Decided It's Time To Get A "Beater"...Used Car Shopping

[TMonter]

Yes really, if you have to have a truck anyways then with a short commute it is a loser to own a second commuter car.

It is a myth that maintenance costs are significantly higher on a per mile basis for pickups vs. small cars. Any additional "truck" maintenance costs are more than offset by the depreciation of the car and the need for similar maintenance on the car. I don't know if you have a gas or diesel truck but I have been surprised how cheap it is to maintain my diesel truck.

4000 miles per year from commuting will not affect truck life. The years will destroy the pickup much faster than the miles at that rate. Expect more than 200,000 miles from a modern pickup (mine is at 171,000) and you know that not many trucks are 50 years old.

You have to insure and register both vehicles whether you use them or not. What's your cost on that? I asked around and folks seem to pay about 80$ per month. Okay so you need to save at least 80$ per month in fuel to even cover the dang cost of having both vehicles in your driveway, not to mention purchase price or maintenance of the car. This month is June, in June there are 20 work days. You had better be saving 4$ per day in fuel alone just to break even.

With me so far?

15 mpg in the truck with a 16 mile commute and diesel at 4$ per gallon means I pay 4$ per day in fuel. You can stop now because you know that the car will use at least a little gas.

Let's cripple the truck farther and say I only get 12 mpg which is what I get when towing my 8000lb trailer. I log this stuff. So 16 miles is 1.3 gallons which is 5.20$ each day in fuel.

The car gets 30 mpg. That is optimistic since you aren't purchasing a new car and since this is a short commute. Today's gas price is 3.90 per gallon so that costs you 0.533 gallons which is 2.08$ per day. Uh oh, do some subtraction and you are only saving 3.12$ per day.

Bummer, you won't even cover insurance and tabs. Then you have to buy the car (which results in a monthly depreciation cost). The car is a loser.

I also put a value on driving the truck to work. I value the comfort and safety of a large vehicle. People in a one ton truck have a pretty good chance of surviving a wreck with most other vehicles on the road.

Now I also ride and race off-road motorcycles so I happen to own a street legal dirt bike. When it is sunny, I ride it to work. It get's 60 mpg. Since I already own the bike for recreation the fuel mileage benefit is all gravy and I am saving money when I commute with it.

$80/month is pretty high for registration and insurance but it does depend on location. My registration and full coverage on my car costs $33/month and half that on my truck with liability.

Also you are only including the cost of gas, not of wear and tear on the truck which will have a much higher price tag when it comes for replacement, especially if you are driving on salt laden roads in the winter time.

The overall cost of ownership of a truck is much higher than that of a car and the numbers do prove this out, especially which you include purchase cost.

If the truck is paid for and you'd like to hang onto it for a long time I'd say you'd be money ahead to buy a small commuter car in most cases not to mention for longer trips and general day-to-day driving.

And honestly how much depreciation can you expect on a sub 5k car? The truck is going to have far more depreciation by driving it as pickups tend to have more resale value, especially diesel pickups.

 

[midwestcoast]

My budget car is a 2005 Scion XA that we bought in '08 when we moved out of the city. Needed a 2'nd car on the cheap since we'd just bought a house. Got a deal from a friend. It only had 17K when we bought & has 80K on it now.
I would recommend sticking with the slightly bigger & more common models Corolla, Civic... This thing hasn't been bad on maintenance, but it was never very nice to drive. It's starting to get rattly now & I just don't see it getting even close to 200K with any sort of grace. Can't wait to sell it really, but not in the cards for a while.
It also seems many of the domestic brand small cars are made WAY more durable over the last 10-15 years than the previous junkers, so worth a look at least.

 

[Ashful]

Be careful now, I've done the math and the extra gas that you would put into the truck is cheap compared to all of the extra costs associated with the small second car. For my 8 mile commute I save money by driving an F350 crew cab 4x4.

You have to drive a lot of miles daily to make the small car pencil out.

