If my conversions are even close, that 1000 km per week, or 50K km per year (about 30K miles) is a lot of commuting on a new car that can be expected to last probably five years or so before it's value has plunged to a minimum with 120,000 miles on the clock.

Enter the beater. If you spend say, $6 to $8K - or even less on a car that is comfortable but not exactly fashionable, it's a lot easier to justify spending your resulting savings on something really nice for yourself. Beaters are usually unpopular, often homely castoffs from automotive culture, but with a nice interior, a comfortable ride, and a proper sound system you can have installed, those hours spent following the bumper in front of you can be acceptable, if not stellar. After all, you're not driving the GP of Monoco, or even Talladega - all the excess performance is a waste in commuter traffic. Who cares what it looks like? You are inside looking out, and you don't have to look at its inevitable scrapes and dents.

What about mileage? I recently considered exchanging my 20 mpg beater for something new and capable of 40 mpg for an upcoming long commute. The numbers apply to my area and market for gas and may not reflect your own. At 20 mpg, I'd burn roughly 2 gallons per day - 22 days per month, or 44 gallons of gas every month. At current pricing around $3.20/gal, that's about $140/per month. By spending a minimum of $20K to save $140/month, it would take me 12 years to reach break-even, even ignoring inflation and interest. My great-grandchildren might appreciate my stinginess, but I certainly won't.

The whole idea of a beater is that you drive it until it falls apart - or encounters some mechanical malady that is uneconomic to repair. At that point, you junk it and haul out a small fistful of dollars and start over with another. My daughter bought an '83 Dakota pickup last spring, V6, 4WD. This thing is the definition of BASE - not even an air conditioner, which explains it's purchase price of $500. It has good tires, but is blessed with fading, peeling paint, a few rust spots, dents, etc., but it runs like a top, has no mechanical problems whatsoever, and is easily repaired almost anywhere. In the middle of summer, it's a sweatbox, but it's not even worth putting an AC in. It's transportation. It's reliable, and you couldn't beat the price.

OK, it's uncomfortable on anything less that a billiard-table smooth road. It rides like a lumber wagon, even with new springs and shocks, but she thinks it's "sporty" and is in love with its mongrel looks. Well sporty as defined by mid-'50's enthusiasts of TR-3's and MG-TD's when suspension travel was measured in millimeters and near-solid suspensions were the answer to body roll and bump-steer. Of course she's too young to remember that, so I let her continue with her fantasy.

Now she wants to paint it this spring.

That will nearly triple the cost of the truck. Right now, just filling the tank raises its value by 8%.

 

In Houston, where you live, a place that rarely has road salt/abrasives or torn-up roads from freezing/thawing, much of that is true. Nor do many areas of TX, I believe, have periodic emissions testing....which the vehicle must pass before state registration can be renewed. But that is not necessarily the case in other areas.

 

but OP is driving about 125 miles per day....which is about 2800 miles per month, so assuming 20 mpg versus 40 mpg, and $3.50 gallon gas....

20mpg = $490 in gas cost
40mpg = $245 in gas cost

but I think gas there is like $4.50 gal (USD)??

 

so at $4.50 gal US
20mpg = $630/mo in gas cost
40mpg = $315/mo in gas cost

 

Thank you for the well thought out reply, but I'm not interested in a true beater. Fully understand the costs involved. I already acknowledged that we're a little high maintenance when it comes to vehicles.

Thanks for doing the math guys, and you are correct bagwell, gas is typically in that range for premium fuel (although regular is actually down to $4.00 for a nice change).

I will say that I'm already struggling to deal with the non-luxury dealers. Audi and Lexus were very quick to discuss numbers and Audi even did a follow up call to see how happy I was with the sales visit. Toyota has not provided a quote (and I've already bought 1 car from them) and Hyundai hasn't even bothered to reply to the emails I sent to 3 different dealerships....lol. Guess they don't need to sell cars?

