Overall, my wife's a good sport. Tempted though she is to be frustrated that I own two Benzes (a 91 and a 92 300D)....I guess the extra money for the second car could have gone to worthless stuff like, O I don't know, furniture or something....she's resigned herself to the new automotive reality. But, every once in a while I bait her into renewed frustration....

My claim: once you forget about the purchase price of the second car, the cost of repairs for two cars is the same as the cost for one car; so, going forward, it's really no more expensive. If I put, say, 15,000 miles on a 300D every year, what difference, in terms of wear and tear, does it make whether it's on one car or distributed over two cars? Now, I realize that some things are time rather than mileage related....but the vast majority of maintenance is mileage dependent, so the cost ought to be basically the same.

My wife says that's ridiculous, that it's clearly more expensive to maintain two cars than one.

Thoughts?

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 154k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 172k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 142k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

I gotta side with the wife.

There's double the amount of 20+ year old stuff to break. Mileage matters little.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

Uh last I checked 8 tires cost more than 4, same about delo motor oil and mann filters--There are no buy one and get one free sales.

I think it's a little of both, some mileage items and some age items. I would guess that maintaining/repairing two cars costs about 1.5 times as much as one car if you drive the same total mileage. Also, you are paying twice for registration, insurance, etc.

I'd agree with the wifey as well. I have two cars, I maintain them both, but because the 190E sits mostly I don't really fix everything with haste. It saves me money only keeping Norm up and going.

Sorry Shertex, your wife wins this one. Never the less, there is this great benefit to owning 2 older cars. If you need one to get to work, it is great to have a second one on standby. "Things happen" They don't always start, or shift or one might leak down a tire or coolant. Then it is great to have the second car and really no way around it. As a school bus driver I could not get by with one old Mercedes. Can't get by with one of anything really, in cars that is.

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Junqueyardjim
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. C.S. Lewis



1983 Mercedes W123 240D 4 Speed 285,000 on the road with a 617 turbo, beautiful butter yellow, license plate # 83 240D INDIANA

2003 Jaguar Type X, AWD. beautiful, good mileage,
Mom's car, but I won't let her drive it!

I think you're missing my point. Take tires. Over the course of 100,000 miles let's say I use two sets of tires (getting 50,000 miles out of a set). Whether that's done on one car or two cars, the cost is the same.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 154k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 172k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 142k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Craig,
Just show your wife my list of cars, she'll be happy. 6 cars being maintained, 5 are "regular" drive 'em all the time cars. Maintenance is costing a fortune to keep them running. BUT still a lot less than a car payment. Plus my wife knows this keeps me calm and pretty quite when she goes out buying tons of stuff for her garden. Hey, it's a hobby, would you rather I chased young girls :-)

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1985 300D 197K - Semi-Daily Driver Diesel
1998 Volvo V70 AWD 226K - Daily Driver 2
1998 Volvo S70 140K - Wife's DD
2003 GMC Sonoma ZR2 Option - Rusty Truck
THE BABY 1958 220S Sedan 66K All original, never restored and never will be.

Hey, I'll cut my losses and just say it's like getting repairs on the second car at half price! And I was just focusing on repairs... I know that registration, etc. are extra.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 154k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 172k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 142k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

I think I was about to turn 40 (about ten years ago) and I announced to my wife that it was time for me to have some sort of mid-life crisis. So I asked her, "What's it going to be: a sports car or an affair?" She paused for a moment and, without skipping a beat, said, "Why don't you go have an affair."
End of the story: I'm very happy having had neither!

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 154k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 172k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 142k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

It depends on the cars and whether or not you do your own work. If you have two cars w/ interference engines/rubber timing belts and you go to the factory to get them changed yearly then you'll have much higher costs than normal. IME if you can do your own work and don't have a large yearly maintenance cost then having an extra car is only ~$100+/year more than just one car, but that's because I do all my own work and only insure it when I need to. If someone doesn't do their own work and keeps both cars insured all year then they could end up paying $1000+/year extra.

Hey --Tell her you two will be Saving money--By spending money!
She sounds like a rare female who doesn't lie to herself about things.

Sounds like chicken soup to me. Es macht nicht. Do what you want.

I maintain 4 vehicles. The least expensive is the wife's 97 Saturn that she bought new & had when I met her. Very little has failed in 130,000 mi.

Most expensive is 00 diesel Ram at 150,000 mi. Much has needed repair & hopefully I'm near having it to a reliable state.

In between is the 78 Datsun Z (mileage unknown - at least 150,000 mi which is reliable and has a list of want to's & just because.

85SD needs paint, climate control & seats but is drive reliable now. 204,000 on the (stopped) clock but nearer to 300,000 based on logged fill ups. I haven't been able to make myself spend $30 for the $2 plastic gears to repair odo.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

Depends on your driving...if you drive 100k before your tires wear out agewise...well, cost is the same.

If you don't and your tires age (just like any other piece of rubber), then you're paying more for two sets of tires.

The age argument can and will be applied to most maintenance items. Oil changes, brake fluid, coolant, etc. If you drive a lot, it won't matter as much but it will still be a factor.

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1982 240D, sold 9/17/2008
1987 300D TurboW124.133 - 603.960, 722.317 - Smoke Silver Metallic / Medium Red (702/177), acquired 8/15/2009
262,715 and counting

It isn't as cheap, but I hold with the argument that if you drive old iron, as in true daily divers, you need to have 2.

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1985 300D-189k The 'UD', Ivory and Pinkamino
1979 300D-211k Dark Gray, Parchment
A 1980 Harley-~166k and
A 1994 Ford diesel pickup-349k and
A 1990 gasser Volvo wagon-145k