Thinking of ditching second car?

lisaluv1993

We have two cars but my husband works on rigs so he's away quite often. He has an A8 and I have a Golf at the end of its life. Getting through the last MOT was almost as much as the car's worth. I was thinking of selling the Golf for scrap and driving the A8 instead but the A8 isn't very fuel efficient and when I raised it with the hubby he wasn't happy at the possible mileage. I've half a mind to sell the A8 when he's next away but I know he'd never forgive me!

I need to make some suggestions and I'm looking for ideas. I don't want two cars but I know he wants something that looks good with a bit of oomph behind it. I want something with good mileage that's ecofriendly. Any suggestions on how I can convince him that we need one car and it needs to be more ecofriendly than an Audi A8?

Coastalwatch

If he wants a bit of oomph, just arrange a test drive in Tesla. The car will do the rest. Should cover your two requirements adequately. But I suspect others will each have their own suggestions!

tacpot12

The A8 is quite a special car, does the A8 actually need replacing? 

You should probably ditch the Golf and drive the A8; doing more miles in it will be better for it. Cars don't like to be sat unused for long periods. Unless the A8 is really low mileage now and has a full Audi service history, it is not going to be worth much when he has done with it; generally people do not want big, thirsty cars now, so there is really not much point keeping the miles off it. It's debatable whether you will save money driving the Audi - although you won't have to pay tax, insurance, servicing and MOTs on the Golf, if the mpg difference is high enough, you might find that the cost of the extra fuel will absorb all of the savings. Doing more miles in the A8 will also increase the insurance premium slightly, but if you are not a named driver already, it is worth asking about the cost of adding you as a named driver - when I added my partner to Skoda Octavia's insurance, my premium went down!

If you want to replace the A8, you'll have to find out what he would be happy with, as most cars are going to feel like a step down. 

EricMears

If you're comfortable with a Golf,  you could consider getting an e-Golf (or another BEV from VAG) ?  Fuel costs will plummet and servicing also rather cheaper (though still far more than really justified !) and road tax is free.  Leave hubby his A8 but laugh at him when he complains about running costs.

lisaluv1993

tacpot12 said:

The A8 is quite a special car, does the A8 actually need replacing?

Its a bit special for him. He used to have a picture of that specific car model on his wall when he was at uni. I think that's why he doesn't like me driving it, I think he's worried about it being damaged in an accident. I joked about replacing it with an MPV a while ago and the death stares from him OMG!!! I'm on the insurance but don't drive it having the golf. The A8 doesn't get used for months and I have to drive it to the valet to get it cleaned before he comes home. It just seems really stupid to have two cars and not use one but an A8 is too much for me. It's not a shop run car.

I think I'm stuck with either one overpowered car or two cars and one not being used. I'll take a look at an e-Golf although I quite like the Prius. I don't like Teslas they're too big!

JKenH

The most important thing is to enjoy the life you have and by the sound of it your other half enjoys his A8 and you shouldn’t deny him that. It sounds as though it doesn’t do many miles so your not singlehandedly destroying the planet hanging onto it. Keep the A8 and buy a cheap electric car for a runabout. 

macman

Fuel efficiency: what is your annual mileage, and how much extra is using the A8 vs the Golf actually going to cost you?  Probably a lot less than the cost of changing it for something more economic.

EricMears

lisaluv1993 said:

The A8 doesn't get used for months and I have to drive it to the valet to get it cleaned before he comes home. 

If  "The A8 doesn't get used for months"  then perhaps you (both of you) should consider SORNing it whilst he's away ? Alas,  you'd only get credit for complete months even so, declaring it off-road as soon as he's finished using it and not retaxing it until he wants to use it could save at least one month's tax and maybe more.

Not really sure why you have to take it for valeting ?  If he took it himself he wouldn't need to include you on its insurance (though that may not save very much !) or if you really want to save money,  let him wash it himself.

silverwhistle

It depends what you use the cars for. For example I've recently bought a new EV, and paid far more than I've ever paid for a car, but I still use my electric bike for some tasks. Tonight I'll be going to football training on it as it's only just over 2.5 miles and I'll get a warm up before I get there. Sometimes I use it for light shopping 3 miles away if I can get what I need in the panniers, or use it to go to the allotment when I'm not carrying loads. You need to analyse your own usage in a critical light as if you can avoid all the fixed costs of the VW you'll be saving a good bit.

mydreamality

I'm following this because I really want to know others' views and recommendations. I suppose it all depends on what your usage is and what the overall benefit of ditching a second car brings. Sometimes it's good to have a little runner for those short but necessary treks. 

Hexane

mydreamality said:

I suppose it all depends on what your usage is and what the overall benefit of ditching a second car brings. Sometimes it's good to have a little runner for those short but necessary treks. 

I'm not sure of the logic here. A car that can do long treks can also do short treks. Having a separate car just for the short treks seems unnecessary.