Running a second car

john

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Looking at this post here guessing quite a few have a couple of cars. Due to an upcoming restructuring of the fleet of prestigious motor vehicles here at Retrobike HQ may run my current car as a second.

Interested as to the main considerations, assume it'd be insurance. Any recommendations for insurers / approaches.
 
John":3s8z2l10 said:
Looking at this post here guessing quite a few have a couple of cars. Due to an upcoming restructuring of the fleet of prestigious motor vehicles here at Retrobike HQ may run my current car as a second.

Interested as to the main considerations, assume it'd be insurance. Any recommendations for insurers / approaches.
Be careful of the new-ish SORN laws - don't just affect tax, but insurance.

As to insurance, some will recommend these multi-car policies. When I was running 2 cars for myself, I just negotiated with my insurers, in terms of getting a good deal - they offered me some* (*can't remember how many, at a guess, 2 or 3) years NCB, that actually meant it was cheaper to go with them, then cancel, and take out a new multi-car policy (they didn't offer multi-car policies at the time.

My advice, if you do end up running a "spare" car, that's one you trust, and is fairly reliable, after a while, you may be inclined to see the costs as a waste and get rid - well I don't regret getting rid of some of the 2nd cars I've run, but there's been the odd one or two that I wish I'd not let go - they weren't worth much financially, yet were reliable and a good standby for either when one of the others was in the garage or it was just handy for whatever reason to have a spare as a runaround (it's compulsory to say that with a Mike-Reid-esque delivery).

If either of them has become a bit of a pain in terms of problems that keep cropping up, though, it will rob you of any love you have for it.
 
Another potential issue... like most mechanical devices cars really don't like sitting unused for long periods of time and I've found that a car that's pretty reliable when used daily becomes a pain with all sorts of niggles and problems arising if it's left for weeks at a time. If you have somewhere warm and dry to store the mostly unused one it's less of an issue but even so I'd try and make sure it was used once a week or so at least.
 
ajm":qz234dqn said:
Another potential issue... like most mechanical devices cars really don't like sitting unused for long periods of time and I've found that a car that's pretty reliable when used daily becomes a pain with all sorts of niggles and problems arising if it's left for weeks at a time. If you have somewhere warm and dry to store the mostly unused one it's less of an issue but even so I'd try and make sure it was used once a week or so at least.

Your honor, I only shot all those people to make sure my guns always remained in proper working condition.
 
Ran three cars for a while and used a multi-car policy with Admiral. If you try insuring 3rd car separate we were getting ripped with not being able to use no claims on a 2nd car if being used on another. Got expensive too in the end and ditched the toy :?
 
Depends what car(s) you're talking about, like LGF said you can get limited mileage policies, classic policies etc.
Had my mx5 on a Classis policy with Aon, and then Adrian Flux, whilst also running a cheapo diesel daily with the same insurer.
What's best for one person might not be best for you, so make sure you shop around.
 
I reckoned that any second car cost a minimum of £1000 a year in tax, insurance, bit of maintenance etc. This was about the same as 10-15 days rental per year. So I sold the second car, intending to rent whenever I needed it...which has been 6 days in 5 years.

Spent £500 of the saving on a tandem, which gets used for taking the kids around locally instead of a car. It's a win/win/win: another bike, healthier and more fun!
 
Absolutely agree with this. If used regularly then fine, but if a "favourite" takes over and the "less fortunate vehicle" sits idle for a few months all sorts of gremlins can creep in. Don't ask me how I know this :facepalm:

ajm":1l18ugwj said:
Another potential issue... like most mechanical devices cars really don't like sitting unused for long periods of time and I've found that a car that's pretty reliable when used daily becomes a pain with all sorts of niggles and problems arising if it's left for weeks at a time. If you have somewhere warm and dry to store the mostly unused one it's less of an issue but even so I'd try and make sure it was used once a week or so at least.
 
Cheers chaps, been getting a few insurance quotes, need to see if I can insure as a 'classic', might be stretching it a bit...

Other alternative is to take the car off the road (might be able to find somewhere to dry store it FOC) but would think if I can continue running it (if only occasionally) that would be a better option.
 
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