Cheapest Overall Vehicle to Drive

Maintenance/Repairs
41

For PM

I did the front brakes twice…the rear brakes once. Put on new rotors once. Also put on a new exhaust at 200k miles. Only replaced the battery once. Struts were replaced at about 150k miles (I consider them normal wear items).

Alternator, Heater Core, Starter, heater fat, wiper motor, radiator, fuel pump…were all original.

Did replace the water pump as part of the timing belt replacement (that is considered PM)…Yes I’ll agree it’s expensive…but it is PM (i.e. nothing broke).

Last GM I owned…(84 S-15)…I had to replace Starter, water-pump, starter (twice)…ball joints…motor mounts…(and the list goes on)…I sold it in 1990 with 130k miles…Glad I did.

42

The other thing to consider…is loss of work/time. My 84 S-15 was costing me a lot more money in lost wages then it was in repairs…I was consulting at the time…and every time I had fix something on that truck it cost me $500 in lost wages…plus what ever the parts cost…I could drop the car off at a place…then rent a car for the day…but that still cost me a few hundred…That vehicle was getting real expensive to keep.

In 1990 I bought a new Pathfinder. My first repair wasn’t until the car had almost 200k miles. Yes I had to do some PM, but that was scheduled…I could do that on a weekend. The truck never stranded me, or forced me to fix something immediately before I could drive someplace (like my S-15 did so many times).

43

Good point Mike. Time is money. I had a 1984 Impala, which in 200,000 miles had only 4 “surprise” breakdowns, necessitating me to drop it off at a shop of my choice since almost anyone could quickly fix this car.

All the other items needing replacement were planned, since they gave lots of warning. Those repairs caused no downtime or loss of work at all. If you depend on your car for a living. the “mission availability”, to use a military term needs to be high. And that includes “repairability”, getting it quickly and easily repaired.

In the case of my Impala, it made 10,000 trips with 4 breakdowns (unplanned outages, utility term) giving a 9996/10,000x100= 99.96% mission readiness or availability.

A colleague in the same busines had Jaguar and spent a fortune on taxis and missed many appointments.

I worked overseas for a major oil company which has a troublesome I T system. The manager bragged that the system ws 99% available.

I pointed out to him that the 10,000 enployees that used this system would lose on average 1% of the 250 days they worked or 2.5 days each per year at some horrible cost to the company. My audit report caused a fire storm and an additonal $4 million US was allocated to get the glitches out of the system.

44

Availability of parts, familiarity of mechanics in the area and ease of repair often overcome a slightly less reliable reputation. I see so many Caprices and C-1500s from the early 80s still running as daily drivers. If I had to drive accross the country alone I would prefer one of those to a new Jaguar or BMW. Most break downs could be diagnosed and repaired with parts sold at any of the McParts stores by a high school vo-tech student with basic tools. If the ignition failed, the entire system could be purchased for less than $250 and installed in less than an hour.

45

The one you can afford to pay cash for and you properly maintain after you get it.

46

I had a neighbor,who as a rule bought cars with over 100k on them.His philosphy was that you could certainly get another good 100k out of these machines(it seemed to work for him with the big old domestics).Anything high mileage my wife buys,with few exceptions are a POS.First rule of a high mileage car"Don’t pay too much for it".One of my brothers buys junk and runs it in the ground and can even get rid of it when he is through with it(but let me emphasize this ,he has a light foot.) Just like construction equipment.old is alright,if you dont expect the same performance as new-Kevin

47

Rod, this is absolutely crucial! My brother in law, who is a turkey farmer, lives near a small town that has a Ford, GM, Chrysler and Toyota dealer. Nothing else. When he buys a car or machinery it has to be with “serviceability” in mind.

My other sister is retired, and lives in the same town. She bought a Toyota for the same reason. Business people need quick and reasonably priced service for their vehicles, while retirees buy a car whose maker will be in business for the next 20 years or so and the model they buy is sold in sufficient quantity to ensure a good parts supply from OEM, aftermarket, or salvage yard, in cars of body parts.

