Did the math, thought I'd share

[Mike Franklin]

100 mile daily commute.

260 Round Trips a year.

26,000 Miles Annually Commuting

@ $3.00 average gallon



03 Sport Trac: 15 - 19 mpg Annual Fuel Cost: $5,200 - $4,105

01 Taurus: 19 - 25 mpg Annual Fuel Cost: $4,105 - $3,120

91 900T: 24 - 28 mpg Annual Fuel Cost: $3,250 - $2,785



Using the Highway mileage figures:



Annual Savings Driving the 91 Saab 900 Turbo Vs The 03 2WD Trac

$1,320



Annual Savings Driving the 91 Saab and car pooling every other day with Bob Vs Driving the Trac daily. $2715.50



Poor Bob has a 01 Explorer Sport.

 

[Kenn Tina]

Nice. I guess Im not the only one concearned with my 100 mile commute. I parked the ST and drive a Scion XB to and from work. It gets 30Mpg and makes a huge difference in my wallet. In fact a fair chunk of the Scion car payment is money I'm not spending on fuel for one of the trucks to commute. Not to mention it keeps my '02' ST's milage down. Just hit 44k a few weeks ago!

 

[Gavin Allan]

My wife and I did the math regarding her 110 mile commute. Even trading her Liberty for a brand new OutBack was a no-brainer. BTY-- at 10 months, the OutBack has 34,000 miles...

 

[Jenn D]

I did the math several months ago too. 70 miles a day in the ST. Went and bought a focus. I average 33 mpg a tank, get more miles out of tank of gas than in the ST, tank is little more than half the size. The math says, I cut my gas costs in half.



I have since paid the ST off and the budget is much less stressed these days...

 

[Tom Schindler]

To put it into perspective.

Annual Savings Driving the 91 Saab 900 Turbo Vs The 03 2WD Trac

$1,320

1320/12=110.00/month. or 27.50 a week.



In some cases, buying a car with payments would end up costing you more than keeping the vehicle without payments.



Paying $27.50/week in gas is worth to me not having headlights in my rearview mirror all the freaking time. Plus all that metal around me is nice too.





Tom

 

[Gavin Allan]

Tom brings up some good points, and the same ones that my wife reminds me of. Maybe someone here has recommendation of a better vehicle for her than the Outback?



She needs good, safe, comfortable, reliable car with ability to haul some boxes at times. She also needs AWD or 4WD to deal with snow and ice. She puts bunches of miles on her car and needs one that will hold up and is comfortable to drive on highways. What ideas do you have for a vehicle that meets these needs and gets decent gas mileage?



If gas prices were no object, she'd drive a Jeep Grand Cherokee.

 

[Bill V]

Yeah, I did the math as well, using figures specific to my situation, and determined that it was better to keep the ST. Of course, my math included the fact that I needed towing and small pickup bed capabilities from time to time, so I'd need to own two vehicles to realize any of the gas savings. But the cost of purchasing, insuring, etc., a second vehicle was far higher than the increased gas and depreciation expense from using my ST as my only vehicle.

 

[jbluther]

Gavin,



Off the top of my head, I'd look into a Toyota RAV4 or Honda CRV. What's wrong with the Outback? Sounds like a good choice.

Annual Savings Driving the 91 Saab 900 Turbo Vs The 03 2WD Trac

$1,320

Who can find a reliable car that can handle 100 miles daily for $1,320?

 

[Tom Schindler]

Here is something else to look at. Getting another vehicle, lets also say you keep your Trac since it is "paid for", and paying insurance.



Average insurance cost per vehicle is about $700/year. Take your savings of 1320 and subtract the cost of insurance of 700/year and you now have a savings of $620.00 year. Add in maintenance (oil changes only) (100 miles a day x 5 days a week=500 miles a week time 50 weeks a year=25000 miles/year.) Now add in oil changes every 5,000 miles at $25.00 for the quickie lube to do it. 5 oil changes a year for a total of $125.00. You savings is now $495.00/year. Roughly about $9.50/week.



Not really much of a savings if you really add everything up in the big picture.





Tom

 

[Judd Quarles]

I do about 70 miles a day right now and it's starting to show it's effects after 2 years. I take good care of the Trac, but being on the road that much, it's hard to keep a vehicle as nice as you like. Once I get into a job where I don't have to drive on a daily basis, I will probably purchase a new vehicle that will stay "new" for longer. I have 49K after 2 years and 2 months.

 

[Gavin Allan]

Gavin,



Off the top of my head, I'd look into a Toyota RAV4 or Honda CRV. What's wrong with the Outback? Sounds like a good choice.

I kind of figured a RAV4 V6 might work. She didn't like the CRV.



Her Outback is a LL Bean Edition, every available option including navigation. It is OK for a station wagon--a nice car. She wants something a little bigger and taller so the headlights don't bother her as much. It is also a little lacking legroom for me--I can't ride more than an hour without hurting.



can't get her excited about the Escape or Mariner. She also wants style. Crossovers don't do it either--too much like minivan.



I'm thinking AWD Charger!

 

[CountyMounty]

Gavin sounds like your having the same issues with the wife as I am. Its near time for here to get a new vehicle and this time she will be going from a car to something with AWD or 4wd. She is just so darn picky, its all about the style, but to me its all about practicality. I have tried to get here interested in a crossover like the Edge, Equinox, Torrent etc but she doesn't like the looks of any of them. What she does really like though are the Buick Enclave or the GMC Acadia which figures seeing that there both $40,000 vehicles which is a bit out of our budget. Neither of which get that great of gas mileage.