These Are Your Ideal One-Car Garages

Not all of us live in places where parking is as abundant as oxygen, and we have to make a complicated compromise on what we can drive. We asked our readers earlier this week for their ideal one-car garage. The responses were as varied as the possible living situations. Readers without large families at home were more than happy to stick with a coupe, while people raising kids saw the potential upside of having an SUV or even a pickup truck in a few cases. Without further ado, here are the cars we’d tether ourselves to for the rest of our lives:

I live a real-world version of this – when I was married to a wife who liked SUVs, it freed me up to daily drive impractical things like a Miata, a 911, things like that. Post-divorce, my “compromise” jack of all trades car is an Acura Integra Type S. Fast enough, handles well enough, not an SUV, and carries a fair amount of stuff. My garage is small enough that two cars would be a hassle. So, Integra. I’ll be looking forward to see what others write, always looking for inspiration for the next thing…

Submitted by: eunos

Like many fellow enthusiasts, I’m thinking a sporty wagon. But instead of a (gloriously) overpowered German, my pick would be the Lexus IS 300 SportCross. About the size of an E46 with similarly sharp handling, 215 horsepower from the 2JZ inline-6 that was also in the Supra, a comfortable interior, and typical Toyota reliability. And manual swaps are available.

Submitted by: LarriveeC05

Honestly, my Mitsubishi Evo X would fit the bill. Healthy aftermarket and parts support to keep running and change the looks down the road, fits five people (and real adults at that), fun to drive, 4 doors, the trunk space is adequate. I think the X even has a 5-star crash rating…I can’t really see anything else that fits the bill for my life, if I had to only have one car.

Submitted by: Agon Targeryan

2020 or newer GMC Sierra 3500 Diesel with an 8′ box with the highest stock suspension and as many comfort options as I can squeeze in there. Put a canopy on the back that has roof racks for my kayaks and I am set. A smaller truck won’t haul what I need and I can’t tow where I like to go. Plus, when I go fishing with the canopy, I can park right beside the lake and hop in the float tube, no need to set up a tent and my food is secure from bears. If you have ever driven one of these over the Coquihalla, there isn’t a better option. The torque to fly up the hills and the exhaust brake to hold your speed coming down. The MX-5 RF will be sorely missed, but I can always replace that with a motorcycle to keep it a one-car garage.

Submitted by: Chaz Michael McMichaels

Hate to say it, but maybe something kinda dull like my Ford Maverick. Cheap to buy and operate, seats 5, gets good MPG for commuting, hauls stuff, looks sharp enough, and the aftermarket support for it is large and growing.

Submitted by: BuddyS

A single car needs to have very high utility, so for me it’s a super low miles Land Rover LR3. Comfortable, most reliable Land Rover ever made. Great engine (Jaguar AJ-V8), versatile on and off road. Can tow enough to tackle all home projects and FB marketplace hauls.

Submitted by: Derek Gilray

Probably the car I’m saving up for now, a 2017-ish (pre-facelift) Maserati GranTurismo MC. It’s a coupe that can seat four adults, large trunk and a N/A Ferrari V8. If it has to be four doors, then a Maserati Levante Trofeo, crossover usability with a Ferrari V8 and dynamic driving.

Submitted by: RC350F

My wife has just the regular Dual Motor and it’s a great daily driver, easy to get into. Swallows up huge suitcases in the trunk. Seats fold flat, so we’ve done some RV park camping on a custom-fit mattress in the back where you can run the HVAC all night. Capable of doing our occasional long-distance trips like New Hampshire to Florida. If it could be a single car, would of course be nice to bump it up to the top trim Performance model.

Submitted by: StalePhish

Ford Ranger Raptor. Practical in the extreme, spacious interior, small enough for city driving, fast, and able to go anywhere. Completely indifferent to potholes, snow, speed bumps, and curbs. Rides well. I’ve long held that it’s the best daily driver there is.

Submitted by: Ryan Kudebeh

Since you said money is no object, I’m making the judgment call that this includes operating costs, i.e. fuel costs. If it’s truly a one-car garage for my entire family (I’m assuming the two non-dependents living here, my father-in-law and 18-year-old son, are exempt and can keep their vehicles), then it would have to be a 2025 Dodge Durango Hellcat. It has the seating capacity for my whole family, towing capacity for our utility trailer, and ticks the fun box.

If I don’t even get room for my utility trailer, then it has to be a pickup truck in order to serve our hobby farm needs, and so it will be the same truck I chose for the “live in your car” question: a 2025 Ram 1500 Tungsten Crew Cab Long Bed. I considered a Ram 2500 in order to get the 8-foot bed, but in practice, the 6’4″ bed hasn’t been a hindrance.

Honorable Mention: What I’d REALLY want is a pristine 1994-1996 Buick Roadmaster Estate with the towing package, except we’d easily put 40k+ miles a year on the thing and ruin it.

Submitted by: NoID11

If I can only have one car, I’m going to choose the vehicle that supports the rest of my passions and carts the family around in comfort, but also has to tow at least 3.5k lbs with ease to handle a dump trailer and an enclosed trailer full of motorcycles/ATVs.

For that, I pick the CX-90. Comfortable, excellent sound system, should be reliable (assuming the software update recalls subside), can tow just enough, and seating for up to 8 in case we want to pile in with the kids, grandparents as well.

The GX550 and X5 are top contenders as well, however, I found too much wind noise in the GX I drove, and it was just more tiresome on road than the CX-90, and I don’t care much for the current Tablet Forward interior design of the new X5.

Submitted by: ExParrot89

Now that it’s 25 years old, I would import a first-generation SEAT Leon. It would satisfy my desire for an oddball imported car. But it wouldn’t have difficult parts availability due to sharing a platform with various Volkswagen models. It’s got a quirky but ergonomical five-door hatchback layout. And it harkens back to when I drove these on Project Gotham Racing, Juiced, and Forza, so it’s got video game heritage too. It’s the perfect combination of uniqueness and practicality.

Submitted by: Giantsgiants