Gas

Who is considering getting rid of the Tundra for a more fuel efficient mode of transportation when gas hits $4-$5 a gallon? Prius, Corolla, camary, or something not Toyota?

 

Not me. Keep the truck and buy a cheap corolla for transportation.

 

When I purchased my Tundra in April of 2020, I sat down and did some math. 31 gallons (app 1/4 left) x 5 bucks per gallon which equals 155 bucks for a fill up. I went to my wife and showed her. We discussed the budget and decided it would be worth it. The Tundra is our main family/towing vehicle...so in short I will DEFINITELY not be selling my favorite truck I have ever owned due to mpgs or gas prices. Truth be told, I have a Corolla for the around town stuff.

 

I drive the Corolla as my commuter and for runabout errands in town. My truck is a weekend/backcountry/fishing vehicle.

 

Depending on where I find work, I may drive my second car instead of selling it. That will have more to do with length and difficulty of my commute than price of gas, though.

 

My Tundra is mainly used for long distance work trips but I get paid for the expense too!

I drive the Sprinter around town for work if I can and it gets close to 30mpg somehow!

Or I use my Element that gets over 20mpg which feels like an amazing number compared to the Tundra too!

 

If it goes over $6.00 I may buy an old and well used 4 cylinder Camry or Corolla for in town errands, but I'm not selling either of my Tundra trucks. I would have had one by now, but a rifle that I have been wanting for many years popped up locally - and now I own it.

 

I bought one of the least reliable commuter cars available because where's the fun in knowing you'll make it to your destination everytime without hiccups? 30MPG and supercharged, can't beat that fun.

 

You have to drive a lot to make it worth it. When you factor in maintenance, insurance as continual costs on top of the second vehicle itself...the average driver won’t be saving anything.
10k miles at $4 per gallon is 2800 bucks. Even if you could shave half of that with another car, is it worth it?

 

18-20k miles a year for me. Definitely worth it....plus I have a small block sitting in storage that would be pretty mean in a 2200lb Mini Cooper once I'm done with its daily driving necessity

 

The Cooper S is a blast to drive its like driving a Go kart but its a real pain to work on if they need repair but still fun and I would but another one if I had the room but a 4th car/bike is out of the question

 

Yeah luckily I got a 1 owner, 83k mile, all service records included 2006. At the 90k mark I'm doing a complete service rebuild on the supercharger, all pulleys, water pump, and suspension.

 

I traded due to gas prices once, amd will never do it again. Long story story short, I wound up spending more and being less happy overall.

However, if you can use high gas prices to justify to the wife (or even yourself) that you need to add a 2nd or 3rd vehicle to the fleet (you know, to save gas and miles on the Tundra), then by all means proceed. Just don't use that to justify trading the Tundra off. Take it from someone who's been there done that, a couple weeks in boring, fuel efficient toaster will have you looking for another "cheap, used" Tundra. You'll justify THAT by convincing yourself you need 4 wheel drive for winter, the bed for weekend projects, the space for...

In summary, keep what you got and +1 cheap beater to your fleet if needed.

 

I live in the middle of nowhere in the country (Ozarks), and I drive about 2-3 days a week to work, for a total of 30 miles a day. If gas gets to be too crazy, I'd do what Jernik suggested - get a Camry or Accord beater or something, and call it done.

 

The problem I encountered with the (relatively) cheap, fuel efficient car I already own is that, after 8 years of ownership, it needs a new battery and it's going to need two new sets of tires. Well, the ~$1000 I'm going to spend on that would buy a decent amount of fuel for the Tundra.

 

I keep a cooper in back ,under my cover just in case, IN CASE OF WHAT? Ha ha just kidding , they look like the most dangerous things on the road, don't understand how people can put their lives in such danger to save a few bucks on gas , and pay it out later on medical or funerals. To each his own but between the price of one and the insurance you aren't saving anything , EXCEPT YOUR LIFE IN THE TUNDRA.

 

Do the math.



This applies if you currently own your Tundra (which I assume most of you do since you're on this forum):

IF gas goes to $5/gal (which it never has reached before - The highest national average price of gas was $4.11 on July 17, 2008, according to AAA) and IF you can truly get 30 mpg, then you MIGHT could save a little money. But when you consider maintenance cost differences, insurance cost differences, usability (can't carry much of a family, or a load of anything from Lowes, in a Mini), comfort (what are you willing to put up with?), and other factors, you probably aren't saving much at all. It will FEEL better when you fill up because each tank will cost less, but that's about it.

And buying an extra vehicle for commuting is not saving you ANYTHING. It costs more to do that, PERIOD. Even if you already own an extra vehicle, the added insurance costs are more than the $40/month in gas cost difference. Either your Tundra is a luxury, or your other vehicle is. There are no cost savings.

 

If you want to play with the numbers, here is the Excel sheet I used.

 

The wifes 06 R52 has over 230k on it its damn reliable. The worst part is keeping tires on it and the clutch wears prematurely . But thats due to her "agressive driving" as the tire shop puts it.

 

I used to have a 1984 Mercedes diesel that I sold about 10 years ago. I converted it to run on used fryer oil. The parts needed for the conversion probably cost me less than $100. It basically cost me very little to drive it. I still used diesel to start and then shut down during cold temps. It ran great and never had any issues.

 

I'm going to have to convert everything into metric.

 

The last time I did the spreadsheet for this was about 5 years ago. I think I figured gas at $4.00/gallon and purchase of an efficient (figure 30 mpg), used Toyota for $6,000.00.
I calculated that you would break even...










In about 60 years!

 

I dont know what to do without 3-4 cars in the driveway. Everythings paid for and has a purpose. We have a mini that the wife has had since before we met that is a blast and gets 25+ mpg and we have a accent hatchback that we got from her grandparents estate and that gets over 33+ mpg. But we use the truck for truck things and if were going a couple hours away. The Hyundai is killer on the back for longer than 1-2 hrs drive. Gas is the trade off for a super reliable truck, with others youll be working on it often but saving gas money I guess.

 

My wife's Corolla sedan is really comfortable for long drives but lacking in practical space. I think the thing to do is when (if) it reaches the end of its life, buy a Corolla hatchback or something similar so we don't have to take the truck every time we're taking anything at all with us.

 

Hatchbacks are where its at. Remember folks the EG civic hatch has a tailgate so it technically a truck. And youd be suprised what you can fit in it.

 

When I purchased the Tundra it was for work then recreation. Gas mileage wasn't a consideration, reliability was.

Whatever the fuel cost becomes I'll just pass the additional cost onto my customers.

Sucks if gas goes past $5gl but I can't work off my mtn bike.

A bigger tank helps too. 46gl Transfer Flo FTW

 

DONE!

 

ALL I see above is , new tires 800.00 min clutch , 150-200 min, also who wants to go to McDonalds and order a Quarter pounder and a 5 gallons of old deep fryer oil ?? ha ha ha , no matter how you look at it unless you are driving ungodly miles every year, the fuel savings, verses COMFORT , SAFETY , AND RELIABILITY , the savings just isn't worth it in my book. We do have a Honda CRV , my wife has had for years , she drives to and from work 6 times a day, because she is a school bus driver and routes vary all day and it's only 7 miles to the school. But for all other uses , the Tundra is used.

 

if gas gets too expensive, just fill up half your tank at a time, you would be surprised how well lying to yourself will work