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100,000 Miles @ $0.365/Mile

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Main Forum' started by ATHiker, Jan 16, 2019.

  1. ATHiker

    ATHiker Senior Member

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    Next week will be my 3-year Pria-Versary!

    God willing, the odometer will turn 100,000 miles in the next day or two.

    It’s been a heck of a ride!

    Here is what I figure it has cost so far:

    E0869804-FCB8-4D87-A96F-6ADE8588CF83.jpeg
     
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  2. rosencrantz

    rosencrantz Member

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    Impressive detail. Congrats! I especially like the addition of lost opportunity cost of capital. Sounds like the car has ran basically flawlessly for those 100k miles? Any detectable oil consumption?
     
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  3. robsnyder20

    robsnyder20 Active Member

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    Good Write Up ATHiker. Wow, you were a super early taker on a 16 prius. You surely have one of the first off the assembly lines. I don't believe there were any in Florida till February or March in Florida. I hope you're planning on running it another 100K or so given your depreciation estimated value of 11K
     
  4. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    Yes, good to see - most people don't take that into account - not even depreciation.

    When I bought the PRIUS, I had quite a few cars factored in my spreadsheet - including 2 BMWs (i3 and 330e) which was close on double the amount. When I factored depreciation and "cost or money" - it was scary - made it much more than double the cost.

    I had a "discussion" not long ago with someone - hadn't even thought of anything other than the cost of petrol. When I mentioned tyres, service costs etc - went glassy eyed - it seems that she only ever fills it up, but her husband arranges tyres, services, wiper blades - and she hadn't taken any thought that, combined with insurance and registration, they'd be more than the cost of petrol.
     
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  5. ATHiker

    ATHiker Senior Member

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    Thanks.

    I have been keeping track of gas purchases and other expenses on Fuelly.Com and hanging on to all my receipts in a dedicated binder.

    Further thoughts (Negatives):
    • Softex steering wheel skin peeled like a snake (5” section) — learned to live with it, but it would drive some crazy
    • Car shows a good number of small pencil tip size dings on the nose cone
    • Plenty of scratches in the door handle cup (Blizard Pearl)
    • Paint on door sill wore down to bare metal
    • Gas overflowed while filling up 2x (every Prius owner needs to read up on that)
    • There were 5 (I think) recalls, but all could be taken care of when getting oil change
    • Opprtunty cost of capital was probably greater for me - an S&P Spyder had a CAGR of about 8%/year over the time I had my car
    • I may need a battery when I go in for my 100,000 mile service next weeks
    • They took my Pandora away!
    • I did have a week with radio reboots early on, but issue resolved itself
    • Mechanics cannot help but scratch up the black rims with their wrenches when rotating tires — No respect for a Prius!
    Further thoughts (positives):
    • Apart from my steering wheel, virtually no visible wear on interior - seats remain perfect
    • Apart from those chips and the door handle area, paint looks great
    • No issue with oil or any fluids (I change oil every 10k now)
    • No rattles or growns
    • I probably would not have needed the second set of tires before 100k (first set was replaced at 56k) but I damaged one tire on a curb and ended up getting all 4 at a dealer just before a long road trip
    • Safety Connect subscription dropped to $80 - but not sure why I bother
    • Cost per mile is definitely going to drop as I intentd to hang on to this for a while. If I could squeeze 245k out of my Saab while waiting for the Gen 4, sky is the limit for this car!
    • I didn’t include the cost of a Carista, but that was money well spent
    And finally:
    • Prius Chat has definitely added to the fun of owning this Carl!!!!
     
  6. stephensprius

    stephensprius Active Member

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    Congrats! you certainly do a lot of driving. wow.
     
  7. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Congrats!. Impressive numbers. Prius is one of those cars, more you drive, more you save cars. I have been keeping a detailed record of expenses related to car operation and maintenance myself for my last three cars. My last car Gen3 Prius driven 30 months 35K had a real cost of ownership of $615.83/mo and $0.527/mile. The gas cost only was similar to yours at $0.046/mile. I am hoping my current car, Prime will exceed this number in 12 months.
     
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  8. ATHiker

    ATHiker Senior Member

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    I am still trying to wrap my head around that.

