Re: Today's gas prices

From: Jason Bleazard (dml@bleazard.net)
Date: Thu May 20 2004 - 17:22:17 EDT


andy levy said:
>
> Well, on a leased vehicle, the only maintenance is the consumables (oil,
> etc.) - everything else should be warranty.

The "etc." adds up if you follow the "severe duty" schedule like I do with
the Daks. I guess for a commuter, all you need to worry about is the
minimum to not void the warranty.

> I'm changing oil on a
> per-mile basis, not per-vehicle - if I put 3K on a car in a month, and
> 400 on the Dak, I'm just changing the oil in the car instead of the Dak.

Do you also follow the 3 month rule? I do, just to make sure it's not
sitting with old oil for too long. I'm sure you're aware of the potential
issues with letting the Dak sit unused for too long... be sure to drive it
once in a while so it doesn't get lonely :-).

> Extra insurance, it depends. On a leased vehicle, I'm sure I'd pay
> plenty because I have to cover everything. On the '94 Acclaim I'm
> getting from my parents, I just need liability - it's not worth putting
> collision on a $1000 car.

Certainly not. If you're not driving the Dak as many miles as before,
will they give you a discount on the insurance for it? I know our
insurance is more expensive for vehicles driven to work daily than it is
for just weekend and evening use.

> Even if the Acclaim only gets 24 MPG on the highway, it's 33% better
> than the Dak, and I'm not having to replace those big tires at $130 each
> due to mileage in 3 months. The truck is 15 months old and I'm at 21K -
> my 3/36 warranty will be gone by January at this rate.

Anything that saves that many miles on the Dak is probably a good thing.
If the Acclaim dies, you can probably find some other disposable Bic
lighter type car for a pretty good price.

> I'm doing 100 miles a day.

Okay, I definitely see your case there. I was doing about 75 when we
lived in Scarberia, but that was before last August. If I were still
doing that with our $0.90 / liter gas, I might have a case for a commuter
car. There was a '91 Accord on the bulletin board at work recently ("runs
good"... owner clearly talks good too) for $1700 CDN. I just said no :-).

> Yeah, I've run the numbers a few times. This time I think I have a
> winning combo though. I'm getting this Acclaim for the price of
> registration, and it just had a bunch of stuff replaced on it (struts
> are the big item). My brother is finishing the tune-up on it today - at
> 94K it was still on the OEM cap, rotor, plugs & wires. That alone will
> be good for 2 MPG (I'll send you & Bob Tom a pic of the original rotor
> compared to the new one, it's scary). Liability insurance won't cost me
> too much, and cutting the daily mileage on the Dak will help balance the
> cost of the extra car.

Sounds like a plan! Wish I had a "free" car available... :-)

-- 
Jason Bleazard  http://www.bleazard.net  Burlington, Ontario
his:  '95 Dakota Sport 4x4, 3.9 V6, 5spd, Reg. Cab, white
hers: '01 Dakota Sport 4x4, 4.7 V8, Auto, Quad Cab, black



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