Those that have a daily driver that isn't a Tundra

I guess I just don’t care that much about keeping the miles off my truck. It’s paid for. I enjoy doing my own maintenance. My last tank of fuel cost me 3.06/gal. At a tank average of 14mpg, I pay 21.8 cents (or $0.218) per mile I drive it.

I found a 2010 RX hybrid that gets 30mpg. If I bought that, it would cost me 10.2 cents per mile at $3.06/gal. It has 67k miles and a price tag of $15,500.

So, how many miles do I have to drive the RX before I break even on the purchase from the fuel money saved? Solve for x…

0.218x = 15,500 + 0.102x
0.116x = 15,500
x = 133,621 miles.

Assuming a constant fuel price of 3.06/gal, I’d have to put 133,621 miles on the RX before breaking even on its purchase price. And that’s neglecting its own added insurance/maintenance/registration costs.

I’ll probably get a daily at some point. Maybe an IS F. Or a Tesla. But it would be more for fun than for trying to save money.

If I had an HD truck, I would definitely have a daily.

 

There’s a material value to delaying depreciation of your current tundra as well as delaying the replacement capital expense of getting a new one. Harder to calc if you’re not an accounting nerd, but it counts.

 

Buy a sports car that you can't afford and be done with it. You'll save yourself a lot of unnecessary stress.

 

After 8 years of driving the way I do, I’ll have ~160k on my Tundra. Am I really going to wish I had bought, maintained, tagged, insured, and driven a different car when I decide to trade the Tundra in, just so I can get a higher trade-in value? 5 years from now, it’s going to be an 8 year old truck. Say I go from ~20k/yr to 5k/yr on the Tundra and put the other 15k annual miles on a commuter. At the end of 8 years since bought I new (I’ve driven 20k/yr for 3 yrs on the truck), I would have 85k miles instead of 160k miles.

Let’s look at 8 year old Tundras for sale and compare prices as close to the mileages above as we can get.

Right now on CarGurus:
2016 Tundra SR5 5.7 with 88k miles for $31k (“fair deal”)
2016 Tundra SR5 5.7 with 161k miles for $25k (also a “fair deal”)

Do I really need to buy, insure, maintain, register, and drive a 2nd vehicle so I can save about $6k worth of trade-in value on my 8 year old truck in 5 years?

 

I'm in the camp of keeping excessive miles off the Tundra. Not that it's financially smarter, but it depends on your long-term vehicle goals.

I plan on keeping my '17 Tundra (65kmiles) 15-20 more years. We upgraded my wife to a Tesla this year, so her lifted '04 Sequoia (175k miles) is now my daily

I'm caught up on maintenance with the Sequoia, dealer lifetime oil changes, newer summer/winter tires so beyond registration/insurance, my costs should be minimal to keep it on the road.

 

I guess I’m looking at it from the perspective of keeping the current tundra until it’s elderly. If I can keep the truck for 20 years, instead of 10, the $50k+ that’s earmarked for a replacement grows significantly more with 10 more years in the market. Even just at 4%, that’s like an extra $25k

 

The trade in argument is kinda bunk when you hold your truck long term and especially if you actually use it like a truck. That type of wear shows up no matter the mileage.

I’ll still wave to you other dudes rolling in your new eco friendly Prius’s when I pass by. Do what makes sense for you in your situation.

 

I fail to see the problem with that...

Bought the Tundra to do truck stuff. Its a fine truck, but my previous 2500HD was a better DD when I used it for that. About eight years ago I swapped out of using the truck as my DD and don't regret it at all. Not so much from a numbers standpoint, but my DD, even with 150k miles on it, has better performance, better maneuverability, is more comfortable, and get's way better mileage. Life's too short.

 

My wife and I have a third car that I use for commuting and running around town and such. However, we didn't go out and buy it specifically, just more so that we didn't sell it when we bought her a bigger car for hauling kids around. Like you say, it gets double the fuel economy my truck does and also keeps the miles off the truck.

