Cars

[nineveh_uk]

I had decided that I wanted to buy a five (really four and a boot) door car, because they are much more civilised if you ever want to fit adults in the back, and there's more room to transport stuff. On the other hand, three (that is, two) doors are easier to get hold of, and cheaper. And I could buy one off a friend of my father's who's selling one. And do I actually need five doors anyway?

[Poll #1435762]

Comments

[bookwormsarah.livejournal.com]

I went from a five to a three door car, and apart for a couple of occasions it has made no difference. How often are you likely to need to fit more than one adult into your car? If it is going to be regularly, then maybe, but if like me it only happens occasionally, stick to the three. Having said that I did miss my Escort when I moved house...

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I think it is less adults than other stuff (although adults is a definitely family issue, what with everyone bar me having such quantities of leg). I am working on the assumption that I _am_ going to start buying furniture, and that I shall want to transport it, and that five doors would make that easier.

[azdak.livejournal.com]

If you want to transport furniture (also bicycles, dogs, large quantities of food shopping, and more than four drunk friends) nothing beats a hatchback.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

Think it would be a hatchback either way (you can hardly get anything else now, from what I've seen).

Nice icon.

[gramarye1971]

I am always a proponent of buying the least amount of car necessary at the most affordable price. Unless you plan to be driving with two passengers or hauling larger objects around on a regular basis, a three-door sounds like it would work just as well. (Not to mention that they tend to be easier to park!)

[rosathome.livejournal.com]

The thing is that you, like me, will be the sole car-owner in the household. So although this means that normally there will only be one of you in the car, it also means that on the occasions when you need a car with lots of space, yours will be the only one available. I use my back seat a LOT. And often for transporting stuff that doesn't fit in the boot (because it is still quite a small car) and wouldn't easily get into a three-door car.

[white_hart]

I tend to think that as long as you can fold the rear seats down it doesn't matter much whether you have rear doors or not, and I prefer a three-door car for the ease of chucking odd bits and pieces in the back seat.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

I think you've identified the root of it here. I'm not going to have loads of people in it, or loads of stuff. But I do need it to function as more than a transporter of me to the supermarket, even as a small car. It needs to be able to transport stuff, and it needs to be OK on distances, even if I am not intending to take it regularly 500 miles (or indeed ever).

[rosathome.livejournal.com]

Yes, to the distance thing as well. You need to be happy driving it on motorways, even if you don't do it often.

[jennyrad.livejournal.com]

While it's often easier to get stuff into the back of a 5-door car, I don't *think* that - like-for-like as it were - there's inherently more actual *space*.

Ideally maybe if you're buying from someone you know you could experiment with "getting stuff into" the potential car before you decide?

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

I'm definitely with you on the least amount of car necessary for the most affordable price. It's just that I can't quite decide what is "necessary"...

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

I suspect that I may be being irrationally biased against 3 doors simply because most of my experience is with five - because my instant response to your comment was "surely it is easier to open the back door than to move the seat forward", which is not actually true.

[white_hart]

I would certainly argue the opposite, having only ever owned three-door cars! They are less good for passengers, but I rarely have more than one passenger.

[azdak.livejournal.com]

In that case, I would myself go for the cheapest option. Five doors are definitely a lot more convenient if people are regularly going to be getting in and out of the back seat, but they aren't essential. And if it's a hatchback, then you can shove awkward bulky things in via the boot, so it doesn't matter that there aren't any rear doors.

[tudorpot.livejournal.com]

I have had only one car with three doors- big mistake. It was hard to get bulky stuff out from the back seat, mind you it was not a hatchback. Of course you could get a roof rack to tie furniture on.

[cleanskies.livejournal.com]

Get the car that meets your needs, not something someone else is getting rid of because it's inadequate for their needs.

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

I think a roofrack might require enormously increased uper body strength...!

[nineveh-uk.livejournal.com]

Good way of putting it (though in the event, it has turned out as not ideal for eitehr of us, so not going to happen).