Anyone Gone from a 2 Car Family to a 1 Car Family?

If you're doing bugger all miles and can afford it, keep the golf. Most of the cost in driving is depreciation and fuel, and if you've already taken the depreciation hit on both cars and don't drive interstellar mileages, it doesn't really matter which one you keep... just get a roof or tailgate rack for the golf if it won't take a towbar, and really, it's a golf, it'll do anything pretty much, that's the whole reason that the golf exists!
We had a sequence of tiny cars when we were kids/teenagers/young adults, and they did everything for a family of 4. (Original Panda, 126, Nova, 127, Original Beetle, Fiesta, Metro...)

Even did weekends away racing with a mate (2 bikes, full camping set up, spare wheels, tool box etc) in cars that size!

For me the biggest challenge would be how we treat the cars - I do not like food crumbs, wrappers and old parking tickets stuffed in the door pockets for example. I have considered it however especially as my car gets long in the tooth/high miles. Our other potential option is a cheap electric (if there is such a thing when we are looking) for most uses, and an old large diesel estate for holidays, longer trips etc. Most of our journeys are well under 100 miles (and usually about 10).

One solution to getting rid of the Golf might be to have a small hire budget for when you want a more exciting drive?

Yes. We did it when I was made redundant 12 years ago. Worked absolutely fine for us - predominantly as the Mrs needed the car for school runs and to get to work, whereas I could cycle/walk to work. The car, however, was an old Kia Sorrento mainly used outside of the above for caravan towing duties. When it broke, we replaced it with a more 'normal' estate car and then the Mrs decided that she hated driving 'big' cars. We got the opportunity to get a Kia Picanto through someone at work for a great price, so ended up back at 2 cars. I'm constantly fighting with the mental argument over whether we should still have 2 cars or not again, but...the Picanto won't pull the caravan (would be hilarious watching it explode trying though), and the Mrs still hates driving 'big' cars. Latest estate is a 2015 Passat.

Oh, and the biggest issue I had with the one-car scenario was that it was 'my' car, but every time I wanted to use it, I'd spend most of a day just trying to get the driving position right for me again - no posh memory system you see: steering wheel moved; mirrors moved; seat moved in all directions it was possible. Used to drive me insane. (See what I did there? I'll get my coat 😉 )

Deffo cheaper though. What's stopping us at the moment is fuel costs. Picanto is petrol. Passat is diesel. If we ever stop taking a caravan for hols with the youngest fazzini now 14 that may not be too far off in the distance, we will go back to one car. A 'mid' sized one t suit both of us. A VW Golf sounds perfect 🤔🤔😂😂

EDIT:

I do not like food crumbs, wrappers and old parking tickets stuffed in the door pockets for example

This ^^^ x1000. The wife's car is such a disgrace I refuse to go in it.

We went to 1 when our old Aygo died and we were left with an even old zafira. We planned to get rid of the Aygo anyway and need a bigger car for family camping/cycling and long distance trips to see family.

My wife has the car for work most days, but I'd I need it we try to work diaries around it. Public transport isn't too great here, but we're both happy to cycle to the shop if needs be.

Day to day it's not been to much hassle to work around. This weekend I'll be taking it away with a mate to a bike event so it leaves my wife and son at home car-less, but I'll make sure the shopping is all in before we go and they do have bikes or access to a bus. I've also had the odd car-less weekend/few days but we just took at calendars and plan.

The only downside we've really had is it it's needed work doing we don't have a car to use while it's off the road, but it's not been a major issue. We don't use the type of garages where we'd get a courtesy car, I no guess a taxi or hire car could be used at a push.

Don't regret the move to one car at all. Saving both cash and the planet.

Yes, we still have a 14 plate Kia shortage and got ride of an 08 focus which was still going strong,

Family of 4, boys now 5 and 7. We both work from home 4 or 5 days a week.

99% of the time it is fine. It does mean some more restrictions, for instance when one boy has a party and the other isn’t invited - you have to do things from home. I also can’t just drive to further afield trails for a ride like I used to, which has definitely cut back on my mtb riding. But a small gripe really

Cars are a massive financial drain even when they're not being used - depreciation, insurance, road fund/tax, MOT, servicing. We are a two car family and run older self serviced depreciation free cars but if I needed to 'tighten the belt' I would quite happily drop down to one car.
In your position I would sell the Golf - personally I wouldn't want the potential scroat magnet of an R and secondhand values are probably at their peak currently. If you needed to scratch the track day itch in the future you could get a cheap project/toy that is on SORN / towed by the 3008 to events.

