Quote:
Originally Posted by christofoo
I've put a lot of thought into this and I disagree on the economic bit. At least - in the context of the cars that I drive.
My Corolla in the 220k neighborhood:
$0.08 per mile repairs + maintenance over the last 33k
45MPG @ $3.6/gallon = $0.08 per mile (28MPG = $0.13/mile)
(I'm pretty sure the wife's Civic now in the 150k neighborhood has been significantly lower than that in repair $ per mile for the last 50k, but I haven't actually tracked it.)
(Razor never said it was about money. For all we know he wants to minimize CO2.)
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Rhetorically,
Does this include all repairs and maintenance? Nothing broken or malfunctioning, correct? All up-to-date according to manufacturer service schedule?
Most folks will dial back on these expenses, reasoning that the vehicle is nearing end-of-service (for their purposes). The problem is that some will trade the vehicle when the carpet gets dirty and others not until both the trans and engine fail simultaneously.
The only fair
comparison (between vehicles) about "economic costs" is in keeping the thing as near-to-new as possible. And the numerical comparisons are in maintenance/repairs on a cpm basis.
Those who have a stable of old cars have to run the numbers together for all of them. And still account for, or justify, delayed maintenance or repairs.
CPM calcs are either on the money or not. What I have spent can be considerably different than what I
should have spent to meet the same criterion.
The longer route
can be the better choice by a factor. The details that make it so are what need investigating.
.