I was going to post the same, until I saw Highbeam beat me to it. Careful in your math... it's very hard to justify a second vehicle purely on cost, driving any normal level of yearly mileage. Consider repairs, maintenance, inspections, insurance, yearly depreciation, etc., not just purchase price!

I would love to have something more sporty than the 4x4 pickup I drive daily, and believe me I've tried all options to justify it, but just can't.

 

[Highbeam]

$80/month is pretty high for registration and insurance but it does depend on location. My registration and full coverage on my car costs $33/month and half that on my truck with liability.

Also you are only including the cost of gas, not of wear and tear on the truck which will have a much higher price tag when it comes for replacement, especially if you are driving on salt laden roads in the winter time.

The overall cost of ownership of a truck is much higher than that of a car and the numbers do prove this out, especially which you include purchase cost.

If the truck is paid for and you'd like to hang onto it for a long time I'd say you'd be money ahead to buy a small commuter car in most cases not to mention for longer trips and general day-to-day driving.

And honestly how much depreciation can you expect on a sub 5k car? The truck is going to have far more depreciation by driving it as pickups tend to have more resale value, especially diesel pickups.

Ah but you can't use "cost of ownership" or some other nonsense. You will be owning the truck regardless so a large lump of the "cost of ownership" is not applicable. It will always be cheaper per mile to drive a high mpg car, that is not the issue.

The savings of driving the high mpg car minus the costs of owning the high mpg car must exceed ONLY the cost of driving the low mileage truck before it is economically feasible to buy an extra mpg car. The savings are just not very significant with a low mile commute.

Everything has depreciation. This is not about comparing depreciation since you will be owning the truck regardless.

 

[briansol]

Odds are, if you buy any Honda, it will get stolen or broken into, even if it's a hooptie. keep that in mind.


I'd recommend a b13 chassis Nissan sentra with the 1.6 or 1.8L
parts are cheap and widespread and motors are a dime a dozen because everyone swapped 'em out for the g20/ser sr20de engine.

30+ mpg, cheap to insure won't get stolen.

 

[TMonter]

Ah but you can't use "cost of ownership" or some other nonsense. You will be owning the truck regardless so a large lump of the "cost of ownership" is not applicable. It will always be cheaper per mile to drive a high mpg car, that is not the issue.

The savings of driving the high mpg car minus the costs of owning the high mpg car must exceed ONLY the cost of driving the low mileage truck before it is economically feasible to buy an extra mpg car. The savings are just not very significant with a low mile commute.

Everything has depreciation. This is not about comparing depreciation since you will be owning the truck regardless.

But only if you never plan on replacing the truck. I would say the cost of ownership for most people is applicable even on a vehicle with a already sunk cost.

The savings should include all aspects of the cost of ownership including the cost of future replacement.

Don't forget with a high MPG car it's not just the driving commute either, it's trips to the grocery store ect that end up being more likely taken in the car.

 

[wesessiah]

Ah but you can't use "cost of ownership" or some other nonsense. You will be owning the truck regardless so a large lump of the "cost of ownership" is not applicable. It will always be cheaper per mile to drive a high mpg car, that is not the issue.

The savings of driving the high mpg car minus the costs of owning the high mpg car must exceed ONLY the cost of driving the low mileage truck before it is economically feasible to buy an extra mpg car. The savings are just not very significant with a low mile commute.