Yes but it was a ball ache, now back to 2.

It will depend a great deal on where you live, I would have thought.
Urban location with good public transport/local services - probably not an issue.
Middle of nowhere with no public transport/local services - probably a pain in the arse.

Sounds like you've considered it carefully though & it should work for your situation.
At the end of the day it doesn't have to be a permanent change.
Could you not park one of the cars up for a month & vow not to use it, to see how you adjust?
Or just get rid & if it doesn't work out, chalk it up to experience & buy another car?

We are a 4 car family and there is only 2 of us! I'm working on a plan to get down to 2. (Partly this is driven from work restrictions on the type of car we can claim the 'car allowance' against.)

Yeah, we have been on one car for years.
I cycled for a few years and the went to WFH. I occasionally get a rental or taxi but these are getting much more expensive (rental used to be £30 for a day).

I think in the future we will end up with two cars again, just for convenience. There are times when we want to do separate things and can't. Currently the school run is only 1 mile so I cycle but we are thinking of moving and this will probably increase.

I think the answer is one huge van type vehicle for weekends/holidays and then a small fuel efficient one for my wife's commute.

Use Monday as an example. Wife is at work so will need the car. I'm off with daughter so will be restricted to doing things from home (obviously not a problem because we plan to stay in, watching the funeral and wailing to "show our respect").

Considered it, tried it, went back to 2 cars. My OH and I work FT and my kids are 5 and 9 and constantly need ferrying around for sports, swimming etc (especially after school) and often in different locations at the same time. We walk/cycle and lift share with other parents where we can but some of it is quite far out of the village and where we live is pretty hilly and there just isn’t time to ride with the kids. Trying to balance it all with lift shares, ‘booking’ the one car etc became a massive source of stress between us. So we relented and went back to two cars. TBF it was me driving the ‘one car’ trial, my OH was not convinced and ultimately correct.

Edit: this is factoring on that we don’t drive for the school run: cycling/walking only for that.

The wife’s car is such a disgrace I refuse to go in it.

Don’t understand ‘my car’ ‘wife’s car’ at all. When we had 2 cars they were both our cars that we used more or less equally. I suppose if you do have this mindset dropping to one would be more difficult, who is losing ‘their car’.

We cope fine with one larger car, but I really miss the small nippy one for quick shopping trips etc.

We're in the process of doing this, in a similar situation. I work from home, partner works about ten minutes away (but it takes her three times as long because she doesn't like motorways, roundabouts, turning right and, erm, driving generally really).

The answer to "what if...?" is actually quite simple. There is a - granted, vanishingly remote - chance that I might have to do a site visit at short notice, or go into the office. Say my only option is a £200 round trip in a taxi. That's still cheaper than having a car sat outside.

(Partly this is driven from work restrictions on the type of car we can claim the ‘car allowance’ against.)

Do they check? Would they ever know?

Had just one for many years, but it was easy and cheap back then to rent a car locally if I was off somewhere for the weekend and wife needed a car too. Now the hire place has closed and the inconvenient options are way more expensive.

Bought a petrol MPV when we had family over rather than rent one, and I've just kept it as even with a (DIY) service, MOT, tax and insurance it's worth having for the camping trips, chucking all our bikes in or doing tip runs as well the the odd time we need two cars.

(but it takes her three times as long because she doesn’t like motorways, roundabouts, turning right and, erm, driving generally really).

What does she do if she has to turn right at a roundabout?! 🙂

I am hoping to do this in 3 years time. We live on the edge of the Derby City/Derbyshire Dales border and this means that although there is a school within walking distance (Derby City) my son is placed at a school 3 miles away (Derbyshire). You cant commute to it by bike either as it just isn't safe (no pavement and a fast 50-60mph B road connects them).

Once he finishes primary school he will get the bus to school so removes the dependence on the 2nd car. Luckily the 2nd car is an 11 year old Astra Estate that costs very little to run - I have written of the purchase cost so it works out about £30 a month for tax and insurance - plus any diesel). Other than school runs when the wife is at work or when we need the large estate for holidays it sits on the drive as I bike into work everyday. We were at one car years ago pre having a child so hope we can do it again.