    The thing is, one not only forgoes the return on their purchase price for the time they own their car (or what aver period their ananlysis covers), but FOREVER.

    If one were thirty years of age and purchased a perfectly great Prius for $24,469 ($10k less than I splurged on mine) and put that $10,000 into an S&P Index fund, I wonder how much earlier they could retire?

    Or if they would see that money grow in real terms to the point it would pay for the future equivalant of a brand new Tesla 100D when they got to my age?

    It just might.
     
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  9. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    Dead right. But generally it's thought of as the cost of the money during the time you have the "object". And then you forget that you ever had it in most fiscal calculations.

    But I could, in theory STILL count the cost or running my first car in 1972, the 1973 car, the 1975 car ... because, if I'd forgone those purchases and invested the $$$ at compound interest - I'd be a millionaire.

    BUT - (assuming never owned a car) I'd have to have deducted the cost of extra time travelling, the cost of TAXI, Car Hire, Bus, Train etc fares - and the lost wages for when the bus didn't turn up and I was late to work. That looks a bit complex - so we don't do that. [Or ridden a pushbike / walked everywhere.]

    BUT - in reality, we own the following gadgets - which we just write off as part of life:
    • house [or rent]
    • car
    • piano
    • coffee maker
    • bed
    • linen
    • coffee maker
    • fridge
    • vacuum cleaners
    • coffee maker
    • phones
    • et al
    We start off with nothing - and take nothing with us.
     
  10. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    A really LOT of people don't factor in "cost of money"......or even know what that IS.
    That's why they are always "broke". :(
     
  11. rosencrantz

    rosencrantz Member

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    Lot of variables to consider....but, I'm guessing the $10K wouldn't allow for much of an early retirement. If one invested $10K and managed to get a return of 8% annually (estimation of historical stock returns), it'd come out to about $100K after 30 years. Not sure that an extra $100K would allow a significant change in retirement....
     
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  12. rosencrantz

    rosencrantz Member

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    "Gas overflowed while filling up 2x (every Prius owner needs to read up on that)"

    This grabbed my attention. I haven't seen anything about it. Is there a known problem putting gas into these cars? Thanks.
     
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  13. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    But take into account maybe 25 cars over 50 years (assume 2 cars in the household for much of that time). Admittedly, they're not all 30 years investment - some only 1 year, others 50 years. Well over 2 mill I'd guess - except, you've not been able to go anywhere.
     
  14. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    You have three coffee makers. :D I have at least five different coffee makers. :coffee: I can't even imagine what life is like without good cup of coffee. LOL
     
    #14 Salamander_King, Jan 17, 2019
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2019
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  15. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    Never had it, and don't recall any comment with Gen 4s. Though - maybe USA has different fuel filler - I know your opening mechanism is different.
     
  16. rosencrantz

    rosencrantz Member

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    Good point. I’ve spent a LOT of money over the years on cars. I’m recently retired - early. If I had spent less money on cars, I probably could have retired earlier . Of course, I very much enjoyed some of those cars - wish I’d kept a couple of them - hard to put a price on happiness though...
     
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  17. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    Only one at a time - but I must have got carried away typing it in THREE times. Probably because I'd drunk a coffee but it hadn't kicked in - yet. That's when you think it hasn't worked and you get another just in case it never does.
     
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  18. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    +1!!

    Hope you see 300K!
     
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  19. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    Yes, sometimes I ponder the cars I've had - whether I moved them on too soon. It's odd, the most obscure ones, or not necessarily the nicest ones, I've fond memories of.

    I had 2 VW Microbuses ('74 and '77 - the latter Auto+A/C!!) - and even in average condition now are worth as much as a new PRIUS. Loved both those. Oddly enough, one I particularly remember was a Manual '80 VOLVO which I bought when it was 19 yrs old because I needed a cheap car - kept it 4 years, repaired quite a few things on it - kept me occupied, and I worked on a lot of the repairs with my son who gained a lot of experience with helping (and he could crawl underneath instead of me!!).
     
  20. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    Yeah, I realized there are THREE. I corrected it. I have all five of them now and use all of them depending on what kind of coffee I want to brew. If you need a kick, I suggest brewing (cooking?) real Turkish coffee with a cezve. More punch than double shots of espresso.
     
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