Good (job + car) news!

"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
02/07/2020 at 19:55 • Filed to: None

Doing some travel in a few weeks that isn’t too far from the house (~200 miles). That is the bad news. The good news it the new job actually allows use of a personally owned vehicle for this trip! My last three former jobs wouldn’t allow us to drive our own cars more than 50 miles (+/-) and required us to use rentals.

We do have the option of taking a rental, but I’d much rather take my own car.

But which one!?

Volvo

Obvious choice. Most reliable, second best on gas, safest, and 2-door so I won’t get stuck ferrying coworkers around. Also looks like there are some goooood driving roads between me and my destination, so that should be fun!

I’ll be honest this will probably be my pick but what if....

Land Rover

Less obvious choice, but here me out. Really the only reason to go Landy is the destination is near a lot of national forests and other good overlanding spots. Might be fun to head out into the woods over the weekend and trail bash, especially if a new coworker (or six) want to join!

That said, 16MPG on a good day is... not advantageous and the Landy isn’t exactly relaxing on the highway.

Jaaaaag

I cannot understate how nice the Jag is on the highway. While I love the Volvo, I do occasionally have to kick it into 5th going up a long grades or be forced to feel the car struggle a bit. The Jag is (A) automatic and (B) overpowered, so it is just so... silky on the highway.

That said, it needs a lot of maintenance before I should be driving it outside of Uber/Lyft range and I don’t think I’ll have time to do it between now and then. Also while 22MPG on the highway is respectable... it is still only 22MPG to the Volvo’s 28+. Also also not sure the Jaaaaag would be the right fit on the twisty bits.

Alfa

I mean... if the weather was nice and the windshield wipers worked, I feel like this would be a viable option. The downside of the Alfa is neither of those things is true, it doesn’t have cruise control (or cup holders), and with a new soft top I’d probably pay the extra to valet it, which might raise some eyebrows on my expense report.

On the flip side it would be at home on the twisty bits and it gets the best gas mileage of the five.

Saab.

No.

So what does Oppo think!?

DISCUSSION (28)

dogisbadob > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/07/2020 at 20:01

With cars like that, I can see why they don’t let you use your own car for mor e than 50 miles :p

sorry, I had to!

pip bip - choose Corrour > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/07/2020 at 20:02

what are the rental options?

otherwise LR

rearwheelhorse > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/07/2020 at 20:11

How do you like your C30? I’ve become slightly obsessed with them after learning they’re basically Focus RS’s with Volvo clothing.

kgman > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/07/2020 at 20:14

Land Rover. When else will you be able to go on a trip and have gas covered?

TheRealBicycleBuck > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/07/2020 at 20:14

I would stick with a rental. Let’s say you’re going 200 miles. At current federal rates ($0.57/mile), y ou would get $114 dollars in reimbursement. If you took the Land Rover, you would burn at least $38 in fuel. Your other cars should fare better, but you need to ask yourself some other questions.

What would your employer do if your car broke down mid-trip? Would they pay for towing and/or repair? How would you get a rental if your car broke down mid-trip? Is the job time-sensitive or would you have time to deal with a break-down mid trip? What happens if you have a wreck? Will your employer’s insurance cover the damage?

We had a fellow drive his own car on a job (we were doing road inspections) and his parked car was rear-ended. I never heard how it all worked out, but I know there was a lot of back-and-forth between the company’s insurance and his insurance.

In my mind, t here’s a lot of risk by driving your own car and there’s little reward.

CompactLuxuryFan > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/07/2020 at 20:17

Take the Volvo. I feel like you don’t drive it enough based on your posts.

No, I don’t care what the reality is; a ll I care about is my perception and I feel bad for that neglected Volvo.

Cash Rewards > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/07/2020 at 20:17

But have you considered the Saab?

Maxima Speed > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/07/2020 at 20:22

Absolutely the Alfa

smobgirl > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/07/2020 at 21:20

Volvo!

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/07/2020 at 21:25

I’d still say Alfa if it were me and the weather was nice. I DD a car with no Cruise Control and it’s never really been an issue for me, long trips or otherwise!

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/07/2020 at 23:00

This is one of those good kind of problems. In this scenario I’d probably default to an option that doesn’t encourage the carriage of coworkers.

Future Heap Owner > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/08/2020 at 00:26

Hot damn, I straight up forgot you had that gorgeous Volvo.

Future Heap Owner > TheRealBicycleBuck
02/08/2020 at 00:28

You take on some risk every time you drive. Counterpoint: he could get paid to drive that Volvo .

TheRealBicycleBuck > Future Heap Owner
02/08/2020 at 00:37

He could also get sued for driving that Volvo. Let’s say his Volvo breaks and he causes a wreck. The insurance companies are going to have a field day figuring out who is liable. I would be willing to bet that he gets sued by somebody.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Cash Rewards
02/08/2020 at 02:38

Yes.

No.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > rearwheelhorse
02/08/2020 at 02:39

Minor niggles, but overall I love it.

Sovande > rearwheelhorse
02/08/2020 at 06:12

I had one for a couple years and regret selling it. I can’t imagine it wi th an automatic, but with a manual transmission, it was a fun car. Underpowered in stock mode, but a tune really wakes it up.

