Repair-It

I like numbers:

2013
Fleetwood: $3,106.33 / 15,529 miles / 859.3 gallons / 18.1 MPG

Just for fun 2012:
Caprice: $2,292.31 / 11,227 miles / 645.13 gallons / 17.8 MPG
Fleetwood: $1,694.34 / 3,710.1 / 452.51 gallons / 17.7 MPG

If I traded my Fleetwood for Jenn's Civic or one like it (31.1 MPG average in 2013, an increase of 71.8%), I would save $1,301.29 a year based on my 2013 driving habits. That is getting closer to real money. With that kind of cash savings, my Civic purchase would pay for itself in a couple of years. But I would have to drive a Civic for all that time. Not that there is anything wrong with that...especially if it is like this one http://www.ebay.com/itm/Honda-Civic-Si- ... 1491890339, it just may take several more years to pay for itself.

There is almost always something someone else will put up with to save even more money than whatever scheme you hatch. Much like my Prius example. With a cheaper used car, the economics make a lot more sense. But I don't want to drive a Civic. And I bet I can come up with a cheaper option than the Civic, too. The thing is, if you had a small car like that, I don't think you'd drive it 100% of the time (because you wouldn't get rid of the Fleetwood). Let's say 80%.

Civic: $1,444 / 12,423 miles / 400 gallons / 31.1 mpg
Fleetwood: $620 / 3106 miles / 171.6 gallons / 18.1 mpg

$2,064, saving $1,042. I guess one way to look at it is, I consider cars more like a hobby where I am willing to spend more than the bare minimum. $87/month "tax" to drive what you want when most people pay WHAT for a car loan?

I was also thinking about this the other day though. Maybe buying a car to save money doesn't often make sense, but certainly if I have access to a car that gets better mpg, and I don't hate driving it, it makes sense to drive that instead. Witness, the Maxima. Let's use extreme numbers.

Say I drove the Maxima 100% of my miles and it got the 2013 average mpg.

Maxima: $2,005 / 13,566.3 miles / 545 gallons / 24.9 mpg

That would save $485.50 annually (from my current baseline) just by not driving any other cars.

Now say I drive my Caprice instead, which is as easy as switching the E-Zpass.

Caprice: $3,139.87 / 13,566.3 miles / 853 gallons / 15.9 mpg

I used the same $3.68/gal for both cars and in the real world the Maxima runs 93 but whatever.

That decision would cost me an extra $649.37 annually, from my current baseline.

The reason I use the baselines is because that reflects my current, actual use. Each of these examples represents the most extreme deviation from my baseline possible, in each direction.

I would call this a sensitivity analysis and based on this extreme case study, any mix of Caprice/Maxima is totally fine and I shouldn't feel like it's gonna be thousands of dollars extra per year (because it's not) if I happen to drive the Caprice a lot this summer. Now if I hated driving the Caprice, that would obviously be different. But that's the point - I can drive what I want and stay inside a comfortable price zone.

Adam wrote:I like numbers:

2013
Fleetwood: $3,106.33 / 15,529 miles / 859.3 gallons / 18.1 MPG

Just for fun 2012:
Caprice: $2,292.31 / 11,227 miles / 645.13 gallons / 17.8 MPG
Fleetwood: $1,694.34 / 3,710.1 / 452.51 gallons / 17.7 MPG

If I traded my Fleetwood for Jenn's Civic or one like it (31.1 MPG average in 2013, an increase of 71.8%), I would save $1,301.29 a year based on my 2013 driving habits. That is getting closer to real money. With that kind of cash savings, my Civic purchase would pay for itself in a couple of years. But I would have to drive a Civic for all that time. Not that there is anything wrong with that...especially if it is like this one http://www.ebay.com/itm/Honda-Civic-Si- ... 1491890339, it just may take several more years to pay for itself.

That 99 Si is so clean, it would probably appreciate during the time you own it if you keep it nice. Think about how rare unmolested examples of those are becoming. I enjoyed my 2002 Si as a daily driver and it ended up being pretty cheap to own ($1000 in depreciation over 3.5 years and 45k miles).

I actually found that Civic as an example for this thread. Now that I go back and really look at it, you are right, that Civic is VERY clean and totally stock (except for the Kenwood in dash CD player) which is pretty amazing. Reading the description, it has a new clutch and timing belt at 100K as well as recent brakes and a muffler. Delaware isn't that far from here either. I would almost feel bad driving it in a New England winter.

This discussion is going to make Kevin very angry.

I was waiting for Kevin to bring up the 111 lb-ft of torque I think the EP3's powertrain is much better suited to daily driving than the EM1, but the EM1 probably has a more sophisticated chassis and a more exhilirating powertrain. I liked my EP3 after upgrading to the HFP suspension, but it left much to be desired in stock form.

My point wasn't that people shouldn't drive fuel efficient cars. But often buying one to save money isn't necessarily financially advantageous. My real point was you should drive what you like. If that INCLUDES fuel efficient cars, then good for you.

I would daily drive a Chevy SS tomorrow. The problem is the purchase price, not the operational cost.

And the moment I can no longer afford the operational cost in terms of discretionary spending, I would rearrange my budget to be able to (potentially making sacrifices in other areas). Because I'm willing to pay for my preferences.

I forgot to include something about how "efficient" the B16A2 is with its 100 hp/L.

Jenn's EJ6 stock suspension leaves something to be desired too. Especially w/o factory sway bars. And OEM struts w/270K on them. Not to mention the power train...

I should talk her into buying that Si.

You know what's really bad? Spending a lot of money on gas for a car that's unsatisfying to drive and is primarily driven by someone who doesn't care about cars. I was reminded of this yesterday as I put 11 gallons of gas into my wife's Rondo then looked at the trip to discover it had only covered 205 miles since the last fill-up (18.6 MPG). Her commute is very bad in terms of time spent idiling at lights and in heavy traffic and could really benefit from a hybrid. In truth, we probably could save some money just by switching cars, but then I would have to drive the Rondo.

Unless you can get her a $4000 Prius then I would hang onto it.