Family of 3 here (daughter is 10 and rides to school), we got rid of a second car at the weekend. last year it did 400 miles, the year before 250!

I ride to the office 4 days a week year round, Friday at home. t'wife has gotten use to riding into work 3 days a week (how long that lasts into the autumn we'll see...) other days WFH. I can't recall the last time we 'needed' both cars at once.

We'd been saying we should get rid of it for the last 4 years or so but wasn't until a chap in my office said his nephew was looking that we finally got rid. A hassle free sale done in less than 15 minutes, £750 for a 19 year old Polo with busted window winding mechanism!

owning 2 cars vs 1 is no better or worse for the environment, its the miles that make a difference

we went from 2 cars to 1, it was ok for a while but the challenge was at weekends when someone wanted to go away, it would strand the other person at home. So went back up to 2. Renting\taxis is all well and good, but when the cost is so visible (£100 for a weekend or so) it puts you off, whereas when its "hidden" in the cost of having a car, its not.

If you want to cut costs, swap the golf for a banger, with very few miles going on it reliability isn't much of a concern.

Yes but it was a ball ache, now back to 2.

Said it better than me 😂

Don’t understand ‘my car’ ‘wife’s car’ at all.

No unusual in a lot of households - I've had my car 2 years and the wife has driven it less than a dozen times. Not because I won't let her, it's just how it is.

owning 2 cars vs 1 is no better or worse for the environment, its the miles that make a difference

Yes but insurance, tax and (age related) servicing cost regardless, so dropping to 1 is certainly easier on the wallet...

Sold my M2 a few weeks ago. I don't really miss it. Loved the car, but was finding excuses just to drive it! I have a company van for work, GF has her own car (that she hardly uses now she works from home anyway), my M2 was just a superfluous luxury that seemed like the money would be better off doing something else with (it's now sat in Premium Bonds, until we can find a bigger house at least).

If the OP isn't too attached to the Golf R, I'd say let it go. It's just a car. They're still holding their value incredibly well, so now would be a decent time to sell. As long as you're happy riding to work come what may, then it's the obvious answer... Though given I have the luxury of a work van to use when I want, necessitated by my job, I guess I am in a luckier position than most!

I’ll pick up on the commuting point. I did a similar distance for a year a while back, and it was tough. I was hungry throughout the day and knackered most evenings. I did sleep a lot more soundly, though, and went down half a stone & improved my heart rate & recovery times. Disclaimer- I was probably older than you at 50+, so YMMV.

We just went down to one car as the new one won't be ready until January - and I'm already browsing the classifieds after 5 days.

During the week is no bother, but it's the weekends that will be the problem when we both have different plans.

It doesn't help that most our friends and family are in opposite directions to where we live, and we have lots of things in the calendar.

I’ll pick up on the commuting point. I did a similar distance for a year a while back, and it was tough.

I used to do 24km each way and I feel just the same as I do doing 10km now. I seem to give it more beans on the shorter ride in! Bonking on the way home though is less 'orrible with only 3-4km to go as opposed to 12-14km. I don't miss having to eat half the contents of the kitchen when getting home every now and then!

Family, there's just me & Mrs Dubs, but yes years ago.

We have one car and a car club membership, costs about £200 a year and £9 to £11 an hour to hire.

Don’t understand ‘my car’ ‘wife’s car’ at all.

If you read the post, maybe poorly worded by me? but I'm no Wordsworth, my wife does not like driving 'my' car - she does not like driving any big cars. This is how we differentiate. TBH its really just a jovial thing in our house - her car is "hers" - purely how I describe it, cos its a disgrace inside, whereas as mine is "mine", again purely how I describe it, cos its not a disgrace. YMMV

@jimdubleyou can you tell us about this car club.
I assume that this wouldn't work for us because we don't live in a city.

We use https://www.zipcar.com/en-gb Runs in London, Bristol, Oxford and Cambridge

Maybe your local authority has a provider already and it's just a case of getting something nearby - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/car-clubs-local-authority-toolkit/car-clubs-local-authority-toolkit

Edit: a search of rural car club brought this up - https://www.hants.gov.uk/transport/transportoperators/community-transport-kit/setting-up/car-club

We did this recently and it was ok when I was working at home or in the nearby office but was painful when I needed to travel for work.

