I'm confident that many will have an opinion and I'm happy to hear from you, but I'm also keen to hear from other swaggers who might find themselves in a similar predicament to mine.
I'm coming to the conclusion that the most viable solution is for swmbo and I to run 3 different cars/trucks/4WD. Is 3 cars becoming a new norm?
1 x swmbo (her personal taste, smaller style, practicality). She's stamped her fist and said, "I don't want a large 4WD as my daily run about". We now own her car, it's 4yo and has 50,000km's on the clock, so only now costing us the annual runnings costs of rego, insurance, maintenance and fuel etc. May as we'll keep it.
1 x me for work (can lease as part of my package and claim tax advantages). This I now realise may only ever be a short term vehicle, somewhat like having a company car that you turn over every few years. Not something I would add $000's of aftermarket accessories to.
1 x me/swmbo for weekend and long range touring. The 4WD.
I originally thought that I could have combined 2 and 3 as one, but the leasing/tax advantages really only applies to newer vehicles, and apart from maybe a 200series, (which I could just stretch the budget for), I'm struggling to find a new long range tourer that can tick all the boxes. Plus I work in the CBD at least 3 days per week and it can be a challenge to get a large 4WD into many CBD car parks.
So the other thought process is that I lease a everyday somewhat standard car for work, and buy a good 2nd hand 4WD as the long range tourer, possibly even only need to be a 2door ute style 4wd.
Now I'm thinking some of you are thinking 'poor you', 3 cars!
But I come back to my original statement, looking to hear from other's who might also be in this situation. Particularly in our case where the kids are grown and I'm not paying hundreds and thousands in school fees, and the work car is really just a company car.
Which 4WD have you set up, or what have you done?
As you know.
We run 3 vehicles.
A patrol. - toy/ tourer... That will go almost anywhere.
My work car.. Middle ground... Challenger... With a few toys.. With a few more.. Could be a top tourer.. But can't be "hardcore"... It's gotta work on Monday... (Still good enough to take up the beach etc...)
And the misuses has her shopping trolley.... Corolla that she loves.
Truth is.. If I didn't want to go "serious off road" I don't need the Troll.
The challenger still has lift/ bar/ tyres/ lights/ a few other goodies.
I could have bought a dearer 4wd as a daily than the Challenger .. But I also budgeted during the company car period for one or twenty accessories.
Maybe instead of a 200 series. You could look at a Prado.. Use the extra coin to deck it out. Same outlay... More toys.
There is no right answer. It depends what you want to do in your vehicles.
Me personally. I see a need for about 10-22 extra vehicles. But SWMBO seemed to think my need for a full on comp truck and a sports car and a limo and a hovercraft and a quad and a motor bike are just plain "male bovine naturally processed hay".
