New job, new commuter vehicle options

[280Ackley]

I am interviewing for a new job next week that will require me to have a 75 mile commute each way. The driving doesn’t bother me as I average over 60K miles driving each year for my current job. Trying to figure out the best option for commuting. In my eyes I have 3 options. I keep going back and forth on which one would be best please give me some feedback!

Option #1
Buy a 2-4 year old Chevy Colorado Diesel
$30,000. 40K miles odometer 30mpg.
One vehicle to maintain/insure and use for commuting and recreation (towing camper and boat)

Option #2
Buy a 2-6 year old Hybrid Prius or Hyundai
$16-$22k 50-100 miles odometer 50mpg
Plus get a truck for recreation
$10-12k
Two vehicles to maintain/Insure

Option #3
Buy a beater with a heater late 90’s Corolla
$3-8K
30-35 mpg
Plus buy a pickup for recreation
$10-$12k
Two vehicles to maintain/Insure

We currently have no debt other than our mortgage and the mortgage for our rental. I have $10-12k cash to use towards this.

 

[slvrslngr]

Option 2

 

[cnelk]

Factor in vehicle insurance and that will help the decision

 

[wyodan]

Option 3 for sure. It's a lot of fun to drive the beater with a heater. I really think you could get 3 of them for $3000 though.

 

[Centralcoastca]

I drive an older beater Prius and a Tacoma for the weekends. Works out pretty good, 45-50mpg during the week while not wasting miles on the taco, the weekends are 15mpg but wheels everywhere and both are very reliable. Tough to find anything new or used for a decent price right now. Could be worth finding something good enough for now that will do both ok like a 4Runner or something and wait for prices to come back down then make a long term move. I recently sold a used extra pickup for twice what I would’ve gotten last year just because of the market. I dont think it’ll stay like that forever though, once the dealerships fill back up with new cars there’ll be a flood of used cars being traded in by people just waiting for a new one.

 

[xziang]

Used vehicle prices are high right now. I would still go with 2 vehicles possibly. A beater for commute so you don't care about rock chips and the miles that get racked up. Downside is maintenance on them. My GFs new crostrek is getting 26mpg in the city (impressed me), my 2015 tdi golf gets 36mpg in the city. Insurance actually might not be to bad if the beater only has liability and the other has full coverage might not be a big hit to the pocket book.

 

[flyinsquirel]

I’ll propose option 2a.

Instead of a used Prius get a new Corolla hybrid. Same mpg as a Prius - should be same price in this crazy used car market, and the best part, it’s not a stupid Prius.

I’ve had several friends need new batteries in their Prius just after the warranty passed. I’d ditch any hybrid before the batt warranty expires. Them things are expensive. So much so that it can completely wipe out all your supposed savings at the pump from driving a hybrid.

 

[h2so4]

BMW diesel for the commuter car. If your going to spend that much time in the car, may as well make it enjoyable and even fun.

 

[Pigdog]

I’m in a similar situation. I’ve settled on option 2 for sure. Going for a rav-4 hybrid. Good mileage, but still good for forest/logging roads. Tacoma for hunting and camping.
I hate putting “unnecessary” miles on my truck and wearing down the tires on the highway.

 

[Marbles]

2 or 3. Depends on how long you will drive it. At 750 mi/wk there is a 10 ga difference in fuel usage, that puts you at about $1500 cost difference a year (at $3 per ga). It will take quite a few years to pay the difference between a $5k Corrola and a $16k hybrid (plus possible battery replacement on the hybrid).

As for the truck only, do you really want to put 40k mi/yr on a more expensive vehicle? How many miles do you expect out of the truck? How many years does that give you before replacement?

The not so reasonable side of me says option 1 just because.

Edit: You could pay off the beater, then get a $30k truck.

 

[02sedona]

Options 2 or 3 make sense to me. I’m currently driving a 2010 Prius to commute 75-100 miles a day for work. The diesel ram 2500 sits in the driveway most of the week

 

[Kimber7man]

Get a used 4 cylinder Camry now.

Thank me later…

 

[chadcharb]

Bought my wife a VW TDI and have not regretted it for one minute. Especially with the whole tdi lawsuit, you can't beat the warranty you get with them now and they still get 50mpg. Her's is a fully loaded 2014 passat with 35k for $12k. Hard to beat it for comfort and price

 

[rayporter]

option one might be a very tall task in todays market.

i have always maintained option 3 and kept a truck for special purposes. the truck is not used as a daily driver or grocery getter. i do everything i can to keep miles off the truck and make it last.

 

[Kimber7man]

Bought my wife a VW TDI and have not regretted it for one minute. Especially with the whole tdi lawsuit, you can't beat the warranty you get with them now and they still get 50mpg. Her's is a fully loaded 2014 passat with 35k for $12k. Hard to beat it for comfort and price

I’ve got an A7 3.0 TDI. Love that engine!

 

[Fatcamp]

We drive Toyota SUV's for kids and work. Modern F250 for camping and hunting.

Except this weekend. For some stupid reason we took my wife's RAV4. What a horrid travel vehicle.

 

[hodgeman]

Option 4, none of the above.

If you're spending 3 hours of your life behind the wheel every single day. Make it as comfortable as you can.

Get a model with a record of longevity- Camry, Accord, etc. Pick up a beater pickup for towing the boat and camper, borrow one, rent one, etc. You don't tow a camper or boat everyday...those are a few times per year at best.

Making that commute in a 90s shitbox will get very old, very fast.