it. Maybe wheels. But probably not. Oh, probably a tow hitch as well.

I used to autocross with a group of mostly old guys in a parking lot in central Louisiana. While working a corner one day with a crusty old Cajun who drove a post apocalyptic looking C4 vette, I received the most valuable piece of unsolicited racing advice I've ever had pour into my ears. He was chain smoking out in the hot sun and simply said, "You know what your problem is? You like your car too much." We had a talk about it and he was right. At the time it was the car that my wife was driving to work and I couldn't even afford half way decent autocross tires. I was having fun, but I was always holding back because the consequences of hurting the care would have been dire.
For this reason, I always suggest that people have a backup car if they do any Motorsport with their car. You need to be able to shut your brain off and drive and not worry about the car. Keep the Camry. That doesn't mean that you need to drive it any more than about once a week if you have something more fun to drive, but it will be there for you when. You don't finish a wrenching session or the top leaks in the rain or, god forbid, something goes pop when you're pushing it hard. Having a backup ride is one of the greatest feelings known to the modern motorsport enthusiast.

sanman wrote: Well, it seems like most people are suggesting option 2 with some suggesting a version of option 3 (more entertaining reliable DD and a fun project car). So, keeping in mind the recent project failure at GRM, any suggestions on how to make the Camry more fun on a small budget. I was thinking the Camry SE strut brace, larger wheels, and maybe a mild suspension upgrade. I figure that is most of the difference between a Camry and a mazda 6 anyway. The other reason I like the change in DD is a hatch/wagon for utility appeals more than the sedan. Tough decisions

Sell it and use funds to buy a manual sedan

sanman wrote: Well, it seems like most people are suggesting option 2 with some suggesting a version of option 3 (more entertaining reliable DD and a fun project car). So, keeping in mind the recent project failure at GRM, any suggestions on how to make the Camry more fun on a small budget. I was thinking the Camry SE strut brace, larger wheels, and maybe a mild suspension upgrade. I figure that is most of the difference between a Camry and a mazda 6 anyway. The other reason I like the change in DD is a hatch/wagon for utility appeals more than the sedan. Tough decisions

I would go 2 or 3 as well.

I have a '90 Miata track rat, and an '06 Miata for a DD. Only problem is I would like to do some light mods to the '06, but that takes away money from the play car.