Get A Second Vehicle?

mtsusa · March 4, 2011

Greetings, all. I posted about a couple vehicles I was looking into before...well my job's changed, I drive more now, so my priorities have shifted.

First off, between work (as an outside sales engineer) and recreation, I'll drive roughly 38-40,000 miles/year. I love my truck too much than to rack up this many miles per year on it. Does anyone feel it'd be best to just keep this, or is it wise to get a second vehicle to alleviate the mileage?

Also, it seems around here (Western PA) if I want a second vehicle with decent miles...around 50,000, I'll have to pay around $8,000. I know I could find one for the $4 grand range that has closer to 100,000 miles on it, but quite frankly, I don't have the time to do repairs (even heavy maintenance for that mileage) nor do I want to invest the money in it.

I was looking into an '05 Malibu...or something comparable.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

Stevens03 · March 4, 2011

84 ford tempo 5-speed Never spent a dime on it, drove it hard (like a sports car) and got 34mpg consistently.

I'm personally not a fan of the Malibu, I'd consider an 01 olds alero before the malibu and better mileage. My wife and I had one and it was a great little car with mid 30's mpg too and no issues.

bigbeds · March 4, 2011

I would try Honda Civic 2006 and newer..I had a 2006 2 door coupe LX. The car handles and accelerates well. I am 6ft 2in and fit inside nicely. The car gets 23 to 26 MPG city, and 35 MPG, Hwy. A 2006 should go for 8000 to 10000 if your lucky. 2006 was a redesign year and all cars after 2006 were so much better than anything Honda sold in the 10 years preceding.

I wish I could have kept that car, but traded it away for my New Sierra.

Just a suggestion to at least try one test drive...The car is fun to drive, and is highly reliable

TexasAl · March 4, 2011

Here's what I found out about myself when I asked myself the same question. I realized that even if another vehicle is available for me to drive, with MPG's that are twice as good as my truck, I'd still rather drive the truck. I like how it drives and handles so much, that the savings was not enough to make me drive a car. Something to think about before you invest in a second vehicle.

DwayneJ · March 4, 2011

My wife drives a 2003 Impala, bought new now has 165ish thousand miles. Has had brakes, one set of tires, intake gaskets last year, one set of spark plugs, one coolant flush and one tranny flush, front wheelbearings.

Struts, serpentine, hoses, plug wires, battery and anything else not mentioned are original.

Car has been rock solid reliable and dirt cheap to own.

Put LRR tires on it and it will do 30+mpg reliably even in rural driving, not pure highway.

It would take a LOT of fuel savings to pay for a second car and insurance though, run the numbers before deciding.

unit731 · March 4, 2011

I have both a car and a truck.

The truck is newer and I too want to keep the miles down. So most times I take car. Older used car.

Me, when buying a used car I look for condition and miles on odometer. I always keep to one previous owner. I avoid cars that have had any paint work. Too many potential issues from an improperly repaired accident car. Some body shops are good. But others are not.

So I never go look for a specific model or make. Condition and miles on odometer. If I was commuting long distances then I would only look at 4 cylinder cars.

My preferences are Japanese cars and some US/Canada cars. I avoid all Korean and European cars - for used cars. Korean cars have not been proven to me yet no matter what JD Powers states. With any European cars the cost of parts is too high for me. And I have had a Renault, Peugeot, Saab and others. Nice cars. Just costly to maintain - for me anyway.

Good Luck.

jro909 · March 4, 2011

you can't go wrong with an old saturan sedan with a 5 speed...i myself clock on 15-20k a year easily on my truck and just keep up on the maintance

Nytemare · March 4, 2011

84 ford tempo 5-speed Never spent a dime on it, drove it hard (like a sports car) and got 34mpg consistently.

I'm personally not a fan of the Malibu, I'd consider an 01 olds alero before the malibu and better mileage. My wife and I had one and it was a great little car with mid 30's mpg too and no issues.

+1 for that

Old style Malibu's are maintenance hogs and just plain bad news...stay away.

I bought a Cruze recently....good car, it only has 1000Km on it so fuel mileage is still not great...26-28mpg City....But if you can afford it, its only a $20K car, with full warranty etc, payments would be real cheap, and if you can afford cash down they would be even lower. Just basic maintenance, and no worries about shit breaking and having to throw 2G at it for a new trans for example.

