[slowmover]

As said, it’s the operator.

Not everyone is a commuter. The number of scenarios where a non-FE vehicle IS the right choice is only limited by imagination. Or the tax code.

FE is a ONLY a marker of sound operating practice. No decline (10%) means all is good for that plan.

The reason for records is to project costs based on use data. The AVERAGE MPG over a calendar year against fuel price.

Given that 99.97% won’t ever change their driving habits as part of a (business) ownership plan (that includes this crowd: not combining trips, etc, to dead-minimize cold starts) is almost only ever set against present conditions.

In other words, the car is accessory to all else. Address, “lifestyle” (I just love that bull**** term), etc.

Economy would place Transportation near the top given its cost.

But it’s address first. And “homes” that also place transportation last.

Those two are where all the money lays. The dollars.

The fractions of a cent of fuel cost is playing with tiddly-winks.

The 22R Toyota is a dog. Not fuel efficient. But it lasted. For guys who couldn’t change a spark plug or a fuel filter. Reliability/Longevity is its own merit.

I’d bring up IH truck motors, but nearly everyone who’d bought them new has already passed on. Same for the Big Three “Industrial” motors. The jobs they were put to were about proper gearing use. FE was abysmal.

A V8 318-3 would last. A V8 440-3 would as well, and more easily move those lighter loads. But was more expensive to build, buy, and maintain.

Daily fuel costs are against IRS-deductible miles. Neither was terribly far from the other in this.

I can think of countless examples of a small-block car just BARELY being more fuel efficient than the big block offering WHERE the big block owner was genuinely motivated. Average fuel cost over a year. (Rarely is this for a business).

“Business” is usually the cheapest means to net. The luxury of very exact specifications comes in long later.


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