2008-10-28

predictive cost to own

ran across this on y! autos.
http://autos.yahoo.com/chrysler_pt_cruiser_convertible_base-price/?zip=95051

in case the link someday goes dead, it predicts that in 5 years the total cost of owning the continual car will be $46,215, assuming 15k miles/year with this breakdown:

depreciation: $12,602
fuel cost: $13,395
financing: $3,162
insurance: $6,922
maintenance: $2,613
fees, taxes: $2,000
repairs: $1,038
opportunity cost: $4,483

all of these things will be pretty easy to check in the future with the possible exception of the "opportunity cost," which i'd have to dig on a bit to figure out. they give the cost/mile as being $0.62 (dividing the $46k figure by 75k miles). there's also no mention of car payments here (maybe that's offset in the opportunity cost -- i'm a little tired right now to think this through fully).

five years from now i may have to pull one of my accountant pals aside to make sure i'm doing an apples-to-apples comparison.

2008-10-26

early hallowe'en

got another flicker of the airbag light while driving tonight. just noting it for posterity.

2008-10-24

you destroy what you touch?

another missive from b1-67er.

***

The Automotive Fascist's dad, who was also a big car freak, once told me he believed that skin oil (and other things on the hands) was the biggest destroyer of dashes and upholstery on cars (aside from the sun).

The attached picture is of a hole in the top of the passenger seat on the Galaxie -- where my hand rests when I drive one handed.



[note: this car has since undergone extensive restoration ... can't wait to see it ... it's the chromatic inverse of the continual car: white body, blue roof.]

2008-10-23

lifetime powertrain warranty return (LPWR)

LPWR is my term for money that i have saved by buying a car with a lifetime powertrain warranty.  this wasn't a concept i had originally considered when i wrote this blog, but i recently had the turbo and the transmission replaced and didn't want the dollars saved by having this warranty get crossed up with my SCR.

although i've created this new definition in 4/14, i've back dated it to here to keep it more in line with my other definitions.

service contract return (SCR)

SCR is my term for money that i'm getting back because i have the bumper-to-bumper lifetime wrap on my car. although the primary reason i keep track of this figure is for the actual mechanical work on the car, it can also include things like roadside service (good for the first 7 years/100k miles) and free rentals during service (ditto). this figure is a little scammy because i wouldn't be doing things like renting a car while i have my car serviced if i had to pay for it -- but it's a perk of the program and i see actual dollar figures pass back-and-forth between the chrysler and the rental agencies, so i'm counting it. who knows what the real dollar figure for things like this is? one thing's for sure -- i get a rental car when i get my car serviced and i'm not paying for it. and that's a pretty damn good deal (even if i am essentially paying for it).

also, this number includes any warranty service that is done after the standard 3 year/36,000 mile service less the $100 deductible -- the whole reason i have the warranty in the first place.  (4/26/14 addendum: i'm not aware what these actual numbers are, but i've been asking my dealers what the costs would be as i get work done ... SCR isn't IRS accounting accurate, but rather a good ballpark figure).

i paid $1542 for the bumper-to-bumper wrap so once my SCR gets above this figure i've "made money" by buying the wrap.

(the $0 deductible was $1270 more -- once i've made more than 12 warranty trips to the dealer, after 36,000 miles, i would have been better off to buy that policy instead.)

note: the rental car fee for my first service was $35, but was moved down to $28 on subsequent services. i don't know why.

losing chrysler's blessing

"losing chrysler's blessing" is a phrase i just made up to describe "official chrysler dealerships" that have either gone completely out of business (e.g. united chrysler in las vegas) or have had their dealership credentials revoked (e.g. boardwalk chrysler in redwood city).

i'm driving enough and getting service at enough different places that i thought this would be an interesting figure to keep track of over time.  i'm not religiously checking to see if past dealers have no longer made the grade, but if i find 'em, i'll post 'em here.

(this written 12/10/09, but pre-dated to go with other definitions.)

current TVC

if i was a little more ambitious i'd take the time to figure out how to add a spreadsheet that would be constantly updated here, but i'm not.

this is my first attempt at TVC for the continual car and i wanted to line-item the stuff here to make sure it was right "enough." in the future i'll just be putting figures directly into the header/sidebar/whatever i decide, but for the first snapshot i wanted to list it all out.

car cost out-the-door: US$23,091 (a good deal -- MSRP is $23,325)
gasoline: $2916*
bumper-to-bumper warranty wrap: $1542
insurance: $776
car cover and cleaning supplies: $281
DMV fees: $189 (might be catching some of this twice from the OTD price above)
standard automotive service: $125
parking and tolls: $75
vacuum: $66


total: $29,061

current cost/mile: $1.77

*this is [(16,400 miles/20.4mpg @ $4/gallon) - (4 tanks that have been bought for me)]. the number is definitely within 10% and probably within 5% of the "true" number. obviously, this figure becomes more accurate over time from here.)

total vehicle cost (TVC)

the TVC i'm posting in the margin is an attempt to get all costs associated with the continual car, including but not limited to:

* purchase price of the continual car
* cost of the maximum care service contract (aka: "warranty wrap")
* gas
* service costs
* insurance
* license plates
* taxes
* parking fees (including tickets)
* tolls
* service manuals
* maintenance supplies
* the continualcar.com domain name

it does not include:

* music i buy to play in the car
* price of gas for my rentals when the continual car is in service
* food eaten in the car
* my time
* items lost from getting blown out or stolen while the top is down

conversation with the automotive fascist

this was a conversation i had with my brother's friend, the automotive fascist, once he found out i was serious about a car-for-life. the opening sentence has to do with him predicting, 15 years ago, that my del sol would go 100k miles, then fall apart.

his email first, my ***embedded response*** below.

