Seasonal Car owners... Q & A

[403Gemini]

I was just wondering to you guys with the "Seasonal cars" (was inspired by 95EagleAWD's thread about his nsx) - do you find it a lot of hassle to only have a car you use once every couple months for insurance / maintenance etc?

Im sorta stuck right now deciding if i want a newer car (2005+) that i can drive all year round or if i want to get something older but a nice project car. Something like a MR2 or 300zx and have like a early 90's civic or integra as a winter car (so id be looking at 15-17 grand for 2 cars vs 20-25 grand for 1 car.

Or since id probably be signing over the lease to my dad for the cobalt i'd probably get the saturn back for the winters so id only be looking at 10-12 grand for a mr2 or 300zx to spend / retune / fixup.

Just wondering if i could get some input on this? I do like newer cars for the fact i wont have to replace so much shit and worry about upkeep on 2 cars, but I dont like a lot of newer cars and IMO find a lot of them incrediably disposable. Hell i was even thinking s14 with sr20 swap (since theres too many s13's lol)

Thoughts/opinions/suggestions? thanks a lot in advance guys

Cheers!

[ryanallan]

It sucks owning two or more cars and being in school !
However, if you have a job, and can afford to spend money on more than one car, go for it.

For me it was the fact that my "summer" car is from California and does not have any rust. I just don't want to spoil a car in such good conditon.

[403Gemini]

I know some cobalt owners are garaging their cars... i guess nothing wrong with that ... but seriously its an economy car and its nothing too special (least imo)

Im finished school so I could afford the two cars and realistically if im LUCKY and dont have a lot of problems then the 10-15 grand would be a lot easier for me to pay vs the lease payments (im assuming the 10-15 grand would come out to be cheaper...)

[Rarasaurus]

It all comes down to whether you like to spend a lot of time and effort on your cars. Having a new might be a little more expensive in the short run but it saves you a lot of head ache due to warrenty.

You will sacrifice that if you want a project car and whatever issues you have will be yours to deal with.

In the long run i believe the project car and the head ache that it comes with will cost you more than the lease payments and the peace of mind. For some people its worth it cause they love to work on their car. For others it might not be worth the hastle

[403Gemini]

Originally posted by Rarasaurus
It all comes down to whether you like to spend a lot of time and effort on your cars. Having a new might be a little more expensive in the short run but it saves you a lot of head ache due to warrenty.

You will sacrifice that if you want a project car and whatever issues you have will be yours to deal with.

In the long run i believe the project car and the head ache that it comes with will cost you more than the lease payments and the peace of mind. For some people its worth it cause they love to work on their car. For others it might not be worth the hastle

Thing about my car now is i dont like to do a lot of the work on it. Ill do the occasional thing with the help of a friend like intake, short throw, etc but id rather leave it to professionals cause if i fuck up.. well its my only car. If i had a project car and had another car on the side itd be nice to mess around with on it and get to know it inside and out without having to worry "if i mess up, im hooped!"

Ugh, the choices lol

[max_boost]

I debated the same thing.

Do you have the time/energy/$$$ to maintain a project/weekend/leisure car?

I didn't so that's why I just bought my WRX. I really wanted an NSX but it's just not what I needed, especially in Calgary.

Statefarm has a policy designed for the weekend/leisure car.

[bobby_lu]

I used to belive in this but now I really dont see the point in buying a nice car and just putting it away for so long, especially in Calgary. Buy the one nice car, and when winter comes around, do the appropriate things (tires, 3M, etc) and you are good to go. There are plenty of 100K+ cars rolling around year round, so whats the reason to store a a 15K car?

IMO, its ridiculous to say that people take more care of their cars if they dont drive them year round, expecially if its not an exotic, or something close.

[anhthanh]

its all up too u some people don't want to drive thier car in winter due to rust or the higher chance of gettin into an accident and wreck thier nice car which alot of $$ and time invested into. if u have the money why not get two cars so u don't get bored of driving one car all the time. once winter is over u'll be all excited to get in to ur weekend warrior

[403Gemini]

Originally posted by max_boost
I debated the same thing.

