To think 2 car households are totally normal these days.

[Karleeb30]

I appreciate not everyone can afford to run 2 cars but it is a necessity in our case.

We live rurally with no public transport links. Dp works unsociable hours, I'm currently off work but have needed it for work previously , just not currently.. We have two dc who both have sen so needed for appointments when dp is at work. I'd also be very isolated without a car living where we do. We have thought about just having one buy it would be a struggle with appointments and no public transport links.

Basically we have dp's 15 year old trusty car he's had forever that he uses for work. He's had it for years. It's not suitable for us as a family as only a 3 door and small and wouldn't be great for dc.

Then we have a 6 year old (that we bought second hand last year ) family car which I use more than him but dp drives too at the weekends. Previously we had an older car as a second car.

It is a struggle to keep both going at times but both are pretty reliable so far (hopefully don't jinx it here) and haven't cost us much other than your average costs for a car.

I have recently received remarks off a family member. Saying we must be rich if we have 2 cars especially if I am not working (which is degrading tbh, people have no right to judge us in our current circumstances and they don't work themselves which is the funniest thing about it so they are very hypocritical.

We are not rich, we get by but living month by month especially down to one wage currently, we do struggle. We don't have any other luxuries!

We are fortunate we can keep 2 cars running because I know not everyone can but like I said we don't have much else in the terms of luxuries.

Aibu to think 2 cars is not a luxury in most cases but a necessity and people should
Keep their beaks out where it's not needed?

We are in that middle between rich and poor where we aren't rich (I wish) and we aren't poor either.

Everyone I know has 2 cars, I'm astonished it's only 12%. Even our retired parents still have a car each!

The delicately balanced house of cards that is 2 working parents and school runs / clubs etc only works because we have 2 cars. If we started having to factor in time for cycling or catching buses we'd have to put the kids in wraparound care 5 days a week while we spent loads of time travelling.

We only have one. I’ve actively made a choice to live somewhere with good public transport links. Never mind the cost what about the environmental impact!

I actually think it's more likely you'll need two cars in lower paying jobs, my aunt is a night supervisor for a supermarket, my uncle works as airport security, both work shifts in different places at times when there is no public transport even though it's a reasonably urban/suburban area so need two vehicles. My other aunt is a self employed consultant in electrical engineering and her husband works in IT they have one car, can WFH fairly regularly or either afford extortionate train fares cross county or bill them to a client. My old next door neighbour when I lived in a flat was a binman had to get to work before the buses ran their needed a car, there's a huge Amazon depot about twenty miles from here again shift work and buses don't run between 8pm and 7am and it's not a rural area so people need cars/motorbikes to get there

It’s up to you how you spend your money and people shouldn’t judge but to say 2 cars is a necessity not a luxury is wrong, particularly when you consider that a lot of families can’t afford to eat or heat their homes.

That can be why places like that struggle to recruit. My nephew works in an amazon warehouse and gets lifts from family. He can't afford a car.

YANBU OP! We have two cars. My DP has a 16 year old car, he travels for work so needs it. I have a 7 year old car, I'm currently on maternity but normally drive to work.
We live in the country in Scotland, there's no train station near by, the closest one is a 20min drive, there is one bus that comes through once every 2 hours that goes to the nearest city (Glasgow) but it's very unreliable, often shows up late, sometimes not at all, especially in the winter with the bad weather. I definitely see both of our cars as essential.

Also, probably an unpopular opinion, but I didn't spend all the money I did learning to drive to then still have to rely on public transport (which also isn't cheap) - I learned to drive for a reason, I wanted the ease of being able to go where I want when I want without waiting about for buses that sometimes don't show or spending a fortune on taxis to the nearest train station🤷‍♀️

@Pixxie7

It’s up to you how you spend your money and people shouldn’t judge but to say 2 cars is a necessity not a luxury is wrong, particularly when you consider that a lot of families can’t afford to eat or heat their homes.

It isn't "wrong" to say that, to some people they definitely are essential - some people need their cars for work, think taxi drivers, delivery drivers etc - without their car they wouldn't be able to make a living. Of course they're not an essential for everyone but it's silly to say they're never an essential

We have 3 cars as DD has one, but she has moved out to a city where she walks everywhere or uses public transport and has no parking so we will sell it.
DH has to use his to commute to work everyday, and sometimes for longer periods if he is away for work. I am not waiting until after 7 to go out.
Do I need a car, not every day, as I work from home, but I have medical appointments, live at the top of the hill with a random and unreliable bus service and have elderly parents who live in the middle of nowhere.
I have had a car since I was 17 and it’s my independence

People choose where they live usually. So people are choosing to live somewhere you need to drive. That is fine, but just own it.

