Gas Mileage - Why????

uglyjeepoffroad

uglyjeepoffroad

Registered Loser
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Hickory, NC
[rant]
Why are there always posts on every BBS wanting to know "What mileage can I expect with X an Y setup? Why is my mileage so bad with 44s and 3.54s? Why do I get 8 mpg towing 12k with an 8.1l?"
What do people think? Can you take something with the aerodynamics of a brick, tires 3x the size of stock, 1k lbs of cage, bumpers, and winch and expect it to give the mileage of a 3 cylinder Metro?
You just spent $5k on mods for you rig, and you complain that it will be $25 more to fill up to go wheeling...
I guess I just don't get it.
Gas costs what it costs.
Does it suck that is 3x what it was 10 years ago? Yes
Do I make 3x what I made 10 years ago? Not quite, but close.
Will I still buy gas? Of course.
Will I try to make sure my rig is tuned up and take it easy when towing to try to squeeze another MPG out of the tow pig? Sure
But I'm not gonna sell my $1k tow pig and spend $10k on a diesel tow rig to get an extra 5 mpg.
And don't even get me started on the people buying a second vehicle to save money on gas.
Say your quad cab dually diesel gets 12 mpg.
You drive 1k miles a month.
1000/12=83.33333 gallons a month. Call it 84.
$3.39 a gallon * 84 gallons= $285 a month (approx.)
So you buy that civic you've had your eye on for $1500.
Now you're getting 30 mpg on gas - woohoo.
So: 1000/30=33.3333 a month. Call it 34.
$2.99 a gallon * 34 gallons= $102 a month (approx.)
A savings of $183 a month. Not bad.
But $1500/183= 8+ months to break even. Then you start to save some money. But wait, you didn't have to put tags, or insurance on the civic, did you?
And I'm sure your $1500 Honda has required no maintenance in these last 8 months, right?:flipoff2:
[/rant]
Oh, well. I feel better now.
I had an argument with a co worker today.
His plan:
He can't afford the gas in his truck, so he wants to drop $4k on a DD, but can't understand that that same $4k would buy him about 3 years worth of the difference in fuel.:shaking:
Not to mention, he lives in an apartment with one parking space, and he won't sell his truck.
 
I have a diesel dually that sits in my yard until I'm ready to tow something. $1500 for a beater is too rich for my blood. I drive a 91 Accord that averages 30mpg highway/city milage. I've got less than $500 in it (that's with $100 CD player). I've driven it for 7 months or so and have done nothing to it other than a quart of oil every 1000 miles.
Cars/trucks/vehicles in general to me are DEPRECIATING ASSETS and I question peoples intelligence when they go creek themselves financialy in an expensive newer one.
Payments should only be made on real estate or appreciating assets. It's cash and carry for everything else, otherwise you'll always wonder what happens to all the dough you make.
 
jrraw23 said:
True but its worth it to me to buy a brand new vehicle just for the warranty . . . granted i dont have a new one nor will i any time soon probably cause I can't afford that payments but oh what I would give for a warranty :handed:


I also spend aprox $300 a month on gas :shaking:
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take this little tid bit for what it's worth... screw the BRAND NEW vehicle, get a year old one for the warranty. Brand new is a waste of money. That first mile is the most expensive.
 
jrraw23 said:
granted i dont have a new one nor will i any time soon probably cause I can't afford that payments :handed:


I also spend aprox $300 a month on gas :shaking:
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For some reason, this strikes me as funny...

Your sig:
- 95 Chevy One Ton Z71 Tow Rig
- Z71 Jeep 8.2L 13:1comp, ROCKdubs, 46's & 52's
- 81 Chevy on 40's

And you can't afford a new vehicle?

Maybe if you sold the Z-71 (which we know you won't), sold the Cj on Rockwells with a custom built Caddy 500 and 2 sets of tires, and sold the Chevy on 40s, you could buy about anything you wanted. You just might have to wait to build a trail rig until you "graduate in May, and find a Job"...
 
I agree I drive a CTD everyday to work, everyday on weekend and I love it..