Sometimes less money can be more expensive....

Just a thought....

Mckenzie · March 4, 2011

My vote is an old Toyota Camry, we have a 96 with the 4 cylinder motor and it has 185,000 miles and we have replaced nothing on it, plus you can find them for dirt cheap and they get real good mileage

mtsusa · March 4, 2011

Thanks guys...I do realize I won't break even in terms of gas savings for around 5-6 years but ultimately that's not why I'm doing it...I really just would rather preserve the truck. And yes, I'm sure no matter what I buy, I'll never enjoy anything more than the truck!

Part of my vehicle selection was for insurance costs and safety...so much of my driving is long distances so I don't want something that's a notorious "tin can" on the road.

I also purchased this truck last July and am still paying on it, so I cringe at the idea of making another purchase large enough that I'd need to finance. That's why I'd like to stick around 8 grand max.

Some people suggested leasing options, like the Chevy Cruze. Nice car, just not sure how fond I am of leasing.

Beer Belly · March 4, 2011

Leasing at 40,000 miles a year ???....since you like driving a truck, why not consider another one as a second vehicle ???.....doesn't have to be a v8, and can also be used as a back up if your main ride goes down for something....just my 2cents

mtsusa · March 4, 2011

The lease would be to alleviate the mileage on my truck...but a 12,000 mi/year allowance just doesn't justify the monthly payments, no matter how cheap. That was just suggested to me...I'm really not looking at that as a viable solution.

As much as I like driving a truck, if I'm going to invest in anything used it's going to be something that gets better gas mileage than a truck. Especially since an older/used truck (as history has shown) will have worse gas mileage and I run the risk of encountering a myriad of problems from people abusing them to some extent. They hold their value better than cars, so I'd also be spending more for something I truly don't need.

I just don't want to see my current vehicle at 120,000 mi+ after 3 years of ownership.

tyhuck · March 4, 2011

I would try Honda Civic 2006 and newer..I had a 2006 2 door coupe LX. The car handles and accelerates well. I am 6ft 2in and fit inside nicely. The car gets 23 to 26 MPG city, and 35 MPG, Hwy. A 2006 should go for 8000 to 10000 if your lucky. 2006 was a redesign year and all cars after 2006 were so much better than anything Honda sold in the 10 years preceding.
I wish I could have kept that car, but traded it away for my New Sierra.

Just a suggestion to at least try one test drive...The car is fun to drive, and is highly reliable

+1 on this one. My inlaws bought a used Accord about 5 years ago that had about 120K on the odometer. They needed the car because they sold their Econoline van, with 250K, when gas hit $3/gal the first time. Thye needed something besides the F250 V10 to drive to work. They drive it to work every day and now have over 175K on it with no major repairs. Its a nice little car, and the 5-spd really wakes up the little 4 banger. 32mpg on the average tank, and I think the best they got was pretty close to 40 on a long trip to central TX. I love driving trucks too, but its better to decrease the value on the cheaper car than rack up the miles and reduce the value of the vehicle you love. Just my $.02.

Nytemare · March 4, 2011

Thanks guys...I do realize I won't break even in terms of gas savings for around 5-6 years but ultimately that's not why I'm doing it...I really just would rather preserve the truck. And yes, I'm sure no matter what I buy, I'll never enjoy anything more than the truck!

Part of my vehicle selection was for insurance costs and safety...so much of my driving is long distances so I don't want something that's a notorious "tin can" on the road.

I also purchased this truck last July and am still paying on it, so I cringe at the idea of making another purchase large enough that I'd need to finance. That's why I'd like to stick around 8 grand max.

Some people suggested leasing options, like the Chevy Cruze. Nice car, just not sure how fond I am of leasing.

Buy not lease.

I would never suggest a lease to anyone who drives they're vehicle.

We pay around 300 a month for the cruze, and its 40 bucks to fill the tank at $4.50 a gallon...and that gets us 600+ a tank City right now..it should get better with break in.

The Honda Civic is a great idea too. You want something without a track record of issues for this to pay off for you, or something with a warranty.

Shaners · March 5, 2011

A friend of mine just bought an 08 Impala with 20k miles on it for 12 grand. They are nice comfortable and safe cars that have very good reliabillity and surprisingly good gas mileage!