Long Distance Winter Trip Advice

[matthew1]

I've read that renting is way more expensive than pre-pandemic. Not first-hand info, second.

Whatever the case, ping me when you're in Denver BB, if you want to meet. I understand 100% if recent Covid data makes this not an option... or if you don't have time.

[BlackBart]

Depreciation on Betty is probably < 5 cents a mile and a $50 a day rental isn’t an easy find these days.

Head light glass, sorry BB. Let me know

Just throw those coils in trunk monkey box. Don’t sweat a suspension clunk if it light.

A thousand mile trip is like a month easy driving. Is there anything due/bugging you enough such that you would take it off the road next week? If not, drive it And be happy.

Oh thanks Abscate, a left side headlight glass? I appreciate that. I’ll use some sealant for the winter.

Here’s a headlight bulb quirk - it’s been dead for two weeks and this morning it’s on again. There’s a lot of moisture inside the lens. Don’t know if it’s that or a loose bulb or a jiggly wire issue.

Last time I rented a car to go to Denver, they gave us a little tin can. I asked for something bigger, “How about an Outback?”

They said sure, that upgrade will be $25 (can’t remember actual amount). That seemed reasonable. It wasn’t until we returned and found we owed the daily fee plus that $25 every day, for a week and a half. Oop.

Matt - doubt we’ll get to Denver, just Ft Collins. Only four days. Thanks!

Heating up the garage now.

[matthew1]

Grab a marg at The Rio in Fort Collins. My old stomping ground 30 years ago. All the other places are gone... except for The Town Pump.

[erikv11]

Depreciate $0.40 per mile lol. So depreciate for $5k per year for five years or so and then bank all the cash?

I hear you BB but it sounds like it is in good shape, I'd probably go for it.

Do you have an easy-to-use setup for pulling codes and resetting the CEL? We have been driving the XC about 600 miles a week the last month or so. Then today I my daughter drives it up to Minneapolis, boom the CEL was on within 100 miles. Everything seems working normally so I told her not to worry just keep paying attention. But having a way to deal with nuisance CEL/codes is good on a road trip.

[BlackBart]

Grab a marg at The Rio in Fort Collins. My old stomping ground 30 years ago. All the other places are gone... except for The Town Pump.

Oh! Pretty sure one of our nephews worked at the Rio! We went there a lot.

erik - I don’t have any code reader. I’m procrastinating on getting the VIDA-loaded laptop so I can take it on these trips through nowhere.

Running heat and a hair dryer on the bulb-less headlight, it’s drying out. I have some good silicone for smearing the cracks. Bulb is fine, it’s a cracked plastic, sloppy connector to the bulb.

Had to move the 850 out of the way of the garage door. Hand-pumped a flat tire with a bike pump (ugh), put a new battery in, fired right up. Some valve noise at first, but smoothed right out.

[- Pete -]

Don’t forget to pack a spare J-hose

I keep an ELM327 code reader in each vehicle. Get an app for your phone and you’ve got all the basic stuff right there, with no cords. Like $20-30 on Amazon.

[cn90]

Re depreciation cost, I used to think like you guys do too, just drive the old car with 180K for loooong trips because it is cheaper than renting a car. Well...

- The IRS is not dumb, if you drive your own car, in 2021 they reimburse you 56 cents/mile:
https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/s ... eage-rates

- In my area, gasoline is ~ $3.50/gallon, assuming ~ 30 mpg, gasoline cost/mile (on highway) is ~ 11 cents/mile.

- So 56 cents - 11 cents = 45 cents/mile ---> this is the depreciation on your "average car". I am guessing the calculation is done on "average car", which is probably a 4-5 yr old Honda Accord with 40K-50K miles, with a street value of $15K or so, just a guess bc this is the average car in the gen population. This covers the "capital cost" and "operating cost"...

- Of course, if you own a Ferrari or brand-new Mercedes ($80K-$100K), then it is cheaper to rent the car for long trip bc the depreciate on your Ferrari or brand-new Mercedes is way more than 45 cents/mile.

- On an old beat-up Volvo that is 15-20 yrs old with 180K miles, and let's assume nobody cares about selling the car (keep it until it dies), then we don't need to worry about "capital cost" bc you don't care about reselling the car.

- We just need to calculate "operating costs/mile" ---> things such as wear/tear to: spark plugs, oil change, transmission lifespan (expensive), tire wear (~ 2 cents/mile), brake wear, turbo, hoses, PCV, wheel bearings, axle seals, PS Pump, belts/pulleys, timing belts, alternator lifespan etc. etc. etc. If you do a calculation, then a 3,000-5,000-mile trip can create some nice wear/tear on the car, but we don't think about it.
Then it is NOT 5 cents like abscate said.

- Can someone here calculate the "operating cost" per mile on a beat-up car?

- Another way to put it....Let's say you own a 2004 S60 with 165K miles and the let's say the auto trans will go out at 180K (I don't have the crystal ball), by going for a 3K-5K mile trip, you bring the car closer to the end of it. A kaput trans is expensive. Most people junk their car at that age with auto trans problem. Now, if you rent a car, then your 2004 S60 may last another 3 years, by that time, you may have sold it to get somethign newer.

- Anyway, we are not talking about 4-5yr old 50K vehicle, we are talking 15-20 yr old car with 160K-200K. Anything can happen on the road and gets you starnded (alternator, fuel pump, wheel bearings, etc.).

- I am getting older and am glad I now rent a car, peace of mind 1000 miles away from home...

[BlackBart]

Oil is good, ATF good, coolant, headlight lens sealed, headlight plug reworked so it’s snug, lights all on, no leaks.

No discernible source for small LF clunk. Lifted the hub to neutral and end link is tight. Control arms new, as well as ball joint, tie rod ends. Could be a sub-frame bushing, which I have ready to replace?

Oil, ATF, spare parts, tarp, tool bags, real spare tire all packed.

Only surprise was the plastic oil filter housing barely finger tight (!).

[erikv11]

Nice work. Sounds like the clunk can wait. If it's a bushing it will usually clunk on first lurch forward from a stop, then again if you stop but not again if you top and go, go into reverse, and make the first lurch backward.

...
- Can someone here calculate the "operating cost" per mile on a beat-up car?
...

You're in luck! Abscate does this very carefully for his fleet of beat-up cars by meticulously tracking costs and miles. Check with him about approximate expense per mile. However I don't see these operating costs as part of depreciation and you may be conflating the two. Rather, depreciation is a subset of all operating costs: maintenance expenses (parts and labor) plus depreciation (minimal on a "beat up car").

[BlackBart]

And let’s not forget the satisfaction value (SV) of successfully making a major trip with the car you have taken apart and put back together yourself.

Minus the stress cost (SC) of worrying over every little noise the whole time.

Then add back in the disdain value (DV) for the disgust you have for a week of driving around a rental s***box. The kind where at rest stops you have the urge to say, “Not mine, it’s a rental” to anyone who sees you.