Captain of the Enterprise > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/08/2020 at 07:21

I’d go Volvo or rental car personally. Also love the blue color!

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > TheRealBicycleBuck
02/08/2020 at 13:08

All of these are fair and good points.

I was trying to type up a coherent counterpoint but really struggling... also this response is getting long and for that I apologize. For the tl;dr, see above.

Realistically I have little doubt that any of the cars would make it. Even the Saab, despite its problems , could probably do 400 miles without a breakdown. And if it did there is a 90% chance one of the fuel pumps was the failure and I have spares of those in the trunk. (Sidenote now I want to drive the Saab... I wonder if I’ll have time to take it out for a toot today...)

The best explanation on why I am excited to get to bring my own car is on an 12 day work trip having a little comfort from home rather than a hateful rental seems... nice? I love my cars (un)equally and having one of them to greet me every morning seems... nice? Also I like driving them.

Also not sure if it would count as “working” while driving. Since I am just driving to and from a temporary work location off hours, I think it might just count as commuting? I have no idea .

So yeah, bad things could happen for sure. I am particularly concerned about parking the Volvo in a downtown hotel parking lot for any period of time, but ultimately life happens and taking risks is part of what makes things fun. I take large automotive risks all the time and this seems like a small one.

Bad things happen and eventually my luck will run out, but that isn’t a good reason not to do fun things.

Wow that ended up a lot longer than I expected haha.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > CompactLuxuryFan
02/08/2020 at 13:14

This is a good point. Its reliability is its undoing. Hard to get excited about my DD, even if it is exciting, when I’ve owned it for seven years haha.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/08/2020 at 18:39

I’ve had more than my fair share of bad luck over the last two years. To recap, I’ve had three broken side windows due to one would-be and one successful burglary; a big dent in the side from a mirror in a parking lot; and a rock to the windshield. I’m glad it all happened to a rental and not my WRX.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > TheRealBicycleBuck
02/08/2020 at 18:53

Yikes! Sorry that happened. Unrelated: did take the Saab out and didn’t die.

Edgyhal94 > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/09/2020 at 07:19

Hang on, the disco is bad on the Freeway? Weird, it’s basically a Range Rover Classic underneath, I’ve got a ‘94 Classic and it is by far one of the most comfortable riding vehicles I’ve ever driven (most comfortable is a even split between a DS I rode in and a Rolls-Royce from the 80s) and my most comfortable. My dad had a Discovery 2 and 3, I can’t remember them not being comfortable. Sure, they do have slightly vague steering, plus they take a while to get up to speed (especially my Classic as it has the 300TDI diesel that makes a massive 111hp, but does do 30mpg without much effort). I can understand the whole fuel economy thing, my project V8 Classic does about 7mpg on the motorway and thanks to some pretty terrible suspension mods by the previous owner (air to coils and they are not very good coils whatsoever) it does feel like I’m going to end up upside down and covered in petrol, b ut somewhat comfortably because of the nice seats.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Edgyhal94
02/09/2020 at 11:35

The Disco isn’t bad on the freeway, just not my favorite . It is comfortable, somewhat quite... though the wind noise above 70 is a bit much, and it holds the road great as long as the crosswind isn’t too bad. However the 4.0 really lacks power at the top end and it shows when passing or going up steep grades and that can be frustrating.

Edgyhal94 > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/09/2020 at 13:15

Is the Disco auto? My experience with the 3.9 in my project has mostly been soured by its auto box, it’s genuinely a terrible gearbox. If I end up keeping the V8 long term, I’m swapping in an LT77, as it actually lets the engine be free. I mean it won’t be fast, but my experience on the motorway was that my substantially less powerful 300TDI is far longer legged despite less torque and horses due to the LT77. But yeah, I get what you mean. Also the wind noise is slightly worse in a Classic because they don’t properly seal around the boot (I know one that properly does and it had a £12,000 rebuild) and you get a slightly annoying noise that does grind on your ears. My solution is turn up the music until I can’t hear it.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Edgyhal94
02/09/2020 at 15:25

On my Disco the problem is door droop . I fixed the passenger side but it was such a pain in the dick I haven’t don the driver side yet.

Yeah here in the US we only got the V8 and the 4-speed. If the tranny ever dies I’ll look into a swap, for sure, but for now I’m content.

Edgyhal94 > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
02/09/2020 at 15:59

That is a pity, sorta wish America had got the 300TDI and TD5 engines, probably would of bumped up Land Rovers reliability standards. Plus that and chipped the TD5 is a terrific engine for hooning, properly angry Diesel engine with shitloads of torque. Oh well, it’s not like the Rover V8 is the worst engine ever, just isn’t the best one from Land Rover.

glemon > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
03/04/2020 at 23:45

I considered the C30 as a daily driver, but few and far between in my neck of the woods, especially with manuals.

Anyway, take the Alfa, unless you are going somewhere you don’t want to leave an easy to break in to convertible.

Road trip in an old two seater is romantic adventure, you will worry about getting there when you leave, and love your car more and feel like you are the king of the mountain when it gets you home in one piece.

I take my car for work a few times a year, and am going on a short trip tomorrow. Never thought about all the legal/liability stuff . We have the option of checking out a fleet car, but extra hassle and it will be cheap and dismal, I never do it. If I traveled on a more regular basis I suppose I might.