Commute bad MPG vs. buying another car

SWMBO and i are looking for houses and/or condos to rent at the moment. We've outgrown our 625sq ft apartment and would also like a garage on premises.

We just found about 3 VERY promising options that are exactly in our price range and look nice.

Pretty much no matter where we move will have no impact on my commute, as i quite literally work within a 1/4 mile from the very center of downtown.

However, these are all 25-30 miles away from her work. She doesn't make a lot of money, and the Cherokee doesn't get great gas mileage. Rough math says that she could be spending up to 1/4 of her earnings just getting to and from work, plus the added wear and tear on a vehicle that we liked not putting miles on in the interest of keeping it for a very long time.

Same rough math also tells me that in order for buying another car to break even (in the first year, that is. We'd plan on staying for 2 years, 3 at the most.), it would have to cost about $2000 and get twice the MPG of the Cherokee, so around 35mpg. We would not be getting rid of the Cherokee.

The more i think about it, wear and tear is really the biggest issue at hand. We've put less than 10k miles on the Cherokee since it was purchased in November 2010. This would jump to 15-20k miles a year. Cherokee currently has 182k miles on it and is running like a top.

1) Her getting another job isn't an option. She likes her current job, and that's that.
2) The only car that we have that makes sense to sell is the Celica, and neither of us want to do that.

Ideas? Input? Say "screw it, it's a Cherokee, just drive the hell out of it?"

I'm not sure what to do here. Part of me thinks that the extra $4000 a year in living expense would be worth it because it's that much of a nicer place, and we could probably "tighten" up to take care of a big chunk of that.

Are there any public transportation options Ben? What about car-pooling/ride-sharing?

If all else fails, don't do the lift to the Jeep and just drive it. You've already done the math to figure out that buying a different car for fuel savings is tough to financially justify (at least while the current car is working well).

The engineer fuel miser types when I was last up in the Seattle area at Microsoft were all picking up used Geo Metro's 40+ mpg and super cheap. The real question is not if you can find a commuter car for less than 2k that gets great mpgs but goes back to what I see is two other questions

1) how small/cheap/crappy of a car are you and your wife going to feel comfortable with her driving

2) what comes after the 2-3 years? If it is likely you will still be living far enough out that you might make use of the commuter car it makes more sense

For example we live in Oceanside and I have a 30mile commute each way. Housing costs being what they are in this area I know we will never afford the type of place we want to live in that is any closer than that to my work. So the commuter car makes sense as we also hope to stay in the North County San Diego area long term.

If the 30 mile commute is a 2year pitstop on a longer journey just drive the jeep and put the 15-20k miles on it

In reply to Javelin:

No public transportation to speak of in this city.

No car pooling either. Her job has maybe ten employees and they all live in the general area we live in now.

The lift is a good point, but it needs the suspension work either way and getting anything oem quality replacement is more expensive than what i already got. I'd be surprised if mpg suffered more than 1mpg from what i'm seeing anyways.

In reply to Jaynen:

Part of a longer journey. We'd be buying a house after two or three years and either would take location a bit more seriously or we'd both be making quite a bit more money. Probably both.

Buy a cheap Civic or Corolla for the commute? My ae92 got 42mpg on the highway, you could find one for cheap.

I don't think wear and tear on a Cherokee would a big deal if it is maintained. My friends has 250k+ on it and the only issue is the floors rotting through.

Thisthreadmakes me very happy I live where I do.

In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac:

Dude even Longview has the bus, surely there's something?

Does the Celica run now? Can she drive it?

Why not sell the MX-6?

I still say you need a clean sweep of the whole fleet and then buy the 4 cars you really, really want.

What would it take to get the Escort or Celica commute-ready, or at least commute-bearable?

I have a Cherokee with a 3" lift and 31" tires on it. It gets 12-13 mpg in the city and 17 mpg on the highway. As much as I like it I would never want it to be my "commuter" vehicle for those reasons alone. Its a third vehicle and is useful for hauling and bad weather etc. so it only sees about 2000 miles a year but like you I plan on keeping it forever. Not sure if any of this helps but I wouldn't use your Cherokee for commuting especially if you are putting a lift on it.

