shall i get a loan?

[TheHippie]

My 2005 toyota 4Runner V8, four wheel drive, is a gas guzzler but have been paid off already since 2011.

Shall i get a new car loan for a fuel economy car like a brand new corolla so i can save on gas but pay on monthly loans?

Or shall i just pay for the high gas on the 4Runner but no loans?

My work entails alot of driving about 110 miles a day here in Southern CAlifornia.


Gas in Southern California is the most expensive in the USA.

 

[brtnstrns]

Taking on a loan never saves money over driving a gas guzzling paid-off vehicle.

Get a loan if you want a new car. Don't try to justify it for gas-saving because the majority of the time, that financially won't work out as advantageous.

If you're looking to save gas, spend $2000 on an early 90's Camry. Even then, you'd have to buy about 40 tanks worth of gas on the 4Runner before breaking even on just the purchase price.

 

[TheHippie]

Taking on a loan never saves money over driving a gas guzzling paid-off vehicle.

Get a loan if you want a new car. Don't try to justify it for gas-saving because the majority of the time, that financially won't work out as advantageous.

If you're looking to save gas, spend $2000 on an early 90's Camry. Even then, you'd have to buy about 40 tanks worth of gas on the 4Runner before breaking even on just the purchase price.

thanks.

 

[Keros]

Not sure what insurance is like there, but here it's ICBC that kills... sure, pay less in fuel for a smaller car but after getting hosed the extra $2000+ per year for the extra insurance policy (ontop of the $2000/yr of the 4runner's) it's hard to come out ahead.

Add into the extra ownership cost of maintaining the other vehicle, it adds up fast.

I never could get the numbers to work out without excessive miles needed to hit the breakeven point.

 

[TheHippie]

Not sure what insurance is like there, but here it's ICBC that kills... sure, pay less in fuel for a smaller car but after getting hosed the extra $2000+ per year for the extra insurance policy (ontop of the $2000/yr of the 4runner's) it's hard to come out ahead.

Add into the extra ownership cost of maintaining the other vehicle, it adds up fast.

I never could get the numbers to work out without excessive miles needed to hit the breakeven point.

I would be paying somewhere 300 to 400 dollars more in fuel for the 4runner[$700-800 per month gas on 4runner vs 300-400 dollars per month gas for corolla].

That's a bit more for the monthly payments for a brand new corolla.

But you have to pay the corolla insurance.

it's break even if you buy or not i think..

Honestly, i just don't want another loan..

but..

 

[Skywriter]

Why did I read that like "Shall We Play a Game?"

Also figure you are sharing the life of each vehicle on wear and tear. If I put 100,000 miles on the car, that is 100,000 I didn't put on the 4runner. Cost to replace the car is X, cost to replace the 4runner is X + $. I don't know the real numbers, but something to add to the calculations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlE75w2JRxQ

 

[2012sr5]

Use this formula:

A + BC = BD

A: the cost of a new Corolla
C: the new car's cost per mile, which equals (the price of a gallon of gas)/(your mpg)
D: your 2005 4Runner's cost per mile (fuel price per gallon)/(4R's mpg)

Plug those numbers in and solve for B. This will tell you how many miles you need to drive your new Corolla before it starts to save you money vs driving your paid off 4Runner.

EXAMPLE:

Say the Corolla is $20k. And it gets 35 mpg. Say your 4Runner gets 15 mpg. Say the price of gas is 3.35/gallon.

3.35/35=0.0957 or roughly 9.57 cents per mile to drive the Corolla.

3.35/15=0.2233 or roughly 22.33 cents per mile to drive the 4Runner.

Your equation now looks like this:

20,000 + .0957B = .2233B

Solve for B:

20,000=.1276B
156,739.8 = B

This means that in our example, you would have to drive 156,739.8 miles before the Corolla starts to save you money. It takes that many miles to overcome the $20k you just dropped on a new car. This example ignores all other costs (maintenance, repair, insurance, etc), but you get the idea.

Keeping your current paid off vehicle and driving it until the wheels fall off is almost always more economical.

 

[wcjeep]

Taking on a loan never saves money over driving a gas guzzling paid-off vehicle.

Get a loan if you want a new car. Don't try to justify it for gas-saving because the majority of the time, that financially won't work out as advantageous.

If you're looking to save gas, spend $2000 on an early 90's Camry. Even then, you'd have to buy about 40 tanks worth of gas on the 4Runner before breaking even on just the purchase price.

I disagree with this statement, usually. Every situation is different. I was driving my empty Dodge Diesel to work. Checked the numbers. Bought a then new 2012 Honda Civic. The money I saved in diesel fuel payed for the Honda Car payments, Honda insurance, Honda fuel and Honda maintenance. I came out $10 per month. This did not take into account the Dodge Diesel maintenance savings. This also made camping easier, left the Dodge setup for camping mode. Also made down time of any one vehicle easier with a ready spare. For commuter cars I typically buy new for reliability.

