aussiesmg wrote: I don't understand the question, one car per square foot of driveway or one car per day of the week. You really asked this in here? Did I log into the wrong place?
Haha. I was going to post something like that too. It's like the question is written in a language I'm familiar with, but I just can't make it out.
I'd rather have two crappy cars than a single nice one. Sell the Scion, but an old Corolla (or Geo) and use the leftover cash to pay down debt.
You can lose a lot of money if your forced to pay for a tow-truck, a professional mechanic hourly rate, and inability to buy cheap, used, or good parts.
Having two vehicles, even if you only drive one once a year, allow you some security and freedom in fixing your daily driver in case of emergency.
Can you or SWMBO carpool to work with a coworker and/or use public transportation for commuting? If so, having only one vehicle is easily doable. Otherwise, I agree with the other members of the peanut gallery in saying that you should try to keep two cars.
The problem is that large swaths of America are nigh untraversable without your own vehicle. 
There are some things that make our situation easier. We have a small grocery store in the front of neighborhood, I can ride my bike to work, and ride with a friend to classes. SWMBO would need the car on the two days she works, but she only works two days a week. So I think it would be fairly manageable.
PHeller wrote: You can lose a lot of money if your forced to pay for a tow-truck, a professional mechanic hourly rate, and inability to buy cheap, used, or good parts. Having two vehicles, even if you only drive one once a year, allow you some security and freedom in fixing your daily driver in case of emergency.
How much does a second car cost? Take the "fun" out of the equation.
My second car costs:
~$20/year in PPT, which is cheap here, and its a cheap car as well ~$360 in insurance, liability only ~hours of my time to track/maintain maintenance on a second vehicle ~xxx? in depreciation
For the OP, both of those costs are likely to be higher as we are talking about a more expensive vehicle to start with. Not to mention the time-value of his money being tied up in a depreciating asset instead of being stuck somewhere with a long-term benefit like the stock market or debt payoff. So I'd say at least $1000/year is what a second car is costing him.
How much does a tow and some occasional professional mechanic work cost? How often is it required? Doesn't sound like he owns anything that would be that unreliable or require major work on a yearly basis.
We've done it. It largely depends on the kids activities. Once they get to an age where they are busy and activities start over lapping it can be really tough.
In reply to ProDarwin:
You're right. I was approaching the situation from my perspective. That is, no loan to start with for any or either car. Both my cars are older and higher mileage (98 w 166k and 90 w 158k), and both are cheap, but I'd be nervous about the reliability of just one and I don't think I could get a car anywhere near as reliable as the two of them combined for the sum of their resale values (maybe $3,000 total).
If the XA is paid for, its fairly new and should be fairly reliable, there isn't much need for a back up car.
PHeller wrote: In reply to ProDarwin: You're right. I was approaching the situation from my perspective. That is, no loan to start with for any or either car. Both my cars are older and higher mileage (98 w 166k and 90 w 158k), and both are cheap, but I'd be nervous about the reliability of just one and I don't think I could get a car anywhere near as reliable as the two of them combined for the sum of their resale values (maybe $3,000 total). If the XA is paid for, its fairly new and should be fairly reliable, there isn't much need for a back up car.
Yup. Something to consider in your situation is still the time-value of the money you tie up in a car. My investments average ~7% after inflation. My car depreciates. Although owning my S2000 for two years didn't cost me much as it didn't depreciate at all, $1200/yr in insurance + the amount of the car not invested means I basically spent $5K. Try that with a car that is rapidly depreciating and suddenly car ownership is way expensive 
(Side note: yes, it would've been more intelligent for me to leave my $ invested and get a ~1.5% APR loan on the car instead of paying cash)
As another note, my DD for the past 2 years is a car I paid ~$3000 (Saturn). I have never needed to use a backup car because it wasn't working. I actually can't remember the last time I had a mechanical failure on a DD and needed a backup car. Most of my DDs have been less expensive than this one.
In general, the money saved not having a second (or 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.) car will easily outweigh the very occasional need for emergency repairs, a rental car, tow, etc... provided you don't just spend that money on other stuff instead :)
Drewsifer wrote: Well some more background. The Scion is paid off (it was a gift from my in-laws). Owe $7250 on the Mazda (07, 130k). So unfortunately, it would mostly be selling it for as small a loss as possible (or for what we owe hopefully).
There is nothing wrong with driving a EG/EK hatchback civic for $2k (and it's value will remain until you want to sell it).
I couldn't imagine only one vehicle in a family unless wifey is a stay at home mom...
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