Who gets the spot on the drive?

[bananaramaaaa]

So we currently have a drive with only space for one car as the other half is a front garden type thing. There is plenty of off road parking available right outside our house.

My husband has a beloved Aldi Rs3 which he insists should park on the drive (he only drives it a few times a month) so it would just be sat there taking up the space half the time. He also has a work van which he usually parks on the road outside our house. I have my own car and a 5 year old, I do the shopping, walking the dogs etc which I use the car for a lot, my child is home educated and has SEN needs so is with me 24/7, we go out in the car daily.

So who gets the parking space on the drive
Aldi Rs3
Work can
My car (Volvo xc60) so quite big for parking on the road too

This is actually quite lighthearted, no actual arguments about it! I'm just curious.

His car

Whichever car is transporting the SEN child. Obviously. Safety reasons.

Aldi 😂Bet he'd love to see it called that!

@BetterOffNow oh gosh, have I spelt it wrong! 😅 Audi?!

He needs to rent a garage for his hot hatch. Then whoever gets home first parks on the drive, and the other vehicle in the street.

If he leaves a red RS3 unattended while both of you are out, sooner or later, someone will steal it.

I'd park the vehicle that the child is going in, in the drive. Safer for them getting in and out.

I would say the car that drives least and is worth most should stay on the drive. If you have on street parking outside and available you don't need the drive for daily use.

Ultimately if his car was stolen your family finances would take a hit so he should have the space.

The most expensive one to insure.

@Whereismyfleeceblanket if his car was stolen my street would be a lot quieter 😃😂

I get why you deserve the drive space OP but I think the audi as it hardly moves and then it’s not taking up an on street space

I think you need to look at (sadly) turning the other half into driveway so the Audi can be parked there and then your car can as well.

for the time being I think your car as the one your child goes in needs to

Probably the Audi for financial reasons. The insurance will be cheaper if it’s parked off the road at night.

The car that goes on the drive is the one that is in continual use and needs to have guaranteed parking ie yours.

Is it lighthearted? You clearly think you should park on the driveway and his “Aldi” should be parked on the road.

The Audi will most likely be cheaper to insure if it’s parked off the street, less likely to be stolen (even more so if blocked in by your car or his work van a lot of the time) and less likely to be hit while parked as it almost never moves.

That being said, having to park on the street and lug shopping up the drive past the car that hardly goes anywhere would really piss me off. Could you look at extending the driveway so there is space for 2 cars?

I would check how much difference to the insurance it makes - I assumed off-road parking would bring mine down hugely, but it doesn't always. If it makes an enormous difference then I see his point so long as it's not actually dangerous otherwise.

If it is dangerous or an absolute total pain, then maybe he can't afford a car that sits on the drive not being used. I slightly wonder if that's your real problem, rather than where he parks?

Our insurance is no different either. Sometimes the more expensive one is parked on the road for a bit.

This

Car that is used by child. Safety is priority over possessions. Can he rent a garage space.

The insurance thing is not always what you expect. When we moved to a house with a drive I assumed insurance would decrease if parked in drive but they told me it would actually go up. The reason being that most burglaries these days target car keys so if your car is on the drive and burglars want to steal it they know the keys will be in the house. If you're parked on the road they can't be sure which house it belongs to. By that token it's "safer" to have the most expensive car on the road.

Anyway at our house my husband's car is usually the one on the drive mainly for the reason that it is bigger and takes up more room on the road which is quite narrow, so it's at higher risk of being pranged than my much smaller car (which is also worth hardly anything(. Parking spaces are also often in short supply so it's kinder to our neighbours to maximise the space.

Everyone has made good points though about child safety and lugging shopping, so it's a matter of weighing it all up.

I think I'd be a bit irritated if my husband hogged the drive with a car he barely drove though.

Fuckign hell, I can see that the Audi is an expensive toy, insurance will be £££ and it’s presumably his pride and joy. But my god, with a HE small child with SEN, a dog and frequent comings and goings, I would feel very resentful about the bloody Audi taking up functional space that would make things easier for you

we have a driveway which was built too thin for a busy family, as modern house builders like to do. My car is a family car which is used the most and my dh’s is smaller and used to mainly go to work. We removed a bush one side and he parks his car almost in the bush the other side, so that my larger car is (almost) fully functional for all occupants/struggling.

You should turn the other half of the garden into a driveway too so you can both park. The most expensive car to insure should go on the driveway in the meantime

Oh dear. I bet your neighbours love you. Is it one of those boy racer, noisy exhaust cars? Can't it be fixed?

This is exactly my thinking unless there is a safety issue getting your child into the car when it's roadside. I'd start putting money away to expand your driveway

@angelos02 Yes it is one of those boy racer noisy cars! It has been modified aswell 😅