Living with two seater daily drivers

[exdeath]

Ok, this came up comparing other cars like Mustangs, GTOs, etc. to Corvettes and I'm curious about peoples preferences and how they cope with driving vehicles without back seats (Corvette, MR2, S2000, Miata, etc).

My personal choice:

I was looking at the Corvette and Porsche Boxster S for more than a year determined that I would have either one of those, then abruptly changed my mind and ended up with a '03 Cobra shortly after they came out. I reasoned that a two seater would encounter many scenarios where I couldn't drive it, and what is the point of dumping a large amount of money on a car that sits at home in the garage more often than not?

Those with two seaters are all too familiar with the dilemma. You're hanging out at a friends house and all of you decide to go out for a bite to eat. Everyone is drooling over Bob's new Corvette and wants to go for a ride. But there are 3+ friends and only 2 seats in the Corvette, so everyone agrees to pile into Johnny's Ford Tempo and head out to Denny's or IHOP. So it's Friday night and lots of nice cars cruising around and Corvette owner Bob finds himself spending Friday night staring out the side window of a Tempo staring at the nice looking Mustang or GTO or Supra that's pulled up next to the Tempo at the light... wishing he was behind the wheel of his Corvette instead.

Curious how often two seater owners face this kind of problem or how many even care.

Your comments?

 

[jagec]

Heck, my daily driver is my motorcycle.

My 2-seater sports car is my "practical hauler." Got a tow hitch on it for those bigger items.:laugh:

You'll find that there aren't that many times when you really, really need the extra space. Just look at your average American freeway...almost every single car has only one occupant. With the two seater, if you want to take a friend, fine. More friends, well, take 2 cars, that way you get to have fun in your sports car, and it's more practical for some people to take off early if they want to, or stay longer if they want to. Plus, you get to rag on the Tempo nonstop on the way there, which is always good fun.

In short, I don't find that owning a 2 seater is much of a problem.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Yeah doesn't come up much for me either but then I don't have a lot of friends . When it does I don't really care.

 

[ggnl]

I ruled out two seaters during my recent car search for exactly that reason. I find myself with 3-5 passengers in my car so often that I couldn't even consider one unless it was a second car, and even then I would still face the same dilemma. Every time I hung out with than one friend I'd have to leave the fun car behind and take the daily driver.

 

[thirdeye]

That's why I drive an STi and not an S2000. It just works better for an everyday driver. With a wife and baby, even more so.

 

[ponyo]

My daily driver only has two seats but it's a cargo van.

Number of seats don't factor into my equation when shopping for a toy. I've other vehicles I can take if I need to haul people like my minivan. I drove my truck less than 1k miles this year and that has a back seat. My vette has less than 1,400 miles this year. My motorcycle has about 50 miles this year. You can say I have three garage queens.

Finding the time to enjoy driving is my problem. When I do, I like to drive solo.

 

[R Nilla]

Why not take both in that scenario? You and one lucky friend take the Vette, everyone else is stuck in the Tempo. When you're with a group of 8+ do you wish you had a full-size van? No, you probably take two or more cars.

Also, this way you never have to worry about being stuck as the designated people-hauler. Unless everyone you know is Amish, I don't see how having a two-seater would really be a problem - at least not for the owner, anyway.

You should buy your car for you (and possibly your family), not your friends.

 

[mitaiwan82]

are you driving your friends around daily? I just don't get into that situation much, so my Miata suits me just fine. I do have a second car (Accord) that can carry more people/stuff.

 

[exdeath]

It's not about buying a car for your friends instead of you or whether or not you have to drive them around daily.

It just seems to me that when you are just out cruising around and hanging out with friends is when you'd want the fun car the most. Who wants to get all cleaned up and pimped and dressed up to go out to hit a club or something, then have to leave your shiny sporty just washed and waxed car at home and ride around in your friends' moms' mini van eh?

I totally agree about taking the two seater and one lucky friend and leaving everyone else to the people hauler.

 

[arcas]

Was whether or not you could haul all your friends really a significant factor in your decision? Are they helping to pay the car payment? What if you have 6 or 7 friends? Bet you'll wish you'd bought a Suburban, then, right? I can understand if you're raising a family and need room for the kids and their stuff but...friends?

The only time this might make sense is if you and your friends carpool to work to save money.

Carpooling aspect aside, the bottom line is you're buying the car that best fits YOU and your budget. If that turns out to be a 2-seater, so be it. My old 2-seater RX-7 was a blast. Fun car. Good times. To hell with worrying about how many friends I can haul especially if I'm the one paying the bills.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I will likely own a 2 seat convertible for the rest of my life.

Also there's a difference between a daily driver & your only car... Sounds as if you asking if a 2 seater works as an only car. Plenty of people do just that.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Solution: Pontiac G8 (or GXP when it comes out)

 

[AmigaMan]

so you almost bought a Porsche or Vette, but ended up with a POS Ford because you wouldn't be able to haul around your friends?!?!? Are you frickin kidding me? I can understand if you wanted the Cobra if you were a Ford guy, but you turned down two better cars because of the slight possibility that one of your friends would have to drive his beater when you all went out? That's freakin insane!