We have dinner this weekend with a group of retirees, one of whom is a retired doctor, who still loves his 20 year old BMW 7 Series. This was a formidable car when new and did not have all the electronic wizardry of the new ones, and is still repairable. He’s lucky to live in a larger community with a dealer and a large number of BMW owners who patronize independent import mechanics. Without this support system he would have to scrap the car.

My JC Whitney catalogue has parts for 30 year old Jeeps, pickups, and other US cars, allowing economical ownership of these vehicles.

48

You’re comfirming the “beater & throwaway” approach, which pays if you know what beater to buy. Years ago my brother had a small construction company and they needed a car to go to the job sites and collect the time sheets, deliver some hand tools and take the paychecks to the workers.

He bought a cheap 7 year Chevy, 1954, I believe with lots of miles on it. This car hung in for many years as a runabout vehicle and the scratches incurred on the job sites did not need to be fixed.

49

“Cheapest” can be interpreted in many ways. If you are a low-mileage driver, then the 6-8 year old econobox probably makes sense.

I drive 25K a year though. So, for me, MPG is a major factor. Three years ago I bought a new 2007 Honda Civic Coupe EX. After doing on-line bargaining with several dealers, I paid just over $17,000. Being new, there are no repairs or maintenance costs other than oil changes. I get 42 MPG highway (standard transmission) and my overall MPG (city/hwy, summer/winter) since I bought the car has been 38.5. Factor in that the car should last me ten years and I get a really nice ride for not much money.

50

Yes, it is important to know what a good beater is. I sometimes hear a radio financial advisor recommending that people buy an old car to get out of debt but he doesn’t know what a good beater is and buying a $2,000 “cherry” Peugeot could cost more than continuing to make the payments on a one year old Elantra. It’s hard to keep a job when you can’t get to work. A retired friend sells used cars from his house and knows a good beater when he sees one. Ford Granadas and Fairmonts, Chevrolet Chevelles and Novas, Ranger pickups and Caravans with non-overdrive transmissions are his favorites. He says those models stay sold.

51

AskDrD, you sort of comfirmed the big picture that one has to look at the total of gas, insurance, Maintenance & Repairs, and the vehicle cost itself. The very good econobox, the class which your car falls into, will give you the lowest cost if it is a WELL BUILT econobox. If you had bought a car such as the original Hyundai Pony, your driving cost would have been horrendous and the car would have been nearly worn out by now.

Years ago I worked for a gas utility and the chief accountant decided we should drive small fleet cars to save money. They bought a fleet of Morris Minors, a small British import. Within 20,000 miles we burned out the valves since, as a pilpeline inspector my daily task included a lot of expressway driving to the various sites. The company quickly switched back to American 6 cylinder cars with automatic, and no other options, except the 2 way radio.

For seniors who drive little, almost any good car bought cheap would do. Gas mileage in that case is not a major issue.

52

It depends on the climate where you live, but in the southwest, where the body is likely to far outlast the power train it can be a good idea to buy a toyota or nissan or other small truck or sedan, with 100,000. miles on it or so. In the next 100k miles you will have to replace the starter, battery, brakes, water pump, alternator, ect. but not all at the same time. when the engine bearings finally wear out, it will only cost about 2,000. to replace the long block, and if you have a standard transmission you can often replace that with a reconditioned one for fairly cheep. Then you are ready for the next 200k miles, given that the little things will again need replacement on a non-schedualed basis, so carry a few tools.

53

The difference is who buys the beer. If it’s you, it’s expensive.

54

I think that you are comparing the wrong cars. The Avalon and Camry should be compared to the LS 460 or LS 600h. Compare the ES 350 to the Yaris.

55

The Honda owners don’t part with their rides cheap enough. They’ve all reached “Honda Zen” status. They meditate endless hours before parting with them.

I’d buy the cheap leftovers of NEONS. Automatics are fine. The great thing about them is that if you break them too bad, and don’t feel like some cheap swap, you can find another one for dog dirt. They made too many of them.

Here’s what most people don’t realize with stuff like the popular Honda’s and whatnot. They think that the resale value is SO HIGH due to the greatness of the vehicle. While it’s partially true, it’s more accurate to say that they were produced to a given level of demand. If sales slumped …they merely laid off the non-UAW production force or slowed them down.

