Extra Vehicle Capacity

[GasSavers_maximilian]

The not using but paying thing is kind of interesting in some cases. Take the road system. Even if you don't drive you indirectly benefit from their existence.

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by maximilian

Some cities have "tool libraries" which is another interesting model. Seems a little unfair to those who pay taxes but don't use it. Maybe a non-profit rental system would be better?

I bet they're used a lot more than classic media libraries (books/CDs/DVDs) are, but I doubt many people are bothered by their tax money going to those.

I use them and I'd support additional tax money going to them; the tool library idea sounds good and I'd support that too.

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by BEEF

dk,

you are exactly the candidate that I am talking about. you have your SUV which is fine but you use it for your daily commute. if you were to buy a $1500 car for your daily commute, several things would happen.

1-the cost of gas would go down as the car would possibly get twice the mileage
2-your SUV would (in theory) last longer because of less mileage
3-the cost of upkeep would go down because the upkeep on the car should be less than the SUV.
4-if you did want to make the SUV a HP demon, you wouldn't have to worry about mileage on it as you use is secondarily (my new word for the day)

there is the having to put a tag on it and get insurance for it thing. if you play your cards right, it may not cost that much or may even be cheaper. if you have full coverage on the Rango. put the crap car as your primary vehicle with liability only and the Rango as your secondary vehicle with full coverage. it may actually come out cheaper.

just a suggestion.

Realistically, you have to have a pretty decently long commute (or otherwise drive a lot of miles) for that to work out. There's just too many costs associated with the additional vehicle. It may not quite pay off for me, and I commute 80 miles per day -- for me it was as much about controlling my costs so they'd be predictable and feeling secure that I had a dependable ride to work every day as it was about saving money. It's hard to say if it is paying off or not, because I can't predict what problems my aging high-mileage truck would have.

It would pay off for me if I had gotten a cheap used car (beater-priced) that didn't have much cost for maintenance/repair, but I'm unlikely to find a good used car (I think it's genetic, my family doesn't do so well with used cars no matter whose advice we take on brand/model/condition/records/etc).

Anyway, it makes more sense for the SUV to be the beater and the car to be the nice vehicle; why drive a beat-up POS every day and let a nice vehicle rot? If I'm spending a significant portion of my life (two hours per day) in a car, it better be comfortable. The truck that I drive on vacation to the camp site has to be comfy too, but the DD being too beat-up or too small or too uncomfortable is totally unacceptable.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Sounds like trying to find a carpool buddy would be better from a cost point of view in that situation.

It's too bad avoiding driving at all doesn't contribute to my mpg stats!

[DarbyWalters]

For me it, my Jeep Liberty CRD (which replaced my Jeep Liberty 3.7L) was a matter of practicality. I got the diesel for better mileage and the towing ability. I got a 4x4 for the "All Wheel Drive" AND the "4WD for Offroad. I usually only have myself or 1 passenger so some would say I could have done it with a smaller wagon/of hatchback.

First, I won a moving company and sometimes tow a trailer at about 3,000 pounds loaded. I also deliver boxing supplies and moving equipment to my workers on a regualr basis. I also have my 73# American Pit Bull Terrier with me about 70% of the time and the back is set up for him...no rear seat at all. On top of all that I do camp and routinely go to some property (90 acres) where real 4WD is often a must. With this one vehicle I cover everything I need and then some. I could probably do the same with a Subaru Wagon AWD except the towing and some of the equipment needs the extra headroom in the cargo area. I might also run into clearance problems offroad...and I would not have the ability to pull others out of "stucks" on the property.

I did purchase a motor scooter for the short/good weather trips. Insurance is less than $100.00 for a year and it keeps some short trip mileage off the Jeep. If I had to do it again, I would not change a thing. I have mixed feelings about the much larger SUVs, but it is hard to judge someone if you don't know all the facts behind thier purchase.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

holycow,

maybe I just think of myself as the norm. my wife and I drive (on average) about 35K miles a year. yes it isn't an typo. I am about to be here for one full year of fillups and I am very interested to see how much money I spent last year and how many miles I have driven.

also, that figure (35K/year) is an average of our last 5 years of driving. my vehicle was purchased with 95k on it and now has 183k and will be 5 years (for me) in april. my wifes was bought with 13 miles on it (pretty much new) and now has 104k and was 5 years in february. I didn't do the math, just a rough estimate so it may be closer to 40k a year.

I drive way too much but in my case, the crap car was worth it. did I mention I had a truck that I sold? Had it for just shy of 5 years (4yrs, 9mos) and it had 17k on it. I ordered that truck so it had 7 miles on it when I took possesion of it. now there is a big monkey wrench in the whole math calculations.

and as far as the "beater" that is a relative term. my car is pretty comfortable. I don't drive complete crap. I mean beater as far as age and price. most of the time, small cars are more comfortable anyway...at least to me. BTW I am 5'7" that may have something to do with it.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Originally Posted by BEEF

BTW I am 5'7" that may have something to do with it.

My brother is over 6'4", whereas I have short legs and am only 5'11". I am thankful not to be so big! It just seems like a big pain all around and limits your car options.

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by BEEF

maybe I just think of myself as the norm. my wife and I drive (on average) about 35K miles a year.

You are definitely not the norm. It seems that most people drive half than that or less. For most of my life I've driven about 40,000 miles per year, but in my latest arrangement I'm driving 20,000 and it's a nice relief.

and as far as the "beater" that is a relative term. my car is pretty comfortable. I don't drive complete crap. I mean beater as far as age and price. most of the time, small cars are more comfortable anyway...at least to me. BTW I am 5'7" that may have something to do with it.

The definition of comfort varies from one person to the next. Me, I need specific elbow/knee/arm positions and free space around them, as well as somewhat soft seats. Also, when I was new to my job, I needed a car that I was 100% sure wasn't going to have problems.

In my experience, most of the time small cars are NOT more comfortable for me. My VW was one hell of a surprise for me, bucking that trend so completely, and I'm glad I was able to find a small car that's comfortable for me.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I'm 6'4", and legroom is a must. All my vehicles have pleanty of legroom and headroom, plus squishy seats are a must. I grew up in the middle of nowhere and up until a few years ago I put 15K - 20K miles/yr on my vehicles. I grew up driving a lot. We lived 5 miles from the nearest convenience store, and 12 miles from the closest grocery store. Just to go to 7-11 and back was about a 40 - 45 minute round trip. You had to really want that gallon of milk. Driving all those miles on poorly maintained rural roads gave me a profound appreciation of full size American cars and trucks. My old 9 passenger Pontiac wagon would take all the bumps and potholes, and inside you'd hardly feel any of it. The same trip in a compact car and your bones were shaking when you got out.

I grew up in an area where a large car on a long wheelbase was almost a necessity. Add on top of that that I'm tall and I really don't like small cars. I have to admit though, the Chrysler K cars rode extremely well for their size. My dad's Focus is pretty nice, the only thing he doesn't have on his is the leather seats. Nice little car, and with the 5 speed its pretty fun to drive.

-Jay

[GasSavers_maximilian]

I've heard the Smartcar Fortwo is pretty roomy for its size. Know if it's 6'4" roomy?