 

I drive two of the absolute longest lived and highest resale value vehicles on the road for a reason. They’re both paid off. All that I would spend on monthly car payments and more goes to our portfolio. If I don’t trade into a diesel, I’ll keep my Tundra forever, too. At my rate in 17 years I’d have 400k miles on the Tundra. Still not as many miles as @Tileguy!

So, if I keep mine for 20 years without a daily driver, and you keep yours for 20 years but have added a daily driver and you pay purchase price, insurance, maintenance, registration, and repairs for two vehicles for 20 years, do you really think you’ll come out significantly ahead? Say liability insurance is $800/yr for your daily driver. That alone is $16,000 in added insurance costs after 20 years. That could have gone into your portfolio along with the purchase price of your 2nd vehicle daily driver. Or it could pay for a LOT of fuel, maintenance, and repairs on your Tundra.

 

I saved $4k in fuel costs per year trading in my second truck for a commuter car. But i drive 30-40k a year. I only really need a truck for a few hundred miles a month.

 

One of the best financial decisions I ever made was picking up an 05 Prius back in 2019 for $2500. I was lucky it only had 90k miles and I’ve since doubled that mileage. It’s weird because at the time I bought my Tundra in 2020, it was as if I could afford the Tundra more by keeping the Prius and using it as a daily driver as opposed to just having the Tundra and using it as a daily driver. With the fuel efficiency and cheap insurance, it literally paid for itself in less than a year. I highly recommend getting a Corolla or Prius as a daily. The Toyota matrix is awesome too if you can find one.

 

With that low of a purchase price, you could come out ahead more quickly. What do you pay in insurance on the 2nd car? What about property tax/registration? Have you had to replace the hybrid pack yet? I know some of them go forever without needing replacement.

To continue my hypothetical example, 42.9mpg (I’m using the Fuelly number for the ‘05 Prius) at $3.06/gal means it would cost $0.071 per mile in fuel. I know you probably haven’t seen $3 fuel in a long time.

0.218x = 2500 + 0.071x
0.147x = 2500
x = 17,007 miles.

So you make up the purchase price in 17k miles. Not bad! You still have higher costs insurance, maintenance, and registration/property tax costs because you’re pay those for two vehicles instead of one. But it could still save you money in the long run with most of your miles being in a 40+ mpg car.

I used to drive a Prius. Once our kids started going to school, it stopped making sense for me. I couldn’t take them to school on the way to work and have all my work gear in it, too. Wouldn’t fit.

The other thing that drastically reduces my yearly costs associated with driving my truck is that over half of my miles are deductible for my job. I write down every mile, drop of fuel, quart of oil, all associated maintenance and cleaning costs that go along with it. All of that goes to taking actual deductions instead of standard deductions on my taxes. It saves me thousands of dollars every year.

 

Want low fuel costs

want low maint costs

get a Tesla

nothing better and you can whoop a corvette


This thread reminded me of one of my previous lifetimes. I had a Acura tl. 6 speed manual as a company car. 35 mpg easy. And I rowed my own gears. This was back in 2004.

I commute in my tundra. Only because I work in an epically shitty warehouse/rail yard.

Otherwise I would be in a Tesla model x.

The tundra would stay at the house for truck duties

 

An older Model X can be had for $30k right now.

HMMMMMM

 

Oh yeah, spend over $100k on a vehicle to save on gasoline costs...

 

model y

model 3

all about 30k used from Tesla

 

and you only spend over $100k when you want to whoop ass on every exotic out there

my. And m3 are super awesome for commuting

 

What about safety? Tow truck drivers put their kids in the biggest vehicles they can find for a reason.

 

I was turning left at a stoplight yesterday. One car to my left floors it through the intersection just after it turns red for them. Light turns green, and I start to go, and to my amazement and horror, TWO MORE cars floor it through the red light after the 1st. If I hadn’t slammed on my brakes, they would have hit me. 45 mph zone. They had to be doing at least 20 over.