 

hahaha, i think they figured you are way too qualified for a "regular" car

 

My erudite Canadian colleague may have misspoken. Markup's over invoice (dealer invoice) are definitely allowed. Most cars sell for a price between inoice and MSRP. Markups over MSRP are not allowed depending on teh province, but the dealer may try to throw in half a dozen bogus "fees".

 

You are incorrect.

Who said anything about invoice pricing? Dealerships don't post invoice prices on their vehicles they post MSRP. Dealerships do not set the MSRP on their vehicles the manufacturers do. The difference between MSRP and invoice is the profit margin that is built in. They cannot add a straight "dealer markup" to the vehicle. Bottom line is in the US, they can do what is in the picture, in Canada you cannot.

 

i recently test drove frs and was fond of it. However, it is unimaginable for me to commute that long in that car. I d want something comfortable with a great highway mileage. Hybrid is only superior for city driving. Since the car is going to depreciate quickly with the long commute, i wouldnt pick up something too expensive. My first choice would be a diesel passat or sportwagen. I had a sportwagen and it was a great versatile and comfy car for the price. The synthetic leather was also great and easy to clean. The next choice will be a 4 cyl new accord which i think is a great car for the price.

 

My suggestions...
-Audi A4
-BMW 128i

 

WOW, that is a sweeping generalization and an inaccurate one as well. There is no price control in Canada, except for provincially mandated controls on some goods (fuel, etc) and some regulated industries (car insurance, rental housing, etc). Retail trade is provincially mandated, not a federal jurisdiction. Quebec has the most customer friendly trade laws, where as Alberta has the most business friendly ones. Every other province falls somewhere in between.

Dealers are allowed to sell their cars at whatever price they can get away with, within their distribution agreements with the manufacturer/distributor. In Canada, Toyota Canada sets MSRP and PDI rates. Dealers then sell at whatever price they want, but no dealer wants to or needs to sell at a loss and get squeezed out of allocation in the future. If anything, that is a contractual restriction, certainly not a legislated one.

 

We are saying the same thing. Dealers usually do not arbitrarily sell above MSRP. The usually sell for any price at or below MSRP. There is no law forcing them to sell no higher MSRP though. However, in my province (QC) dealers must disclose the final net pre-tax price including all markups and fees on the windows sticker and in any advertising.

As a rule, no dealer in QC will sell above MSRP. For high demand cars, they just sell at MSRP, and supply runs dry. I have seen dealers in Ontario routinely try to sell hot cars like the GT-R above MSRP. Interestingly, luxury makers like MB and BMW seem to be very well disciplined and their dealerships rarely go higher than MSRP.

 

Dealers in Ontario add dealer installed options and other "services" to boost the selling price above MSRP. For a high demand cars, the only choice for the customer is take or leave it. For volume or slow moving cars, the dealers won't add those options. When the deal is done, you end up at the "business office" where they try to upsell you on those while completing the paperwork.

If the dealer knows that they are sitting on a low allocation car and all other dealers will not undercut them, they will try to sell above MSRP. They just take a chance on not being undercut or for being the one with the lowest markup over MSRP.

 

Yes....that is permissible (and is often done) even with the strict list-price only corporate policy of Scion and Saturn (even though there are no more Saturn new cars, Saturn dealers still sell used ones that way...at a firm, no-haggle price). We saw that, to some extent, locally here in the D.C. area when the Saturn Sky roadster debuted. Because Saturn dealers, by company-policy, couldn't charge over list like many Pontiac shops did with the sister Pontiac Solstice roadster, they simply hung on Saturn-approved accessories on the Sky (which was allowed) to boost the list price (and profit).

 

That is because MSRP for those brands is like rack rate for hotel rooms (rates you see an a card behind the door of the room). Anyone buying at that price is just asking for the shaft to be driven deeper as they bend over the dealer's office desk. If a hot and low volume model comes along, they can get away with MSRP, but also dealer add ons on top. Porsche Cayenne when it first came out comes to mind as a recent example, but it all came crashing down in 2008.