Do you have the time/energy/$$$ to maintain a project/weekend/leisure car?

I didn't so that's why I just bought my WRX. I really wanted an NSX but it's just not what I needed, especially in Calgary.

Statefarm has a policy designed for the weekend/leisure car.

How do you find the WRX man? it's one of the options im looking at if i do go new.

[95EagleAWD]

It's not too bad. I drove it every single day from April 15th to last Saturday. That's more than occasional usage. In two summers, I've gone from 64,xxx miles to 87,xxx when I parked it on the weekend.

That's not too bad at all.

It would be nice to have a DD, and I'm looking, especially for something more fun in the winter, but with my pay now, and my upcoming garbage DND pay, who knows what I'll be driving. I can afford the NSX on Army pay, but I dunno about much more.

[avow]

Originally posted by 403Gemini
I know some cobalt owners are garaging their cars...

anyways now that i can see again from laughing so hard i have an mr2 that i drive from april to october and then a honda accord (1991) that i drive in the winter and when weather is bad in the summer. what is really nice is when something goes wrong with the mr2 i have another car that i can use. and sometimes its nice to have the accord in the summer when i need the room. however there is something about that mr2, when the weather is nice, the t-tops are down, and you just go.

basically find a car you love, like you really can not live without. then buy it because you have to have it. if you can drive it in the winter then go for it! more use out of the car you love. but if you cant, just do what i do.

[TE4MFaint]

Definately has its ups and downs. I guess it depends what kind of beater you get. If you get a junker, winter is gonna be long and terrible for yah.
If you get something half decent, it wont be as bad.
I went from a 92 Toyota Celica for summer to an 86 Toyota Celica in the winter..and the difference was night and day.
The heater barely worked, no power options..she ran like a champ, but I didnt want to be driving it haha.

Now I have a 90 Celica Alltrac, that is meant for winter..but I truly dont even want it to go through the winter months haha.


Buying a nice car that you want to drive year round is a +...buttt if you enjoy it that much the occasional thought of not wanting it to suffer through winter comes to mind.


IMO, I'd say go for a newer car that you can drive year round. Nice WRX should do the trick

[Redlyne_mr2]

I think avow said it best... find a car you love...I find it healthy to have things to look forward too. Eg.. I look forward to parking the MR and pulling out the skis. By April Ill be sick of skiing and looking forward to pulling out the MR, it makes life interesting and I love playing around with cars so I dont mind the project.. always fun to go a bit faster each year. If youre still in school stick with one car for now though.

[Impreza]

In 2 summers, I put about 22xxx kms on my summer car, so you can still drive it quite a bit. Drove from end of April, until, well, I am still driving it so far this far! Once the snow hits and stays, it will be garaged.

It really sucks to put it away, but it gives you something to look forward to in the spring. In addition, it gives you some downtime for your car so you can install this and that without rushing. I rather have one fun summer car and a "beater" in the winter than one semi-fun car year round. I am pretty sure I will stick to this combo until I graduate and get a real job lol.

[max_boost]

Originally posted by 403Gemini


How do you find the WRX man? it's one of the options im looking at if i do go new.

Turbo, AWD, lots of fun.

[Mangina]

Step 1. Move out of moms house.

[A790]

I've had the MR2 parked for a little while now and I haven't even really thought twice about driving it since I work from home. I don't enjoy driving the Probe, so I only drive it when I have to. With the MR2 I enjoy driving, so I found I drove a lot more.

I am just looking forward to April

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

I'd say go with the WRX

That being said, my civic may be my DD, but I consider it my project. I love working on it. I also can't do anything too drastic as I don't have a second car to drive. I'd personally go with the newer car, and enjoy that, and once you think its old enough, turn it into a project. I'd pick up an 06-07 WRX, and then tune/mod it.

[88CRX]

Daily driven.... all day every day

Our winters aren't that bad at all... car wash once a week and your good to go

[avow]

Originally posted by 88CRX
Daily driven.... all day every day

Our winters aren't that bad at all... car wash once a week and your good to go

yea but dont you drive a fwd honda?