110 miles per day would probably pencil out. I eventually gave my free Honda to Mother in Law when we bought the 4runner. My one way commute to work dropped to 2.5miles.

 

[Drunner97]

Spend 3-5k on a beater 4 cyl and don't bother with payments. Late 90s civics, corollas, accords, camrys, etc are easy and cheap to maintain. I picked up a 97 Jetta TDI that gets 40-45 mpg on diesel for 2k. I'm about 500 into it for parts (still working out the kinks in the turbo system but I almost have it nailed down) and my insurance is like 60 bucks a month for liability and theft. I knew it had problems coming into it, but the I4 Japanese models have a lot less issues than a TDI VW, and once the kinks are worked out I should get another 150-200k miles of commuting.

For comparison in mpg my Tacoma gets about 18 mpg, my 4runner gets about 12 mpg, and the Jetta is over 40. No car payments on any of my vehicles and I'm at 200/month for insurance in Southern California. I save over 200 dollars/month commuting in the Jetta vs Tacoma with a 66 mile daily round trip Mon-Fri.

 

[brtnstrns]

Spend 3-5k on a beater 4 cyl and don't bother with payments. Late 90s civics, corollas, accords, camrys, etc are easy and cheap to maintain. I picked up a 97 Jetta TDI that gets 40-45 mpg on diesel for 2k. I'm about 500 into it for parts (still working out the kinks in the turbo system but I almost have it nailed down) and my insurance is like 60 bucks a month for liability and theft. I knew it had problems coming into it, but the I4 Japanese models have a lot less issues than a TDI VW, and once the kinks are worked out I should get another 150-200k miles of commuting.

For comparison in mpg my Tacoma gets about 18 mpg, my 4runner gets about 12 mpg, and the Jetta is over 40. No car payments on any of my vehicles and I'm at 200/month for insurance in Southern California. I save over 200 dollars/month commuting in the Jetta vs Tacoma with a 66 mile daily round trip Mon-Fri.

I went the Golf TDI route a few years ago for my 120 mile round trip daily commute. Only problem is that I didn't do enough research to know that the automatics are garbage and the manuals are bulletproof so I bought an automatic and the thing never drove right due to the transmission. If I still had that kind of commute I would go for another TDI but get a manual transmission instead.

But yeah, the gas mileage was ridiculous.

 

[Drunner97]

I went the Golf TDI route a few years ago for my 120 mile round trip daily commute. Only problem is that I didn't do enough research to know that the automatics are garbage and the manuals are bulletproof so I bought an automatic and the thing never drove right due to the transmission. If I still had that kind of commute I would go for another TDI but get a manual transmission instead.

But yeah, the gas mileage was ridiculous.

Yeah mine is a 5 speed manual. Chasing some electrical gremlins that should clear my last code and fix my intermittent boost issues. If I didn't get such a good deal on it initially I would have picked up a late 90s Civic instead.

 

[Runn4est]

Yeah mine is a 5 speed manual. Chasing some electrical gremlins that should clear my last code and fix my intermittent boost issues. If I didn't get such a good deal on it initially I would have picked up a late 90s Civic instead.

Got a '01 Jetta VR6 (219k) sitting dormant in my driveway (I'm gonna rebuild it someday...). Loved the car, but you will never get rid of the electrical gremlins in a VW!

I had a CEL on the last 3 years I drove the car - 02 sensors, abs sensors, crack pipe, aux water pump, ac relay, ignition switch, constant burnout of headlights, the list goes on. Eventually my OBD port stopped communicating, so I retired it for a 4Runner -- had a growing family anyway.

Worse gas mileage, sure, but it's nice knowing I have a reliable vehicle on the daily.

 

[Drunner97]

Got a '01 Jetta VR6 (219k) sitting dormant in my driveway (I'm gonna rebuild it someday...). Loved the car, but you will never get rid of the electrical gremlins in a VW!

I had a CEL on the last 3 years I drove the car - 02 sensors, abs sensors, crack pipe, aux water pump, ac relay, ignition switch, constant burnout of headlights, the list goes on. Eventually my OBD port stopped communicating, so I retired it for a 4Runner -- had a growing family anyway.

Worse gas mileage, sure, but it's nice knowing I have a reliable vehicle on the daily.

Yeah that's why I only picked it up for an in town commuter. If I have to get it towed work, home, or a buddy's house is just a stones throw away. haha.

 

[markie671]

My 2005 toyota 4Runner V8, four wheel drive, is a gas guzzler but have been paid off already since 2011.

