Thought I'd post up a brief bit of my car history for you. 
I've often had another car for the winter and have just had a quick look back at what I've had over the last few years. They've usually, though not always, been sheds and been bought and used to compliment another car, usually a nice one and a bit special to me. Most have had winter tyres put on them by myself to improve their chances of getting me to the shop and back...
I've tried to keep them in chronological order but may have slightly screwed up somewhere along the line...
2002 Subaru Legacy Outback. Awesome car, fitted a set of cheap alloys and winter tyres to it and it was a joy to use in snow, not the cheapest to run fuel wise though with the 3.0 H6 engine.
2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee. I've always liked Jeeps and my favourite has to be the WJ model which this was. Fitted with the 4 litre straight six it was another go anywhere car. I also put winter tyres on this one as the old ones were cracking in the tread. Another one which liked fuel but it was like driving around in your favourite old armchair.
2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT. Absolute stupidity, no idea why I bought it apart from the fact that it seemed cheap at the time (it wasn't). 6.1 Litre V8 Hemi with a stupid amount of horsepower and a 0 - 60 time of around 4 seconds, in a 2+ tonne machine with the aerodynamics of a brick. Loved it but it was totally impractical.
2010 Range Rover Autobiography L322. A beautiful car, superbly finished with an interior to die for. Comfort and performance combined, with a 5.0 Litre supercharged V8 at it's heart, it was a stunningly impressive machine with acres of leather and, contrary to popular belief, extremely reliable. I looked at lots before settling on this one, eventually buying it unseen from S Wales though with a very good warranty.
It was about this time when I realised that I'd started to drift away from the point of a winter car. Yes, the Range Rover would go anywhere but it wasn't exactly the cheap winter hack I was used to, which was the original idea, and I was getting concerned about using it (and the SRT before it) in bad weather. At this stage I also had a 190E Cosworth in the garage and a W212 E63 stuck in the drive, so I decided to have a complete re-think and see what I could come up with. I sold the W212 E63, which left me with the 190E and the Range Rover. I then part exchanged the Range Rover for a W213 E63s which I figured would do everything as I was now doing a lot less miles and it was four wheel drive. I didn't even try it in the snow as I didn't want to risk it, so I decided to go back to my original idea of a little 4x4 as a car to use on bad days so I started again with these: -
2005 Nissan X-Trail 2.5i SVE. Just a nice, typically Japanese, car of the period. It came with a set of brand new winters on it and, apart from the usual fluid changes, I just ran it around. It went anywhere, snow didn't phase it, it had switchable four wheel drive which meant reasonable economy and it was spacious and relatively comfortable.
2014 Lexus RX45Oh. I part exchanged my Nissan for this in August 2018. No idea why, just a whim at the time and I still regret moving the X-Trail on as it was such a good car. The Lexus is 4 wheel drive via electric motors, the rear only driving when needed, with a 3.5 Litre V6 to basically charge the batteries. It's quick, quiet and comfy, perhaps not to Range Rover standards but it's half the price, and is certainly impressive on fuel, doing well over 30mpg on a run, just below round the houses. It also now has a set of winter tyres on it which stay on all year round as it barely gets used in the summer months. I actually checked and, in the 30 months or so I owned it, it did nearly 3,000 miles. Not particularly good for me or the car.
After a few health concerns I decided to start to try to act sensible but, like most car obsessives, found it difficult. It was particularly hard to sell the 190E but at least I'd got it to the stage where it didn't really need anything doing to it and it was just a nice driveable classic. It also went to a good home which was important to me. The W213 was a lot easier to part with as I'd never really gelled with it, not doing 10,000 miles in the 2 years I owned it though looking back this was also probably due to my ongoing health problems which I wasn't exactly aware of at the time. This then left me with just the Lexus which was fine for knocking around locally in but not so good for any distance stuff. Not only that, I was lacking a Mercedes so decided to treat myself to a new one. This was the current C217 S63 AMG in Anthracite Blue with Saddle Brown upholstery. A definite keeper this one, had it over four years now but still only managed to put just over 8,000 miles on it as I don't go anywhere really nowadays.
I sold the Lexus as, whilst it was a good low mileage and reliable car, it just wasn't getting used and was starting to show a few issues, mainly electrical and typical of the lack of usage. Not only that, I was offered a price which I couldn't really refuse so, as the time seemed right, it had to go. I replaced it with a Volkswagen e-Golf which ticked all the boxes I needed though, in hindsight, I shouldn't really have bothered. Although it wasn't a winter car as per the original idea, it was handy for a local run-around thing. I had it serviced after 9 months or so of ownership and realised that I just didn't need a spare car as it only covered around 400 miles in that time. I walk more than that as part of my "get fit" routine.
As my lifestyle has now changed considerably due to various issues, a winter car has now become less important as going out every day is no longer essential, or even necessary. I still have a spare car to run around in if necessary but it's a 50 odd year old American pickup so certainly not a winter car.
These are a few of my cars over the last 15 years or so. Out of all the above winter cars, I particularly regret selling three of them. These are the Subaru Outback, the WJ Jeep and the Nissan X-Trail. All these cars epitomised the concept of having a winter car, which is not going to cause too much upset if it does get damaged by someone skidding into it.
