Those that have a daily driver that isn't a Tundra

All,
I'm floating around the idea of getting a daily driver. I'm averaging a hair over 20k a year currently and most likely that will not be changing. Fuel costs are what they are and not really complaining about that part. My bigger concern is the miles and wear/tear.

Currently I have 75k on my 2020. Life can change but I do not plan on trading the truck in for quite some time. Mostly due to wanting to pay it off and not have a payment eventually.

Two options: Buy a $2k beater to drive daily to/from work and the couple days to inlaws house as they watch our daughter. Or lease something. The lease is looking at a Toyota BZ4x electric.

I've crunched numbers and currently spending $352 in fuel per month with 1700 miles. At this rate, I'll have 136k on the tundra in 3 years from now.

Cost savings in fuel alone are $4045 over the 3 year period. I'd still be driving the Tundra on the weekends and maybe a day a week to work.

My biggest goal is to look at cost savings and longevity of the Tundra. I can afford the fuel and maintenance on the truck so that's not the problem. It's more cost savings than cost cutting.

Thoughts form people that have a daily driver (gas or electric) and pros/cons of going with something really cheap or leasing something.

 

For me, once I factor in the cost of purchase, insurance, registration, maintenance, and fuel, having an additional vehicle doesn't make financial sense. I've crunched it every which way (I'm a spreadsheet guy) and it just doesn't work for me. That said, I like cars and I like to tinker so I've almost always had an extra one or two around even though I understand I'm overspending. If you aren't driven by wanting something different to drive and/or play with, you're probably better off enjoying your truck by putting the miles on it. Tundras do tend to last a while.

 

I second the cheap beater. Daily is a 1996 Honda Accord Wagon 5spd with roughly 385k miles. Weekend/Fun car is a 1979 BMW 320I with a swapped M3 drivetrain (S52). Tundra would be a great daily if it wasn't for paying the gas prices in SoCal.

 

$4000 in three years isn't all that much.

20mpg over 20,000 miles at my local costs of $3.19 equates to $3,190 in fuel. At 13mpg it's $4,907. That's a $1,717 annual savings assuming you never again drive the tundra, which you will, so that cost savings drops. Would take just over a year to pay off the beater, again, assuming you never drive the tundra again. Insurance ain't much but for point of reference, my 1989 4runner costs me an extra $60/mo in just liability so that's annually $720 so now the annual savings is down to $997. Assuming 5k mile oil change intervals you'll need to do 4 oil changes in a year which let's call it $40 for oil//filter that's another $160 a year so now we are down to $837. You'll probably also want to do a complete tune up on anything at that $2k price point so figure plugs, wires, all fluids, etc and your $837 drops even farther.

About the only way it works is if you go hybrid or electric but then your upfront investment goes way up which means longer return.

 

I have waffled back and forth doing the same. My 2019 is a daily driver and has over 90k miles. When I had my titan, gas was killing me and I was commuting at least 75 miles a day. I bought a Hyundai Elantra on the cheap thinking it would save me money. It didn’t. After registration, taxes, emissions and putting a little money into an oil leak and new brakes / tires eventually, it because a wash. Toyota reliability is proven and I don’t care how many miles I put on it. It’s paid off and I just stick a little extra that I would have been paying on a car note into a repair fund. And if that is never needed, it becomes a down payment fund on a new car/truck when the time comes.

 

Why not a motorcycle? Cheap on gas, insurance and a ton of fun.

 

And get a sidecar for the kids

 

I have one of those too........I would NEVER commute in it with where I live. Too many ahole drivers. They are fun and RELATIVELY cheap. You can go down a rabbit hole in gear and accessories.

 

I have never really been able to close the business case on this situation. However, one area I think gets overlooked is the replacement costs once you rack up a bunch of miles on your Tundra and decide it’s time to get another one. I am not sure how to model this but there is a cost to be calculated but even so I dont think that will close the business case.

The value for me comes down to NOT putting around town miles on my truck given the replacement cost on trucks have skyrocketed.

Everyone’s situation is different but I do use a CX5 as my daily. Overall, it probably cost me more but Id rather put the around town miles on the CX and leave the Tundra for when I need it.

Cheers,

Crunch

 

I jumped on the cheap beater thing after seeing how much I was spending on fuel. I was lucky enough to find an 05 prius at an auction and I got it for $1400. Yes insurance and tabs and maintenance on that reduces my savings in the end but the instant relief on my wallet makes it worth it to me. Getting a consistent 40-45 mpg vs 11.5 is so nice. But then again, I feel like I got pretty lucky and most people won't find a deal like that

 

I'm fortunate to have a 5 mile commute to work, but a motorcycle was my thought as well. Plus, you can put it on the back and take it on road trips!

