Depreciation, park it or drive it daily

[KyleTay]

I have a problem of sorts. I am looking for analytical discussion, with a little personal opinion added.

I purchased my 2004 Ranger EDGE, 4.0L, 2wd, 2 door supercab last October.

It had 43,000 miles and I (over)paid ~$13,500 with tax and gap.

I drove 43,000 miles this year, using the truck for work; this was the primary reason I purchased the truck was for work.

Now, I am unemployed and will be working in a different industry all together.

I don't need the truck, but since I owe about $2000 more than its worth I am kinda stuck with it.

I am thinking I will buy a car that requires a little work. Repair it spending a total of about $2500. Park the truck with a cover on it and drive it only once a month or so. This car would also average at least 25 mpg instead of the 20 I average with the truck.

Or keep driving my Ranger, potentially adding 20000 miles per year. Means I will be about 100k by this time next year.

Anyone have an opinion?

 

[Psychopete]

2 vehicles means double the maintenance, double the risk something major is going to happen. Not good to let vehicles sit for too long. I'd be tempted to just D/D the Ranger. Finding a car that needs little work... how much do you have to spend?

 

[adsm08]

I ran some numbers on this a few years ago for a persuasive speech I had to give. I figured out that to go from an Explorer that was paid off (I know, your truck isn't but bear with me) that was getting about 15 MPG average to a new (again, not exactly your situation) Focus getting about 30 MPG average, it will take 12 years for the car to justify itself in fuel savings. That does not take into account interest on a loan or increased insurance due to the same loan.

If depreciation is your primary concern, don't try to save yourself any money there. Your truck is not going to depreciate much slower just because it's not getting a ton of miles put on it. It's now a used truck, with at least 2 owners and 80K miles on it. It is what it is. Drive it. In the long run you will likely end up spending more than you save to purchase, run, and insure a second vehicle.

 

[feellnfroggy]

2 vehicles means double the maintenance, double the risk something major is going to happen. Not good to let vehicles sit for too long. I'd be tempted to just D/D the Ranger. Finding a car that needs little work... how much do you have to spend?

You know my uncle was gonna send me money to get a small car so I could have my kids visit and have a way to transport them. When he found out I wasnt gonna get rid of my paid off truck. he decided it wasnt a good idea. told me i couldnt afford to vehicles and to think about everything you just said. when in reality, its not double everything.

one person can only drive one vehicle at a time, means half the wear on the tires, half the usage of fuel per vehicle (essentially you spend the same but one vehicle at a time) half the maintenance, it will take twice as long between oil changes.

If he alternates between vehicles regular enough to keep the ranger maintained he wont have a problem with it sitting. His insurance goes up by what 15 bux? but then he gets a multivehicle discount. Mixing the 20 mpg with the 25-30 mpg he still saves money on fuel by 1/4. Unlike my uncle, i dont have a wife driving my other one, so they arent both being used everyday. SO its not really double the maintenance unless he gets a car that hes making payments on. A 500 dollar beater with decent gas mileage is a very good idea.

By the way if you wanna get ahead of that 2000 dollar deficit on your ranger, pay above the payment by 100 dollars. It will take approx 1.5 yrs or less and youll be better in your truck than you thought you could be,by staying ahead of the interest.

 

[Psychopete]

one person can only drive one vehicle at a time, means half the wear on the tires, half the usage of fuel per vehicle (essentially you spend the same but one vehicle at a time) half the maintenance, it will take twice as long between oil changes.

On a used car; everything is just that. I own 4 vehicles right now.. It is not a wash to keep them all maintained, insured, and plated/registered (but I do own all of them).. That has just been my experience. The only thing that I can say about a 500 dollar car is that it's probably not going to be in top shape in every aspect of the car.

 

[doorgunner]

All good information....if you can find the rare in-good-shape-beater for $1,000 or less, go for it....I did....But you would really need cheap insurance & no car note on the beater to justify it, like feeln said....

annnnnnnnnnnnnd....you better drive the Ranger EVERY week--even if its only 10 miles round trip to the store to keep all the seals/etc lubricated!

also.....if you have to pay a couple thousand for a decent beater + repairs to make it roadworthy.....you'd be better off using all that money on your truck note for the coming year.....


It's a win/lose situation no matter what you do...just go with the plan that YOU can deal with......

 

[KyleTay]

It's a win/lose situation no matter what you do...just go with the plan that YOU can deal with......

This is what I am dealing with. I am stuck with the truck, I like it, and it is very clean. I would like to keep it but I drive so much...

I'm not afraid of a $2000 car at all. I've usually had them and made money off them. Maybe that is the answer, I can just get back into the cheap car business... Will always have my Ranger for getting parts and shit and in between car sales... lemonade anyone?