They did get me hire cars on several occasions but hire companies are having issues supplying vehicles at the moment.

I do audaxes once or twice a month and often have to drive to the start - that means having the car for an entire day which can cause some issues.

The major issue was when the one car we have was off the road for repairs. This happened twice for a week at a time which really made things difficult. Not helped by the car being 15 years old and getting increasingly unreliable.

Have just taken delivery of a new lease car which seems extravagant but daughter has started at a new sixth form that is a few miles away with no easy public transport option. She/her mother will not consider cycling 🙁

Went from 2 company cars to 1 owned car last December, worked well until wife changed jobs & with the prospect of her being away at conferences etc & me being the one getting the car allowance, thought we'd better go back to go back to 2 cars, so that's now 2 second hand cars bought at the peak of prices 😭. In the previous 9 months we only hired a car* once but I also have a motorbike.
*actually a van coz they're way cheaper

depends entirely where you live.

Never had two cars here, other than between buying one and selling another.
OH doesnt drive much. I dont drive much more. between us around 3k miles a year
But we live in suburbia, and can cycle to work, school nursery and all 4 or 5 of the giant supermarches around the city.

3 kids aged 6, 2 and 6 weeks.

We do have two cargo bikes though, which are our absoloute go tos for kid transport, and "the big" shop.

A Yuba el mundo, and a Babboe Flow.
We got the Babboe for the arrival of No 3, as it will take all 3 kids including the littlest in a car seat.
Yuba is old and worth much more as transport for aged 6 and 2, and general run around, than the measely couple of hundred quid we would get for it.

Cars are a ball ache for local journeys. sitting in traffic and then youve got to find somewhere to park the thing at a cost.

Cargo bikes are cool. Everyone should have an electrically assisted cargo bike as their second car.

fwiw I also have a bakfiets bike (not electrically assisted, I just pedal hard) - and whilst its a nice way of getting the kids around its more of a ballache than a car. You can't easily nip past traffic (not much in the way of cycle lanes here) like you can in a normal bike due to the width/length and the (absolutely essential) waterproof "tent" to keep the kids warm/dry is a faff compared to just chucking them in a car. My wife won't go near it as its too heavy and cumbersome (regardless of the elec assist). its also tough to get kids and shopping onboard (1 kid is fine), so errands aren't quite as easy to plan out.

I enjoy using it, but it has massive compromises compared to just using a car

Yes, went down to 1 car 6 years ago after my company car was given back after moving offices. Now cycle to work year round although hybrid working lately, wife can walk to work and kids can walk to school. Most of my activities involve mates so can get lifts,if I'm out she's home with kids and vise versa. Probably have to hire a car once a year if she's goes away with friends a grab a lift and pay my mate fuel and buy him coffees/beer. Shops and supermarket walkable as is climbing wall and decent bars so it's been easy really.

We've 2 kids age 3 and 5. We've never owned a second car, and to be honest it sounds like you don't need to either. The only conflict point is occasional weekends when I want to drive to a race out of the city and my wife wants to bring the kids somewhere far away. We're fortunate that we can usually borrow the inlaws' car in that situation. It is only 2-3 times a year, so even if we couldn't, the cost of car hire or car share or even taxi would not be prohibitive. A second car which is only rarely used is a massive waste of money.

We looked at going to no car, but holidays/day trips out of the city would be too awkward or expensive.

One car for years. The thing that helped me was when I flipped from being a car enthusiast to just thinking of them as carriers of people that burn money, time and energy. It does mean we drive a crumb filled and never cleaned Vauxhall Zafira, but it works for nipping to the shops, after school runs and 100s mile camping trips.

I do yearn after something more refined, but these days that would be a Ford Tourneo Connect or a Berlingo E (once they can do 200 miles on a charge), and I don't want to be one of those dads that tells the kids off for breathing wrong on a Berlingo.