 

I went the opposite way. After 6 years of driving a RAV4 commuter car, knowing I had two trucks at home, I just couldn't do it anymore and sold it. Although the RAV4 is a very reliable car, easy to drive and relatively fuel efficient, I just wanted to drive a truck.

I have zero cares piling miles on a Tundra, they easily handle high mileage and gas is still a relatively cheap commodity compared to other things.

 

This is why I came here and asked the question. Ya'll made some awesome points.

As much as I would love a motorcycle (again), that is out of the picture. My wife is a nurse and she's taken care of too many people in accidents, some that didn't make it. So she's already written that one out. Plus I have to drop my daughter off at daycare and pick her up after work. They frown on having a 2 year old in a side car

I was thinking of fully electric in order to not run into the issue like @centex said. Plus leasing new eliminates all maintenance costs.

I know the Tundra will last forever. That's part of the plan too. And majority of my driving is highway.

I'm a spreadsheet guy as well so I definitely have exported all of my data from my Fuelly app to an excel file, ran a pivot and then started doing calculations from there. So most of my numbers are data driven and not emotion driven. What I'm coming down to is that I will nearly cut even If I lease. The only upside is delaying how fast I hit 300k on the Tundra.

I'm with @shawn474 where I will probably always keep this topic in my head. But I think, after reading through everyones thoughts and own situations, I think leasing is going to be taken out of the equation. IF I come across a beater that gets good enough fuel mileage and is well enough maintained, and something that I like and could easily tinker with, then I will probably go down that route. In the mean time, I'll keep going with my smiles per gallon and enjoy my Tundra as I have for the past 4 and a half years.

 

Another thought. The Toyota BZ4x is what I was looking at. They're having massive lease deals right now because the volatile electric car market. There's a $7500 tax credit for electric cars made in Canada, US, and Mexico. Guess where the BZ4x is made. Japan. So that's not even an option to get the credit lol

 

It's a slippery slope man, before you know it you find a nice daily, you develop feeling for it, few mods later you need another daily/beater, before your know it you are 4-5 cars deep.

 

lol I'm ok with that. My tiny little driveway will prevent me from collecting too much. Also my wife will prevent me as well haha.

I do drive her car often and it's a blast to drive but i still love driving the truck.

 

Being that the sequoia is nearly the same, I’m assuming it wasn’t the mileage that has yours pending engine failure?

 

That title is a joke after some dummy kept saying the 5.7L's are prone to engine failure. These will last forever.

 

Haha okay sweet, I’ve been meaning to ask about that forever.

 

rest assured, these are the most reliable LD trucks available in the US.

 

Love having a cheap nearly 30 yo beater here. Nissan hardbody FTW!

 

My daily driver is a $5000 Nissan Leaf. Most of my trips are short (under 10 miles), so the Leaf is perfect for that. Those are the worst kind of miles for an ICE. I drive the Tundra once a week, usually on weekend trips that are longer.

 

I ended up picking up an Audi Q5 diesel. It’s a great cruiser and consistent 35mpg. In the 21k miles I’ve put on my Tundra, it’s cost me over 7k in fuel. I love driving my truck but I also like money.

 

I vote to buy an older reliable vehicle like an accord or camry and either buy it outright, pay it off quickly, or have a very low payment vs taking on a lease or a large payment. Then you can just carry liability on your insurance saving more money. Really the goal is to save wear and tear on the Tundra since they don't make the good ones anymore.

 

Financially, owning a commuter car is usually never a sound option. Especially at 20k a year IMHO.

I do own a commuter because my vehicles get destroyed. Before I made the first payment it was crashed into twice, keyed, and the front window was cracked while I was at work. My family requires two working family vehicles hence my commuter. With that said I wish I worked in a civilized area cause it’s such a waste of money…

 

I commute in my Tundra. 18-20k/yr.
I also keep exact records of everything down to fuel and oil that goes in it. I spent $4500 in fuel last year. That’s an average of $375/month.

What other vehicle can I buy where the purchase price, fuel cost, registration, maintenance, and insurance cost less than $375/month? A Prius would still cost $100/mo in fuel plus insurance and maintenance, etc.

I understand that the math works out if I were to keep it long enough, but I’m just not interested enough to do it.

 

But that $375/month is only fuel cost.

 

Correct…if I keep the Tundra and buy another car to daily, the only money I’m saving on the Tundra is fuel until I need to do a truck job.