|
|
Posted by Clint Dixon on Friday, July 25, 2008 at 21:54:41 :
In Reply to: Nice Commuter Truck For Someone In MI.... posted by Marty on Friday, July 25, 2008 at 15:27:01 :
No, seriously, your are kidding. I just did the math.
I get 17.5 miles per gallon, driving 420 miles per week back and forth to work in my 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the 4.2L 6-cylinder. At the current local prices for gasoline, that equates roughly to $96.00 cost in gasoline per week.
Even if I could win the bid on that truck right now for $10,000, I would be moving to a 3-year older vehicle. If I were able to expect 25 miles per gallon economy out of it, as the auction indicates, I would still be driving the same 420 miles per week. At the current local prices for diesel, that would equate roughly to $84.00 cost in gasoline per week.
At a savings of only $12.00 per week in fuel, I would have to drive the truck 16.8 years to recoup the cost of the truck and break even. It would then be a 29 year old vehicle. Assuming the diesel engine would still be running strong, I highly doubt that the rest of the truck would be anything other than a rust stain on the pavement. Selling the Cherokee and deducting the proceeds from the cost of the truck would not even be an option to plug into the equasion. Whatever replaces the Cherokee will be default bump it to the status of “second vehicle”. The second vehicle we have now gets even less than 17.5 miles per gallon, has a lot more miles on the odometer, and is older. It is not even worth selling even at this point in time and would probably be kept and turned into a play four-wheeler with bigger tires, winch, etc.
No, the best solution for me is to keep both vehicles until they are beyond use, bite the bullet and pay a dollar a gallon more for gasoline, and look for a more fuel efficient vehicle in 5-10 years.
Junior
Follow Ups: