Two-Car Garage: Buy Two Vehicles For The Price of One Luxury Truck

It’s a pastime that’s well familiar to car enthusiasts around the globe: What would be the perfect two-car garage? The answers usually tend to coalesce around the idea that it’s better to have two separate vehicles that are really good at serving their specific purposes than it is to have one vehicle that’s meant to serve as a sort of jack of all trades.

We’re going to take that idea and run with it, using today’s crop of top-shelf luxury trucks as our price target. If you haven’t been paying close attention, you may be shocked to see the sticker prices of high-end full-size pickup trucks. W

We’re not talking about heavy-duty 2500- or 3500-series trucks, or even specialized models intended for off-road performance. The 2026 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali Ultimate, Ford F-150 Platinum Plus and Ram 1500 Tungsten all start near the $90,000 mark. We performed an inventory search online and found dozens of 1500-series trucks with MSRPs well over that sum.

So we’ll stick with $90,000 as our self-imposed two-car budget. In each imaginary scenario, we will include one reasonably priced pickup truck and pair it with something that we think matches up appropriately to park side-by-side in our fantasy garages.

Option 1: A Four-Door Truck and a Sports Car

In this first example, we’re going to assume that this potential buyer is going to end up using their pickup truck a lot more often than their sports car. So we’ll prioritize the pickup and see what kind of money is left for something that ought to provide a whole lot of fun on the weekend.

We don’t want a stripped-out truck, even if we don’t need a fancy leather interior in our pickup. We selected a 2025 Ram 1500 in Big Horn trim with the Crew Cab body that boasts larger rear doors and a roomier back seat, and paired it with a 5-foot 7-inch box. With four-wheel drive and the Level 2 Equipment Group that adds a lot of stuff (including a 12-inch touchscreen infotainment system that runs the excellent Uconnect software and features Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), the sticker price comes out to $56,695 with a V6 engine or $59,390 with the desirable turbocharged inline-six.

We’ve got $30,000 and change left for a sports car, which, incidentally, is the exact starting price of a brand-new Mazda MX-5 Miata in the United States. Wow, that was easy.

Option 2: No-Frills Workhorse and a Luxury Sedan

This time we’re putting the luxury sedan first, since we think that’ll be a nicer place to spend time in on our daily commute and errand-running duties. Plus, a nice four-door car wearing a premium badge will look nice parked out in front of our favorite restaurant on a weekend night out on the town.

So we’re going to choose a lightly used but certified pre-owned pickup truck with low miles and a warranty. We found what we’re looking for in the form of a four-door 2022 Ford F-150 with the STX Appearance Package and 26,000 miles on the odometer. Our chosen pickup is powered by Ford’s 5.0-liter V8, which we like due to the inherent durability of its naturally aspirated design and the fact that it has proven to be reliable over the years, and it is equipped with four-wheel drive. While this truck happens to be listed on Ford’s own CPO inventory website, there are others like it scattered all across the United States. This particular example carries an asking price of just under $33,000. For those who don’t need a full-size truck, a certified pre-owned Ford Ranger can be found for less.

What kind of luxury car can we get with the remaining $57,000? As blue-blooded driving enthusiasts, we’d be tempted to search out a Lexus GS F, a sports sedan that boasts one of the most audibly pleasing naturally aspirated V8 engines you’ll ever hear. There are a handful for sale in the United States for less than $57,000, and a quick perusal of online auction sites proves they come up every now and then, too. Or if you’re willing to fudge the numbers by a few thousand dollars, a brand-new Lexus IS 500 F Sport Performance—which also comes from the factory with a 472-horsepower 5.0-liter V8—starts around $60,000.

But more people would probably be happier with something a little more subtle. There are plenty of brand-new BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedans that qualify with a solid amount of monetary room for options. Buyers who would prefer a crossover have a bevy of choices that include the Mercedes-Benz GLC, Lexus RX. If you’re ready to take an electrified plunge, a new Cadillac Optiq would fit the bill, and so would the top-spec Tesla Model 3 Performance model that can do 0-60 in less than 3 seconds.

Option 3: A Good Daily Driver and a Beloved Classic Car

Well, this is an interesting conundrum. A nice classic car isn’t likely to lose much value over the long term, and may in fact appreciate over time. A newish pickup truck is sure to depreciate. So let’s choose a truck that’s already taken its biggest hit – right when it’s driven off the showroof floor – and pick something that’s a couple of years old. But we also want to make sure that the truck is going to be reliable, since it’s unlikely that our hypothetical buyer is going to want to rely on their beloved classic car for daily driving duties.

We’re on the lookout for a 2014 or later Toyota Tundra. The desirable (if thirsty) 5.7-liter V8 engine is what we want, and the rest is up to the buyer’s tastes. Lower-mileage examples can be found in lower-grade trims – we had no problem finding 2020 and 2021 SR5 models with four doors, four-wheel drive, and enough options that we wouldn’t feel like we cheaped out – or a handful of Limited and Platinum models that were a little bit older and had more miles. In this case, the mileage isn’t too worrisome, as Toyota’s big V8 and automatic transmission have proven very durable over the years. Such a truck should cost around $40,000.

Now we get to the fun part. That leaves an even $50,000 to find a fun classic. Use your imagination. Like American cars? Find a vintage Corvette or Mustang. Or how about a nice Trans Am from the 1970s?

Partial to old British sports cars? Cool, us too. Chalk us down for a very nice, driveable and showable Triumph TR3. And we’ll have plenty of cash left over for upgrades and the inevitable replacement part here or there.

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