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Records. Fuelly app or a notebook. The annual fuel budget. Dollars and gallons. See AAA site for cost per mile. It’s cents per mile. The win is to the percentage change on an annual basis versus the previous year.
The vehicle type, make, brand, model, etc, doesn’t matter too much if it’s otherwise right for transporting the family. That’s the basic requirement. One vehicle to do it all.
After that is the real first step. Against ones records it’s in cutting annual miles to achieve the same ends.
A private vehicle is supposed to be time leverage versus alternatives. But this has transmogrified since 1970 into metro sprawl (ethnic cleansing of decent people from the cities), and is now no longer seen in relief to public transportation.
90% of us go to 90% of the same places 90% of the time. Do something with that:
No single trips. Combine most or all into one.
Use Mapquest for fuel efficient routing (no left turns; same as FedEx). Leave the house on a Saturday and go to the farthest point, preferably on a steady state highway. Get warm up accomplished.
Now, work back to the house.
No last minute trips to store. Exert some discipline. Be adult.
As to the commute, leave at an earlier time if that means more cruising at steady state.
Having cut the miles, and addressed the major use, drive remaining miles at a higher skill level. Don’t idle. Don’t stop. Glide.
1. Cut the miles. The cold starts.
2. Work at better spacing in traffic, first, make every stop light, second. Route so that time and distance aren’t obstacles any more than being stuck in the packs of morons who are today’s “drivers”.
Use the engine block heater year round. Garage the car. Throw out the $3000 in crap to properly care for the $30,000 car; what that investment represents.
The other is to bring all factory maintenance to date. Buy best tires. Brakes. Weekly wash and cleaning. After filling tank.
IOW, make scheduled time. Plan your use. Never turn the key you don’t know the ending as well as the beginning.
Reduced fuel burn is a help. But extended life of ownership is real economy. More than ten years or 200,000 miles.
A decade or a quarter-million. Yeah, that sounds good.
Good luck
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