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A friend I know bought another truck and is selling the one he has. It's a 2003 Ranger and runs okay and has had no major issues. He's just looking to get rid of it since it has 160k miles on it. He asked if I wanted to buy it and would sell it at a discount.
I bought a 2 year old Malibu late last year and the miles are racking up due to my 50 mile each way commute. It had 30k and I bought it and has 45k now in only 8 or so months! They are mostly highway miles but the miles are accumulating quick!
I thought maybe buy this truck and drive it for part of the year (warm weather months) to keep the miles on my main car down so it will last longer.
I have a relative who has just purchased another car and looking to get rid of her car (about 15 years old). She also asked me if I wanted to buy it, it's a full size car and she suggested I could drive that in the winter to save wear and tear on my main car.
If I keep driving my current car, it's going to hit 100k miles in the next two years at this pace.
Insurance should be pretty cheap since both of these vehicles are around the 15 year old mark.
Would it be a good idea to have another vehicle? Or are there drawbacks and hidden costs I'm not thinking of?
Do you NEED another vehicle? The point of having a car is to drive it. Buying a second car as not to put miles on your "good" car is a bit silly. I really don't want to sound rude here, but you drive Malibu, not a Corvette. Malibu is perfect basic every day transportation.
A friend I know bought another truck and is selling the one he has. It's a 2003 Ranger and runs okay and has had no major issues. He's just looking to get rid of it since it has 160k miles on it. He asked if I wanted to buy it and would sell it at a discount.
I bought a 2 year old Malibu late last year and the miles are racking up due to my 50 mile each way commute. It had 30k and I bought it and has 45k now in only 8 or so months! They are mostly highway miles but the miles are accumulating quick!
I thought maybe buy this truck and drive it for part of the year (warm weather months) to keep the miles on my main car down so it will last longer.
I have a relative who has just purchased another car and looking to get rid of her car (about 15 years old). She also asked me if I wanted to buy it, it's a full size car and she suggested I could drive that in the winter to save wear and tear on my main car.
If I keep driving my current car, it's going to hit 100k miles in the next two years at this pace.
Insurance should be pretty cheap since both of these vehicles are around the 15 year old mark.
Would it be a good idea to have another vehicle? Or are there drawbacks and hidden costs I'm not thinking of?
I don't think it's worth bothering to buy another vehicle. In terms of cents per mile, the lower depreciation component will be at least partially offset by the higher maintenance/repair component, but also you will be increasing the risk of losing the money due to "sudden death" of the vehicle, which for very high mileages, becomes much more likely.
I don't think it's worth bothering to buy another vehicle. In terms of cents per mile, the lower depreciation component will be at least partially offset by the higher maintenance/repair component, but also you will be increasing the risk of losing the money due to "sudden death" of the vehicle, which for very high mileages, becomes much more likely.
Good point. I had a Focus with similar mileage last to 250k. This one could run another 100k. Then again, maybe not. It has been well taken care of but there's no guarantee of course.
Unless you NEED another vehicle save the 2500. Drive your car till it dies. Sell it and take that money and the 2500 buy another car. Rangers get crappy mpg btw. If you can afford a second car it's nice to have. I keep my cars long enough that resale value is really not a big issue.
Last edited by Electrician4you; 06-12-2016 at 10:08 AM..
A friend I know bought another truck and is selling the one he has. It's a 2003 Ranger and runs okay and has had no major issues. He's just looking to get rid of it since it has 160k miles on it. He asked if I wanted to buy it and would sell it at a discount.
I bought a 2 year old Malibu late last year and the miles are racking up due to my 50 mile each way commute. It had 30k and I bought it and has 45k now in only 8 or so months! They are mostly highway miles but the miles are accumulating quick!
I thought maybe buy this truck and drive it for part of the year (warm weather months) to keep the miles on my main car down so it will last longer.
I have a relative who has just purchased another car and looking to get rid of her car (about 15 years old). She also asked me if I wanted to buy it, it's a full size car and she suggested I could drive that in the winter to save wear and tear on my main car.
If I keep driving my current car, it's going to hit 100k miles in the next two years at this pace.
Insurance should be pretty cheap since both of these vehicles are around the 15 year old mark.
Would it be a good idea to have another vehicle? Or are there drawbacks and hidden costs I'm not thinking of?
If the 2nd vehicle is a great price go for it. I bought a 2nd car in 2006 and it has been worth every penny and the people told me I dont need 2 cars and those same folks are the ones ALWAYS asking to borrow my car if theirs breaks down or has to be in the shop a few days.
I drive 71 miles round trip each day during the week for work, so I know first hand about too many miles racking up on a car and taking a huge depreciation hit as a result. For those that say you buy a car to drive it, you are correct, but you clearly have not sold a 4-5 car with excessive miles to be told its not worth anything more than $4K vs $8-9k with normal miles on it. The OP has a Malibu which dont hold value and will be upside down very soon driving 30K a year, so a spare car to take some of the burden off the main one isnt a bad idea, with a 100 mile RT commute.
I have never been stranded because if one car acts up or needs to go to the shop, or even is empty on gas and im in a rush, I just hop in the other car.
If you have a long commute, and you have to get to work every day, then it's good insurance to have a spare car. Losing a day's pay even a couple times a year because of car problems could exceed the expense of owning a second very-cheap vehicle.
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