I am willing to pay for the fuel for now.. until I get my Bio setup and WVO setup working.. but in a reality I am only going to use grease for long trips..

during the week I know I need to drive so I pay for the fuel cost..

I ALSO agree on NO car payments..
Do I have one now? YES.. wife has New to us.. Grand Cherokee '05 but I also did 2 year pay off so it is short..

but if I can help it I usually Do not have car payments and try to keep it like that as much as possible.
 
For some reason, this strikes me as funny...

Your sig:
- 95 Chevy One Ton Z71 Tow Rig
- Z71 Jeep 8.2L 13:1comp, ROCKdubs, 46's & 52's
- 81 Chevy on 40's

And you can't afford a new vehicle?

Maybe if you sold the Z-71 (which we know you won't), sold the Cj on Rockwells with a custom built Caddy 500 and 2 sets of tires, and sold the Chevy on 40s, you could buy about anything you wanted. You just might have to wait to build a trail rig until you "graduate in May, and find a Job"...
Click to expand...

Well you're right, I won't sell the Z71, and selling the Z71 jeep would seem kinda dumb thou because Its already almost at the point that its my "ideal" offroad rig, if I sold it I'd just have buy/build it all over again.

And I'm trying to sell the 81 Have been for a while.

But even if I sold all that I have it wouldnt be near enough to buy a new vehicle at all . . . .

Appears $300/month would buy you a HUGE "warranty"... along with a single vehicle that doesn't live on jackstands!
Click to expand...

Yea thats the key there, the only vehicle that runs is the 81 on 40's :handed:
 
BIGWOODY said:
Cars/trucks/vehicles in general to me are DEPRECIATING ASSETS and I question peoples intelligence when they go creek themselves financialy in an expensive newer one.
Click to expand...

This is a peice of advice ALOT of people in this country need to hear. It will be a long time till i buy a new truck/car (if ever) just for the fact of how much money you loose the second that new vehicle leaves the lot.

You cant argue with having a small DD though. Its not just about gas, but also space and ease of parking and driving. Parking in boone already sucks, but when i cant park in the decks it makes it even worse. That being said, i still dont have a car.
 
BIGWOODY said:
Cars/trucks/vehicles in general to me are DEPRECIATING ASSETS and I question peoples intelligence when they go creek themselves financialy in an expensive newer one.
Click to expand...

True, and though I didn't even remotely go into a large amount of debt when I bought my current DD, I spend about an hour and a half or a little more every day in it. During that time, I want to enjoy my time in it.. I like power, handling, and a good stereo. It doesn't take a $50k vette to do it, but I think I would very much be hating life in a beater..

Though if I lived really close to work, I'd probably be OK driving just about anything..

Basically, my opinion is that somewhere between new car and $500 beater is a happy medium that could satisfy a large majority of people, but they just don't even look at it, they've been fooled into thinking new is the way to go...
 
I have an 05 GMC 2500HD. It averages 9-12 MPG depending on who is driving. My wife uses the truck as our family vehicle. She travels 50-100 miles per week. I have a 2000 ferd focus for my daily/work car. I travel about 15-20 miles a day. Either way we need two vehicle so this works for us for now. We actually just bought (well put a deposit on will pick up Mon) an older burban to use as a driver for her. We plan to sell the truck and then get an older minivan as well. Gives her two fairly dependable vehicles, me a commuter car, and still have our tow vehicle for the blazer. I always had the mindset that we would always be in a new car but lately I am retracting that thought. It is not cost effective anymore. 30K on a new car or 5K on a used one every couple of years. I will take the later.
 
I have thoght about buying a cheap motorcycle and using it for a DD. The only problems are that I dont want a motorcycle and I wouldnt want to drive it in the rain. My truck was getting about 16-17mpg when I bought it and now it gets around 10. I like driving my truck though because I have all my tools with me everywhere I go. Call me crazy, but I actually enjoy driving my truck, and its worth the extra cost of gas to me.
 