Sorry to have waffled, had a bit of time for a change
I've often had another car for the winter and have just had a quick look back at what I've had over the last few years. They've usually, though not always, been sheds and been bought and used to compliment another car, usually a nice one and a bit special to me. Most have had winter tyres put on them by myself to improve their chances of getting me to the shop and back...
I've tried to keep them in chronological order but may have slightly screwed up somewhere along the line...
2002 Subaru Legacy Outback. Awesome car, fitted a set of cheap alloys and winter tyres to it and it was a joy to use in snow, not the cheapest to run fuel wise though with the 3.0 H6 engine.
2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee. I've always liked Jeeps and my favourite has to be the WJ model which this was. Fitted with the 4 litre straight six it was another go anywhere car. I also put winter tyres on this one as the old ones were cracking in the tread. Another one which liked fuel but it was like driving around in your favourite old armchair.
2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT. Absolute stupidity, no idea why I bought it apart from the fact that it seemed cheap at the time (it wasn't). 6.1 Litre V8 Hemi with a stupid amount of horsepower and a 0 - 60 time of around 4 seconds, in a 2+ tonne machine with the aerodynamics of a brick. Loved it but it was totally impractical.
2010 Range Rover Autobiography L322. A beautiful car, superbly finished with an interior to die for. Comfort and performance combined, with a 5.0 Litre supercharged V8 at it's heart, it was a stunningly impressive machine with acres of leather and, contrary to popular belief, extremely reliable. I looked at lots before settling on this one, eventually buying it unseen from S Wales though with a very good warranty.
It was about this time when I realised that I'd started to drift away from the point of a winter car. Yes, the Range Rover would go anywhere but it wasn't exactly the cheap winter hack I was used to, which was the original idea, and I was getting concerned about using it (and the SRT before it) in bad weather. At this stage I also had a 190E Cosworth in the garage and a W212 E63 stuck in the drive, so I decided to have a complete re-think and see what I could come up with. I sold the W212 E63, which left me with the 190E and the Range Rover. I then part exchanged the Range Rover for a W213 E63s which I figured would do everything as I was now doing a lot less miles and it was four wheel drive. I didn't even try it in the snow as I didn't want to risk it, so I decided to go back to my original idea of a little 4x4 as a car to use on bad days so I started again with these: -
2005 Nissan X-Trail 2.5i SVE. Just a nice, typically Japanese, car of the period. It came with a set of brand new winters on it and, apart from the usual fluid changes, I just ran it around. It went anywhere, snow didn't phase it, it had switchable four wheel drive which meant reasonable economy and it was spacious and relatively comfortable.
2014 Lexus RX45Oh. I part exchanged my Nissan for this in August 2018. No idea why, just a whim at the time and I still regret moving the X-Trail on as it was such a good car. The Lexus is 4 wheel drive via electric motors, the rear only driving when needed, with a 3.5 Litre V6 to basically charge the batteries. It's quick, quiet and comfy, perhaps not to Range Rover standards but it's half the price, and is certainly impressive on fuel, doing well over 30mpg on a run, just below round the houses. It also now has a set of winter tyres on it which stay on all year round as it barely gets used in the summer months. I actually checked and, in the 30 months or so I owned it, it did nearly 3,000 miles. Not particularly good for me or the car.
After a few health concerns I decided to start to try to act sensible but, like most car obsessives, found it difficult. It was particularly hard to sell the 190E but at least I'd got it to the stage where it didn't really need anything doing to it and it was just a nice driveable classic. It also went to a good home which was important to me. The W213 was a lot easier to part with as I'd never really gelled with it, not doing 10,000 miles in the 2 years I owned it though looking back this was also probably due to my ongoing health problems which I wasn't exactly aware of at the time. This then left me with just the Lexus which was fine for knocking around locally in but not so good for any distance stuff. Not only that, I was lacking a Mercedes so decided to treat myself to a new one. This was the current C217 S63 AMG in Anthracite Blue with Saddle Brown upholstery. A definite keeper this one, had it over four years now but still only managed to put just over 8,000 miles on it as I don't go anywhere really nowadays.
I sold the Lexus as, whilst it was a good low mileage and reliable car, it just wasn't getting used and was starting to show a few issues, mainly electrical and typical of the lack of usage. Not only that, I was offered a price which I couldn't really refuse so, as the time seemed right, it had to go. I replaced it with a Volkswagen e-Golf which ticked all the boxes I needed though, in hindsight, I shouldn't really have bothered. Although it wasn't a winter car as per the original idea, it was handy for a local run-around thing. I had it serviced after 9 months or so of ownership and realised that I just didn't need a spare car as it only covered around 400 miles in that time. I walk more than that as part of my "get fit" routine.
As my lifestyle has now changed considerably due to various issues, a winter car has now become less important as going out every day is no longer essential, or even necessary. I still have a spare car to run around in if necessary but it's a 50 odd year old American pickup so certainly not a winter car.
These are a few of my cars over the last 15 years or so. Out of all the above winter cars, I particularly regret selling three of them. These are the Subaru Outback, the WJ Jeep and the Nissan X-Trail. All these cars epitomised the concept of having a winter car, which is not going to cause too much upset if it does get damaged by someone skidding into it.
Sorry to have waffled, had a bit of time for a change
