We mentioned a LONG time ago that Stefan bought a motorcycle and would be using it to commute to work. Since then he has switched companies and now has to wear a suit to work everyday. Needless to say that put a damper on his travel by bike routine – but he’s looking forward to getting back into it. The weather has been pretty mild here lately and not cold enough for the streets to be frozen which is very important.
The lease on our BMW runs out at the end of January and we won’t be sorry to see that car go. It’s a nice car but has lots of flaws and we just aren’t impressed with the newest models. Our primary car will then be our Land Rover Defender (yes, it’s a bit of a gas guzzler but I don’t drive it all that often and love the truck so much I won’t ever consider parting with it!) We thought Stefan would be getting a company car but it turns out we would be paying just as much in the end as if we were buying the car ourselves (around €1000 a month with insurance, gas, servicing, etc) so we figure we’ll skip that option and keep the money in our pockets.
It will be an interesting time now as we see if we truly NEED a second car along with the motorcycle. While Stefan was on vacation for three months, we barely touched his car. When we needed to go somewhere it was usually to pick up building supplies, furniture or something else for our build-out process and so the Defender was always the car of choice. The last few weeks I’ve been driving Stefan in to work and picking him up in the evenings so we can save €20 a day parking (which is just a bit too stiff to keep doing) and then both cars just sit in front of the house the rest of the day. This makes us believe we just don’t need another car and all the expenses that go along with it.
Should we decide to get a second car a few months down the road, we’re pretty sure it would be something rather compact and not too old since we don’t want to have it serviced all the time (seeing as we know next to nothing about cars). But for the time being we’re just going to play things by ear and see how it goes with Defender and bike – and probably just get a few accessories for the bike so Stefan can carry a bit of cargo with him (presentations, reports and other “homework”) and his suit!
