Driving 35k-40k Miles In One Year?

[e_blazer]

I do not think depreciation, finance charges and travel time costs really figure in his calculations.

Or any of the indirect costs, which are communal costs for vehicle miles, not something the individual pays. The fixed costs are exactly that, fixed. Your cost per mile goes down for your insurance, registration, etc. the more you drive. In fact, if you never drive your car, your cost per mile is infinite for those costs. Travel time? Accidents? Residential Parking?

Man, this thing must be a propaganda piece for those who want to push public transit.

 

[maxiep]

Enjoy Montreal. It's a wonderful city. New Haven, not so much. You'll be highway driving most of the time (I think I'd head through Albany and take I-87 all the way up).

Since you'll be looking for the little things on your drive, check a sign on Northbound I-87 that has arrows pointing in different directions. It seriously says, "Canada" with one arrow and "Mexico" with another. Of course, it's Mexico, NY, but that sign always humored me.

 

[THE HCP]

Good luck! Damn that's a lot of miles! I only put about 6,000 miles a year on mine!

 

[Denny Crane]

Or any of the indirect costs, which are communal costs for vehicle miles, not something the individual pays. The fixed costs are exactly that, fixed. Your cost per mile goes down for your insurance, registration, etc. the more you drive. In fact, if you never drive your car, your cost per mile is infinite for those costs. Travel time? Accidents? Residential Parking?

Man, this thing must be a propaganda piece for those who want to push public transit.

Your cost per mile on a cash flow basis goes up when you buy new tires, have engine work done, have new brakes put on, etc. The more you drive a car, the more often those costs come into play. Buying a car with 85,000 miles already on it, a few of these things may be due sooner than later.

If he bought his car for $6500 and sells it two years later for $2500, you can take that $4K loss and divide it by the # of miles he drove and that's a per mile cost, too.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

VW Jettas main issues are it's legendary electrical problems, and if it doesn't have any yet it probably won't. Typically they happen more on new cars than old ones.

Have your mechanic give it a good checkup for the basics to see if you need any hoses or belts replaced now (probably), change all the fluids and filters, and if the timing belt/chain hasn't ever been replaced you should do that now.

35,000 miles isn't really that much, but since it's in a short time frame you have to remember to schedule your oil changes and such according to mileage, not according to every few months.

I'll echo this.

And if electrical problems start, push it off a cliff and take the insurance money.

 

[e_blazer]

Your cost per mile on a cash flow basis goes up when you buy new tires, have engine work done, have new brakes put on, etc. The more you drive a car, the more often those costs come into play. Buying a car with 85,000 miles already on it, a few of these things may be due sooner than later.[/QUOTE/

If you read what I wrote, I was objecting to the use of fixed costs and the indirect costs in the calculation of cost per mile. Obviously, maintenance legitimately figures into that calculation.

If he bought his car for $6500 and sells it two years later for $2500, you can take that $4K loss and divide it by the # of miles he drove and that's a per mile cost, too.

If he bought the care for $6500, sold it two years later for $2500, and drove 40K miles in those two years, his cost per mile for depreciation would be 10 cents per mile. On the other hand, if he only drove it 1,000 miles to "save" according to this ridiculous calculation of vehicle expenses, and was able to sell it for $3500 due to lower miles, his cost per mile would be $3.00 per mile. Many vehicle costs are lower, on a per mile basis, the more you drive.

 

[44Thrilla]

I'm the only one in this thread that's really trying to help you. Ditch the girlfriend.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

I agree with Thrilla. I think you'll make the drive once or twice then just drift apart and not want to anymore. Watch "Road Trip".

 

[maxiep]

I will offer a bit of warning about driving in the snow belt. Wash your car frequently if you want your car to last. NY is especially bad when it comes to salting the roads. Upstate, the car body and chassis will fall apart from rust before they fail mechanically.

Also, if you're parking on the street in Montreal, be alert for snow emergencies. The tow trucks follow the plows and tow at the drop of a hat. And if you have US plates? Fugedaboudit.

 

[THE HCP]

Buy that bitch a bus pass and use the rest of the money on whores!

 

[hasoos]

Just an FYI every Volkwagon I have had since the 80's has started breaking down at the 100K mile mark. Let's put it this way. I am good with maintenance, change oil on time. But for some reason, VW's just start to break down after that 100K mark.

 

[Sex Panther]

I would ditch her guys. But we're engaged. Sorrz.

And thanks for the heads up maxiep, do you recommend any place to hit up and check out when I'm there?