Nissan11 said:
I like driving my truck though because I have all my tools with me everywhere I go. Call me crazy, but I actually enjoy driving my truck, and its worth the extra cost of gas to me.
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Thats a good point, when the Z71's actually running, I pretty much have just about every tool I could need short of power tools, etc. in the box and the back of the cab, as well a several gallons of spare fluids for each vehicle. Thats one thing I don't like though, between my tool box, spare tire, and recycling bins full of spare fluids, i have about 1/4 of my bed that I can use and barely enough room for one person to sit in the back . . . . but the minute i take something out to make room is when I need it :shaking:
 
^^^im with this guy...my truck doesnt get but about 11 0r 12 but i drive it 50 miles everyday.i just like being in a truck and sittin up high
 
I have thoght about buying a cheap motorcycle and using it for a DD. The only problems are that I dont want a motorcycle and I wouldnt want to drive it in the rain. My truck was getting about 16-17mpg when I bought it and now it gets around 10. I like driving my truck though because I have all my tools with me everywhere I go. Call me crazy, but I actually enjoy driving my truck, and its worth the extra cost of gas to me.
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I bought a vulcan to cruise to work to since it was about 60 miles a day to work. I got around 45-50mpg compared to 12-15 max in mine. Was saving me about 300 a mo. to ride it and prob paid itself off that summer/fall. Problem is when you buy a bike you just want bigger/better. Its like a jeep with 2 wheels.
 
^^^im with this guy...my truck doesnt get but about 11 0r 12 but i drive it 50 miles everyday.i just like being in a truck and sittin up high
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Well I'm hoping when I get everything done to my Z71 that I'm planning on doing ill get near 15mpg used to it got 8 or so around town maybe 12 highway,

I like drivin big stuff around too, but the 81 on 40's likes to drink gas down pretty fast . . . .
 
I can go crash comfortably in the Ex with the flavor of the night after pounding shots . :flipoff2: Often I am driving a few hundred miles a month for business that I am compensated for at a great rate. Plus I have a 96 Taco to hunt/fish out of. I bought the 01 Ex for below wholesale last year. Best of both worlds, decent DD that can tow or go to Canada hunting in and a beater to play in. I gotta have a backup as it is a Ford. :lol:
 
i got an 84 gmc 1500 on 35s getting 8 mpg. and guess what i love driving it. if i wanted gas milage i wouldnt of sold my nissan 240 that was faster from point a to b and a better ride getting 32 mpg. I know i get shitty gas milage but its worth the trade off, people give me a little more room in the old truck.
 
uglyjeepoffroad said:
[rant]
1000/12=83.33333 gallons a month. Call it 84.
$3.39 a gallon * 84 gallons= $285 a month (approx.)
So you buy that civic you've had your eye on for $1500.
Now you're getting 30 mpg on gas - woohoo.
So: 1000/30=33.3333 a month. Call it 34.
$2.99 a gallon * 34 gallons= $102 a month (approx.)
A savings of $183 a month. Not bad.
But $1500/183= 8+ months to break even. Then you start to save some money. But wait, you didn't have to put tags, or insurance on the civic, did you?
And I'm sure your $1500 Honda has required no maintenance in these last 8 months, right?:flipoff2:
[/rant]
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Well Im in a company car with company gas now so its a mute point, but before I was strongly considering the beater. Your numbers are dead on, but when your monthly mileage goes from 1k to 3.5k, well it changes the game a bit.
3500/12=292
3.39*989.88
3500/30=117
3.39*117=397

Pays for itself month 1.

Yes, I know I drive an ASS LOAD.
But its about lifestyle, while I hate the windshield time, I love the fact that I live in a town of under 300, I don't lock my home doors, everyone I see on the street I know. And I like the fact that my home and 5 acres cost half what the same home in Charlotte on .8 acres was going to cost me.
 
Company vehicle is a bonus, yes it is.

As for buying "nearly new"

I looked at vehicles all summer long while I was at home dealing/recovering, one thing I found, the 3-4 year old 10-15k cars are a joke. Most of them had crazy miles on them, and were mostly at the mileage where stuff starts to need repairing/replaced/ delt with.

Fawk that, I'm done rebuilding a vehicle so we can have a "nice" DD.

We did buy a one year old car with 16k on the clock. paid a little more, but it has warranty, I don't have to worry about it, I don't have to rebuild it, all I gotta do is gas it and change the oil.