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: thirdeye
That's why I drive an STi and not an S2000. It just works better for an everyday driver. With a wife and baby, even more so.

Yep same for me. That's why I bought a "performance" car with 4 doors. Those extra doors sure do come in handy.

 

[imported_Truenofan]

i only have a two seater, the rear seats are useless. and my passenger in my car is referred to as my "cup holder", if they don't fit in my car, they don't need to be with me. all there is to it.

 

[MrPickins]

Originally posted by: R Nilla
Why not take both in that scenario? You and one lucky friend take the Vette, everyone else is stuck in the Tempo. When you're with a group of 8+ do you wish you had a full-size van? No, you probably take two or more cars.

Also, this way you never have to worry about being stuck as the designated people-hauler. Unless everyone you know is Amish, I don't see how having a two-seater would really be a problem - at least not for the owner, anyway.

You should buy your car for you (and possibly your family), not your friends.

Exactly.

 

[darkswordsman17]

I saw people discussing that in another thread and thought it made no sense. Unless you go on a bunch of camping trips or multi-day road trips, I just don't see space being a concern as far as friends go. Besides isn't the whole reason to own a two seater so that you have an excuse to ditch your friends for the woman that should be filling the second seat?

 

[walkur]

well... there's a simple solution for this problem


Don't have more than 1 friend

 

[exdeath]

Originally posted by: AmigaMan
so you almost bought a Porsche or Vette, but ended up with a POS Ford

Thats how I felt when I was looking, but the '03-04 SVT Cobra changed that whole "POS Ford" attitude real quick. Luckily I ditched the snooty name brand attitude and got the car that best suited my needs.

$1000 to get 500+ HP and size of after market had much more to do with it towards the end. Having a back seat after everything else is all said and done is just a bonus. You know the whole "runs xx.xx in the 1/4, x.x 0-60 all with ice cold A/C, power windows, and a back seat".

When I can run 14-26 psi boost on a stock Corvette with a $3600 blower (the exact same one for a 'vette is $8000 for 7 psi) or have 3 stroker kits and 4 cam companies to choose from for a Boxster 3.2L, I'll think about looking at them again.

 

[alkemyst]

my car has unusable rear seats...even with my 5' tall wife in the passenger side there is no real way for anyone to sit in the back. It's mostly for insurance purposes I believe.

Most people I know that have a 2 seater they use for the weekends have a equal or nicer daily driver.

Sounds like you are trying to one up nicer cars like the corvette, supra and GTO (which should be able to fit people in it's back seat) with your Mustang.

When the need to carpool comes up I have my wife's car we can use and/or anyone else in our group of friends / coworkers usually have larger 4 doors/SUV's.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: exdeath
It's not about buying a car for your friends instead of you or whether or not you have to drive them around daily.

It just seems to me that when you are just out cruising around and hanging out with friends is when you'd want the fun car the most. Who wants to get all cleaned up and pimped and dressed up to go out to hit a club or something, then have to leave your shiny sporty just washed and waxed car at home and ride around in your friends' moms' mini van eh?

I totally agree about taking the two seater and one lucky friend and leaving everyone else to the people hauler.

If an adult male is going clubbing it's in his best interest to drive himself to a club/bar.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: R Nilla
Why not take both in that scenario? You and one lucky friend take the Vette, everyone else is stuck in the Tempo. When you're with a group of 8+ do you wish you had a full-size van? No, you probably take two or more cars.

Also, this way you never have to worry about being stuck as the designated people-hauler. Unless everyone you know is Amish, I don't see how having a two-seater would really be a problem - at least not for the owner, anyway.

You should buy your car for you (and possibly your family), not your friends.

No kidding. This type of thinking is how people end up owning a Ford Excursion. :laugh:

 

[exdeath]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
my car has unusable rear seats...even with my 5' tall wife in the passenger side there is no real way for anyone to sit in the back. It's mostly for insurance purposes I believe.

Most people I know that have a 2 seater they use for the weekends have a equal or nicer daily driver.

Sounds like you are trying to one up nicer cars like the corvette, supra and GTO (which should be able to fit people in it's back seat) with your Mustang.

When the need to carpool comes up I have my wife's car we can use and/or anyone else in our group of friends / coworkers usually have larger 4 doors/SUV's.

The GTO and Supra both have back seats as well, so I'm not sure what you are saying.

The back seat in a Mustang and Supra are really unusable as well, but they are there, technically, if you need to cram a third person in the car in a pinch. The GTO's back seat on the other hand seems roomy by comparison.

To each their own. For me the Cobra settled my thirst for power after driving a Camry for many years. It made no sense then to have a new car that would leave me out the money but still driving the Camry in most cases.

 

[Vette73]

Majority of the time me and the wife drive the Corvette. Picked up 2 rolls of R19, some tools, steaks, etc... just yesterday.

Now if moving wood, more then 2 people, pavers, etc... then we take the old Saab 900se (4door).

 

[Koing]

I was debating this also...now I'm thinking f0ck it. I'll get an s2000 and just live with it

Koing