Quote:
Originally Posted by theholycow
The wear on the newer vehicle is not particularly meaningful. Besides repairing it, it can always be replaced with an equally nice vehicle. I'm not sure that rotting in the yard is any worse than piling on the miles, so I'm not sure an additional vehicle means anything from that standpoint.
However, it can still be quite worthwhile, just not for the sake of preserving a car as if it was a museum piece... - If the extra vehicle does not pay for itself and you already have a surplus of vehicles, then the answer is no, it's not worthwhile.
- If the extra vehicle pays for itself but you already have a surplus of vehicles, the answer is neutral.
- If you do not have a surplus of vehicles, and the extra vehicle either pays for itself or doesn't cost much, then it is absolutely worth having.
Having a surplus of vehicles, if you do your own repairs, is a HUGE money saver. You get to be patient with the broken vehicle, do the job right, and get the parts as economically as possible even if that means waiting for a Saturday junkyard trip or mail-order parts. There's no pressure and there's no days off of work when you realize that the broken car won't go today. As you said, just grab another set of keys and go to work.
If you already have a surplus (Jay!), then it's only about whether the vehicle pays for itself (or better). My leased VW, for example, has exceeded my FE expectations. I calculated it to come out approximately even compared to fueling and maintaining my truck for over 30,000 miles per year. Truck tires are very expensive!
I have found ways to make the truck cheaper (used tires, for example) but I've also gotten well over 150% of my expected FE from the VW (I caculated based on getting EPA only).
Having a brand new vehicle to make sure I could get to my new job every day.... that was priceless! Now that I'm settled in and expect to stay here a long time and I've found that it is ok for me to be unexpectedly late or absent, I could drive a beater, but at that time it was vitally important that I get there on time every day. |
Replacing it with an equally nice vehicle means more $ out of pocket than the lousy $550 I paid for the Laser... Her '04 Grand Prix still books around $7-8k and she'll soon be burried under about $80k in school loans.. she doesn't want to spend any additional money on a car when she graduates and her daily driver had 220k.
The "surplus" of vehicles points are moot. The car is mine but we're not talking about it as "mine", but me essentially giving it to her and it being her second vehicle.
As for other's regards about insurance expenses... I only insure my primary vehicle and my motorcycle. The other 4 just sit. 2 are in the garage (Miata and '01 SL1) while 2 are in the driveway (Camaro and Laser).
I've found myself in a pickle a time or two in these situations where a car won't start or it's going to take an additional day (workday) to get it on the road... that's what's so nice about have two SL series saturns in nearly the same color. So it's not so simple as "go grab another set of keys" you see, I have two license plate screws to remove as well.
Shhhhh, THE MAN doesn't like that kinda trickery. LOL
PS: pgfpro - keep the Corolla around man! It's paid for, gets excellent mileage, and is stock/reliable. Worst case scenario, take the insurance off it and park it for a few months and see if you really don't need it ever of if times come up that it'd be nice to have it road-ready.
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John
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