It doesn't matter WHAT you have, at some point you are going to have to put some money in it for repairs/replacement.

That in itself is a car payment.

If you go find another "beater" to replace the one you just broke down in, it's still a payment, no matter if it cost you $50 or $5000

We have the new car, the OLD new car and my truck, which sits till needed. I cannot rent a truck for a weekend for what that truck costs me in insurance and tags a year. ( and if I did rent it, I'd have to unload it all at once, not let it sit till next weekend, it's a convineance thing)

And I have the work van, a nice perk in itself.
 
The one thing you havn't included in all your facts/figures is the initial cost of the vehicles your comparing, cost per mile to operate each vehicle and factor in its life expectancy or how long you will hold it and if any resale value. Obviously your coworked hasn't thought things through. But people do things for many reasons.

I can definitely say the $1200 beater has paid off for me.. I bought one 4+ years/60k miles ago and I'm still driving it 55miles per day. With my daily 45min ride each way, I've milked out the mileage to 31mpg by being silly with my stops and gos. ts easy to fix parts can be spendy at times (which reminds me i need to post in wtb) but its reliable.
 
I was driving:
My wrangler (14mpg, tires that are $200/ea and last 20k miles, parts that break on a regular basis)
or
My cherokee (17mpg, tires that are $100/ea and last 35k miles, reliability of a politician)

And then I started driving 80 miles round trip to work every day. Factor in that I drive 400 miles round trip to see the fiancee every other weekend, thats plenty of miles a month. I was spending in excess of $400/mo on gas.

Then, I bought an 04 Passat TDI. Now im getting in the 38-40mpg range very consistently, and spending less than $200 a month on diesel. Plus, I can get tires that last 50k miles for about $60/ea, and it is very reliable, faster, handles better, and rides better. The fuel savings alone nearly pays the payment. Plus stopping for gas every 600 miles sure is better than every 170 miles in the wrangler.
 
"Inherited" the wifes '97 Camry 4dr/4banger about 6 years ago w/ 90k. Has about 140k on the ticker now and averages 28/city 37/highway... absolutely hilarious that they were putting out cars in that range 10 years ago and my Moms '06 Aveo ("Piece o' Car" bought for the "killer" mileage) barely squeezes 25/highway...

The CTD is paid for, sits 95% of the time, and gets 18/city 21/highway (right foot adjusted). Granted, I'll likely have to "slow down" going up Old Fort Mtn. or climbing out Hanging Dog... did I mention it's paid for? :lol:
 
Company truck is a nice bonus, I will admit.

My tow rig gets around 14 empty and around 10 towing, but I paid around the same for it as my wife's car payment each month.:flipoff2:

I can understand inheriting a car, or driving one that you enjoy. If you want to have 2 cars, by all means.
I just laugh at those who buy another car to save money. I thought my wife was the only one that could save money by buying something.
 
BIGWOODY said:
I have a diesel dually that sits in my yard until I'm ready to tow something. $1500 for a beater is too rich for my blood. I drive a 91 Accord that averages 30 mpg highway/city milage. I've got less than $500 in it (that's with $100 CD player). I've driven it for 7 months or so and have done nothing to it other than a quart of oil every 1000 miles.[U/Cars/trucks/vehicles in general to me are DEPRECIATING ASSETS and I question peoples intelligence when they go creek themselves financialy in an expensive newer one. Payments should only be made on real estate or appreciating assets. It's cash and carry for everything else , otherwise you'll always wonder what happens to all the dough you make[/U].
Click to expand...


x2... no wait x 1,000,000,000,000,000... what ever that number is. It amazes me the way the world as a whole lives now, "up to thier nose"... if they get a great job... they get a huge car payment and just spend most of their paycheck on
mortage, car payment, along with just about everything because EVERYTHING nowadays you can finance.
i went into freemans car stereo today to pick up a new head unit, and they had a huge sign that said "NOW FINANCING SYSTEMS".... you have got to be kidding me. If you dont havemoney (cash) to buy a system you sure as hell don't freaking need it
 
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