vara411

I'm sure my story isn't unique, and I'm sure there's probably more interesting threads, but this has really been weighing on me, so here goes... I'm a dad in my mid-30's with a wife and two young kids (4.5 y/o and 18 month old). No plans for a third.

My wife stays at home with the kids and drives the family hauler (2011 Kia Sorento SX). I currently drive a (paid for!) 2004 Acura TL with 85K miles on it.

As I've said in previous threads, I plan to buy a new C7 (with museum delivery! ) in the next year or two, with blessings (read: permission) from my beautiful, sweet, wonderful, and angelic wife.

The problem: we have a small 2 car garage with no outdoor space for a third car. This pretty much means I'd sell my Acura and use my two-seater (!) Corvette as my daily driver. I am of course perfectly fine with this but am nervous I wouldn't have a "beater car" to fall back on. We drive the kids in the Sorento pretty much 100% of the time, but it's still concerning to me because as they get older our transportation needs might change.

My question: I'd like to hear from folks who are going - or have gone - through anything similar. Any words of wisdom? Your input will be valued and appreciated more than you probably know!

Gary '09 C6

The Acura is already 10 yrs old. Keep it outside; after all, you said it's your beater-car.
I have a similar situation, b-t-w...

vara411

Thanks for the response, Gary! I've definitely thought of that but we have a steep, short, and narrow driveway behind the garage. Keeping the TL there might be more trouble than it's worth for me. Was figuring I'd sell it and just have the Vette for me. Oh well... first world problems.

Gary '09 C6

park it in the street...

RocketGuy3

No offense, but you're suggesting things that the OP makes it pretty clear he's thought of. It seems that parking the TL anywhere else is not a feasible option (although I do kinda wonder where his friends park when they come to visit, heh).

Being a single dude in his 20s, I don't have much experience with this personally, yara, but I have a friend who is/was in a fairly similar situation, and it didn't cause him much of a problem. He is married with two children and his only two cars are a Supra and a Jeep. The Supra technically has a back seat, so I guess it's not the exact same problem, but it's not very practical for carrying his growing kids around in the back anymore. The Jeep seems to have been all his family really needed to get around when they needed to get around together, and in a pinch, he can use his car to carry a passenger.

So if you ask me, I think you'll be fine

John510

If you cant keep the TL and have kids then maybe a corvette isn't for you......

Gary '09 C6

...guess I'm jaded...

we've had older vehicles for a long time, and the one in the worst condition always is parked in the street.
The sleek (used) two-seat sports car always had a garage spot

vara411

Oh it's for me alright... but you raise a fair point. Just a question of when. Wondering if I should consider something like an Audi TT-RS instead. Helluva car, almost as fast, and has a small backseat.

Gary, our HOA has a "thing" with cars parked in the street. We have guest parking spots right across from our house but owners can't use 'em.

Gary '09 C6

^ gotcha...that 'splains things a bit.

Gary '09 C6

vara, could you instead rent a garage reasonabaly nearby for the Corvette ?
especially useful if you're not going to use it every day...

John510

Cant part in front of your own house? That would suck.

I have 2 kids myself both in car seats. I have a Lexus IS250 that I can haul the kids around in. There is no way I can rely on only the wife's car to haul the kids. What if I have to pick them up or drop them off somewhere? Can't do that in a vette. A Corvette (or any other 2 seat expensive sports car for that matter) in reality is more of a novelty than a daily driver. Especially if you have two small children.

Oh and an Audi TT will hardly fit 2 carseats in the back. My advice would be one of three things : Save the TL and find somewhere to park it, find another cool car that will work for your family, or find a house that you can park multiple cars at and keep the TL and buy a vette.

Michael A

Here's the short answer.

Teach your wife to drive a stick. Then you are set for those times when you need to haul two kids.

Michael

vara411

Thought of that too Gary! There are some possibilities but honestly it's far from ideal. I suppose it all boils down to the obvious that nothing in life is guaranteed and sometimes you just gotta take leaps of faith... but I was hoping I'd learn from folks here first.

jdschlieman

My wife and I had the same conversation awhile back. I'm 33 with a 3 y/o and a 8 m/o. We have an Infiniti JX to carry all us around when we are together. My wife stays home with the kids and drives the JX around town. In preparation for my C7 (my first corvette, with a TPW of 10/14!), we decided to lease a cheap 4 door car as our daily driver in addition to the JX and garage the vette when it gets here. For us there are just too many times when we both need to be somewhere different and each need to have one kid with us for activities, pre school or appointments etc. It's not often but at least once a week I need the backseat for a car seat in my daily driver. We plan on having more kids so it's only gonna get worse. My wife had a hard time getting over having three cars at a young age but she came around. I just spent the weekend cleaning out my garage to make room to fit in the corvette. Our garage is small so our solution was to spend $1000 and add an expansion to our driveway. Now we have room for both cars in the driveway and one in the garage.

vara411

Ha!!!!!!! She ain't gonna learn on MY baby! LOL

vara411

JD, thanks for that. It seems we're not alone, eh? Three cars seemed excessive for us too and I just can't get comfortable with the idea, personally. I may just need to get a Vette when I fit the stereotypical middle-aged demographic!

No! I will soldier on and try to find a way to make this work!

TurrizT

I also have two kids and had this situation, but I always had a 4 door beater available if i needed to pick up both kids at same time. If beater is absolutely not an option, then you could have coordination issues

jdschlieman

Find a way to make it work! I have had the money to buy my first corvette for about 7 years now. Instead I went through 2 BMW's, a 350Z, a Tahoe, and an Infiniti G37 all because they where more convenient BUT not what I really wanted. I was never happy with any of them. We decided to just figure out how to make it work! Best of luck!

crazycrabber

I agree! You should try to figure it out. It never crossed my mind we could have a two seater until our youngest son was in college. Then all heck broke out from the pent up desires and this c7 will be our 5th two seat car in 3 1/2 years. Renting garage space would be much less expensive!

RLK

Exactly case closed