# How many cars does one couple need? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 19, 2013, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cars-does-one-couple-need/669226 "2013-09-19T13:42:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cars-does-one-couple-need/669226/41 "2013-09-20T14:25:19Z")
> [@Krouget](#): > > I, myself, wouldn’t mind having at least three cars, though I could probably extend that list well into double digits.🙂 > > But if there are space and parking considerations, one per person is likely more practical. yah but it’s hard to find a car that gets 65 mpg, does the 1/4 mile in 11.5 seconds and can haul a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cars-does-one-couple-need/669226/42 "2013-09-20T14:46:10Z")
I always suspected that my dad, in an effort to keep the neighbor’s truck and boat off the street, put up a basketball hoop in the cul de sac. If it bothers the OP, and others, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to go over and ask them to keep from parking in front of your property. Explain that it’s not because you want to be a jerk but you don’t want to be liable for any accidental scuffs, sprays, scrapes, etc. That is unless of course they’re cool with it. Then you go out of your way to “accidentally” scuff, spray, scrape the car to passive aggressively send your message. ---
**Author:** ![Orionizer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orionizer/32/4442_2.png) [@Orionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orionizer)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cars-does-one-couple-need/669226/43 "2013-09-20T14:48:35Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > I certainly don’t expect you to ask me for permission before you buy your cars! I just think if you HAVE driveway space you could use it for at least one car. Can they not at least pull one car in, past their martial arts dummy? Please, if at all possible, post a pic of this! I’ve just gotta see it! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cars-does-one-couple-need/669226/44 "2013-09-20T18:50:33Z")
My landlord has three pickups. He has a plumbing business so two of those are used for jobs. One of the job trucks is also his main transportation. One is a beater used for I don’t know what. The third looks to be a specific job truck judging by the pipes and equipment set up on it. Then there’s my Outback also parked at the same property. And there’s a little red something or other one of his friends parks in front of his trucks whenever she’s over. So it looks like a used car lot sometimes, but all the cars are parked off the street in little gravel parking spaces he made when he set up his yard/garden. ---
**Author:** ![InsomniaMama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ad7895/32.png) [@InsomniaMama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InsomniaMama)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2013, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cars-does-one-couple-need/669226/45 "2013-09-21T13:22:49Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > yah but it’s hard to find a car that gets 65 mpg, does the 1/4 mile in 11.5 seconds and can haul a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood. True, but you wouldn’t believe what my husband used to haul in our 1993 2-door Honda Civic. I think he even got sheets of plywood in there, by folding down the back seat. Eventually some length of pipe did crack the windshield, though. That was a mistake. And an RV in front of my house would make me nuts. I’d be reading the village laws very carefully. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cars-does-one-couple-need/669226/46 "2013-09-21T16:27:55Z")
Some of my co workers, once they got the job (and hence increased their earning power considerably) bought fancy cars, but were practical enough to keep their fuel-sipping old jalopies. They’d use the beater for work, where it would save on gas, and drive the fancy car on the weekends, to show off to friends/women or just for fun. When I bought my new car, I asked my car-horder (no really, this guy hoards cars like old women hoard cats 😛 ) if he’d like to buy it off me. He said sure, gave me a very fair price for its condition, and we transferred the title. When I asked what he planned on doing with it, he simply said, “I’m going to park it on the curb near my house to prevent other people from parking there. That way, if I need that space, I’ll move it somewhere else and park my regular car there”. You heard it first, folks. This man spent $2,000 on a parking space saver :eek: ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2013, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cars-does-one-couple-need/669226/47 "2013-09-21T17:02:35Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I vote for unwarranted twisted knickers (band name?). People do things differently, and some folks enjoy having more cars than others. Parking is always a problem in urban areas and one couple having 4 vehicles isn’t any different than a family of four moving in, each with their own cars. Yeah, it is different. 4 people would presumably sometimes be using their car at the same time, whereas in this situation a minimum of 2 cars will always be taking up local parking. ---
**Author:** ![urban1a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47c2d/32.png) [@urban1a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1a)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cars-does-one-couple-need/669226/48 "2013-09-22T02:26:10Z")
You might check with the city. I know some places where RVs are not allowed to be parked on city streets (they must be in the side or back yard behind a fence. Also, if any of the cars are junkers, they may be illegal also. Bob ---