&&&


I'm quite certain that we define a bucket of bolts quite differently. However, I have sold Honda short over the years.
You've left out the possibility that Chrysler doesn't make it as long as you do. I could see you driving that turd-burglar for three decades. Call it "30 years of humiliation, b1-66er's test of human and mechanical endurance". Chrysler has little chance of making it that far.
I also bought a Chrysler product, a truck with a Cummins diesel. I also got a service manual (a free pdf I got off of a diesel freak blog). I bought it to use it hard and then have it recycled into whatever.
I do see a culture shift away from pure internal combustion but I see it driven by Europe's CO2 standards more than our government but things change. We may one day wake up.


&&&


I'm quite certain that we define a bucket of bolts quite differently.

***
i'm quite certain that you're an automotive fascist.
***


However, I have sold Honda short over the years.

***
right.
***


You've left out the possibility that Chrysler doesn't make it as long as you do.

***
no.

i fully expect there will not be a chrysler in the future. in fact i'd say it's 50-50 that there'll be no chrysler by the end of the year and 95% that there won't be a chrysler by the end of 2009.

i'm *almost* as confident that there will be a contractual/financial obligation that GM and/or nissan/renault (it'll be 1 of those 2 that end up with it) will have to fulfill.

i expect the bumper-to-bumper wrap (and possibly the lifetime powertrain) to be offered for only the briefest glimpse of time. that's why i jumped on it as quickly as i did.

poke around on the internet ... there's a nearly infinite number of people who have a nearly infinite number of reasons that you shouldn't do what i've done here ... nearly all of them are either under-informed or just pessimistic at heart.

i've *never* had warranty work on *anything* questioned. and i, definitely, am johnny warranty.

i've got a really good chrysler shop right now. they fixed a rattle in the convertible mechanism -- something damn near every shop would ignore or not be able to fix. if those guys stay in some form of business in whatever the new world is, i should be okay-ish.

the car as a whole is remarkably solid and tight. extremely well put together. b1-67er and i rented a dodge calibre on our annual WY trip and that thing was a piece of crap (think electrical tape holding engine pieces flush). i don't know if it's the mexico vs. US build or what.
***


I could see you driving that turd-burglar for three decades.

***
i shouldn't be laughing at this.
***


Call it "30 years of humiliation, b1-66er's test of human and mechanical endurance". Chrysler has little chance of making it that far.

***
as a corporation, when you pick up chrysler, you pick up their financial obligations. the logo and company go away, the intellectual property (IP) doesn't. whoever owns the IP has to fulfill the contract, i'm nearly certain. (i'm positive that's true if it's insurance -- that's part of what insurance commissioners do -- i just don't know about warranty. whatever happens, it will have HEAVY government supervision.
***


I also bought a Chrysler product, a truck with a Cummins diesel. I also got a service manual (a free pdf I got off of a diesel freak blog). I bought it to use it hard and then have it recycled into whatever.

I do see a culture shift away from pure internal combustion but I see it driven by Europe's CO2 standards more than our government but things change. We may one day wake up.


***
nuke cars. that's what i'm waiting for.
***

rhymes with "duck"

this from my brother, the world's best mechanical engineer, when i asked him about possibly buying a reusable air filter (with a 1M mile guarantee) and then continually cleaning it every oil change for the life of the car.

***

re: Reusable air filters SUCK


Reusable air filters fall under the broad umbrella of aftermarket automotive equipment that is almost unequivocally bad. My wife bought one of these for her Yaris without my knowledge. Her gas mileage dropped a couple MPG.

Air intakes are extensively engineered by car companies to optimize air flow and minimize noise in the engine compartment. They might have a few thousand hours of engineering in this system. The aftermarket guys think they're working hard if they throw 200 hours at a problem. K&N makes this reusable filter material then repackages it for 200 different cars. I'm sure they don't even check if it affects HP, noise, or mpg. They just check if it fits. You'll have people tell you that they are great. Ask them how they know that.

I believe my wife's car suffered because it was highly engineered for gas mileage and the K&N filter caused more resistance to incoming air flow (and possibly different flow such as turbulence).

Some of the aftermarket car parts guys make aftermarket motorcycle parts. EVERY aftermarket part used on the Indian Motorcycle had issues. And there were a lot of them. Fuel petcocks, fuel caps, coils, brakes etc, etc. Aftermarket automotive parts are underengineered.

2008-10-22

caught up

for the first time in almost a year, i'm caught up.

there's some stuff i want to add here -- specifically total vehicle costs as well as a link to another continual car guy.

but for right here, right now, i'm even. and that's great.

2008-10-18

hot air

the airbag light flickered just a bit during normal driving today. i have no idea what's up with that, but i'll betcha it's just an anomaly. i'll mention it when i go for my next oil change, but that won't be for awhile.

2008-10-02

14,906 mile service

back to boardwalk for a coupon oil change (with windshield wipers this time) and a complaint on the trim coming off my sport bar (again).

i get a different service rep this time. he's a something like a german immigrant - super busy, heavily accented. i'm trying to get the point through that this trim work has been done before but it's not sticking.

"it has to stick." i'm not sticking. "i don't care what you do. you can wrap duct tape around the damn thing. i don't care. it just HAS to be a chrysler repair. i'm driving this car for life. right? see? FOR LIFE. you have to make a fix that you will approve of in the future. oh and those wipers? don't put 'em on the car, just put 'em in the backseat -- they don't need to be changed yet."

he nods, mumbles something in quasi-english. who the hell knows what's going to happen. i've done what i can. as the muslims say, "inshallah."

i get the car back. the wipers are in the back seat, still boxed. the trim is affixed to the sport bar and doesn't seem like it will come off.

i love you boardwalk chrysler. i really do.

$24.00