First World Problems

I can't figure out how to quote previous responses, but in reference to the previous comments about bike commute- when I started riding to work due to loss of licence (due to a heart condition, not down to my driving style!) I found I was eating loads. It probably wasn't as costly as driving to work, but I still got through quite a bit. Extra protein was the key. That was on a 9 mile each way mtb commute across the forest of dean, with around 1800ft climbing per day. I adjusted in the end, but it took a while and for a few months I didn't have the energy to go out and ride for fun very often.
We have recently dropped from 2 cars & van to 1 car and van. The wife works from home mostly, and I changed jobs recently and now work 1.5 miles away so I ride in virtually every day. So we only have 2 vehicles sat on the drive all day instead of 3! It's still saving us around £100/month though, vs my old 10 mile commute in the roomster (she will be sorely missed!) I did the servicing myself, it was depreciation free and never really needed any repair - but even so the insurance, mot, road fund licence added up to around £50/month, and I spent another 50 on diesel.
I'll be looking at those cargo bikes that someone mentioned, that would be ace for popping to town for the shopping.

You can’t easily nip past traffic (not much in the way of cycle lanes here) like you can in a normal bike

I would reccomend taking a look at an electric conversion. The main benefit i find isnt "making it easier", but having the poke and acceleration to keep up with and accelerate with traffic. I think its MUCH safer to not be a lumbering land yacht. On the babboe, yes, as you say it is wider and it takes corners slower, but two wheelers, the Yuba (and our Urban arrow we had previously) were perfectly "nippy" for round here.

Our Yuba is a front hub motor conversion (we bought it second hand, with the conversion) and i was really suprised. its not the tidiest, with a cable zip tied to the fork etc but its plenty powerful and had been maintanance free for 10+ years

thanks for all the detailed replies everyone.

Seems to be quite a few who have done it with success and a few who it didnt suit. Your feedback has been invaluable!

We do have 'his' car and 'her' car. This is down to who actually bought the vehicles. I bought the Golf, she bought the 3008. Although we are both insured on each car, so can use either, but we gravitate to our 'own' vehicles.

We live in suburbia, with most things in fairly easy reach, rather than out in the sticks, which sounds like a tougher gig if down to a single vehicle.

@5lab - you are right, 10k miles a year in two cars is the same as 20k in one car. But i think if the 'convenience' of a second car is removed then the cahnces are greater of not making that trip or walking/cycling.

@drlex - hunger has definitely increased with all the riding. I did recently invest in an e-commuter which helps take the edge off massively. I can ride 5 days a week without too much stress, whereas on my gravel bike after day 3 i was questioning my decisions!

@jimdubleyou - interesting, maybe i car club is something i need to investigate. Saying that, there is a Corolla estate (i think it is) always parked on my housing estate with some sort of 'car club' livery on the door.

@prontomonto - yup, i agree, to have either car sitting there doing nothing does feel like a waste. Its only a recent thing mind.

@thebunk - interesting mindset. I used to love cars, but have less of an interest these days. I used to do loads of track days, did two seasons of racing and was into the modded car scene back in the day. But get my thrills mostly from bike riding, so if i didnt do another track day again, it wouldnt be the end of the world.

@alpin - splendid input sir, much appreciated.

my wife pays for her car, it's taxed, MOT'd and serviced by her...

Funnily enough, i pay for mine in the same way...

That's why hers is hers and mine is well, mine.

We can both drive either... but we rarely do.

I would reccomend taking a look at an electric conversion. The main benefit i find isnt “making it easier”, but having the poke and acceleration to keep up with and accelerate with traffic. I think its MUCH safer to not be a lumbering land yacht. On the babboe, yes, as you say it is wider and it takes corners slower, but two wheelers, the Yuba (and our Urban arrow we had previously) were perfectly “nippy” for round here.

the problem isn't the performance as much as the space needed to tuck back in. On a normal bike if you're passing a queue of cars and something comes the other way its normally pretty easy to either squeeze next to a car on your side and stop, or squeeze into the gap between two cars front-to-back. Neither of those works well on a bakfiets so I find you're 'stuck' on the wrong side of the road if you're overtaking a queue. its different if the road is plenty wide enough, or there's a cycle path, but in a "normal" road setup its a little compromised.

I do ~50 miles a week with 50kg of kids onboard, so it doesn't hold me back, but it'll be getting sold once my youngest goes to school next year (the kids will be 4 and 7 at that point, so a little big for it)

We're a four adult family, 4 cars and a works van. My car doesn't move other than weekends, but it's 20 years old, so owes me nothing but I look after it - serviced by me and if stuff needs doing, it get's fixed. MrsF's car is used daily - commute and her social stuff - but that's getting on for 10 years old.

