"Tom McParland" (tommcparland)
12/18/2013 at 11:15 • Filed to: Discussion, articles
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"Tom McParland" (tommcparland)
12/18/2013 at 11:15 • Filed to: Discussion, articles | 0
| 24 |
Today's !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! Volvosaurus-Rex prompted me to wonder....what is the most fun car with the lowest cost per mile ownership? I pointed out that Jalop green-car alternative the Jetta TDI Sportwagen is only a nickle more per mile that the soul-sucking Prius. Reader JonothanW8 chimed in that the BRZ and the Miata are only $0.56/mile. So, using !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (for consistencies sake and again to keep things the same factor 15k a year for 6 years) let's come up with a Best of Fun and Frugal Per Mile List.
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Party-vi
> Tom McParland
12/18/2013 at 11:20 |
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From R&T.
Brian Silvestro
> Tom McParland
12/18/2013 at 11:21 |
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I don't think I'm doing this right.
dogisbadob
> Tom McParland
12/18/2013 at 11:22 |
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Most Toyotas are pretty good in that regard. They are not high maintenance, and the 4-cylinder models don't use much fuel, either.
Another good answer is the Panther. Sure they only get like 12 mpg, but gas is pretty much your only expense.
SpeedSix
> Tom McParland
12/18/2013 at 11:28 |
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Mazda2 - $0.42 per mile
Mazda3 - $0.51 per mile
MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
> Tom McParland
12/18/2013 at 11:30 |
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2013 V6 Mustang is 49 cents per mile.
Once again the answer is V6 Mustang.
Jayhawk Jake
> Tom McParland
12/18/2013 at 11:30 |
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New car only?
If we include used cars, pretty much any non-german car less than $10000 is going to wipe the floor with a new car on cost per mile.
I mean, if you picked up a $10000 Miata I doubt it would need much maintenance beyond the usual, and the mileage is decent. Compared to an FRS/BRZ, you're already $15000 down on initial purchase price.
Lets say that it's $.50 per mile for an FRS. Make it $.65 per mile on the Miata to factor in maintenance (very conservative). 6 years at 15k a year?
FRS: $25000+$0.50*15,000*6 = $70000
Old Miata: $10000+$.65*15,000*6 = $68,500
So it's not much savings, but I was just pulling that $.65/mile figure out of my ass. If you drop it to $.55 per mile it's only $59,500 total cost to own.
Grindintosecond
> Tom McParland
12/18/2013 at 11:32 |
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OG mini of course. a few inexpensive parts and its got awesome handling and good power to make any trip to the hardware store fun. Also the buy-in cost in the US for one is surprisingly low and the mileage is high on regular low octane pump gas.
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Tom McParland
> Jayhawk Jake
12/18/2013 at 11:33 |
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Good question...yeah let's stick with new cars. I made the change in the title. Thanks
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Tom McParland
> Grindintosecond
12/18/2013 at 11:33 |
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Good pick but I clarified to only reflect "new" cars...I wonder how the current Mini would hold up?
Chase
> Party-vi
12/18/2013 at 11:35 |
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I take it F is then equal to the final fun value?
GhostZ
> Tom McParland
12/18/2013 at 11:40 |
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Doug's 1990 Nissan Stanza "Rust Edition"
Cost to buy: $200 (plus that Dark Side of the Moon album you had lying around)
Fuel economy: 17? 20? 25? You have no fucking clue, the fuel gauge hasn't worked since Clinton was in office.
Repair costs in 7 years: $0, less if you can pawn it off on some sucker who just turned 16.
Miles before it dies: anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000, depending on whether or not Doug changed his damn oil on time. Let's be honest, it's a ticking time bomb.
Hoonage potential: Huge. Who cares if it breaks? You have all 100ish HP to lay down through the cheap, cracking tires anywhere you want. So long as you don't kill yourself, you could do anything from off-roading to target practice.
Cost per mile: $0.02 per mile to $0.002, something like that. Totally worth it.