My wife and I have gone through this discussion umpteen times. We've moved several times...though we've been in the same house now for 3 years. Currently, my commute is 25 miles each way, and my wife's is 35. Yes, driving a beater like the Cherokee is probably cheaper, even with the bad gas mileage. You already own it, so no car payments, you don't have a ton invested in it (I don't think), insurance is probably fairly cheap, etc... But if you want a new car, there's no financial mathematics for that. It's just a personal decision. Positives side to a newer car...better fuel mileage, hopefully more reliable, warranty, more equity.

I sold my first M3 and bought a TDI golf for my commute - on paper, I'm ahead over $5k. The TDI hasn't gone down in value at all since I bought it two years ago, and saves me $200/month in fuel. Don't forget to factor estimated resale after the two-three years as part of the decision. I LOVE the low monthly fuel bill, which feels even better than the $200/month would imply.

i just bought a 98 Cavalier for $200. the guy i bought it from said it was getting 38mpg and it wouldn't die on him, so i'm hoping for 35mpg until i get around to some aero mods..

find something like this- if the girl doesn't mind driving a POS, that is..

EvanB wrote: Buy a cheap Civic or Corolla for the commute? My ae92 got 42mpg on the highway, you could find one for cheap. I don't think wear and tear on a Cherokee would a big deal if it is maintained. My friends has 250k+ on it and the only issue is the floors rotting through.

That's kindof a thought, but i'm not sure how much it would really save in the end...

Javelin wrote: In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac: Dude even Longview has the bus, surely there's something? Does the Celica run now? Can she drive it? Why not sell the MX-6? I still say you need a clean sweep of the whole fleet and then buy the 4 cars you really, really want.

Public transportation here is pretty much non-existent, and what there is, would easily make her 27 mile commute a 1 hour+ affair, and probably not even 50% cheaper.

Celica probably runs, i don't know. Haven't started it in 2 years or so. She's not driving it anyways. It's not daily driveable and really wasn't for the last year i was driving it anyways. I was just being macho.

Selling the MX6 does.... what exactly? That's MY daily driver.

A clean sweep of the whole fleet would give me... an MR-S, an RX8, and two Cherokees.

Doesn't help much.

szeis4cookie wrote: What would it take to get the Escort or Celica commute-ready, or at least commute-bearable?

Not going to happen with either car. They're both too far gone.

Klayfish wrote: My wife and I have gone through this discussion umpteen times. We've moved several times...though we've been in the same house now for 3 years. Currently, my commute is 25 miles each way, and my wife's is 35. Yes, driving a beater like the Cherokee is probably cheaper, even with the bad gas mileage. You already own it, so no car payments, you don't have a ton invested in it (I don't think), insurance is probably fairly cheap, etc... But if you want a new car, there's no financial mathematics for that. It's just a personal decision. Positives side to a newer car...better fuel mileage, hopefully more reliable, warranty, more equity.

We don't want a new car, but i don't think we're psyched about shelling out $4k a year in gas, either.

Anything we buy wouldn't have a warranty, anyways. I'm probably never paying more than $5k for a car again. The only time i've done that has turned out to be the worst purchase i've ever made.

novaderrik wrote: i just bought a 98 Cavalier for $200. the guy i bought it from said it was getting 38mpg and it wouldn't die on him, so i'm hoping for 35mpg until i get around to some aero mods.. find something like this- if the girl doesn't mind driving a POS, that is..

She doesn't MIND driving a POS, she did drive the Escort for a year or two.

But that was also an 8 mile round trip commute. I don't really want her in a POS with a 50-55 mile round trip commute.

I trust the Cherokee to do it, which is really what makes this decision hard. "Devil you know."

This list of cars you own is confusing. Add in some not running or not good for normal use or whatever and the list is full of holes.

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Celica probably runs, i don't know. Haven't started it in 2 years or so. She's not driving it anyways. It's not daily driveable and really wasn't for the last year i was driving it anyways. I was just being macho.

If you are not driving it, then why not convert it BACK to a status that she could drive every day? Or you could and she could drive the Mazda.

