Dollars per mile

Aabidano · Post by **Aabidano** » September 22, 2003, 4:50 pm

Pil's thread got me curious, what's the best deal in dollars per mile (strictly vehicle cost) you've ever gotten?

My best is 102k on a '81 Toyota Starlet, that I paid $1200 for. It had 94k when I bought it, still ran great when this dumbass rear ended it in 2000.

1200\102,000 = .011 dollars per mile, or a little over a penny.

My current PU is still 10 times that, at $0.12 per mile ($14,000\114,000 miles).

*Edit - My brother has over 450,000 miles on the Audi he bought for about $4000 in high school

Vetiria · Post by **Vetiria** » September 22, 2003, 4:54 pm

I've put 80,000 miles on my car in 5 years. I paid $3600 for it with taxes and interest.

3600 / 80000 = .045 $/mile

Fallanthas · Post by **Fallanthas** » September 22, 2003, 4:59 pm

Sumpin wrong with your math there, bro.

Let's see, my last retired vehicle was an '87 Mercury that I bought for $600.

$600 purchase
$180 fixing the A/C
$130 on tires
-------

$910

Bought it with 62,000 miles, sold it for $500 at 78,000. Car still ran great, but I felt more than a little stupid hauling horse feed around in the trunk.

So:

$410 / 16,000 = 2.6 cents per mile, not counting gasoline.

Sabek · Post by **Sabek** » September 22, 2003, 5:07 pm

Still driving my 93 Carolla DX. Bought it way back and it is about to roll 170k miles soon.

Sheryl · Post by **Sheryl** » September 22, 2003, 5:09 pm

Chidoro · Post by **Chidoro** » September 22, 2003, 5:14 pm

So you're saying your toyota had 196k on it when it finally died Aab?

If I'm only including driving cars until they died and not include resale, it's probably be my '80 datsun 210 wagon. Purchased it for $1,600 and drove it about 60k miles or $.0267 per mile

Voronwë · Post by **Voronwë** » September 22, 2003, 5:18 pm

My 1977 Chevy Nova was $700. I drove it for 33,000 miles, so that is $0.021 /mile which is pretty decent.

Pilsburry · Post by **Pilsburry** » September 22, 2003, 5:27 pm

My last car was an '86 Grand Am. I bought it with about 40k miles on it for $2,000. I sold it in '96 for $400. It had 90k miles on it.

So $1,600/50,000 niles = $0.032 per mile.

But then again, I put in like $8,000 in repairs on the fucking thing.

Aaeamdar · Post by **Aaeamdar** » September 22, 2003, 5:36 pm

Best by far was my 76 Nova. Was given to me for free. Drove it some unknown number of miles. 0 cents per mile (not including gas).

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » September 22, 2003, 5:58 pm

Aaeamdar wrote:Best by far was my 76 Nova. Was given to me for free. Drove it some unknown number of miles. 0 cents per mile (not including gas).

That would be amazing if it included gas!

Marbus · Post by **Marbus** » September 22, 2003, 5:59 pm

Same for me... 1980 Mazda 626 Dad bought a new car in 86 so he gave it to me, I put like 15K on it before buying a Mustang which no repair bills... burnt oil real bad so I probably killed a few people behind me but oh well...

Marb

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » September 22, 2003, 6:05 pm

My first car when I moved out to vancouver was a 1976 volvo wagon with almost a million kilometers on it. The odometer rolled over when I was driving it home from work one night. I paid $125 for it and it ran flawlessly for a year and a half until the brakes went and it wasn't worth fixing.

It was a piece of shit though. Driving it was more strenuous than most excercise machines and it had this fucking weird speedometer that worked on some sort of air system that made this odd hissing noise when it moved. Instead of it being a dial it was this gauge that ran from left to right like a thermometer on it's side. It had a gas powered heater though so it was nice in the winter because even when it was below freezing you turn car on and get hot air right away.

Skogen · Post by **Skogen** » September 22, 2003, 6:09 pm

'99 Civic HB. I Bought it new for ~$12k. 120k miles on the clock now, so I am at .10/mile. It is still going strong, and has never had a problem, or even a hiccup. I hope to double the mileage or more before I have to retire it.

Aabidano · Post by **Aabidano** » September 22, 2003, 6:23 pm

Chidoro wrote:So you're saying your toyota had 196k on it when it finally died Aab?

Yep, ran great too, but the rear end was caved in and it wasn't worth fixing (to me). Other than a clutch and tires, it needed no repairs the whole time I had it.

A latino in town got it from the junk yard, straightened the body out and dropped a RWD Corolla drivetrain in it. It's a serious screamer now, they race them out near Lakeland (FL). I'd bet he makes some money off folks that don't know better.

Pilsburry · Post by **Pilsburry** » September 22, 2003, 6:32 pm

kyoukan wrote:it ran flawlessly for a year and a half until the brakes went and it wasn't worth fixing.

One more example of why I hate buying used cars or driving old cars.....
Brakes are an important part of a vehicle.....

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » September 22, 2003, 6:41 pm

what? they didnt just all of a sudden stop working.

Chidoro · Post by **Chidoro** » September 22, 2003, 8:44 pm

She paid $125 canadian dollars for it and got 18 months of service. Where's the problem?

Volvo's are tanks. I always loved driving my brother's old '78 wagon.

Vaemas · Post by **Vaemas** » September 22, 2003, 9:10 pm

I'm about to roll 195k miles on my 1993 Honda. Bought it in 1997 for $10,000 with 91k miles on it. I'd estimate that I've put $4,000 in to it with all repairs, maint, and tires since I bought it.

13.46¢ per mile.

Moongrinn · Post by **Moongrinn** » September 22, 2003, 11:13 pm

Not sure if any of you have heard of that thing about the one guy named Tucker. But in the late 50s, early 40s he built a car that could easily reach 400,000 on it. The more you think about it, the more you realize that the 80s and early 90s cars arent disappearing. Why? Because then they were built to last. Cars are now built to break and force you into buying a new one. Just like the lightbulb that never burns out, they cant sell it or you'd quit buying them.

Pilsburry · Post by **Pilsburry** » September 23, 2003, 12:08 am

Sorry I assumed they went totally out, normally pads or a rotor isn't reason to change vehicles.

I've seen brakes go totally out though, once I was in an old mustang (that was actually well kept, were not talking rust bucket here) it got a hole in the brake line and when he went to stop...we went over the curb in the parking lot and through the bushes. He was actually a client of mine, nice guy...I didn't know what to do or say hehe. So I gave him my rental car, asked him to pick me up in the morning, then the next day me and him went back out there and fixed his brakes (all I did was pump the brakes, I'm a newb).

When you drive an older car, you risk things like brake lines wearing out.

Truant · Post by **Truant** » September 23, 2003, 12:47 am

Pilsburry wrote:When you drive an older car, you risk things like brake lines wearing out.

Not if you take care of the car, pay attention to it, and keep it up to speed maintenance wise.

Pilsburry · Post by **Pilsburry** » September 23, 2003, 1:37 pm

That guy took excellent car of his car, but how and when do you check brake lines?

It's not a normal maintenance item. I check my hoses and belts for dry rot (cracking or overly soft in spots)...and I consider that good preventitive maintenance....but I've never crawled under the car to do it.