I ask because I’ve thrown around the idea of buying an electric vehicle but just not totally sold for the following reasons:
- large buy in price commit - road-trip charging anxiety - battery losing efficiency over time (and with weather)
I currently drive a 21yr old Lexus sedan - 2001 GS430 This was a $55k luxury car when new and I picked it up for $12,500 back in 2011 with 90k miles in a condition that looked like it had just rolled off the showroom floor. It has 165k miles today and is worth about $6-7k if I had to guess based on condition/mileage. I can probably drive the car another 5yrs and I estimate it will be worth the same amount given that it’s fully depreciated.
The car still looks sharp, gets about 20mpg, and still keeps me happy.
My friends think I’m batshit insane to make as much money as I do and drive a car this old but I have strong convictions about not buying shiny depreciating assets to impress other people. Additionally I prefer to put my money into investments, travel, family than things like cars or jewelry.
I estimate that I drive about 150 miles per week for work which translates to about $200 of gas per month.
I may not drive quite enough for the economics to make sense to go electric given my current reference point. I guess I need to also consider that a 21yr old car won’t run forever although I’ve seen these cars go well over 200k miles, even over 300k in some cases.
It’s remarkable how reliable this luxury Toyota has been. It’s never left me stranded, never had any high dollar repair - only brakes, tires, and some suspension bushings. Also had a check engine light once during the 10yrs I owned it… turned out to be a $80 oxygen sensor that was replaced this year (labor included). Not a drop of oil in my driveway and AC still blows ice cold. I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t experience it.
In a strange way, I’m almost eager to keep driving it just so I can see how long I can stretch this out…
What car do you drive and where do you stand on the gas vs electric topic?
The car I drive in Baja California Sur Mexico is a 2002 Jeep Wrangler 4x4. It’s like driving a little truck or tractor, because the wheelbase is so short. It feels squirrelly on the highway over 55 mph. It gets shitty mileage, probably 17mpg. The engine is an in line 6 cylinder. Recently on a little excursion we drove down a random road in the middle of nowhere and got into sand and we got stuck. I pulled the lever and in four wheel drive we just drove out, the little Jeep is an off road beast. I put new BF Goodrich AT tires and KYB gas shocks on it before I went anywhere in it, in addition to changing all oils, fluids, spark plugs, etc. It has gauges for oil pressure and temperature, which my Volvo doesn’t 😎
The car I drive in Baja California Sur Mexico is a 2002 Jeep Wrangler 4x4
Older Jeeps are fine. Anything from my experience 2010 or newer is a trash vehicle for Jeep. We had a Commander for a while. We rent newer Wranglers in St. Thomas/John and they work fine there for the roads and speed limit, but I'd never get one stateside.
Haven't done much rough driving with the 4-Runner yet, but it feels and drives exponentially better than a Wrangler. I know they're as capable, if not more than a Wrangler. Can fit more. I can't stand long distance driving, but I could flip 4-Runners out in MT driving them from here. Could easily make $2-5k a 4-Runner even including IL taxes when I purchase.
- large buy in price commit
- road-trip charging anxiety
- battery losing efficiency over time (and with weather)
I currently drive a 21yr old Lexus sedan - 2001 GS430
This was a $55k luxury car when new and I picked it up for $12,500 back in 2011 with 90k miles in a condition that looked like it had just rolled off the showroom floor. It has 165k miles today and is worth about $6-7k if I had to guess based on condition/mileage. I can probably drive the car another 5yrs and I estimate it will be worth the same amount given that it’s fully depreciated.
The car still looks sharp, gets about 20mpg, and still keeps me happy.
My friends think I’m batshit insane to make as much money as I do and drive a car this old but I have strong convictions about not buying shiny depreciating assets to impress other people. Additionally I prefer to put my money into investments, travel, family than things like cars or jewelry.
I estimate that I drive about 150 miles per week for work which translates to about $200 of gas per month.
I may not drive quite enough for the economics to make sense to go electric given my current reference point. I guess I need to also consider that a 21yr old car won’t run forever although I’ve seen these cars go well over 200k miles, even over 300k in some cases.
It’s remarkable how reliable this luxury Toyota has been. It’s never left me stranded, never had any high dollar repair - only brakes, tires, and some suspension bushings. Also had a check engine light once during the 10yrs I owned it… turned out to be a $80 oxygen sensor that was replaced this year (labor included). Not a drop of oil in my driveway and AC still blows ice cold. I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t experience it.
In a strange way, I’m almost eager to keep driving it just so I can see how long I can stretch this out…
What car do you drive and where do you stand on the gas vs electric topic?