Do other couples share both cars rather than having one each?

[OhMyGodItsSoGood]

I saw a post on Instagram that was astonished about a set up where a married couple don't have their “own” cars but instead both just share two cars and take whichever one they want when they need it. Monsters, apparently.

I was astonished at the poster’s astonishment because this is our set up and it genuinely didn’t occur to me that it was weird or unusual. We have two cars between us, one big, one smaller, and we just take whichever is more suitable at the time (usually whoever has the kids takes the bigger car). We don’t have or think of them as belonging to either of us.

Opened up a discussion in the WhatsApp chat with my pals. They all think it’s weird too and I am a bit 🤯

I mean it’s not a big deal, it works for us, I’m not upset or worked up. I’m just curious as to whether any other couples prefer this set up?

We also have this setup and know many others who do. I don’t think it’s that weird!

Maybe part of me actually thinks not doing it that way is weird 😂

Well, I have my car and dh has his company car. Dh never drives mine as I own it and he drives like a lunatics over speed bumps and my car is sporty. I do drive the company car as it’s an EV SUV and he gets free charging at his work. So it becomes a family car.

Normal here. Though DH hardly uses either car, the only reason we have two is we bought a small manual for the teens to learn in as main car is a large electric automatic. But both cars are family cars (both registered to me just because they have to be registered to one person).

I can understand where a couple each use a car daily one car becomes 'their' car but if it was us both would still be seen as belonging to us both. But we have shared finances so it's not like each person would be paying for insurance/servicing on their car. Where couples have separate finances I suppose it's more of a thing that they pay for their own car.

We have the same arrangement as you but I think it stems from us initially having no car, then sharing one family-sized car, then getting a smaller second car for commuting. So we've always swapped cars around depending on who was doing what.

I think people now generally enter a relationship with their own car so it carries on like this.

We have a larger car and a smaller car. The larger one is generally used for pulling trailers or collecting a new dishwasher from Currys (yesterday). Whoever is doing that will use it. Mostly though we both use the smaller one because it's more fuel efficient. I do say 'DH's car and my car' but it's not really that. I won't by choice use the larger one though.

We do, too. And like others we started with one shared car then had to get a smaller one when a child learnt to drive - she’s away travelling at the moment so we currently have two cars that we just share

We have a car each but share them as much as we drive our 'own' car. One larger, one smaller and they get used according to how many people are being ferried about or how bulky a load is being carried. No arguments about 'you took my car!'.

We each chose a car though, and it's nice to have a free choice of car even if we talk through options during the process.

One of our cars is much nicer than the other (mine, technically!) so we tend to default to that when we’re altogether or only person needing a car, but we revert to our own if we’re doing things separately requiring both cars. I wouldn’t be impressed if I needed to pop out and DH had taken my lovely car 🤣

We used to have this but now we have one car and use bikes most of the time - insurance is annoying as who does most miles? No idea

We have the same set up as you OP. There is a car with kids’ car seats, and a car without. And one car is newer than the other, so why should one of us get stuck with the older car all the time?

We share a car. I drive to work and DH gets the train. It would be a complete waste to pay all the expenses of a second car just for the odd weekend errand where it would be useful.

We have our own cars, but we deliberately buy different types from each other. When his was a saloon with a tiny boot, I bought a hatchback. Mine is a diesel so when he switched, he bought electric. So while we mostly drive our own cars, we also take the most functional car when that’s appropriate.

We have our on cars but interchange when needed. Dh is taking mine next week to work to give it a good run as I tend to stay more local. He leaves work bits in his car and I have my blue badge in mine, so taking whichever car wouldn’t work for us.

Well this will blow their minds so, we have one car. My dh cycles to work I need car to get to my job. I would say I'm the main user dh hates driving and will cycle everywhere given the choice

We have a family car and then a small car. So whoever is dropping the kids takes the family car and whoever is parking at the train station takes the small car. I always take the family car for shopping as big boot or somewhere I don’t know as it has satnav. So yeah, totally flexible and there is no your car, my car.

Well we have one in my name and one in his, but that’s name only really.

When we first moved in together it was more separate, then when I had DD his car was more practical for car seat, pram etc (mine was a mini) so we swapped whilst I was on mat leave and then after that whoever had DD used the bigger car, or if it was a family trip we’d use the bigger one.

These days we have one EV, it’s mine in that I chose and paid for it (but joint money so what does that matter?) but we both use it at the weekends/ in the evenings as it’s ultimately the nicer car and cheaper than petrol. It’s not very long range though so we use DH’s when it’s a long journey and repeated charging would be impractical. In the week if driving to work he tends to use ‘his own‘ but it’s not a hard and fast rule.

We have one car which is bigger and I use to commute but if my DH is going further than I commute that day then I take the wee car and he has the big one. Likewise if we need to go to B&Q or for shopping it's the bigger car which is taken. Cars have always been family cars and not my car, his car.

I really love the dihatsu copen (spelling!!) and if we ever got one that would 1000000% be mine though!!!

Cars are registered to a particular person though so it's natural to see them as one person's. We are married and have our own cars, we only drive each other's if one is broken, we don't pay for each other's cars, it's entirely separate

Ah see this is the drawback of this set up. I want a VW Buzz but he is absolutely not having it 😂

We each have our own and rarely drive each other’s car. No kids, so they are both small cars for cheap commuting.

Aside from joint household expenses we each have our own money with which we buy our cars and pay for their upkeep. It works well for us. I drive when we go out together as I get carsick as a passenger.

Our cars are used a lot, and I can’t imagine having to reset the seat, mirrors etc every time I switch. Plus I hate the drive in DH’s car so will avoid it as much as possible! I like to choose a car that suits how I like to drive (manual, and traditional so I feel like I’m driving the car rather than it driving me). The same for DH. We have to spend significant time in our cars, so we should be able to have what we each want even if that's different from each other.

We have car and a small campervan so it’s very much “use the most appropriate”. Neither of us drive daily. We coordinate the car for work stuff and van for fun stuff (it has a bike rack, car does not).

Weird 😂 it would be like sharing a toothbrush!

My car has my stuff in it, the riding boots, sunglasses dog treats etc. everything is set up for me.
I drive mine, he drives his. Long may that continue 😂

No we just have a big car and a little car and use whichever one is suitable. Husband usually wants me to use big car as it’s nicer and safer so will ask me before he takes it.

We have one registered to each of us, which we tend to use more than the other (I use the smaller EV for my work commute because I get free charging; he uses the bigger diesel when when running the kids around). But we freely swap or drive the other if it's more convenient or needed for something.