 

[Sex Panther]

Just an FYI every Volkwagon I have had since the 80's has started breaking down at the 100K mile mark. Let's put it this way. I am good with maintenance, change oil on time. But for some reason, VW's just start to break down after that 100K mark.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've been told that the Volkswagens past '02 have great longevity. I've had this car for nearly a month now, and I treat it like my baby. When I got it inspected, my mechanic said it was in tip-top shape.

 

[BoBoBREWSKI]

I have a 2000 Jetta with 135,000 miles on it. Make sure the timing belt and other belts are OK and use synthetic oil and you should be OK for awhile.

 

[Denny Crane]

Your cost per mile on a cash flow basis goes up when you buy new tires, have engine work done, have new brakes put on, etc. The more you drive a car, the more often those costs come into play. Buying a car with 85,000 miles already on it, a few of these things may be due sooner than later.[/QUOTE/

If you read what I wrote, I was objecting to the use of fixed costs and the indirect costs in the calculation of cost per mile. Obviously, maintenance legitimately figures into that calculation.



If he bought the care for $6500, sold it two years later for $2500, and drove 40K miles in those two years, his cost per mile for depreciation would be 10 cents per mile. On the other hand, if he only drove it 1,000 miles to "save" according to this ridiculous calculation of vehicle expenses, and was able to sell it for $3500 due to lower miles, his cost per mile would be $3.00 per mile. Many vehicle costs are lower, on a per mile basis, the more you drive.

I don't disagree with this. Just pointing out that in buying a car with 85,000 miles on it, the tires might be the third set put on the car, each lasting 30,000 miles, so he's due a big expense within the next 5K miles or so.

I did disagree that the depreciation doesn't matter, though.

Obviously if you buy a car for $1 and drive it 1M miles, your depreciation per mile is near zero.

I would point out that though the car can be repaired as long as they make parts for it (and then parts can be custom made in a machine shop), at some point you have a car worth $1,000 and have a $2,500 engine rebuild called for and it's a tough call whether to just junk it and get something better for $2500.

 

[ucatchtrout]

Assuming that most of the mileage will be done on the highway - oil probably does not need to be changed as often as every 3000 miles - I would not be surprised if even the manufacturer recommends oil changes every 5-10K miles - modern metallurgy and oil quality has made the 3000 miles oil change interval a thing of the past unless you drive in very dirty (dust/sand) environment or mostly in start/stop conditions. If the car is really in good condition - and most of the mileage is highway mileage - I would not be worried about 5K intervals - and if the manual actually tells you to do it every 10K miles - just do it every 3 months.

I am not sure if VWs are timing belt engines (my German cars always had timing chains - but I suspect that VW builds stuff to a slightly cheaper standard than BMW) - if a timing belt was not changed recently - I would immediately schedule an appointment to do it. VW has interference engines, if memory serves - and if a timing belt breaks on one of these you have more than the hassle of a car that does not go to deal with - because you will most likely also bend some valves and will require a big engine rebuild job (at least new valves/cam-shaft). Job one is to check if a timing belt was changed on the car - and if not - do it, now.

Other than that - honestly, I would not be too worried about high mileage on well maintained modern cars. VW has had reliability issues in the past - but I think that 2004 is around the time they started to pay attention to the quality of their build - so hopefully, other than electrical issues - which are a nuisance - you will not have too much issues with it, especially if you pay attention to the recommended maintainance schedule and follow it as you should.

Cars will consume tires, brakes, gas and oil - but if this is mostly highway mileage - you hopefully will not have too much issues with it.

As I said - modern cars are built much better than old cars. My Subaru has 170K miles on it and it still feels as tight as a new car...

Assuming the oil condition is fine at 3k the filter won't be and will still need to be changed.

 

[bodyman5001]

My buddy has an 02 jetta, and most of the problems are minor yet cause problems out of left field that you don't expect. His battery cable has disintegrated twice, he used a factory replacement after each instance.

That being said, that is more likely an issue of age. Considering the fact that most engine wear is done during cold starts you will get less wear driving the equivalent number of highway miles compared to city driving.

I tore apart an 05 Cobalt for a complete repaint today. The car was disgustingly dirty and the change engine oil soon light was on. The car has 75000 miles and you would think it had 750,000 by looking at it. I pulled the dipstick and it looked rusty and the oil looked like crusty coffee, black black black coffee.

The guy somehow convinced the dealer to warranty the paint job despite the fact that it is obvious that he had never cared for the car once. New paint and a good detail job and oil change and some sucker might buy this car thinking it is a nice low mileage commuter.

My point being that you never know with newer cars, they can run forever or be nothing but trouble.

 

[andalusian]

Assuming the oil condition is fine at 3k the filter won't be and will still need to be changed.

If you put cardboard FRAM air filters - you deserve what you get!

Again, if you do not drive through very dusty, dirty conditions - the 3,000 miles interval is an anachronism.