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?

I keep a spare coat, wellies, various stuff depending on the time of year.

We each pay for our own cars but we drive each others. Mine is the larger car so gets more use, dog walks etc

We are selling his car to get a car that he will share with our youngest, so he is likely to need mine a little more.

We also have the use of my older daughter’s car as well - which we all use.

We both have our own cars. I prefer my bigger car but my DH happily drives either. So he drives both and I drive mine mostly. TBH it's more about a way of saying which car we are going in on any particular outing. We are not precious about them.

When we had 2 cars there was definitely his and mine - as in they were the cars we chose for ourselves, we like different things in a car. But if I needed a big roomy estate for something I'd take his and he'd take mine instead, it's just that the default was our own car.

We both have a car. One small and one bigger. Mine is bigger because I mainly have the kids but whilst registered to each of us we are both on the insurance for both and use them as and when we need them. One is hybrid so both of us would prioritise suing that one. But tip runs, driving to france etc we would take the bigger one. So they are thought of as shared but belonging to each other if that makes sense!

Yes we are the same too. A bigger family car and a smaller one which my DH gets through work but doesn't need for work. We just use whichever is most suitable

I 'own' the big car. The one we use if we're going out as a family or take on holiday etc. It's the one that I drive 99% of the time.

DH 'owns' a silly little high powered convertible Mini with ridiculously hard suspension. He drives it to and from work 10 mins away, but that's about it.

We swap occasionally, particularly if it's a hot day and I want the wind in my hair on my longer commute, or if he's taking the kids to DFIL a few hours away without me, but I don't really like driving it at all. Too twitchy, and I might end up down a pothole.

My neighbours have the same set up as you. No small kids though

Both of our cars were purchased from our joint finances, so we technically both own them. However, the car I drive most often is in my name and the car DH drives most often is in his name (we have each other down as alternate drivers). We do switch cars when necessary, but as we each drive a particular car 90-95% of the time, that car is generally referred to as “my/your car”. I drive the bigger family car, as I do all of the school runs and ferrying around of kids - we have 3 kids and the car DH drives can only fit 2 car seats. I also work from home so don’t have to spend as much on petrol or worry about parking. DH drives a smaller car that is great for commuting and parking at work. If I’m going out and leaving the kids with him, I will take “his car” and leave him “mine” so he can take the kids out if need be.

It’s not real astonishment though, it’s just a joke. It’s a genre of social media posts- calling people monsters for mundane things that you find a little unusual.

It is unusual among people I know to use two cars equally. But most couples I know have a fair difference in height so it wouldn’t be practical to share a car if they don’t need to. Or different preferences about the size or style of car they want to drive. We currently only drive our EV and never use the petrol car, but still call the EV “my” car because it was previously.

I have a company car, this is our main vehicle. I claim the EV charging as expenses and it can clock up the miles instead of DHs car that he mainly uses to get to work and back.

I think its more normal in my circle to have your "own" car mainly for practical work reasons e.g I have to give work all my car related docs to claim mileage/use it for work/have business use etc so I just always use that car because full time work kind of dictates it...

We would chop and change for long trips if needed but doesn't seem necessary when both cars are similar size and constantly resetting all the things DH changes when he uses mine would do my head in 😅

Nearly all couple I know both work though and many use cars for their jobs so I assume they each stick to their own mostly for similar reasons to us

If both partners drive to work every day then surely they end up taking the same one every day and therefore it becomes their car in any case? We have our “ own “ car despite finances being shared, it’s always been that way, although of course we do drive the other one if there is a reason to.
also things like having a parking permit at work, keeping things like golf clubs in the boot, your own cd’s in the glove box (if that is a thing anymore), having the car key on your set of house keys, one car being bigger for the kids and pram etc, one car being more comfortable for longer journeys, one being more economical. I can see loads of reasons why couples have a car each and I have to admit I would find it really weird to properly share cars and just take whichever one off the driveway.

We each have our own car as we have different car needs (and likes) and live rurally. We drive each others cars sometimes but would always ask first. At weekends / holidays we use which ever is most appropriate. I find it very annoying if my settings are fiddled with! We had both had our own cars for years before meeting so just replaced them as needed and so the pattern stuck.

We each have our own cars and we refer to them as 'my car/your car/Mam's car/Dad's car', but we use whichever is most suitable for the journey. However, writing this I just realised that we never drive each other's car lol unless one is in the garage and we need to use the other for work etc, I exclusively drive mine and he drives his, maybe that's weird 🤔

Two cars. We both use both depending on need. One fits the dog in better. One is used for skip runs because it’s more old and battered. One is larger for holidays and camping. One is small. One is large estate.

When we had two cars we kept one in the garage and one on the drive. Whoever was driving just used to take whichever car was on the drive.

The only time this didn't happen was when DH would take his car to visit his family leaving my car for me to get to work etc.

Dh wouldn’t let me anywhere near “his” car which is ironic as it’s my old car. When I upgrade I give him my cast offs. Both cars are very similar though, large estates. So no real reason to swap. I only have a large car for towing a caravan three times a year and I do keep thinking I could have a smaller car and just borrow his car 3x a year but then he says well what if he needs a big car that week. 🤷‍♀️.

I could actually sell mine if he’d let me drive his occasionally as I have a spare small car on the drive which is currently SORN’d..

He doesn’t like dogs in his car and mine is always full of dogs and he says it smells.

We share both, I don’t see how it’s weird. All our family things including money are equal. I would always prefer she is in the large car for long journeys. I technically ‘own’ both but it’s just admin for me handling the boring paperwork of car ownership

We have two cars. A larger “family car” and a smaller car. We use the one for the job. Eg if children are coming then the big car. If solo the small car. Usually which ever is newest is my car 😂

There’s a “my” and “his” car for ownership, sorting out instance, garage etc - we’re responsible for our own one, but we both take whichever car suits the task best. As one is electric and the other diesel, cost of running them comes into consideration too.

I’m astonished that it seems common to have more than one car, we live in the city though.

Families with one or no cars wont really be commenting though. So this is a self selecting group.

Unfortunately public transport is rubbish in many parts of the country!

Yes we’re rural. If you’re an adult living in my village you need a car if you work. Need a car if you want to go to a supermarket.

Living rurally with no direct public transport to work a car is required. Now that DH is retired we have gone down to one car.