Second car help needed

I hear ya, I’d definitely punch numbers. Unless you’re trading across straight any added expenses but a lot of gas.

Our Tundra/4Runner barely get 12/15 in the winter and 14/17 if we’re lucky in the summer, but we’re waiting for the right replacement for the wife because dropping many thousands of dollars, plus paying thousands more over time for insurance, maintenance, etc. in order to save a grand a year in gas just doesn’t math.

Good luck in your search!

Hard to find a vehicle that does it all!

 

Get a Toyota Highlander, you should be able to find a good deal on a ‘17-18’ models. At this stage of life with little kids it’s all about utility and reliability.

 

Since your wife is probably going to drive the Sequoia anyway, regardless of what you get, why not just get yourself a used Corolla or something else that's cheap and good on gas?

 

I hate to be a downer here, but if the cost of gas to drive the Sequoia is eating into your monthly budget enough to hurt: you can’t afford the Sequoia or the hobbies associated with it.

Get rid of it and get a cheap used minivan. Get rid of the 4Runner too if needs be, unless it’s paid off.

Find cheaper hobbies for awhile.

You now have 2 small kiddos. They’re expensive and it sounds like you’re stretched way too thin trying to maintain a lifestyle you can no longer afford.

 

Seriously.

Like I said before, if she already loves driving the Sequoia with the kids, she’s gonna drive the Sequoia.

If you want a rig to save gas money on, just buy a Prius. I bought my teenage sons a 2012 Prius and the thing gets 50mpg, is surprisingly huge inside with the hatchback, is reliable as an anvil, and despite their best efforts they can’t kill it even with 200K miles. I feel like it is printing money with them driving it the last couple years.

 

Sounds like my dad's 2003 Matrix.

 

All those tundras were essentially paid for by work and the vast majority of those parts weren’t paid for or traded and transferred from truck to truck. Most of the prior tundras were sold before 100k and at not much of a loss considering they were driven hard daily towing for work. Sold my 19 for a solid gain and made about $20k selling the parts off it that I knew wouldn’t work on the 22. The 22 I took it in the shorts a bit, but I wanted out of that thing- didn’t trust it and was less than ideal for the family.

Listen I hear ya, but what it boils down to is money out the door vs money staying in the account and trying to be smart about it. If we can swap the 4Runner flat out or make some cash and get something 20+% more efficient that’s less cash out the door each month.

4Runner is paid off, Seqouia will be paid off sometime mid summer- didn’t want to put all the cash down on it.

Its more of the gas to fill both of the rigs up weekly is eating into funds I’d rather be saving/ going on trips/ etc.

Big. big difference in “economy” for someone who’s been driving a 5.7l truck since 07 and someone with a lead foot driving a gutless 4runner for the past 10 years…. I’ve always made it a game to see how good of mpg I can get in these trucks without driving like a granny, my wife on the other hand guns it and accelerates into a stops… I can squeak out 13-16 mpg around town in it, her driving is 9-12 at best. the gauge on the Seqouia is always less than a 1/4 right after filling it up. The 4Runner is a great car, it’s just bland, doesn’t get great mpg and is rough due to years of neglect. Looking for that silver bullet car that checks all the boxes and gives us a little more freedom, which as you noted every bit counts with 2 young kids

 

I’d be all over a Prius but she won’t let it live in our driveway, much like the minivan I dream of

 

Well man, I’ve given the best advice I can with the limited information given. Maybe I’m not interpreting things 100% but it sounds like you can’t afford to achieve your more important goals because of the fuel consumption of a vehicle. You can’t afford the vehicle if that’s the case. Get rid of it. Get something way way way less expensive to acquire and operate per mile for your wife.

There’s more to life than having a nice car or truck if that acquisition is making financial stress.

 

Is she working? If the answer is yes, she has a say in what she drives within the budget she can afford.

If the answer is no, then she might need a detailed explanation of reality and what it really costs to maintain appearances just so random strangers think your car or truck is cool.

 

How much do y’all drive in a year? The numbers don’t make sense to drop tens of thousands on another vehicle to save a few hundred a month unless gas is very expensive and/or miles are very high.

 

Stick with the 4runner and beat that one up some more. Why get a Lexus GS if you're gonna beat that up too.

 

it would be a direct swap $ for $ on whatever we move to- no out of pocket

 

This is kind of where we’re landing, grind it out until it implodes then get a minivan, sell the Seqouia eventually when the kids are older and dad gets a truck again

 

This is probably not relevant to the conversation, but if I was ever in the market for a car I would 100% be in a Lexus GS-F.

I just wanted to put that out there because it’s fun to think about a 470HP luxury V8 Camry.

 

With our insane gas prices, we just use premium in the Tundra but rely on our EV's for daily use.

I have a 2015 BMW i3 for 6 years and it is used daily for our business. It has been a great car and paid for itself a few times over in fuel savings.

My wife uses her VW ID.4 for everything else. We have a Level 2 home charger so it makes charging a breeze.

I think the current price for a litre (about the same as a quart) of premium is around $2.50. So it works out to $6.91 USD per gallon.

This is the main reason why the Tundra has only around 4.500 miles on it in 19 months.

The BMW has been great and they can be found at a pretty good price these days but they do have the potential for huge repair bills if you get a bad one.