Gordon Brown is finally getting to me

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to the extent that I'm considering my options regarding the cars.

We have 3 cars an x reg 1.6 fecus as the long distance work car. A 2002 S3 (hers) and my Nov 06 2.7 Cayman. The S3 and the Fecus are paid for the Cayman is on a 3 year deal and 18 months in.

There are only 2 of us and we are getting married in Nov, babies are not coming into the plan for a year or so. We both work from home alot but also visit cutomers on occasion but don't need to carry customers round. I get a car allowance which says my car should be less than 5 years old and 4/5 doors.

We are fine financially but it just seems a bit silly having 3 cars. I hate paying GB so much tax and insuring 3 cars all the time, plus tax, mot etc etc.

So my options, the easy one is to get rid of the S3 and Fecus and get a Diesel something (45+mpg) cuts the fuel, insurance and tax costs and we get a better car than the fecus. No complications with payments paying cash upfront.

The Porsche is the most expensive to run/tax/fuel and insure plus the payments but I love it. I doubt I'll get anything for it if I hand it back to Porsche so I'd have effectively rented a Cayman for 18 months. If I did this we would keep the fecus and S3. I'd also probably order a GT-R for 18months time.

Any thoughts.

[Dave]

You'll have trouble getting rid of 'her' car

So that leaves the fecus and the porsche.. I would get rid of the fecus..

Use the porsche more.. enjoy it.. the more you use it the less it costs per mile.. Ok, it might use a bit more fuel, but you'll enjoy it all the more.. and what is the point of having it stored in the garage. (if that's what you do?)

[cruiser647]

Here, here! Loose the fecus. It's a crock.

You could also loose the S3 and as you say, get a 4/5 door diesel (if the mileage warrants it) or a petrol car. I suppose the cars of the moment are:-

BMW 1 & 3 series

New A4 or previous gen A4 - good diesel options if need be.

Sensible Volvo S60 (as a last resort!)

Subaru Legacy if you need space?

Honda Accord Type S?

[CarMad]

Keep the porker and get rid of the rest and get a 320d or similar, very low tax, great economy with all the efficient dynamics and a great drive.

But get driving the best ones, petrol isn't going to get any cheaper at the moment so enjoy it now.

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I think it was the posts on the 320d that got me to thinking, although mrsB does have an aversion to BMW's.

Does anyone know what the oil burner MINI is like? She would go for that. (I had a Mk1 new MINI coopers before the Porsche)

All this tax has got to be hurting people, our earnings are top 5% as we are thinking about changing cars. What is this doing to Joe average? If they don't cancel the 2p raise in fuel due in Sept there will be serious trouble.