 

[The_Dealer]

drive it till the wheels fall off, then get some new ones

seriously, u made a mistake...everybody has done it at one point or another. it will be better in the long run to keep it and drive it instead of getting a second ride. like psyco said, more maintaince, more insurance. when tires are dryrotting and your new cars tires are going balled thats 8 tires...im in the same boat. my shit is paid for though, and yeah i would like to have a tow pig for a dd and really get crackin on modd'n the b2 but i cant justify making a car payment when i can spend that money on mod'd for the b2, flat screens, and skrippers...










j/p bout the strippers

 

[adsm08]

j/p bout the strippers

Dude, strippers are no joking matter.

You ever get that stuff in your eyes?

 

[4.0B2]

on the car and truck thing...

can you drive a car comfortably? i can't.. i'm so used to my b2 i don't enjoy driving a car, even when its a taurus sho model with a v8... its fun for about ten mins then old.. and sits so low.. and annoying

 

[darkspork]

I'm kind of in the same situation as you, but if you have $2000 to throw at a beater, why not put it towards your loan (since you said it's worth $2000 less than you owe). That's what I'm going to land up doing if I trade in my Ranger for something more efficient (pay the difference between what I can get for it on a trade in and what I owe). But I'm hoping I can get what I owe on it ($7500). I still don't even have 80k miles and my ranger has most of the features, new tires, new tonneau cover. I'm not exactly sure what I can get for it some dealerships use KBB, some use NADA. If I get NADA for it I'll actually get some money back, if I get KBB I'll still owe some money.

I honestly miss having a car (as my own ride). Sure, it's cool being able to get through more than a foot of snow, pull stuck vehicles, tow, etc. But the fact of the matter is for how often I do those things (very very rarely) it makes more sense to rent a truck than own one.

Here's the real big thing to consider (the thing that's keeping me from pulling the trigger on trading in my Ranger). You already know your Ranger's problems (in my case there are none), does it make a lot of sense to trade in a problem free vehicle for one that may be problematic/spend a lot of time in the shop?

Don't beat yourself up on over-paying. I think I over-paid by nearly as much (bought it almost 2 years ago with 63,000 miles for almost 12k)

 

[JoshT]

Dude I just did the whole cheap beater DD thing. Bought my Probe for 500 seemed like it needed CV Axles, and a clutch. Check & Check. Then it needed a head gasket, then it needed a crank kit, so engine got a cheap stock rebuild. Did it. $500 car, $1500 worth of parts, and $200 worth of cosmetics. It got me by for a year and I was back where I started. Figured out that it would cost me about 2000 to fix it right and about another 3000 above that to get it to the condition I wanted it to be. The end cam when I saw that trade in value for the car in excellent condition was under 1K, I said fugg it. Two days later I was driving a brand new 2010 Kia Forte Koup off the lot. For $300 a month I've got something that gets 23/33 mpg, looks good, and has a 10 year/100K mile warranty so if it breaks they gotta fix it, not me.

I realize that for you a new car may not be possible, and I'm not suggesting it only relaying my experiences with cheap beaters. You will plan on 2500 total but where does it really end, and what are you out when you've had enough of fixing what is supposed to be your DD. I planned about 1500 total when I bought that Probe. Now it's 2500 worth of parts sitting in the back yard going to waste, couldn't even get the money back on a trade in.

I gotta agree with putting that 2500 on paying down the truck. While I like the idea of having a back-up vehicle I have to agree with what Psychopete said about "double the risk something major is going to happen." That's been my experience with being in your situation. Seemed like every time the 99 Ranger was down, the Probe started acting up. So instead of having one problem I had to fix, I had two that I had to juggle and rush to get one patched up for work.

For what it's worth dad did the same thing you dod on his 02 Ranger. He bought his first 02 Ranger (3.0L, 2wd) in 03 as a Program Vehicle, he bought it and my mom bought an 02 Taurus at the same time. When I bought my 99 in late 04 or early 05 he had to have 4wd as well. The next week he traded his 02 in on another 4x4 02. I think he ended up owing 16K, he somehow ended up paying for the new truck and his remaining loan on the old one.

 

[TheTopher]

Also figure at $3 a gallon, and 20,000 miles a year. Going from 20mpg to 25mpg only yields you a $600 annual savings.

So after four years you would have saved $2400 in fuel versus the $2500 up front cost.

Now factor in that you could put that same $2500 towards your truck's loan instead and compound your savings by getting rid of that much more interest.


The cheap beater just isn't that practical.

 

[The_Dealer]

on the car and truck thing...

can you drive a car comfortably? i can't.. i'm so used to my b2 i don't enjoy driving a car, even when its a taurus sho model with a v8... its fun for about ten mins then old.. and sits so low.. and annoying

haha i drove my grandpas yaris the other day and it felt like my ass was gonna scrub the ground

 

[mhughes165]

there is more to consider too, if u take the money for another car and pay off ur truck then u will no longer have to pay the full coverage insurance that u have now.