**Author:** ![tadtooornamental](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@tadtooornamental](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tadtooornamental)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cars-does-one-couple-need/669226/49 "2013-09-22T03:44:49Z")
Most of the housing on my block (including mine) is old, 2 story homes converted to apartments. I have one car, and a tiny, cut in driveway just big enough to fit my car- perfect! My downstairs neighbors have a longer driveway, plus garage, and about 6 cars (plus a boat!) for 2 (sometimes three) drivers. Damn near every weekend I have to go downstairs and ask them to move one of the cars, because they try to squeeze two of them into the street space between the driveways, which means that my driveway gets half blocked. Yeah, I probably could get around it, but I’d have to jump the curb to do it. I’ve had to park at the church behind the house several times, because I just can’t get into my driveway. If I can store my car there (and I can, I’ve asked and been granted permission, as long as I’m not taking up space during service on Sunday morning or Wednesday evening), then they can park some of their fleet there so that I can actually use the space that is part of what I pay for! ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cars-does-one-couple-need/669226/50 "2013-09-22T03:59:58Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > And I think if you buy an RV, a big, unsightly thing, you should have some plan to park it besides “in front of the neighbor’s house”. Do they ever use it? If it were me I’d buy an little old trailer (utility trailer, like [this](http://hitchmantrailers.ca/catalog/popup_image.php?pID=88&osCsid=da279f30fdda2011d286fcf2a2b395fa), not trailer as in trailer park) and keep it handy and the moment the RV moved I’d park the trailer in front of my house with padlocked chains on the wheels to stop it being moved. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cars-does-one-couple-need/669226/51 "2013-09-22T05:02:54Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Have a personal scenario that I could use some input in. To keep a short story short, there’s a couple a few doors down from me that has four cars and I’m pretty damned pissed off about it, since parking is already a bitch and one of the cars is a damn SUV while the other three are all sedans, not exactly tiny. I live with the girlfriend and we have one car each (hatchbacks) for work. > > I can’t fathom why they’d need four, especially a big bloody 4x4. What say you? Am I getting my knickers in an unwarranted twist or being reasonable or what? What would you do/say? I’d suggest the SUV is for driving in the snow or hauling things, and two sedans with better gas mileage are their daily drivers. The third sedan they probably kept after buying a new one because they couldn’t get much for it and it would be a bother to sell it, or maybe they want to have a backup without needing the SUV, or maybe a relative wanted to get rid of it and gave them a deal they couldn’t refuse. It’s a lot of cars, but not IMHO over the top. If I’d had space and money I’d probably have a second car that’s more fuel efficient than the Jeep and as backup, and maybe a third car as something fun, but I have neither space nor money. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cars-does-one-couple-need/669226/52 "2013-09-22T15:46:35Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Yeah, it is different. 4 people would presumably sometimes be using their car at the same time, whereas in this situation a minimum of 2 cars will always be taking up local parking. In my neighborhood, it wouldn’t really make a difference because the four people would nearly always be parking their cars overnight- and that’s when parking is difficult. Which actually is related to why my neighbor with one driver/three cars was disliked- it wasn’t that he had three cars parked on the street overnight. It was that once he got them parked all in a row, he used the other two to save a space for the one he was driving. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cars-does-one-couple-need/669226/53 "2013-09-22T18:05:56Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > I can see one per driver plus the SUV (or a pickup truck) for delivering large things - say, if you bought a bookcase from Ikea. (I owned a Camry for 10 years, which had only a small hole between the trunk and the back seats, so anything longer than about 5 feet (which would fit in the rear seating area) and wider than about 2 feet wouldn’t fit in the car; my current Fusion Hybrid doesn’t have any connection between the trunk and the rear at all, because that’s where the hybrid battery is located). I have a great vehicle for hauling everything; I keep it at the Home Depot and let them pay all the bills for it. 🙂 Seriously, people always talk about a larger vehicle for hauling things, but I can haul a surprising amount in my Corolla, and when I do need to haul something larger (about twice a year, I’d say), I rent the big van from Home Depot for $20. If you’re hauling stuff every weekend, sure, get a larger vehicle, but if you’re like me, you probably don’t need to own one. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cars-does-one-couple-need/669226/54 "2013-09-22T19:59:17Z")
> [@Mr.Goob](#): > > I’m a guy with 3 motorcycles, could easily be cars if that was my thing. My opinion is stay out of my wallet. I’ve got 3 motorcycles parked on the street as well, but they take up half the space a car does, so I can’t see anyone having a beef. In fact, other neighbors that ride park by me so we’ve got 6 vehicles in the space one car would use. It actually seems to be helping with parking congestion - when I left for my morning run, there were about 5 empty spots, which just doesn’t happen here. Three cars is excessive, but I’m single and once had [3 cars](http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads4/3shot1110057699.jpg) on the street, which was brutal for Chicago’s north side. Half said nothing because they thought it was cool, half said nothing because they thought I was a drug dealer. :rolleyes: (There was one in the building - they make horrible neighbors, btw). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cars-does-one-couple-need/669226.md?page=2)