Tilting at windmills... (or, "1989 Suburban")

[user removed]

I bought a 1992 Nissan Sentra yesterday for $300. Runs and drives, needs the manifold and egr passageways cleaned to eliminate stumbling and stalling at idle. Maybe $30 in gaskets. Pretty bulletproof little cars. My wife drives a 2012 KIA Sorento she bought new and paid cash for it at purchase. She pays all of her driving expenses and she also does not want a small car, says she feels safer in the big one that sits high and gives here better visibility. I like the idea that if her car breaks she just calls KIA, they pick it up and provide here with a loaner.

I saw a Huge GM land yatch at a salvage auction that had 435,000 miles when it was finally totalled.

That's over $100,000 in fuel cost alone. I built a house with that money I did not spend on gas. It was the equivalent of about $800 a month for over a decade.

I wouldn't be married if I tried to make my wife drive that old a vehicle.

Of course everyone's situation is different. I'm too old do do much serious wrenching on cars any more after 60,000 hours of doing it for a living.

regards
Mech

[jonbest]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

I bought a 1992 Nissan Sentra yesterday for $300. Runs and drives, needs the manifold and egr passageways cleaned to eliminate stumbling and stalling at idle. Maybe $30 in gaskets. Pretty bulletproof little cars. My wife drives a 2012 KIA Sorento she bought new and paid cash for it at purchase. She pays all of her driving expenses and she also does not want a small car, says she feels safer in the big one that sits high and gives here better visibility. I like the idea that if her car breaks she just calls KIA, they pick it up and provide here with a loaner.

I saw a Huge GM land yatch at a salvage auction that had 435,000 miles when it was finally totalled.

That's over $100,000 in fuel cost alone. I built a house with that money I did not spend on gas. It was the equivalent of about $800 a month for over a decade.

I wouldn't be married if I tried to make my wife drive that old a vehicle.

Of course everyone's situation is different. I'm too old do do much serious wrenching on cars any more after 60,000 hours of doing it for a living.

regards
Mech

Fair enough- has a lot to do with how much you drive. I drive about 600 miles a month, she drives about 800. It'd make a little more sense for her to drive the Civic, and me the Suburban, except 1) she doesn't want to, and 2) I don't drive long enough to warm the thing up anyway. She takes fewer, longer trips, so she's going to get more out of the big car than I will efficiency-wise.

Nobody who knows me would be surprised at my comprehensive 'what if' car scenario spreadsheet. The spreadsheet tells me the insurance on a third $500 vehicle, plus it's fuel even at 40mpg, would exceed the difference in fuel spending.

We just don't drive enough to realize the gains. The Suburban it is, especially now that everybody wants four times as much for decent W123 Mercedes wagons.

No-go on the manual conversion (it was an NV833). Sold before I could get to it, not worth waiting for another to pop up. Wish I could find and afford (both money and time) to do a 4BT conversion RIGHT, but that's not in the cards. I've got 12 days from tomorrow to get this thing together.

Jon