Your assumption behind don’t need the rest of the year - do you believe there are zero scenarios where the wife and I are both out and about? Perhaps… working?
I don’t understand what you are trying to say here. I was explicitly addressing road trips, not daily errands. Buy a smaller vehicle for dayly stuff and for a yearly road trip you can rent a larger vehicle than the one you use for daily errands. In the end it will save you money. What is the problem?