What does your wife/partner drive?

StuBob · 19 Jan 2020 at 15:29

With the missus finally undertaking steps to get her licence she has asked me to look and suggest cars that would be suitabel for when she passes her test. I have to admit I have been pretty stumped by this poser and have no idea what route to go down or what people are driving nowadays as if it was really up to me I would just get her a Saab (fanboy alert).

Nonetheless I've told her to keep a look out and to choose her own car and pick something she likes and I can advise on her preferences if necesary but it got me thinking also on how others perhaps arrange their household car setups? Does your partner just pick the car she likes the look of? Do you have any input? Are your car buys coordinated for max utility, fun or convenience?

Interested to see others setups or suggestions.

adam cool dude · 19 Jan 2020 at 15:38

We have 3 cars and drive all three so just depends on the situation. With the exception of my GT-Four we just drive what ever we need.

Mcnumpty2323 · 19 Jan 2020 at 15:43

"what does your wife partner drive?"

Me to despair.

Depends on the person
Without getting in to any sexist stereotype situations hopefully
But women don't always see the logical argument of what car to get

But it's a pretty colour
Seems to come up a lot.

rodenal · 19 Jan 2020 at 15:47

We have two cars, focus estate and a fiesta which my wife pretty much exclusively uses.

We pretty much picked both cars because we liked them and they suited our usage at the time. Now we have two kids we almost definitely wouldn't have bought the fiesta if purchasing a new car at this point. To be fair though it's managed fine through the most "stuff intensive" first year of child nr 2, so quite hard to fault

paradigm · 19 Jan 2020 at 15:50

The wife’s car is a 2015 Skoda Yeti 1.2 TSi DSG, surprisingly frugal for such a small engine in a relatively large car. It’s also very comfortable which surprised me.

iamdjdz · 19 Jan 2020 at 15:52

We have a 320d and an Abarth 500 and she drives whichever is in front (usually the BM). She's a safe competent driver so I don't care which she uses though prefer the BM in winter for the heated seats and steering wheel.

I chose both cars but she has to agree to driving it after I owned a Volvo 850 that she refused to drive.

ivrytwr3 · 19 Jan 2020 at 15:57

Toyota Yaris

Mcnumpty2323 · 19 Jan 2020 at 15:59

Or buy her your dream car
One you know she will never want to drive
Then say although I love my old car
Because it's you darling I will very reluctantly let you have it
And I will suffer in silence driving that awful ferrari I got you

Seriously though
There's so many to choose from
I start by removing any that are obviously out of budget
Then decide type~suv, hatchback, saloon etc
Then will she want large, medium, small car
Soft suspension or hard
As said fiesta and focus sell so many for a reason
But not every ones cup of tea

[TW]Fox · 19 Jan 2020 at 16:00

We have a 2015 530d and a 2018 Mini Cooper. She's always liked the Mini's and I've always been a fan of BMW group products so it works for us. She uses hers mostly for going back home to see her Mum and we use mine for basically everything else.

We've had it since new - spent 9 months trying to find a nice 1 year old Cooper to replace her 2012 London 2012 Edition Cooper and just couldn't find anything that made sense so gave up in the end and ordered a new one to her spec - though she was more than happy for me to guide her to the right one.

The last one made it to 6 years old before we decided it was missing various spec items that would make her life easier, hence the change. Had it been equipped with half decent lights and navigation we'd likely have kept it, it was immaculate, so I see no reason why her current one won't stay with us until at least that age.

DoneADougalOnSofa · 19 Jan 2020 at 16:00

Mcnumpty2323 said:
"what does your wife partner drive?"

Me to despair.
...

Third post. Knew I wouldn't have been quick enough with that gag...

Mcnumpty2323 · 19 Jan 2020 at 16:01

DoneADougalOnSofa said:
Third post. Knew I wouldn't have been quick enough with that gag...

Got to be fast
Or be last lol

a1ex2001 · 19 Jan 2020 at 16:07

Without knowing anything about your other half or her needs I was going to say Fiat 500 or mini both are popular with the ladies and actually decent cars.

we have two cars a 2004 mondeo and a 2012 Golf we chose what we wanted and then shopped together to make sure we were both happy with the purchase. I’d happily have another mondeo when it dies it’s been a great reliable cheap to run car the VW on the other hand I’m not a fan of, everything costs a fortune to fix and it hasn’t been half as reliable as we’d hoped.

[TW]Fox · 19 Jan 2020 at 16:09

I would question that the 500 is a decent car. They seem to be incredibly poorly built.

Mcnumpty2323 · 19 Jan 2020 at 16:13

Isn't the fiat 500
The one even the stig couldn't get to go up a steep hill lol
Though probably fixed that by now

Drumroll · 19 Jan 2020 at 16:30

Mcnumpty2323 said:
Isn't the fiat 500
The one even the stig couldn't get to go up a steep hill lol
Though probably fixed that by now

Not surprised. Drove one in Spain. Struggle. Would be fine for city driving in Cambridge, no hills, but anywhere else, at least equipped with the tiny engine, no tanks.
Plenty of choices around, from the nippy 1.2 Peugeot 208, to hybrids like the Toyota Corolla.
Missus drives an A-Class.

wedrum · 19 Jan 2020 at 16:32

Stick

tom_nieto · 19 Jan 2020 at 18:32

[TW]Fox said:
I would question that the 500 is a decent car. They seem to be incredibly poorly built.

Perhaps we got lucky with build quality, but I've found our 500 to be pretty good for what it is and reasonably reliable. I'm a big fan and have driven it a lot, the twinair engine adds a lot of character. It's certainly a lot faster than our Sportage and the comments about it not being able to get up a hill do not apply to the twinair. The 1.2 is soul less, but it's a nice enough place to be.

Here's one for the gammon faced amongst us: https://www.driving.co.uk/car-reviews/the-clarkson-review-fiat-500-twinair-2011/

To answer the OP, we both drive all off the cars when the situation arises.

skippy2421 · 19 Jan 2020 at 18:52

Missus drives a 1.3 2009 mazda2, bright green. The flying bogey as I call it. The way she drives I'd begrudge getting anything new or overly nice, a view I think she actually shares. It'll need a little bit of work soon but it's done really well and she hasn't managed to destroy it yet.

For long journeys we always use my octavia VRS though, much nicer place to be. I do fear letting her drive it at times but she hasn't dinged it yet and seems to drive far more sensibly in it. She wants one of those crossovers for her next one though. When the time comes I suspect it'll be a case of she'll list 3-4 she likes and I'll write off a couple as silly ideas and she'll try the other 2. I have a sneaking suspicion colour may well be a defining factor.

EdwardTeach · 19 Jan 2020 at 18:54

We have 1 car, a BMW 335. I chose it and bought it with some input from the wife, and it was kind of bought so that she could dirge it when she passed her test.

We previously had a 20yr old volvo v70, and she insisted that there was no way she would drive it, so I was instructed to get something "nice"!

She likes the 335, it is very easy to drive
and is not too big.

IAmATeaf · 19 Jan 2020 at 19:18

Yaris 1.33 TR no less, she’s insured for my 335i but the passenger seat is the closest she’s got to driving it yet