This is why my family is in a bank vault of a vehicle. People around here are out of control. I still wouldn’t want to be T-boned at 65mph in my truck or in our LX.

 

There's apparently one used Model 3 within 140 miles of me for $53k. I can buy two new Corollas for that price.

 

now try model Y or Model 3.

the MX is top of the line. not a fair comparison.

although, it is perfectly awesome.

 

Have you considered the insurance increase the extra car brings, not to mention the registration cost every couple also?

I have a DD other than my Tundra. I drive a tiny fiat electric car, it only goes 80 miles and needs recharged. But it goes to and from the small errands I need to do.

I bought it because my job is in downtown Phx. The commute sucks ass, and that little electric gets to use the HOV lane.

I gave 8K for it in 19 and still drive it almost daily for errands now that I work from home. Short trips on the truck are hard on it.

Do I consider a DD to be an applicable item to have. Yes even after factoring in the insurance jump on having the extra car.

 

Full coverage insurance comes out to about $60 a month. I have had to replace 2 different wheel bearings, the accessory battery, and the hybrid battery. I got the hybrid battery from a company called green bean. They have a lifetime warranty so as soon as the battery fails or gives me a check engine light, they will send a tech out to confirm the failed battery replace with another renewed battery. I paid close to, may be even a bit less than, Toyota was charging for an oem hybrid battery. I just moved to WA last year so I pay registration annually, and I did notice a stupid hybrid vehicle tax. I don’t recall paying a hybrid tax when I lived in Oregon. I mostly work from home but a couple times a month I have to go into my work office which is 230 miles away and in down town Portland which sucks. My truck wouldn’t fit in the parking garage so the Prius definitely comes through. I also like how I can be care less with where I park the Prius. With my Tundra, I have to strategize where I’m going to park because I don’t want my truck getting unnecessary dings.

 

$71k for a 7 seat Model Y. They must have just reduced their prices because it was a lot higher when I was shopping for my wife's Pilot about a year and a half ago.

 

$44,490+tax down here for a 7 seat AWD Model Y, sounds like you need to move

 

I am against leasing because you are legit throwing your money away, and if you are going to throw money away on a lease you might as well just keep throwing it away on gas and Tundra Maintenance.

Anyway, I just decided to buy myself a small commuter car, more so because I just love new cars and I wanted something small to drive around that was better on gas and much easier to maneuver and park. The goal was also to keep the miles off the Tundra since the new ones aren't quite there as far as reliably and build quality , as well as being priced 10K+ higher then I paid for my 2020 Tundra. I honestly don't want to ever have to buy another truck, they have become way too expensive, and as long as I own a SFH I need to keep the truck for dump runs and Home Depot gardening runs, and driving when the roads are snow covered. The HRV does have AWD, but the tires on my Tundra are MUCH better.

I would shop around for new vehicles, I actually bought a 2024 Honda HRV a couple weeks ago and LOVE it so far, it's such a cute car, and 33 MPG I am averaging! I was able to get 2500 off the sticker (MSRP 32,005.00) as well, plus put 5K down, so my payment is nearly identical what this model (EXL) would cost to lease! I do have a loan (was able to get a promotional rate from Honda as well), but I will work some OT and get it paid down in a year or two like I did with the Tundra. I spent a whopping 35 bucks filling the tank the other day when it was down to a quarter, the Tundra costs me around 70 to fill at a quarter. Not to mention when I go to events the Tundra can be a PIA to find an adequate spot where it fits in crowded parking lots and garages, I will not have that issue with the new HRV.

It's all personal choice and financial abilities! do I think I am saving any money in reality, no, of course not, basic math will tell you that (no need for fancy spread sheets), BUT I did it for the reasons mentioned above, the less gas part is kind of a bonus.

OP best of luck with your search!

-T