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Grindintosecond
> Tom McParland
12/18/2013 at 11:41 |
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Aw rats. I test drove both of the new mini's the clubman (crap misuse of a name) and the regular new one. Both a good time but not nearly the fun of the original small one. They would be high up the list but honestly outdone by a focus.
JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
> Tom McParland
12/18/2013 at 11:44 |
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My Civic is LESS than a Prius!
And I love Chloe; she is a pretty fun girl
Quattro-luvr, Powered by Datsun & Stinger
> Tom McParland
12/18/2013 at 11:50 |
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GTI!
Then the GTD when/if it gets here.
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Party-vi
> Chase
12/18/2013 at 11:50 |
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E 2 F 2 is equal to the fun factor.
Volvosaurus-Rex
> Tom McParland
12/18/2013 at 11:57 |
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I'm going to focus on classes of car, and specifically, cheaper, smaller classes since those would be the most win/dollars or something like that.
In the subcompact hot hatch we have the following: Fiat Abarth, $0.51/mile; the Ford Fiesta ST, $0.48/mile; and the Chevy Sonic RS (Manuel), $0.47/mile. I'll let the people decide.
In the compact hatch department we have the following players: Ford Focus ST, $0.51/mile; Mazdaspeed 3, $0.60/mile; Volkswagen GTI 4-Door Base, $0.57/mile; and the surprising Mini Cooper S, $0.54/mile. I would not have guessed the Cooper as being one of the most economical choices in that group.
And in the final category, roadsters, the field is slim: Miata in Sport trim MT, $0.52/mile, and since there is really no competition there on the economy standpoint, a few comparisons with: BMW Z4 sdrive28i, $0.81/mile; Nissan 370Z Roadster Base, $0.80/mile; and the Chevrolet Corvette Convertible 1LT, $0.86/mile.
And for the REAL final category, I wanted to compare among a brand itself, so I chose that which many asshats have chosen before me: BMW. As we saw above, the Z4 clocked in at $0.80/mile in base trim, But in sdrive35is trim, we find it ratcheted up to $0.99/mile. Continuing on the non-M performance spectrum: 135is, $0.81/mile and 335is Coupe, $0.93/mile. Clearly though, the best bang for the buck among the brand is to get the lowest cost BMW with the M-Sport package: 128i, $0.68/mile.
BJ
> Brian Silvestro
12/18/2013 at 12:24 |
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You're doing it exactly right. Everyone else is wrong.
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Chase
> Party-vi
12/18/2013 at 12:34 |
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But E is already defined in the equation, F isn't. This leads me to reason that F is the fun factor all by itself (plus F is for Fun and all that)
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Party-vi
> Chase
12/18/2013 at 12:47 |
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E ngineering E ditor's F un F actor
EEFF
E 2 F 2
Chatham Harrison dba SPANFELLER DELENDUS EST
> SpeedSix
12/18/2013 at 13:08 |
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I got the 2 down to $0.40 by testing a base model like my own. That's cheaper over 5 years than any Prius. I did some fiddling and found that the Nissan Versa sedan gets $0.38, but the trade-off is, of course, that car is terrible. I'd test the Mirage but they don't have numbers for it.
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Brian Silvestro
> BJ
12/18/2013 at 13:24 |
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Ok good. When I heard something along the lines of "fuel efficient" and "fun" put together I immediately thought of these.
Stupidru
> Tom McParland
12/18/2013 at 13:26 |
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My 06' Legacy GT cost $0.61/mi for the 3 years I had it. And that included Bilstein HDs and Hotchkis F/R swaybars, Kartboy Endlinks, and dedicated summer/winter wheels and tires.
Every single car-related expense was calculated into that
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Jayhawk Jake
> Tom McParland
12/18/2013 at 13:31 |
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Mine's $0.47/mile
http://autos.yahoo.com/chevrolet/soni…
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Chase
> Party-vi
12/18/2013 at 15:05 |
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fucking multi-letter constants