cars, waste of money?

[vizsla]

Ok not realy bushcraft related but i no alot of people opt for eco friendly options were they can.
Iv recently been realy keeping an eye on money more and one of the biggest wasts are cars. I run. a large van which is quite expensive to run but i need it for my company so it kind of earns its keep which is ok, we also need a car for the other half to use but only does about 6000 miles a year localy. Two years ago i brought a big mercedes for some stupid reason,id always wanted one it only does no more than 30 mpg costs 260 to tax insurance keeps going up more than 600 and worst of all its lost 13000 in two years due to running cost rocketing.
We just ordered a new corsa 1.3cdti it does upto 80 mpg tax is 20 per year and insurance is 220 i reckon not even including depreciation il be around 250 better off a month.
i use a mountain bike for nipping localy which also saves money. Its made me realise how much moneu iv wasted on a car i hardly drove. Aparently alot of people are doing the same there was a guy there part exing a rangerover sport for a corsa.
I no some of u will be thinking idiot but atleast im a honest idiot im sure most of us wast money in some way.
Anyway i was wondering if anyone has done similar with a car or anything else due to lack of work maybe or eco reasons or just realised wot a wast some things are.
Cheers

 

[santaman2000]

I WISH I got 30 mpg. My Ram (1/2 ton) gets 14 mpg average, 16.5 at best on highway trips (that's per US gallon so probably about 20% better if in Imperial gallons) Insurance here varies with location as much as with type of vehicle but being in a rural area helps as does being a truck (much cheaper than a sports car) For myself and my daughter with 2 vehicles it's about $1800/year; about 1/3 that if it were just me and the truck ($500/year)

Waste of money? No. Way of life? Yes. About 24,000 miles per year (a bit less now that I've retired but will probably go back up when I start traveling recreationally more) I've had 12 different autos over the last 40 years; all but 4 were cars. I cain't imagine life without a pick-up or off road vehicle now. I also hope to get an RV in the future and do more touring, but if I do I'll probably get a larger pick-up (3/4 ton) with a diesel engine.

If I lived in town? No, That ain't gonna happen; been there, done that. Even when I did live in town I couldn't have done weekly grocery shopping on public transport. Just not enough room on a bus seat for a week or two's groceries. Besides, that would involve someone else doing the driving:yikes:

 

[Graham_S]

I sold my Shogun when I got my job in Saudi.
It was costing me £750 a year sitting still, and I'm only in the UK for 9 weeks a year.
It wasn't worth it.
Out here, I need one though.
Can't do without one, there is no public transport, It's 25km to work, and the roads are far too dangerous for cycling.

 

[vizsla]

Santaman how much is fuel in the us mate over its around £1.50 a litre which must be getting close to $3 a litre its an absolute ripoff and road tax is seperate
cheers ash

 

[santaman2000]

Fuel varies widely from state to state (and even county to county) Here in Northwest Florida it's about $3.86/US gallon (Some quick math tells me that's about $1.03/liter) That price is at the pump which means all applicable taxes have been added in already. In fact tax is the biggest reason it varies so much; each state has their own taxes added above any federal taxes.

On a recent trip to Texas I drove through Alabama and Mississippi to get there. All three states were cheaper that Florida. Texas was the lowest with $3.51/US gallon (about 94 cents/liter) Up North or in California it's much higher.

The above prices are for gasoline/petrol; diesel is higher.

 

[santaman2000]

Sorry vizsla. I just saw you were talking about road tax rather than fuel tax. Over here that also varies wildly from state to state. In fact the very way they access the tax varies. Some states access it dependent on vehicle age, some on vehicle weight and still others on vehicle value. Mine in Florida is only the cost of renewing my license plate or about $35/year unless I get a vanity plate (personalized numbers) or a specialty plate.

 

[vizsla]

So roughly fuel in the us is a third of the price to here and a truck like yours would cost upto a thousand pounds ayear road tax on top of the fuel. Our country is a ripoff il av to move to the US. Mate

 

[santaman2000]

LOL. I recommend an extended visit before committing to a move. And if possible visit several states at that.

Look back to my original post and you'll see the statement I made "Way of life." Be sure you're willing to change your way of life before committing based solely on driving costs.

And if my calculations are correct fuel here is about 2/3 (not 1/3) of the UK costs. Taxes in most states are far far cheaper though. Florida is only 6% sales tax on retail goods and there is no such thing as VAT.

 

[locum76]

I sold my Shogun when I got my job in Saudi.
It was costing me £750 a year sitting still, and I'm only in the UK for 9 weeks a year.
It wasn't worth it.
Out here, I need one though.
Can't do without one, there is no public transport, It's 25km to work, and the roads are far too dangerous for cycling.

How much does it cost to run over there? It must be loads cheaper.

 

[British Red]

Here, we would be completely stranded without a car for every person. No buses for three miles. Clearly the types can vary - and not many drive luxurious Mercs.

Waste of money? Absolute necessity for rural dwellers

 

[demographic]

I have a van that I need for my work and a few motorbikes but can't say I ever want a car, they leave me pretty cold to be honest.

