# Options on second vehicle



## RobLE (Mar 20, 2005)

Hi all

Looking at getting a more practical "second" vehicle - I love my 3.2 TT but it's not ideal when your interests outside of work are kayaking, mountain biking and surfing!

Not looking at new, or spending loads, but would like something that is cheaper to run and a little different so I would feel like driving it to work two or three days a week and saving some £££ on fuel, to justify owning two cars!

Ideally would like a 4x4 having previously owned an (expensive to run!) Jeep Cherokee and have looked at the Jeep Patriot (excellent on fuel etc.). However, I have also just had a quote for putting additional parking in at home, over the front garden and that's coming in at £8,000 alone!  This makes it very difficult to justify...

Whilst I do have a garage and a car space in front, as the property was built in the late 60s, the TT won't fit in it, being wider than a typical car from that era (although modern, single garages aren't much better for two door/wide door cars) so I have "considered" and only very tentatively, selling the TT and getting a narrower sports car (if there is such a thing, without going classic) that would fit in the garage and then the other car could sit in front. Or, is there a practical "narrow/short" vehicle (I know that's a contradiction!) that would fit in the garage? :?

Any thoughts/suggestions gratefully received, before the summer is over!

Thanks.


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## conlechi (May 6, 2006)

We have a A3 sportback for our daily , 1.4 TFSI frugal on pertol ,nippy low insurance and practical  there is Quattro version as well if you want 4wd


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## MrQaud (Jun 5, 2013)

Buy an old 1.9 TDI Passat Estate and park it on the street. You'll comfortably get your bike in the back and your Kayak on the roof and no one would touch it parked on the street. I bought one for this very task about 18 months ago for £1100 (53 plate). Been the most reliable car I've had, does 60 mpg and no one gives it a second look.


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## Jez xbx (Oct 24, 2014)

MrQaud said:


> Buy an old 1.9 TDI Passat Estate and park it on the street. You'll comfortably get your bike in the back and your Kayak on the roof and no one would touch it parked on the street. I bought one for this very task about 18 months ago for £1100 (53 plate). Been the most reliable car I've had, does 60 mpg and no one gives it a second look.


i've got a 2.0l one on 59 plate with loads of miles
pretty bomb proof
fantastic on long journeys
gets all your crap in the back
bonus!


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## firediamonduk (Dec 24, 2013)

Land Rover Disco? Plenty of space, 4x4, hold their money for when you want to get rid and still has a bit of luxuary...


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## paulw12 (Mar 31, 2015)

Skoda Octavia vrs estate.....


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## firediamonduk (Dec 24, 2013)

paulw12 said:


> Skoda Octavia vrs estate.....


I would not have thought this would be any more economical than the TT :roll: lol

How about a transporter though? Probs not much more economical again but would suit the purpose...?


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## paulw12 (Mar 31, 2015)

paulw12 said:


> Skoda Octavia vrs estate.....


oops.......missed TDI off.my bad
http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-review ... st-review/


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## RobLE (Mar 20, 2005)

Thanks guys - was hoping to find something that would fit in the garage ideally (whether it's the sporty car or the second car) so the other (hopefully still my TT!) can stay on the drive. I would happily park something in the street with no worries (or little worry!) of anyone purposely damaging it, but from a really quiet road, it's become a pretty busy road traffic-wise unfortunately (thanks to Tesco, opening at the top of the road) and although it's all detached houses with concealed driveways and a 30mph limit, people frequently speed up and down it with little regard for anything parked on it!

Whilst we all drive fast cars and I'm sure do drive fast where it's safe to do so :wink: I've become something of a Victor Meldrew with regards to the speeding on my road! :roll: :x

Thing is, if I get something that isn't a little different as a second car I won't want to drive it anywhere other than to transport the kayak/bike when I also have a TT! If I get something like a 4x4 I'll probably still take some pleasure in driving it and happily drive it to work some days...

