Buying New vs Old Truck and MPG

EmersonHart13

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Jul 18, 2007
54,160
22,237
I had someone at work question my purchase of an older truck vs new and the mpg benefits. I made him a table to show him why:

------------------Cost -MPG -Gallon Price -Mileage Per Year -Gas Cost Per Year
My Truck (See Sig) -$4,000.00 -9 -$4.50 -1500 -$750.00
Newer Burb -$7,000.00 -15 -$4.50 -1500 -$450.00
Years to Equal 10.0

Figures are approximate, and I like the look of OBS trucks but you cannot put a number on that so it does not factor in.

Just for fun I upped the mileage to something more DD like and it changes significantly:

-----------------Cost -MPG -Gallon Price -Mileage Per Year -Gas Cost Per Year
My Truck (See Sig) -$4,000.00 -9 -$4.50 -15000 -$7,500.00
Newer Burb -$7,000.00 -15 -$4.50 -15000 -$4,500.00
Years to Equal 1.0

Just something to chew on... YMMV.
 

Turbocharged400sbc

3800 & 4T80E > ALL
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Jun 16, 2007
32,518
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hangover park IL
your also comparing two vehicles where the newer one has at the least twice as much wiring and electronics....and we live in the salt belt... electical gremlins rear their heads more readily....

you gotta look at the cost of maint too when looking at the cost per mile of a vehicle.

we are fighting our 07 volvo semi constantly compared to our old 03 freightliner...our newest issue is the bunk HVAC system staying on even with the ignition switched off...volvo sent the dealer a 24 page diagnostic tree and so far it looks to be the cabin control computer which is a couple grand and a reprogramming charge.....i wired a switch into the fuse that feeds it....problem solved as long as he remembers to switch it off

btw our old freightliner averaged 5.5-6mpg loaded and unloaded the new 07 gets 6.5-7.5 loaded/unloaded....not even counting the expensive ass EGR assemblies that keep going out it'll take us another 600k miles for it to have paid for itself in fuel savings...and its already about to hit 500k

woulda been $ ahead to spend the 9 grand to in frame overhaul the freightliner's detroit at the 1 million mile point....we spent that on just the two egr valves and the engine/ecu harness on the volvo

fuck newer vehicles :fu:
 

Turbocharged400sbc

3800 & 4T80E > ALL
TCG Premium
Jun 16, 2007
32,518
15,795
hangover park IL
i used to calculate cost per mile on our 25$ 98 dodge but now its essentially just the cost of fuel/insurance per mile....been driving it for 2kmiles with a completly shot inner tie rod and so far all the parts ive put in it are junkyard parts from other 98-04 intrepids....the platinum plugs were worn to hell but instead of new plugs i closed up the gaps and tossed em back in.

word of advice...never buy a mechanics daily driver...we dont give a fuck
 

Turbocharged400sbc

3800 & 4T80E > ALL
TCG Premium
Jun 16, 2007
32,518
15,795
hangover park IL
naw, no amsoil... it was just valvoline dino juice and a cheapo stp filter every 5k or so with a quart of whatever was laying around the garage. its had the same air filter for years, i just blow it out every year
i reused half the trans fluid back when i did the solenoid pack replacement...just tossed a paper towel in the funnel.

i have moss growing around the trunk opening but thats where i keep spare bulbs so it kinda helps keep em from breaking

it has only had good used tires installed, right now it at least has a matching pair on the front though the rf is starting to show that i do need to replace that inner tierod someday...it doesnt mater i have a goodyear rsa donated by panda made in 01 that'll go on it i guess
 

sickmint79

I Drink Your Milkshake
Mar 2, 2008
26,822
16,488
grayslake
i had a pretty complicated version of this factoring in oil price expectations, insurance, grade level of gas, etc. the only thing i really recall sticking out was premium vs regular unleaded was super miniscule especially assuming the incremental refining cost was pretty static (which it seems to be.)

i also made a dashboard for a kind of taxpayer return on investment in terms of energy saved vs. energy used for a hybrid car. it doesn't even begin to cover the additional bullshit from cash for clunkers (amount spent to create 1 new purchase, effect on used car market today)
http://mike.developer10.com/clunkers.swf
 
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