Question for high mileage driver

J

JohnG

Joined
Oct 6, 1998
Messages
745
Got a question for those who put a fair amount of miles on their car every year.

Due to work, I travel and put on about 35k a year--not a huge amount but significant--and get the allowed IRS mileage, which leaves me barely breaking even to losing a bit depending on gas prices, etc. It's mandatory I have a car and I spend a lot of time in mine, so a reliable machine is a must.

I have a nice 2001 Toyota Avalon that has been superb--no problems, just regular maintenance. Just crossed the 90k mark, almost paid off, but I know I'll need struts and a muffler soon, the aluminum wheels are a little dented, plus some transmission service. I bought it used, certified, and with about 30 k on it, at a great price (and the prices for used cars in this class has become even more favorable these days)

So the question is, should I stick with it, put in another $1500-2k, and run this for another 50 k+ miles or take my lumps and trade it in against a new car(or sell it privately).

A radio finance guy was of the opinion that someone in my situation should run it in to the ground, especially versus buying new.

Any thoughts from traveling salespeople, service guys, or folks with heavy commutes?
 
I'd keep it. It should be good for quite a bit more mileage. Your repairs should be as deductible as new payments/depreciation/lease payments.

2000 per year in repairs is quite a bit less than new car payments and the depreciation a new vehicle takes. As long as it's reliable for your purposes, keep it.

Phil
 
2001 is practically brand new and 90K isn't bad. Fix it and drive. Keep it in good shape and it'll last for a long time. Think about it this way--can you get an overhauled 2001 Avalon for $1500 at a dealer?
 
I wouldn't spend more on repairs than the car's book value. Sounds like your's is due for some mostly minor services/repairs. Yep, run it into the ground. That's the only way to get your money's worth out of the purchase price.

The vehicles I've owned (mostly Mercuries and Lincolns) always lasted way past 100,000 miles (current F150 = 165,000 mi, just sold my Mark VIII with 150,000mi and both still run great). That Avalon should only be halfway used up.

Just my thoughts,
-Bob
 
Definitely I would go with repairing it/continued maintenance (especially with a Toyota) if it's generally running well.

You also don't mentioned if it's all paid for. Assuming it is, then it is definitely waaay cheaper to go the repair route, especially if you're not sick of the car.

I just paid off the wife's car this year and will be paying off the other one soon. Financial life is much nicer that way.

Good luck!
 
JohnG said:
Any thoughts from traveling salespeople, service guys, or folks with heavy commutes?
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None of these labels apply to me, but I still have an opinion to share. :D

Keep it. 90k really isn't that much, and I assume that they're "easy miles" (long drives with little stop and go traffic). Also, it's a Toyota: very reliable.
 
With a properly maintained car doing mostly highway milage you should get at least 250,00 KM/ 150,000 Miles. Hell I bought a Ford people mover (Mazda engine) in Australia in 01 with 220,000 on it (probably been clocked too) and apart from replacing the plugs, leads and dizzy cap (Yeah it was that old) I went all the way around Australia trouble free.

If you do look at a new car, get a European diesel and look at the gearing ratios. Some of the German stuff is really high geared so if you live in a flat area your fuel savings will be significant. I had a 2L Opel Vectra once that was doing about 2200 RPM @ 160 KM/hr (100 MPH)
 
Sorry for being personal, but what do you owe on it?

If you 2 or 3 K you can forget selling it.

How are you going to replace a 5 yr old car that is nice by anyone's standards, maybe not the Cadillac, but nice, that is dependable and quite possibly has at least another 100K miles left in it for a total of 5 grand? :rolleyes:

There is absolutely no way.

BTW, I drive about 60K miles per year, but it is in a company truck.

We lack one more payment on my wife's car, and then I am never getting back in debt for another vehicle again.
 
JohnG said:
travel and put on about 35k a year--not a huge amount but significant--and get the allowed IRS mileage, which leaves me barely breaking even to losing a bit depending on gas prices, etc.... I have a nice 2001 Toyota Avalon that has been superb--no problems, just regular maintenance.
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The IRS Rate is 48.5 cents/mile. The Avalon should get at least 20MPG. That's $9.70 per gallon of gas. Gas is high right now, but not that high.

Of course, you have to factor in maintenance and such, but if your Avalon has only required routine maintenance, that shouldn't be much.

Insurnace is the other component.

The IRS rate is generally considered generous. It assumes you're getting an service every three thousand miles and that you only get about 10MPG.
 
If my mother can get 150K miles out of one (actually two different Toyota Camry's), then someone who does good preventative maintanence should get at least 250K miles.

I took an Olds Delta 88 to about 180K when the odometer broke and drove it three more years. When the maintanence bill equaled the monthly payment on a new car that matched what it was new, I bought a new one. GM products are a poor choice for anyone who doesn't flip cars often. I have had very good luck with Fords in general but, by far the best was Toyota.