I did wonder about a cheap Audi Allroad but I guess that's still going to be expensive to run. £8,000 to put a drive in, for a £5,000 (tops!) second car seems difficult to justify, although for that I'd be able to park 4 - 5 cars, should I ever see the need! 

Any other ideas?


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## cookbot (Apr 19, 2011)

I've just got this as my second vehicle..... Retro!


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## RobLE (Mar 20, 2005)

Nice van! 

I hate to admit this, but in a rash moment I actually considered selling the TT and getting a Range Rover Sport! Nice inside, looks good for work, reasonable to drive I am sure and practical. Then I came to my senses! Thing is, if something is "too" good, I wouldn't want to put a bike in the back, a kayak on the roof or want to leave it in a beachside car park/on the moors whilst I'm biking/hiking...

The Jeep Patriot fits much of the requirements and with the 2.0D Golf engine is meant to be reliable and brilliant on fuel. Also cheap to insure and reasonable to tax. Rare as rocking horse **** around here though so would mean traveling to buy one and even that seems too good to leave on the road and risk getting knocked in some ways.

Do you think Tesco would pay for me to have the drive put in?!


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## mr spoon (Jul 27, 2014)

Narrow, cheap to run, 4x4. Got to be the Panda 4x4 diesel.


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## 2elliot (Dec 7, 2014)

Get an Audi A6 C5 1.9TDI. You will die of old age before it does and you can get an excellent one for less than £5k.

Ours is on 150k miles and we still love it. Bmx, scooters, rubbish, small children, dogs, drunk mates... It's carried the lot all over the UK. Great cars.


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## MrQaud (Jun 5, 2013)

firediamonduk said:


> paulw12 said:
> 
> 
> > Skoda Octavia vrs estate.....
> ...


I've a T5 Transporter too, for when all five of us decide to go mountain biking - get the 5 of us, all our bikes, riding gear and 2 dogs in no probs - great machine - 1.9 TD engine is a little slow on acceleration but it will return 40+ mpg if driven carefully. Probably a bit of overkill unless you have kids though. I use the Passat when it's just me and the Transporter when it's the family... Oh, and the TTs when there is nothing to lug about... 

Here's a pic...


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## RobLE (Mar 20, 2005)

No kids - just me at present! A mate has one of those VW vans and it is really useful, but he's not that reliable on heading to the outdoors! Can fit two single kayaks in it though (just) but its a foot short of fitting the double kayak, which is a shame and it's pretty high to put the kayak on the roof.

A FIAT Panda 4x4! Well, they are meant to be pretty good but no thanks! Another friend has one of those - and yellow with his yellow kayak on the roof - it looks ridiculous!

The Dacia Dusters are darn cheap used and I would imagine cheap to run too. Would look ok if you could beef them up a bit with some offroad kit.

BMW X3/X5 can be had for peanuts now, the X3 I wouldn't think would be too bad on costs - X5 probably isn't the best "cheap" buy though!

It's a shame I can't widen my garage, put the TT in it and get the Jeep.


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## stevett (Jan 13, 2003)

DouBle check your insurance also. A lot of insurance companies won't let you use your hard earned no claims bonus on two cars simultaneously. Daft I know, I was annoyed when i found out. I only have one car now though.


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## cherie (Oct 23, 2014)

A2 1.4 tdi. 60 mpg, cheap to tax and insure. It's a small car that's like a bleedin' tardis! Rear seats can come out entirely to turn it into a van, so it's amazingly practical. Narrower than a TT. Aluminium space frame design so it won't rust, but it incredibly light (it's actually easier to push it in and out of a garage than start the engine). Plus there's not that many of them around, so you've got the rarity factor. I don't generally like diesels much, but the 3 cylinder diesel has a quirky purr, rather than being rattly.

You can pick up a 2004 70k-80k in good nick for about £4-£4.5k

The other half has his M3 for power, and his A2 chugger for commuting, and loves it:










Rear seats folded:









Rear seats out:









Can get roof racks to fit easily too.
http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=110&t=26736 (his 'this is my new car' thread where i lifted the photos from :lol: )

Edit: just looked up the sizes: A2 is 200mm shorter, 100mm narrower than a TT.