Other car was bought as a 'safety net' for son (keeps breaking his car) and for daughter to use once she learns to drive (currently having lessons). That's a 10 year old Aygo. TBH - we tend to use that in the week for nipping to the shops - uses next to no fuel, and is so easy to drive and park.

We've though about going one car previously, but my car hasn't been a financial burden - if it started going, then I'd get rid and either get something fun, or not replace.

When we moved 11 years ago for me to be closer to work instead of long-distance car commuting, we dropped a car. Didn't miss it - in fact it sat on the drive for most of a year before it went back to the lease company. Being close to town rather than out in rural Oxfordshire made things much simpler for the family too. Then the kids became adults and a second car for four rather than two drivers became more helpful but was not essential. Same driver to car ratio.

If you live somewhere where the presence of a particular car on the drive signals that you're definitely in (e.g., rural) then it may be more problematic. If you do not, then it probably won't.

2 adult, 2 young kid family here with 3 vehicles: mine, Mrs a11y’s and a shared van. Mrs a11y’s is the sensible family vehicle, most efficient, etc and most used. Mine’s the unnecessary one: similar situation to fossy, 17 years old, owes me nothing and I do what I can on it myself. It’s not been a financial burden but if it started being one I’ll get rid and not replace. I’ll never own this type of car again (cos it’s really inappropriate) so enjoying it while I can. Equally I could live without it; it’s not a status symbol to me. I used to enjoy driving hence the ‘fun’ car, but increasingly I’m embarrassed if someone associated me with fun/fast car ownership and ‘community’ based on what I drive.

Mrs a11y's current work situation and running the kids to sports etc is our main barrier to going 1-vehicle for us: hospital-based, shifts/on-call with no viable public transport.

When we moved into current house we considered the potential for 1-car family in future (or no car when we’re ancient and no longer safe to drive). Now on a main bus route, local Co-op, pharmacy, takeaways, hairdressers, etc within 2min walk, 20min to town centre and 2 x mainline train stations (30min train ride to major cities), where previously it was a new-build edge-of-town housing development where car use was a necessity. Downside being it’s 20min drive to the nearest proper MTB riding but can't have everything.

hoping to in the near future. I've just changed jobs which has meant me dropping a bi-weekly 60mile commute to the office for a once a month taxi to the airport and flight to head office.

car and van are both old, owned and depreciated but relatively expensive to tax/insure to be left sitting idle. if we can drop the car and just keep the van then that would be ideal. might wait until it looks like snow before trying to sell the car (subaru outback..)

Been a 1 car family for a while, but about to go back to a 2 car family.
5 of us and eldest just passed his driving test. It was actually cheaper (well, will be after 12 months) to get a second car and insure in his name than insure him on existing car. Also helps with the issue of different activities in different places at the same time.

enforced drop in cars for us due to change of position at work and loss of company car. it was tempting to buy another but couldnt justify the cost as my work is 2 miles away, so if need be i'll cycle (altho on an awful 'A' road with cars and lorries whizzing past) and wife works in the village. so.....i'll mostly take the car myself for safety reasons and she'll only commandeer 'her' car back if she needs it for grandchild duties or whatever.

i worried that the old banger (06 nissan note) would be an issue for airport runs when we go away, but its coped admirably with 2 holidays this year. itd still be cheaper getting taxis to the airport if it died than buying a second car.

i miss the brand new focus with bass-tastic 6 music, but in this day and age we need to cut our cloth accordingly and we havent had an issue with just the one car yet.

robola
Full Member
The wife’s car is such a disgrace I refuse to go in it.

Don’t understand ‘my car’ ‘wife’s car’ at all. When we had 2 cars they were both our cars that we used more or less equally. I suppose if you do have this mindset dropping to one would be more difficult, who is losing ‘their car’.

We cope fine with one larger car, but I really miss the small nippy one for quick shopping trips etc.

we are the same. Wife's car is a tip. Spilt coffee/tea, let the kids make and leave a mess.

We dropped to one car (just me and the Mrs) from two as my car in particular had done 4,000 in two years. Waste of money keeping it and prices were so buoyant at the start of the year I made £5k trading it in.

