Buy another car?

[Troponin]

My wife got a new job and it has her driving about 450 miles a week. She is currently driving a 2016 Odyssey and she loves it, but these aren't cheap and we are afraid the mileage is going to kill the value.

We are trying to figure out what would make more sense; keep putting the miles on the nice van, or buy a slightly used, fuel efficient sedan for days she drives to work. We use the van for vacations and traveling too, so these last two weeks we ended up putting 1,000 miles on it, which is making us consider this decision.

Anyone have suggestions or experience dealing with this?

 

[ssj4sadie]

Simple cost analysis. If the value, maintenance, mpg is a greater loss than cost of another vehicle, maintenance, insurance, mpg then do it. If not don't.

 

[Dusten]

We were in the same situation, the cost wasn't 100% offset, but the peace of mind knowing the family rig wasn't getting destroyed was nice. My wife commutes about 110 a day.

 

[13COBRA]

Buy a cheap <$12k car that gets 30mpgs+.

Added cost will be insurance, personal property tax and licensing.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

[96 cobra]

Doug DeMuro just posted a vid about this (not really, but still entertaining

[video=youtube;lhlboKOrCj8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhlboKOrCj8[/video]

 

[Iamchris]

It worked for me, my cost of ownership for my Ford Fiesta(the cost I paid, less how much I will sell it for, divided by months I expect to have it + fuel + insurance + maintenance) is cheaper than gas alone in the Jeep, no kidding. I drive 100+ miles daily.

As stated previously, do an analysis and decide for yourself if it is worth it. You have to look as similar cars and see how they depreciate on average to get a good idea.

 

[DaBigBone]

If it were me I'd get a cheapish commuter. Keeping the miles off the family car would be the biggest benefit

 

[2000gt4.6]

Holy cow, didn't realise you can now push fifty grand for a minivan.

 

[R.D.P.]

I vote the opposite, if she really enjoys driving the new car and she has a long commute where she is spending a ton of time in the car, let her enjoy that time. If she has to make that long commute in an older\lesser car it could mean her arriving at work and home in a poorer mood and possibly feeling more taxed by the drive. That doesn't add up to a happy wife. Just keep up the maintenance on the minivan and drive the piss out of it. in 5-6years it will still bring good money because of the car it is, even with high miles.

 

[Blown 89]

Buying another car rarely works out favorably. I agree that you should do a cost analysis.

FWIW, you can lease something like a Fiat 500e really cheap and depending on what she does for work you might be able to write it off. A friend of mine drives a 500e in California and worked it out to where the Fiat he leases pays for itself in the first 2 weeks of every month. I write-off any mileage, gas, and maintenance used for work so I just rack up mileage on the V. I might lease something cheap for business and garage the V next year if my accountant gives the go-ahead after running the numbers.

 

[Malern28us]

This is going to sound horrible, I apologize in advance.
Who buys a vehicle for its value in 5+ years? If that is your major concern, I would purchase a (used)Prius, Civic, Sentra, etc. for her to daily commute in.
If you treat the Honda as a "tool" for making your wives commute tolerable, then it would be a non issue. You can fix a lot of "things" in a daily driver for the price of a second commuter car also.
One thing I would consider would be budgeting in the price of a new van every couple years (based on mileage) versus replacing it with a cheaper commuter car every couple of years.
I have to ask though, what in the world does your wife do that she travels that much for work?

 

[Iamchris]

R.D.P. makes a valid point about making the commute enjoyable, but that is a much less economical way to approach it. If you have that kind of free flowing cash to sacrifice, then sure. I'm cheap... I would sacrifice the commuter car, but only if you can afford to pay for it not lease it or take a loan on it.

Writing it off isn't exactly like having them pay for it. You are simply not paying taxes on the money you are paying for the vehicle with... you are still paying for the vehicle. Yes, it is beneficial if you can get it, but it doesn't make it free by a long shot.

 

[SirShaun]

I'd look for a <= $3,000 beater that gets 30+ MPG and let her ride.

90's Civics, Accords, Corollas Camrys, etc. Durable, cheap, and great for commuting.

 

[Dobedare]

I drive apprx 90 miles roundtrip daily into Washington, DC. We bought a new Prius that I used only for this commute. We purchased a left over previous year model, and it is pretty basic, no frills. Paid $19K - out of the door.

My company pays for my parking pass. I spend between $11 to $20 a week for gas (depending on gas prices). We bought it from a dealership that offered free oil changes, tire rotations and annual safety inspections for life of ownership of the car.

This Prius has more room in it then you would think. I have less stress about the mileage, wear and tear, etc. It has also taught me how to let go of a lot of "road rage" on that daily hell run into DC. Cuz really? What can you do when you drive a Prius - you can't intimidate anyone, you can't catch up to them and cut them off, etc.

All expenses for this "commuter car" are cheaper than just paying for gas in our V8 SUV and driving 12 miles to a commuter parking lot.

 

[Dusten]

This is going to sound horrible, I apologize in advance.
Who buys a vehicle for its value in 5+ years? If that is your major concern, I would purchase a (used)Prius, Civic, Sentra, etc. for her to daily commute in.
If you treat the Honda as a "tool" for making your wives commute tolerable, then it would be a non issue. You can fix a lot of "things" in a daily driver for the price of a second commuter car also.
One thing I would consider would be budgeting in the price of a new van every couple years (based on mileage) versus replacing it with a cheaper commuter car every couple of years.
I have to ask though, what in the world does your wife do that she travels that much for work?

Resale should always be a concern, especially when msrp of some cars is over 60k.

 

[thomas91169]

I dunno, anything Honduh usually has great resale value.

 

[Buckwheat 1]

2015 Dodge Grand Caravan is a cheap option for a nice minivan.I have a 2012 we bought new with 106k miles that has been a very reliable van.The 3.6 has plenty of power and is not burning an once of oil.I am passing the 2012 to my daughter.I bought a nicely loaded new 2015 to replace it for $20.6 with a sticker of 26k.

 

[Troponin]

Yes, Honda's have really good resale value. However, the faster you add mileage and the higher the cost of the vehicle, the larger and faster the depreciation. A car that is $20k will depreciate much less than a vehicle that is $50k. This means that resale should be considered when determining if an extra vehicle is going to be added. We are finding used 2015-2016 Honda Civics and Toyota Corolas going for about $15-19,000 with 10k miles on them. Someone pointed out that we should consider my wife being able to enjoy driving the car. We have already talked about that and she considers certain options necessary. If we can't find a vehicle at a cost of under $15,000, with all the options, then we might pass on it altogether. Thanks for all the replies.

 

[Malern28us]

Resale should always be a concern, especially when msrp of some cars is over 60k.

This is called emotion. A car is a tool. Nothing more, nothing less. If you are looking at a daily driver as an investment, I cannot help.
Talk to any investment advisor and ask them what daily driver you should be concerned about resale. A good one will laugh you out the door.
Spend $60k on a vehicle for your daily commute, I will spend $5k on a daily driver. In 10 years lets compare finances based on the value of your $60k car and my car + $55k + interest that I have even if it is 1/2%

 

[cmnorman]

We have a second car that gets all the commuting miles so we don't put them on our family vehicle. We have a large family and have a suburban but don't want to run up the clock on it with all our commuting so we got a high gas mileage commuter vehicle with the understanding that we are going to put tons of miles on it. To me it makes more sense than having to replace a family vehicle early due to miles.