Meanwhile the (traditional) domestics were forced to give the things away to PAY BILLS. Hence millions of like units with no distinction to retain value. How much would a used xx year old Explorer be if only 20k units a year were made? Not the $600 that you can pick one up for. They’re worth more in scrap value.

56

Yes, the South West allows you to do true long life planning, since the body will not bite the dust prematurely. The early 80s Celica, with over one million miles on, running around my neighborhood, spent most of its life in Nevada.

57

The most bulletproof cars I haved owned in the past were a’68 BMW 1602,'68 Toyota Corolla,'68 Plymouth Valiant with slant 6 motor.'88 Chevy Silverado is good.Honda Civics are good any year if they were well taken care of and not modified. Chevy Cavaliers are good, but the more powerful 2.4 motor is more expensive to maintain.The heater core replacement is very expensive, regardless of year or motor size.Ten year old cars that have a good track record from owner input are good. They are at their lowest depreciation rate and hopefully have had all the technical service bulletin repairs done by the original owner.I bought a well maintained and garage kept BMW 528i for less than 5k

58

Here are 4 car “buying” experiences I have witnessed which may be of note:

A family friend acquired a Ford Tempo with 86,000 miles on it for $200. The owner had been told the transmission was bad and would cost $2000 to replace and didn’t want to bother with it. Turned out the transmission was only low on fluid. Car required a taillight bulb and new wiper blades to pass inspection. He was still driving it when I lost touch with him.

An acquaintance acquired a Chevrolet for free because the timing belt had broken on a company parking lot and the owner didn’t want to bother with it. He signed over the title with the condition “you get it off of this parking lot before the boss disciplines me for not getting this car out of here.”

A co-worker (years ago) got “thrown out” by his wife and all his clothes and stuff were in his car, which got impounded. He was trying to sell the car for the impound fee so he could get his stuff back out of the car. That was a Ford Fairmont if I recall correctly. I would have jumped on that one but I was young and broke at the time.

Just last year, a co-worker acquired a Toyota Corolla with about 130,000 miles on it for “free”. It was accident damaged and he was trying to help its owner repair it cheap with parts from a junkyard, and the owner got impatient and bought a brand new one and gave him the damaged one as thanks for his help. He said it cost him about $1500 to put it on the road (parts + tax & tags & title)

The lessons? Sometimes you “luck out” and find a real deal, and a little mechanical aptitude can go a long way in reducing costs.

Sometimes someone has an otherwise good, older (but not OLD) car, that has some issue, and they just don’t want to be bothered with it, often they are looking for an excuse to buy a new car anyway. The trick is in FINDING these deals. I would recommend its best if you don’t need a car right away (i.e. you have a backup to drive while you search for a deal.) Also, its always best if you have CA$H in hand. As with most everything, life is so much simpler when you can avoid borrowing money.

I would also recommend buying “private party” as opposed to a dealer, you eliminate that dealer overhead. Talk directly to the owner, shake his/her hand, ask questions. Most (but not all) people cannot look you in the eye and tell you a bald faced lie.

59

You must have lucked out on some of these. The BMW was a good little sports sedan, but I recall the bodies were rust prone. A colleague owned one and drove it reliably, but with holes in the fenders. The Valiant at that time, as the Dodge Dart, were quite bullet-proof. The Volare which succeeded them was a poor car, and sent Chrylster once more on a downhill trip.

Was your Toyota a CORONA? At that time it was the sturdiest small car aside from the VW Beetle. Even Consumer Reports Rated it well. The first small car you could expect 100,000 miles out of the engine without any internal work.

60

Good post, Mr. “FRUGAL”. People who are cheap are too busy saving pennies and can’t see the forest for trees.

It certainly pays to take your time shopping and look around long before you need your next car. I once bought a good car for $650 with 48,000 miles on it. It had no power steering and the owner’s wife, who was the main driver, was getting arthritis, and her husband just wanted to get rid of it after trying unsuccessfully to sell it. I had the car till 98,000 miles of trouble-free ownership, only replacing the brakes, radiator and battery. It then was unfortunately wiped out in a snowstorm accident.