Ben, the wife and I went through this over 4 years ago. She was going to grad school 3-4 days a week and was driving 100 miles + per day. She was taking the Elantra, but was beating the E36 M3 out of it while I was driving the truck. I was getting 19-20mpg daily, she was getting 34 daily. But the Elantra was getting torn the hell up downtown at IUPUI before they redid the streets. It was ALSO my auto-x car, so the extra wear and tear was on both me AND the car.

We did the math and we picked up the Accent for $2k. I put a wheel bearing in it and called it a day. She drove it 100 miles a day, got 38mpg and I went back to driving the Elantra and getting 35mpg.

For us, the car paid for itself in 2 years. the last almost 3 years it's PAID us to run it. WEll worth the extra effort for the extra car.... as long as you get the RIGHT car for the job.

alfadriver wrote:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Celica probably runs, i don't know. Haven't started it in 2 years or so. She's not driving it anyways. It's not daily driveable and really wasn't for the last year i was driving it anyways. I was just being macho.

If you are not driving it, then why not convert it BACK to a status that she could drive every day? Or you could and she could drive the Mazda.

It's really too far gone... i don't exactly have time right now to do a full restore, up to and including tracking down an interior, full new brake system, and replacing the suspension with something more street friendly. The overall setup on that car (barring actual arms) makes what i set up for the Escort look pretty tame.

She can't drive the MX6. No power steering, and i wouldn't trust her to drive it anyways.

This is really about just sucking it up and driving the Cherokee i think. I'm leaning towards her just driving it, appealing to her boss for a raise to help cover the expenses (he'd probably do it, his business would probably take a big hit if she left), and letting her beat the Cherokee for a year or two, then we find another one with low miles. (We were planning on doing that in 2-3 years anyways, giving me the current one)

Bobzilla wrote: Ben, the wife and I went through this over 4 years ago. She was going to grad school 3-4 days a week and was driving 100 miles + per day. She was taking the Elantra, but was beating the E36 M3 out of it while I was driving the truck. I was getting 19-20mpg daily, she was getting 34 daily. But the Elantra was getting torn the hell up downtown at IUPUI before they redid the streets. It was ALSO my auto-x car, so the extra wear and tear was on both me AND the car. We did the math and we picked up the Accent for $2k. I put a wheel bearing in it and called it a day. She drove it 100 miles a day, got 38mpg and I went back to driving the Elantra and getting 35mpg. For us, the car paid for itself in 2 years. the last almost 3 years it's PAID us to run it. WEll worth the extra effort for the extra car.... as long as you get the RIGHT car for the job.

Makes sense. The catches that freak me out is that 1) I'd have yet another cheap probably old beater to maintain that i haven't had time to build up trust in and 2) would take probably 2 years to break even, and by that time, we'd probably be ready to move again, and making more money to the point that it didn't matter any more.

In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac:

Then a follow up question- IF (and I realize that it's a very, very big IF, since we have similar cars that could be sold) you are not ever going to use the Celica, would you try to sell it for 1) gas money, or 2) a reasonable replacement? Some times being a pack rat can net you a decent car if you are willing to part with it.

(and do I get the count right, 6, Cherokee, Celica, and Escort? anything else?)

alfadriver wrote: In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac: Then a follow up question- IF (and I realize that it's a very, very big IF, since we have similar cars that could be sold) you are not ever going to use the Celica, would you try to sell it for 1) gas money, or 2) a reasonable replacement? Some times being a pack rat can net you a decent car if you are willing to part with it. (and do I get the count right, 6, Cherokee, Celica, and Escort? anything else?)

IF i was never going to use the Celica, i'd sell it for a reasonable replacement. Unfortunately (fortunately?) the stroker motor and bulletproof drivetrain i've been slowly putting together for it in the last year say otherwise. We did talk last night about parting it out, which is the only way i'll get any real money out of it, but she struck that off the table pretty quick. It's my favorite car by a LONG shot out of the "fleet" and she's not ok with me getting rid of it.

MX6, Cherokee, Celica, Escort, Mazdaspeed Miata.

I guess i could use this as an excuse to start shopping in earnest for a 90s Sentra SE-R?