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55 comments on Variable vs. Fixed Costs of Driving

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Mad Maxout on May 3, 2006 - 7:08pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
200,000 miles, 400,000 to go sounds great. That's equivalent to a round trip from Earth to the moon and back, plus gratuitous orbits! Just to put it into perspective. That's a lot of driving. If the drivetrain has another 400,000 miles left, it might actually last until the oil is gone. Just make sure your heat shield tiles are glued on good!

My Kia Rio has 50,000 miles on it and has a 10 year/100K warranty on the drivetrain. It's a Year 2001 model I bought at the 50,000 mile mark/5 year mark. 2 orbits, 2 to go for the warranty. Unfortunately, becuse Kia only recently emerged, nobody knows the long term reliability of Kias. New, they cost about $10,000 and mine was $5,000. With most of the depreciation out of the way it won't be long until I'm flying right-side-up financially. As gas prices go up, it might actually appreciate in value after a while - unlike SUVs. Meanwhile, SUV values will crash n' burn.

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AlanfromBigEasy on May 3, 2006 - 9:34pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Mercedes W123s are considered to be the best of all automobiles for conversion to biodiesel (SOLID Bosch mechanical fuel injection "can push bananas", not lubricated by fuel as many others are).

I will never see high mileage (31 mpg x 75 gallons/year x 30 years = 70,000 miles more) but I like solid cars :-)

And the energy to build it lies 24 years in the past.  I will let the future owner wear it out with biodiesel.

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stiffpicken on May 6, 2006 - 11:32am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
i've been checking local classifieds for quite a while looking for circa 1980 mercedes diesels with approx 150,000 miles on them. they are few and far between - as one would expect. they are also pretty expensive. unfortunately, too many people already know the value in these automobiles. but maybe i'll get lucky one of these days
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