If I ever go back to 100K+ miles per year, it will be in a Toyota Camry or an Avalon. I remember on three consecutive weekends, driving over 1,000 miles on Saturday and another 1,000+ miles on Sunday. Yes, over 2K miles per weekend, 3 weekends in row. Of course there was another 200 miles per day during the week. That teaches you a lot about good car ergonomics.

And as if there was any doubt, don't buy a used rental car! I had a rental for 2 months once. It needed service after I had it about a week and they had no cars left to swap out and told me to keep it. I called back a week later and repeated my request because there were a lot of service messages flashing on the screen for maintanence. Still no joy and eventually the warning lights all burned out (apparently they are not meant to burn for weeks on end). I kept calling in telling them my mileage and about the issues I had with the car and they kept telling me to keep and continue to drive it. After two months I was to the point of getting mad and went up several tiers of management and explained my situation again to which I was being blown off again. I then convinced them to look up the VIN and compare their service records to my current milage. The supervisor brought out a different car to me within hours. I guess 18K miles on an oil change was a little much. They were a little upset until they looked at the long series of calls and complaints I had made. Anyway off my rant :rolleyes:

And yes, 1000 mile days suck even when you are in a good car. It's all about how bad they suck. I can't really imagine running empty in a Ford SuperDuty for that kind of milage but, it looks like I may be headed that direction if things don't change.
 
A Toyota woth 90K on it is just getting broken in!

I agree with the choir here; drive it until it dies.

My father in law drove a Honda Accord ('85 SEi) back and forth to work every day for many years. His daily commute was around 140 miles round trip. When he retired, the car had 335,000 miles on it, and the only maintenance he did to it was a regular oil change every 5,000 (he ran Castrol Synthetic exclusevely), plugs, wires, cap, ect, struts, tires, a handful of timing belts, one power window motor, and a new stereo.

I bought it from him after he retired, and drove it for another 20,000 before the tranny started slipping, and the timing belt broke. I then gave it to a friend, and he replaced the timing belt, and swapped out the tranny, and now commutes in it every day. Still runs like a top.


Goes to show that the japanese have their **** together when it comes to vehicle longevity.
 
As a professional mechanic, I can speak with some authority, (unless you have read my previous posts). Keep spending the maintenance dollars and go for 500,000 miles. A fine car to do it in and a money saver in the long run.
 
I'm with this crowd. We kept a VW Diesel for 12 years 214K miles. Maitenance was still under $3K a year towards the end. Still cheaper then new car payments and new car insurance.
 
DaveH said:
We kept a VW Diesel for 12 years 214K miles. Maitenance was still under $3K a year towards the end. Still cheaper then new car payments and new car insurance.
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I had a VW Rabbit and Jetta Diesel at different times in my life. I really liked those cars but, anytime I needed maintanence that I could not do myself, it was a real problem with VW's spotty dealer network. Parts were another sore spot for me.

I am a Toyota fan these days. Great cars, great dealer support, great aftermarket support, etc.....
 
Wow--I rarely see such agreement on a topic , but here it is:)

Thanks, everyone, these are great comments. My instinct was to maintain and keep it, since the car has been very good to me and I don't want to put out the money to get a new vehicle if I don't have to do so. I'm glad to have the validation from the group.

Chuck's post got me to do some research. The IRS changed back to 44.5 cents per mile in January (at least that's what my company pays), and using even the lower figure and 20 MPG as a starting point I am roughly breaking even right now with my last remaining payments, gas, insurance(in NJ with my mileage I get charged a bit more than most places) and amortized maintenance like tires, etc. When it's paid off the maintenance isn't much at all averaged over the miles, barring something really major.

Sid, I've done Trenton to Boston to Long Island and back over a day and a bit, and I can't even imagine doing two thousand miles like that:eek:

I just paid for my annual membership here again, and in one thread I feel like I got it back in spades--how's that for a return on investment...!
 
JohnG said:
Just crossed the 90k mark, almost paid off, but I know I'll need struts and a muffler soon......
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I'm driving a '90 Camry 4 cyl. with just over 271,000 miles. Still have the original exhaust and struts. The exhaust pipe just before the muffler is starting to get a hole in it and the struts still do the job...a little noisy occasionally but the vehicle still handles great and doesn't have any sloppiness with the suspension as far as bottoming out at dips in the road!
 
I'm driving a 1994 ranger with 230,000 miles. I'm not the world's best when it comes to proper maintanance, just change the oil every 6,000 miles or so and all I've had to do to it is change the clutch and radiator(diy 250 all told). If my ford is still kicking at this mileage, I would assume that yota will beat for many years to come.
 
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