On the very odd occasion we need to coordinate who needs the car it’s really no hassle at all. My main issue is I seem to be the only one capable of washing it, cleaning the inside, filling the tank and screen wash. Almost lost my shit when got in it yesterday with a tyre pressure warning which needed a bit of air in them only to be told when asked, “yeah I wondered what that was so just pressed clear”

I've gone back to cycle commuting - gave it up due to a massive injury whilst commuting 7 years ago, after a few other incidents commuting - Manchester is shoot for cycling in rush hour. I started back when we started going back into the office - wife's job has moved and we can't car share even though only 2 miles appart due to traffic. So I either ride down the canal, or do another route off road via the Fallowfield Loop - loads of options. I am road riding as well, but not in rush hour. My car has hardly moved recently.

Thing is it's the bike lugger - an old saloon, 4 bike roof rack, and I am not hoofing 4 trail bikes on a medium sized SUV roof. It's also beige inside - my mates sh1t themselves getting in as it's so clean, but it's a synthetic alcantara fabric that is baby wipe clean, so all the mud just wipes off ! It survived two kids. MrsF's black interior is a mare to clean.

I am quite taken by the little cheap Aygo we got, bloody best thing for popping round locally, uses next to no fuel, and it's as cheap as chips to get parts - ours was really good bodywork, but it must have had a dodgy MOT (bought from a trader) as brakes were shot - £38 for disks and pads - fitted them myself. Few other issues, but stupid cheap.

I'd recommend one of these if you need to go down from two bigger cars - the Pug/Citroen and Toyota are all the same car, just some different body panels. Takes four adults, cheap to run/insure, OK at 70, but best in traffic. Ideal shopping trolly if you think 1 car won't quite fit.

Both our big cars are much nicer drive, but the little 'bug' is quite fun. at legal speeds, and they are nippy, 68 bhp in 800 kg car ! It's an option !

I'm the only one that washes and hoovers the three cars... MrsF just as bad. Said her car had passed MOT - never showed me the certificate.... checked on-line recently as we've forgot the date - there was an advisory she hadn't told me about. Bloody lower stabiliser for the gearbox/engine was worn.... £20 part and 30 mins total job (kack car up, get tools, fit, put away). Grrrr -. MrsF oh, i didn't realise.... FFS.

I'm expecting a EV evangelist to appear and say we all need £50k EV's..... fark that. I'll bike to work.

4 of us, 2 teenagers. Live in a city with reasonable transport links, kids as school and most if their activities are local. Both myself and the missus cycle whenever we can. No need for a second car, barely need one. However there odd occasions where it'd be a PITA without one.

From the other angle we are a one car family and occasionally think of getting a second, however just purchasing and insuring a car that is actually needed perhaps 5 times a year, it would be cheaper to either hire a car or get a taxi for the times we do, so we haven’t.

Is there a car club near you? Would be perfect if there was.

Or use taxis if you have to. They're not that expensive for short journeys when you have two or more using them, can be cheaper than public transport.

I'd be happy getting public transport if it went direct to my work, we chose our house location partly based on being walking distance to a train station so my wife could commute by train.

You could also car share with a pal when riding away from home.

I remember when we had the bad snow in 2010, it was amazing seeing people sharing cars as they couldn't get their own car out. Just goes to show that we could all cope with less cars on the road but we mostly choose them on convenience.

I think what you're doing is very honourable and wish you all the best.

FYI I have an EV and it wasn't anything like £50k. There are cheaper EV's out there, still not economical unless you do a fair few miles. So although we only have one car, I drive near 20,000 miles per year. Mostly for work but we do like to go places as a family at the weekend.

family of 5 plus a dog. We were a 1 car family for a few years when we lived in London. Although I also had a motorbike and a cargo bike for my own use. Used to commute to work by bike on a normal bike (or use the tube). Was a bit annoying at weekends because if I was away in the car, my wife was stranded

Now moved out of London, commute to work by train. But 1 car would be too difficult, we lasted about 2 months with 1 car before we bought a 2nd. Still have motorbike and cargo bike. Could survive if absolutely pushed but 2 cars is much easier. 3rd car due but that's for fun

Being a 1 car family of four with two small kids is easier in summer than in winter.

Being a 1 car family also means you need to be more organised and agree on priorities for leisure trips etc, with everyone able to compromise.

Hiring a car for a weekend has never been a financially viable option for us, realistically. Friday-Monday hire from somewhere like Enterprise is around £150 IIRC, I'm not paying that just so I can go for a ride an hour away!