Who wants.to adjust the seat and mirrors every time they drive?
Yup, that's how we do it. We have kids and two cars: minivan and hybrid sedan. The hybrid gets more than 2x the mileage vs the minivan, it's smaller, and both of us prefer it, so it's what we use 90% of the time. We take the minivan if we're all going somewhere, or we both need to be somewhere at the same time. I'll also take the minivan for cargo (hardware store, dump, furniture store, etc).
Before we had kids, we had one car. When we both needed to be somewhere at the same time, I'd take my bicycle or the bus, and my SO would take the car.
Each person having "their" car makes no sense to me, I see cars as tools in the toolbox, and we take the one that's best suited to the task at hand.
We have two electric cars, a big one and a small one. The small one is “mine” and the big one is “his.” However, we both work from home so the only commute anymore is taking the kids to school. So, whenever possible, we take the little one because it’s more efficient by far. He doesn’t mind and thankfully it saves seat profiles, even if we always have to adjust the mirror.
For years we didn't have our own sides of the bed, but then one day we got a bed side table and that all came to an end.
It's how we do it. Some factors in choosing the car:
- Distance (gas milage)
- Destination (smaller car for inner city driving/parking)
- Safety of route (sometimes I drive over the mountains and one our cars is better suited)
- Number and size of passengers (children vs adults)
- Cargo (dump run, grocery shopping, etc)
- If I have to take a conf call when driving
There are wealthy families usually from over seas. 3 brothers will buy a mansion together they will all live there with their wives, they all help each other and they buy 2 regular cars and a luxury car that they all share. They look at us Americans like we are crazy and I gotta say they kinda have a point.
We have two cars and they are both kinda mine. He bike commutes and way prefers it. I work two hours away though and have always driven more. So generally I take the van if I’m going to be at work for a few days, I’ve got it camperized, or the bmw if it’s a there and back, or other trips like that. Since I’m gone for a few days at a time he still needs a car for some errands, otherwise we’d just have the van. I do all the organizing for service work and cleaning, and general car stuff as well.
My dad worked nights and Mom was a SAHM who also did some freelance stuff from home. They basically had a first come/first served system, and honestly didn't have many conflicts so the second car (usually the one they've had longer) was rarely used. That was perfect when I started driving in high school, because I could usually use that car (even if it was a few years older than I was)
My brother talked them into buying a used Mitsubishi Eclipse back when it was still kinda cool (an '03 model purchased in 2007?). Mom ended up really liking that car and it's not really practical for the handyman stuff my dad does in his retirement, so now they have assigned cars.
She definitely has her car and I have mine. Mine’s over a decade old with over 100k miles, and hers is a year old. I think her car is really neat, but there’s a lot I don’t like about it. Too much tech, too many weird quirks in the systems, and it’s a little compact for my height. I’m glad she likes her car, but we definitely have assigned cars.
We share a single car between family members. And we do not live in the same household or even the same cities / towns.
The kids are our deciding factor.
If one of us going somewhere with the little 'uns, then the "family car" with the nicer booster seats gets taken by whoever it is that has them. Whoever is getting the peace and quiet, drives the little runabout.
I usually take the little car, and it surprises me sometimes when I jump into the family car and I've got another 50bhp under my right foot.
ok one or both partners hate cars. Neither can survive without a car if the other one doesn't have a car. That is a colossal failure, but we'll move on.
Insurance and ownership papers here generally require a primary owner here, at least on paper
Propertarians have small minds.
My wife and I do this. We both have broncos. What you would call “mine” is a 2 door mostly used for off-roading and I leave the top off a lot. Hers is the 4 door luxury version with all the fancy things.
We take whichever depending on the situation. We will take mine if it’s nice and we want the top off or we have to park in a shitty parking lot, being 2 door it’s much easier to navigate. We take hers for long trips since she has the radar cruise control and lane assist and much better gas mileage.
I do this....
We have one (volvo xc90 with 3rd row seats) that is for going places with our kids, and another (a nicer/newer mercedes e350) that is the adults only car. I think the Volvo is technically in my name, the Benz in my wife's but I'd have to check to see if I didn't reverse those.
