Keep the car?

Thanks for the input, folks. More people do this than I'd realized. Sure seems to me like we keep the car and give it a try, assuming the wife agrees. She's not convinced.

Keep the car and see how it goes. You can always sell it later if you do not like having it with you.
We liked our paid-for car when we bought our motorhome. That car would not be a very good toad and we did not have the towing apparatus or any towing experience. So we kept the car as a chase car. We have been fulltiming for 10 months, still with chase car. Like you we do not move all that often and try to keep our travel days fairly short, so having both of us drive is not a big deal for us. Maybe someday we will replace the car, invest in towing apparatus and begin towing, but for now chase car works fine.

Most of the time we would be able to find a place to park an extra vehicle if we had one. We use state parks a lot, and we routinely see an overflow parking area. You could park the truck their and keep the car at your site for daily use.

My wife "chases" in the Toyota Corolla on travel days. We had the car and it was paid for when we hit the road. I asked the question on the Escapees forums and the responses were about 50/50 as to what the respondents would do. They were unanimous, though, on what we should do: since we had the car and no payments, take it along for a year and see if we like it. We've now completed 16 months and still travel with the car. It has come it very handy in places such as southern California, downtown Baltimore and other large cities, sightseeing on mountain roads, and running back and forth between where we stay and the grandkids' house. We try not to travel more than 150 miles (200 max) in a day and my wife likes to listen to her audio books, etc. I like a silent cab when driving the rig. Bottom line, it works well for us.

Rob

We full time traveled for 8 years. Seven of those years we had a chase car, a PT Cruiser turbo and i drove the International truck and pulled the 36 ft 5th wheel. The big truck would give about 7.5 mpg, the PT would give about 23mpg. I figured if we put 100,000 miles on the PT, it would come out to be about free as opposed to driving the big truck. We did a lot of exploring and seeing the sites in the car. The truck did its job of moving the house(trailer). In some occasions we had to either park the truck or car in another location on the rv park as the site would not handle all 3 vehicles. But the having of the car made the travels when out for the day so much better than the big truck. Some folks thought we were nuts because of the added costs. We drove the car 140,000 miles till we sold it. To us it was well worth it.

Our plan was to have wife drive our 2015 VW Jetta diesel but then the emissions scandal happened. It was nice having a diesel car and truck. Jetta had 10 k oil changes and 56 mpg at 55 mph following the 5ver. We decided to let VW buy it back because the fix included engine tear down.

that is one reason I wouldn't want a large 5er/TT to full time in. the TV would have to be enormous and I would want a small 4x4 etc. to scoot around in.
bumpy

I think the decision is strictly your own. No right or wrong way, just do what makes the wife happy.

Of course, with another vehicle, you have all the upkeep with it: insurance, license plates, oil changes, maintenance and repairs. It's one more item to maintain, watch, fret over, deal with logistically (as you've indicated, even parking somewhere).

But, the advantage of having a run-around vehicle might out weigh all the headache responsibilities that go along with the 2nd vehicle. You have to weigh those headaches if they are worth it or not.

And then, nothing says you have to get rid of the 2nd vehicle RIGHT NOW! You can try, and see where it lands keeping both vehicles, having your wife drive the "chase car" for a while. It's possible, after a while, she may change her mind and realize the 2nd vehicle is just too much of a hassle. And then, on the other hand, you may come to terms with the idea that having the 2nd vehicle is actually very handy to have. So, my suggestion is to keep the 2nd vehicle for right now. Use it, see where the "comfort" level lays. And if it gets to be too much, then sell the second vehicle.

A lot of folks will get bicycles or motor scooters as a run-around mode of transportation too. Still your choice. Give it some time, try it, see how it works out. It's most important ... Keep the wife happy!