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## ag (Sep 12, 2002)

A narrow cheap to run sports car is an absolute no-brainer - A motorcycle!

Most motorcyclists, not all, have a pratical cheap to run car for the trip to work and shopping in the winter and a fire breathing monster in the perfectly adequate 1960s garage. Most big bikes will do 40-45mpg, have low insurance and fit in a garage.

/End of preaching


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## cherie (Oct 23, 2014)

ag said:


> A narrow cheap to run sports car is an absolute no-brainer - A motorcycle!
> 
> Most motorcyclists, not all, have a pratical cheap to run car for the trip to work and shopping in the winter and a fire breathing monster in the perfectly adequate 1960s garage. Most big bikes will do 40-45mpg, have low insurance and fit in a garage.
> 
> /End of preaching


The only criteria that a bike fills is it fits in the garage. I don't think a bike would be very good at carrying ski's, kayak etc! :lol:


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## RobLE (Mar 20, 2005)

Thanks for the further comments!

Insurance-wise - I know I wouldn't be able to utilise my full NCD on both vehicles unfortunately - but at my ripe old age of 42 it isn't too much of an issue now, with around £300 premium for the second-car in year one, with no NCD and business use.

Not even considered the Audi A2! Would be ok for the mountain bike, but not so sure about a kayak on the roof? How wide is it - would it fit in a 1960's standard single garage, would you know?

Thanks.


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## RobLE (Mar 20, 2005)

I'm throwing a wildcard in to the mix - Jaguar X-Type Estate!  Lots of load carrying ability, good on fuel...have I gone mad to even consider it?


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## firediamonduk (Dec 24, 2013)

RobLE said:


> I'm throwing a wildcard in to the mix - Jaguar X-Type Estate!  Lots of load carrying ability, good on fuel...have I gone mad to even consider it?


As long as it is a diesel! Petrol 4x4 X-Types are pants...

Although if you were going that route you would be better off with a Mondeo ST Diesel estate as same car underneath with cheaper running costs...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## cherie (Oct 23, 2014)

RobLE said:


> Not even considered the Audi A2! Would be ok for the mountain bike, but not so sure about a kayak on the roof? How wide is it - would it fit in a 1960's standard single garage, would you know?
> 
> Thanks.


1673mm wide according to Parkers. That usually includes the wing mirrors, but I can check that if you want. I've no idea how wide your garage is though, so you're best off measuring it really.

I don't think you'd have any issues with a kayak: http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/156842/love-audi-a2?page=2 because of the height of the car, Audi made the suspension fairly stiff particularly afyer the issues Mercedes had with their early A class cars tipping over..!

The OH has also just mentioned you can get a specific in car bike rack that attaches to the floor that the front forks attach to: https://shops.audi.com/en_GB/web/zubehoer/p/interior-bike-rack-4l0071134-9


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## RobLE (Mar 20, 2005)

Thanks all - and regarding the A2. That bike carrier looks pretty nifty but not sure about putting double kayak on the roof of a car as small as an A2!

It's quite fun looking when it's a second car that you're not too concerned about what it is and with a limited budget, providing it does the job from a practicality point and is still reasonable to look at, drive etc.

Volvo XC-70, Subaru Forester, Freelander, Jaguar X-Type Estate...?

Shame the early Audi A6 Allroads don't get better reviews - haven't seen a favourable one yet! :?


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## ag (Sep 12, 2002)

cherie said:


> ag said:
> 
> 
> > A narrow cheap to run sports car is an absolute no-brainer - A motorcycle!
> ...


The idea is a motorcycle for fun plus something practical for commuting or kayaking. A used Zafira or Picaso is probably favourite. The alternative is, of course, a VW Transporter.


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## RobLE (Mar 20, 2005)

I couldn't bring myself to buy a Zafira or Piccaso! Quite liking the look of the Subaru Forester (circa 2002 - 2004) at the moment...


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