Shall i get a new car loan for a fuel economy car like a brand new corolla so i can save on gas but pay on monthly loans?

Or shall i just pay for the high gas on the 4Runner but no loans?

My work entails alot of driving about 110 miles a day here in Southern CAlifornia.


Gas in Southern California is the most expensive in the USA.

Sell the runner and get another used car that is gas efficient then you'll be saving money. But you'll miss it alot.

At this point its practically vs long term expense.

And 110 miles a day is alot for a V8, as much as I hate to say it but Hybrid is maybe the way to go. But if you can afford to spend the V8 then this shouldn't be a problem.

But I would also rethink that 110 miles daily vs a hybrid/electric car.

 

[yella]

I just sold my commuter car ( i now have a work vehicle ) and I kept my 4R. My car I had since it was 2 years old, was a great reliable car and amazing on gas. Problem with having it, the 4R, and a work vehicle - it never got driven. Let a vehicle sit for a year through different weather, snow, heat, etc - it starts to deteriorate fast. So I sold it before it was worth nothing.
Im saving $1350/yr just on insurance and plate renewal, not counting maintenance. Maintenance costs would go up from a vehicle sitting in my opinion. $1350 is a lot of gas for a vehicle that I drive 1-3 times a week.


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[Drunner97]

I just sold my commuter car ( i now have a work vehicle ) and I kept my 4R. My car I had since it was 2 years old, was a great reliable car and amazing on gas. Problem with having it, the 4R, and a work vehicle - it never got driven. Let a vehicle sit for a year through different weather, snow, heat, etc - it starts to deteriorate fast. So I sold it before it was worth nothing.
Im saving $1350/yr just on insurance and plate renewal, not counting maintenance. Maintenance costs would go up from a vehicle sitting in my opinion. $1350 is a lot of gas for a vehicle that I drive 1-3 times a week.


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I rotate between my vehicles so none of them sit. Jetta commuting 4 days a week (when it's running right, otherwise it's in town driving) Tacoma once a week on street sweeping days (unless the Jetta isn't running then it's the daily), and 4runner weekends or trips. Unless there's something wrong with it then it sits until I fix it between trips. Right now the runner is sitting until I fix my alignment, but I usually have trips once a month so it never sits longer than 3 weeks at a time.

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[JeffMerr]

Plenty of used fuel efficient vehicles on Craigslist shouldn't require a loan. When I was commuting I purchased a '98 Honda civic with 80k miles for 3,500. It averaged 38mpg.

 

[iseeu1001]

Why do you need a new car? Oh look I just found a nice prius for under 6k https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=488352975&zip=90001&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D90001%26startYear%3D1981%26sortBy%3DderivedpriceASC%26incremental%3Dall%26firstRecord%3D0%26endYear%3D2019%26modelCodeList%3DPRIUS%26makeCodeList%3DTOYOTA%26searchRadius%3D25&startYear=1981&numRecords=25&firstRecord=0&endYear=2019&modelCodeList=PRIUS&makeCodeList=TOYOTA&searchRadius=25&makeCode1=TOYOTA&modelCode1=PRIUS
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=487716879&zip=90001&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D90001%26startYear%3D1981%26sortBy%3DderivedpriceASC%26incremental%3Dall%26firstRecord%3D0%26endYear%3D2019%26modelCodeList%3DCOROL%26makeCodeList%3DTOYOTA%26searchRadius%3D25&startYear=1981&numRecords=25&firstRecord=0&endYear=2019&modelCodeList=COROL&makeCodeList=TOYOTA&searchRadius=25&makeCode1=TOYOTA&modelCode1=COROL
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=486035325&zip=90001&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D90001%26startYear%3D1981%26sortBy%3DderivedpriceASC%26incremental%3Dall%26firstRecord%3D0%26endYear%3D2019%26modelCodeList%3DCAMRY%26makeCodeList%3DTOYOTA%26searchRadius%3D25&startYear=1981&numRecords=25&firstRecord=0&endYear=2019&modelCodeList=CAMRY&makeCodeList=TOYOTA&searchRadius=25&makeCode1=TOYOTA&modelCode1=CAMRY

 

[skibee1000]

Idea... buy a used Corolla / Civic for less than $5k and enjoy super good mpg's.

 

[Ezlife45]

I went through similar process myself. My commute is roughly 600 miles/week. During the housing crash, gas prices soon went through the roof. I was spending 900 dollars a month just to get to/from work. Our solution was simple. Take the wife's honda, get her a new car. I wound up taking a new car note, insurance, etc, and still came out cheaper. Then the wife got a new car. But other things come into consideration. Do you have room to park another vehicle?
Once gas prices came down, I just drove the wheels off the honda.