If I want to go for a hoon I like the bike, but for anything else the van does it for me.

 

[Rebel]

I live urban these days and our family couldn't afford to run two cars any longer. Even just sitting in the car park going nowhere they cost money in tax, insurance and MOTs. The cost of fuel and repairs is huge and I came to the conclusion that I can't afford them any more so they are gone - we got rid of them both - a people carrier and a small Fiat. I worked out that in my current situation I'll just rent a vehicle when I need it because it works out cheaper than owning one. I can cycle and catch buses for most of what I need to do and I have friends with cars if I'm really stuck or I can catch a mini-cab. I'm no longer a taxi driver for the kids, they have to catch the bus or walk.

When I lived rurally it was a different situation altogether. There was no public transport at all, our family was totally dependent on having our own vehicles. Once when the car was broken down I tried hitch hiking from my hamlet to the nearest town (and I've hitched around the world) and nobody stopped. I ended up calling a cab.

 

[bojit]

3 years ago my wife swapped her ford mondeo for a ford fiesta , she got a new one for less than they were selling year old ones as they were just about to bring out the new shape fiesta and were wanting rid of all the old shape .she has only just done 10k in the 3 years so probably hasn't saved very much over that time .
Being a joiner i have a van but it gets used for everything from work to transporting kids and various boats and carrying all our camping gear for holidays .
It's an 11year old ex police riot van that has just had a shed load of money on it to get i through it's MOT. the running costs are the down side but we would be lost without it , in a couple of weeks we are heading of with the kids camping ( camping gear for 4 + 4 kayaks + a 1800kg rib ) Can't do that with a fiesta !

Craig................

 

[bilmo-p5]

Here, we would be completely stranded without a car for every person. No buses for three miles. Clearly the types can vary - and not many drive luxurious Mercs.

Waste of money? Absolute necessity for rural dwellers

Get the push-iron out, Red. No hills worth the name near you.

 

[Retired Member southey]

We lived in Odiham when we bought our first car together, a brand spanker's Jeep Wrangler 4.0l totally impractical, fuel hungry and expensive of insurance and servicing, but we could afford it, then we moved to Plymouth with two dogs in the back, had to drive down through snow and abandoned cars, while there we got a trailer for it, the mpg didn't change even fully loaded, and we could afford it, then we moved to Scotland, drove up just before the first snow in 2009, pulled three cars of there own drives at up to the main road, got my wife to hospital to have our twins in through the snow an ice. now we live in Aldershott, moved down in September last year, my mum said that we could probably sell the Jeep now, as if we have the back seat in for the kids wee can't fit the dogs in, or a lot of shopping or luggage for trips, the it snowed again, we left a key with the neighbour to walk and feed the dogs, put a couple of bags in the trailer with warm clothes and sleeping bags, put the kids in and drove down to my mums, towed her car the last four hundred meter to her house when we got there too, She went shopping but couldn't get there, then couldn't get all the way home so left it at the star of the close. we love our Jeep, would never sell it, it doesn't cost much to service(i do that) It doesn't cost much to insure(£250 a year) It does cot £210 to tax( but we budget for that) and it's greener than any new car on the road dust to dust, and I look cool in a pair of Aviators with the roof down in any weather, YEAH BABY!

 

[British Red]

Get the push-iron out, Red. No hills worth the name near you.

Which we do for the few miles to the local shop and back. No way that works for work though. Nor does public transport (cos there is none)

 

[santaman2000]

We lived in Odiham when we bought our first car together, a brand spanker's Jeep Wrangler 4.0l totally impractical, fuel hungry and expensive of insurance and servicing, but we could afford it, then we moved to Plymouth with two dogs in the back, had to drive down through snow and abandoned cars, while there we got a trailer for it, the mpg didn't change even fully loaded, and we could afford it, then we moved to Scotland, drove up just before the first snow in 2009, pulled three cars of there own drives at up to the main road, got my wife to hospital to have our twins in through the snow an ice. now we live in Aldershott, moved down in September last year, my mum said that we could probably sell the Jeep now, as if we have the back seat in for the kids wee can't fit the dogs in, or a lot of shopping or luggage for trips...

Amazing what will fit on a roof rack (and yeah, Mopar makes roof racks for a roofless jeep) or on a small trailer. I've even seen a small kennel type trailer with dogs onboard behind a motorcycle.

 

[Retired Member southey]

I working on a Congo type rack at the moment, just depends on weather it's cheaper to buy of the shelf either self import or through one of the garages over here that do a.lot with Jeeps, or have one fabricated, hahaha I wonder what the police would say about a dog trailer, though more importantly i know my two would not travel in it, the kids might though?

 

[vizsla]

Iv always been into cars from defenders to 350bhp gas gusler sports cars but its only recently its started bothering me,think i must be growing up although the corso is nippy has sports kit big wheels etc. Between the merc and the van it costs more the my house costs to keep which is barmy,as the van is just a tool for work and the car does very little. For less money i could have a holiday home in sweden and invite you all!!!

 

[bojit]

This is our home from home , a lot more than just a van.The TANK !!

Last summer up at loch Tay.

Craig........