Everything has depreciation. This is not about comparing depreciation since you will be owning the truck regardless.

i agree with your idea, someone should factor everything in. that being said, full coverage on my 95 civic is $35 a month (multi car discount knocked it down probably 10$ a month, and reduced the cost of my other vehicles, so i ended up total about 10$ more a month for another car with full coverage) tires for it (185/70 13" tire) cost me about $250 for four tires, whereas the 235/75 17" ( early 2000's f150 size used) costs about $600, and that's a small wheel/tire compared to a lot. this civic holds 3.5 quarts of oil, and a 5.4 f150 holds 6.5 quarts. to your point, these things should be taken into account to see if there is a benefit, along with the cost of replacement parts. an alternator for example... 2003 f150 5.4 is $200 for remanufactured, and 95 civic is $130. in any scenario, the beater would have to be kept for a while to pay off. i've had mine for 8 years, and i consider keeping the wear and tear off my other vehicles to be priceless. if someone pays to have their vehicles maintained and doesn't replace parts themself, i'm sure the offset of paying for labor for both vehicles doesn't help the cause, or show as much of a benefit in cost of parts. if the vehicle your concerned about is on the road less, there's also less of a chance of something happening to it to be paid out of pocket... damage that doesn't meet your deductible... my civic has taken all kinds of small damage i would have fixed on my other vehicles, but since it's on the civic, i haven't bothered. things like small dents, chips in paint, broken headlight bracket for a raccoon. with a 17 mile round trip, my civic has paid off in tires and oil. like you said, someone with a different drive may not benfit as much, or at all though.

Odds are, if you buy any Honda, it will get stolen or broken into, even if it's a hooptie. keep that in mind.


I'd recommend a b13 chassis Nissan sentra with the 1.6 or 1.8L
parts are cheap and widespread and motors are a dime a dozen because everyone swapped 'em out for the g20/ser sr20de engine.

30+ mpg, cheap to insure won't get stolen.

while i do agree it's a good car, and wouldn't sway anyone from getting one, it's also always a top ten stolen car... along with all of the big three american trucks, and any popular/highly sold vehicle. another nissan, that also gets good mileage, is the s13 and s14 240sx.

 

[Highbeam]

i agree with your idea, someone should factor everything in. that being said, full coverage on my 95 civic is $35 a month (multi car discount knocked it down probably 10$ a month, and reduced the cost of my other vehicles, so i ended up total about 10$ more a month for another car with full coverage) .

Now we're getting somewhere. It doesn't take many miles to overcome that 10$ per month plus tabs.

 

[wesessiah]

Now we're getting somewhere. It doesn't take many miles to overcome that 10$ per month plus tabs.

for a younger person, or someone living in more of an urban, or subarban area than i do, the insurance would be much higher. mine is exceptionally low, and could be twice as much for the civic depending on location. i should have made a disclaimer about that in that post... i happen to have a good set of circumstances to base mine on.

 

[Dix]

Really? Even when accounting for the cheaper costs of maintaining the small car? Even when factoring in the cost of having to replace the F350 that much sooner because of the miles?

I ask because I'm about 8 miles from work and would eventually like to have a beater car for work and a decent truck for weekends and bad weather, and thought it would probably save a few bucks over the long run vs driving a expensive truck every day.

Apologies for the partial thread derailing.

No need to apologize.... I was looking for this info, too, as I remembered HB had discussed this

 

[Dix]

$80/month is pretty high for registration and insurance but it does depend on location. My registration and full coverage on my car costs $33/month and half that on my truck with liability.

Also you are only including the cost of gas, not of wear and tear on the truck which will have a much higher price tag when it comes for replacement, especially if you are driving on salt laden roads in the winter time.

The overall cost of ownership of a truck is much higher than that of a car and the numbers do prove this out, especially which you include purchase cost.

If the truck is paid for and you'd like to hang onto it for a long time I'd say you'd be money ahead to buy a small commuter car in most cases not to mention for longer trips and general day-to-day driving.

And honestly how much depreciation can you expect on a sub 5k car? The truck is going to have far more depreciation by driving it as pickups tend to have more resale value, especially diesel pickups.

Try New York... reregistered the truck after it sat for 1 year....... reggie was 285 ..... insurance $125 per month .

 

[Dix]

OK, more info....

Current work trip is 18 miles per day, 5 day week. That includes coming home for lunch (glad I could do it because after Murphy's bladder stone surgery, he had to "retrain" his bladder). Also 3 trips out the horses, and 1 trip to the museum, another 250 miles a week.