I live somewhere central but the public transport is shit. It’s really gone downhill in the last few years. Lots of the bus routes have been amalgamated so they take ages to get anywhere.
I was a very late learner to drive but I had to because I couldn’t cope with it anymore.

I cannot imagine having only 2 cars.
We have 4 cars between me and my husband.
1 what we call modern (18 years old) German estate car for family duties and 3 old British cars ( some people would call them classic) that take it in turn to be broken. My husband uses an oldie to get to work every day and I'm a SAHM.

I love the crazy idea that you have to be rich to afford more than 1 car; Our household income is under 20k PA.

When they are over 40 years old they get free tax and don't need an MOT

I'm sure it's far better for the environment to keep old cars going than to buy new ones. Reuse, Reduce, Recycle all that.

Depends where you live!!
I’m in London and I know nobody with a car !!

@Lottieskeeper is that an income of £20k but inheritances and family gifts? Or £20k always earned very little and have no other money behind us?

We live in a city and have 2 cars. It is luxury which makes our lives more convenient. We could manage with one but would have to cancel some kids activities and would lengthen my commute by a hour a day. It would also fall to me to do without as dh is a social worker who drives around a big area doing hime visits which are usually 3-6pm.

It's a shame because the school and childminder are both 5 mins from home, but the timings of our jobs and other things make logistics v hard without a car. I do feel like it's a luxury having 2 cars though. I didn't own a car til I was 35 and I'm 45 now, so I don't take it for granted.

Just before I left home (1992!!!), between my DPs and DSis, we had four cars. DPs had a drive long enough to fit three behind each other. Number four had to park on an A road with no spaces for cars to park. It's just how it was.

There's sod all parking where I live now.

I actually disagree (not a typical poster who disagrees with every OP to make a point!)

My husband and I both earn good money and he’s constantly suggesting we get a second car but to me we just don’t need one and I do think they’re a bit of a luxury.

We have a LO and can use public transport to work but he prefers to drive. I just don’t see why we’d need two unless we had more children who needed ferrying about.

When I was on mat leave he kept apologising for leaving us stranded without a car when he went to work but it really didn’t bother me, we walked in the pram and saw people from my mothers group who lived locally or PiL would drop by.

Increasingly not, in my experience. Nearly every household I know, if they’ve ever had two cars, are cutting down to one or none on environmental grounds, even if it involves a lot more juggling. We only have one.I walk, cycle or use public transport, and we chose where to live and DS’s school on those grounds.

We are incredibly lucky that my husband gets a work van as we'd really struggle with 1 car but can't afford 2.
We both work but not very good wages. We do really need the car as I start work at 3 and my husband only has 10 minutes between dropping LO to nursery and getting to work.
We also have 2 teens (one with SEN) who have clubs, hospital appointments etc so it's ideal that I can take them to those without it impacting my husband getting to work but we'd be screwed if he ever lost that job.
I understand about 2 cars being essential for some but I really don't understand how people can afford it.

Private car ownership, thankfully, is going down, the less car centric we all come the better

Depends on where you live and what you do. I'm rural so a car is a necessity for anyone that wants to work, unless you are lucky and can share for work, or exceptionally lucky and work in walking distance. Running a car is a priority even when people lose their jobs because even forgetting daily practicalities, not having transport means you effectively give up any possibility of finding another job.

Even as a child I had friends that I now realise lived in poverty, but in many cases still had two cars because they'd have been even worse off if only one parent could work.

It's probably a luxury for anyone that lives in a city or any other circumstances where their existence doesn't depend on it, but I don't think they always understand that our idea of poor public transport isn't two buses an hour or a train station £2 Uber away.

We have 2 cars, we live in a village with crap public transport. We work in different places with overlapping hours.

It would take me over 2hrs to get to my job 8 miles away otherwise- 35 min walk, 50 min bus and then another walk.

It's all well people saying they choose to live somewhere with good PT but ultimately you're fucking lucky to be able to afford a house somewhere with good PT where you can also get a job.

If we wanted to move 8 miles into the town/city we work in we'd need an extra 200k to buy a house there. Even for a 2 bed.

Ignore comments from dickwads and do what you and your family need.

Absolutely, even my non rural friends have two cars, when you work out of town it's absolutely essential, I tried to be a single car household during mat leave and it was hell! I felt trapped.

We are definitely “rich” although less so by London standards and have 0 cars. I can drive but don’t, DP never learned. The only time I think a car would be handy would be to take stuff to the tip that’s awkward to carry and I suppose we could get an Uber for that.

About 35% of households have 2 or more vehicles registered to one address. That excludes company vehicles registered to a business address
www.specialistautomotivefinance.org.uk/resources/the-automotive-finance-market.html