Current work situation not the greatest by a long shot, hence a desire to expand my horizons. Will stay until some thing comes up.

Hence the quest for a good MPG, automatic car.

Better job, less wear & tear, a win/win for me, me thinx

 

[Highbeam]

Until you establish your new job I would stick to the single vehicle. The additional stability not only allows you to commit the funds to purchase the second car but allows you to decide if it makes financial sense.

What does your current pickup get for mpg?

 

[Dix]

Until you establish your new job I would stick to the single vehicle. The additional stability not only allows you to commit the funds to purchase the second car but allows you to decide if it makes financial sense.

What does your current pickup get for mpg?

The Beast gets 12-14 going back & forth. Gas is $3.80 per gallon, unless I get lucky.

 

[wesessiah]

Until you establish your new job I would stick to the single vehicle. The additional stability not only allows you to commit the funds to purchase the second car but allows you to decide if it makes financial sense.

What does your current pickup get for mpg?

i agree with this... getting the beater should be considered a long term benefit, but it shouldn't be bought in a time that could put you in a vice short term.

 

[briansol]

I've always been a 2-vehcile man. I do it the other way, though. I have a nice car for daily driving, and a beater truck for hauling and yard work, etc etc.

 

[Highbeam]

Thing is, at least in my case, the truck needs to be very dependable. Nothing ruins a vacation faster than breaking down on the freeway in 100 degree temps in an area with no cell phone service while hooked to an 8000 lb trailer 6" from the fog line on a 70 mph freeway.

 

[briansol]

I hear ya. But I'm also from the 'camp' that camping with a camper isn't camping at all

 

[TMonter]

I've always been a 2-vehcile man. I do it the other way, though. I have a nice car for daily driving, and a beater truck for hauling and yard work, etc etc.

That's exactly how I work here. My Truck isn't a true beater per se but it is an older pickup with very bad gas mileage.

 

[BrotherBart]

but it shouldn't be bought in a time that could put you in a vice short term.

Nothing wrong with a new vice every once in a while.

 

[Highbeam]

I hear ya. But I'm also from the 'camp' that camping with a camper isn't camping at all

Who said it was a camper? Well it is and I know very well the difference between tent camping and RV camping. Very luxurious in a modern camper, my hotel on wheels. It is true R&R.

In my youth I worked in the cascade mountains for an outfitter every summer. I packed mules and would lead a string up to the edge of the official wilderness where we would set up tents and an outcamp for "campers" that would arrive on horseback for the weekend. Lots of fun. Learned to cook for large groups in dutch ovens over wood fires. Learned that campers stash booze bottles in their sleeping bags. Learned that women love cowboys, etc.

 

[daveswoodhauler]

Do you have physical damage coverage on the truck? Reason I ask is that I know that reg/ins fees are very high in NY, so a second car is probably going to run you a min of $100/month just for insurance.

Would you need to take the truck to go see the horses? (Not sure if you need to trailer them?)

 

[Dix]

Do you have physical damage coverage on the truck? Reason I ask is that I know that reg/ins fees are very high in NY, so a second car is probably going to run you a min of $100/month just for insurance.

Would you need to take the truck to go see the horses? (Not sure if you need to trailer them?)

No collision on the truck right now ( kills me ) would like to add when I can.

Car will be registered in Florida, my Mom comes up to visit & would need wheels, so hence the FLA reggie.. Florida has no state inspection.

I'm not trailering, towing, or hauling horses right now, the horses are 15 miles from the house to the east (I work to the west, right now). I currently run the truck out to the barn, but with a car, I would run that instead, as well as to work.... I'm out there 4x's a week, and it's another 10 miles past the horses to the museum (part time job/weekends) on one of those days.

 

[BrotherBart]

I am thinking commuting on a horse.

And pics.

 

[Dix]

I am thinking commuting on a horse.

And pics.

And when would I sleep??????