Keep the Tacoma and buy Civic???

Havent done the math of your scenario, but my gut tells me it is not worth it when you factor in maintanance and other costs required to keep the car on the road. I personally would not, and yes, I thought about it. Instead, I carpool to work with my coworker. We take turns to drive. I drive one week, he drives the other. Of coruse I realize it may not be an option for you.

On the contrary here is an example of my dad:

My dad got an 02 Saturn LS2 with 120k on it before this winter and parked his 02 Sierra 2wd in the garage under parking insurance. (cheap) He will have it out for the summer, going to the lake, mountains etc. He starts it every weekend and moves it around the driveway once a month or so. Got the saturn for $1900 and sold his winter tires and rims from the truck that he does not need anymore for $750, so the car cost him $1150 eventually. He gets more than double mileage and seems ok with the way it worked out for him. Of course this way he gets to drive only one vehicle at a time...His $300+ monthly fuel bill shrunk to maybe $120. So far it was only cost of fuel, insurance and an oil change on the new car for him. Will see how long it will last.

 

I say supercharge your truck with the money, you know, for the better gas mileage.

But seriously, remove the block of lead from your foot and you will save a fortune. If you accelerate slowly, and run 65-70 on the interstate, you will save more money then buying a commuter car.

 

I am also in the same situation right now. I drive 230 miles to and from work 3 times a week. Should be getting a civic or corolla in the next few months.

 

This^^^^^

If you don't gun it all the time, with stock tires I used to get 21 mpg calculated at every fill up. If you want to get extreme, you could try out hypermiling. I can say that you can for sure do better than 25 mpg with those techniques...and it is fun in its own way

 

Another thing to factor in is resale in the taco, with the saved miles, you will get more out of your taco when you sell it.

 

I guess only you can answer that question for yourself, since everybodys situration is different. I for one sold my '99 tacoma and went the economical route with a jetta and regretted it after about 3 mos. Then after a year traded the jetta in on a new tacoma. I bought a truck for a reason. TO DRIVE IT.. besides your tacoma is paid for....that should relieve the sting a little at the pump.

 

Good advise Chad7088. I forgot what it was like when I drove a Dodge Intrepid for a 5+ years. Driving enjoyment was just about a ZERO (sorry if you're an Intrepid fan; they just suck!). I know a little car 3 inches off the ground will not have the same driving enjoyment or stability as a Tacoma. I also realized my 6'6" body might not fit in a Civic. Even if it did I'll have to roll out of car to get out. My lower back will be killing me by end of the week.

Could be forced into this when gas is $8 a gallon.

 

Just read the title of the post and thought I would chime in since I am in the exact same situation. The short answer is yes. I live about an hour from work and have to commute back and forth. I had a chance to buy a used 02 Civic and like you was wondering if it would be worth buying to save on gas. I sit down and done some math and figured out that it would take me about a year or a little less to be at the break even point on buying the car vs the gas savings. It is going on two years now and it has worked out great for me and also helps to keep the miles off my truck.

 

I'm 6'4" myself, and I avoid cars for the very reason of having to crawl in and out of it.

 

Civic's and Tacoma's belong together, I had 3 different combo's of the sort over the years... When I get a different tacoma I get a different civic or vice versa.

 

My thoughts exactly but there is more to consider. The civic will not be worth little to zero as the cost of fuel will always fluctuate above its current average and there are always people looking to travel this similar path. It won't be worth 3k obviously but if you could make half the money back as long as the car does not self destruct in the meantime. Then of course you have a car that is truly nothing and you hope its demise occurs after you break even.

Also, another thing to consider is the Tacoma will not be depreciating as fast due to the lack of usage as a DD. This can be beneficial as Tacomas hold their value.

The biggest issue to get over(for me at least) as the civic will nowhere be as enjoyable to drive on a daily basis as the Tacoma. As long as you can get from point a to point b and not care how it happens then a cheap dd may be worth it.

 

OH geez....yea you forgot to mention you were 6'6"....the civic would NOT be your friend!
As a matter of fact after you roll out of it...you will probably kick it!

 

Fit = go cart

At least that is how I remember it from my test drive back in '07. Was a 5spd though...

 

No, no. I meant that in a good way.

I was test driving with my dad and we were both gone for over an hour, not in any rush to return to the dealer. It was a fun little car. I agree, would rather have one over a Civic.

 

Maintenance on the car is really NOT an added expense, only the initial purchase price plus its taxes and the added insurance are. Any maintence expense to the car is saved maintenance expense for the truck, and civics are a bit cheaper to maintain than tacomas in my experience. Tire costs alone are about 1/2.

Of course, if you truck sits so much that the servicing gets done by time, not milage, or the tires dry rot before wearing out, then yes, there will be some additional expense.

Without actually doing the hard math and knowing how to predict gas prices for the future, I bet you'd roughly break even, with more hassle. I miss my '96 civic sometimes though, consistantly better than 40 mpg (us) on my previous hwy commute.

 

The way I look at it, I put 55,000 mi on my corolla since i bought it, not on my truck. Plus over twice the mpg.

But I don't really care much about the enjoyment of driving back and forth to work. it is a boring drive no matter what. Maybe if I had alot longer commute.

I love driving my carolla knowing for $2000.00 i have a car that is going to last me a lot longer with little maintenance or repair costs.

 

I commute very far to work , and I get dirty as hell in my trade .
A work beater is a must have for me.

I have a 97 civic as a commuter car, my taco is a garage queen.

Well worth it for me.

 

Swap the civic for a bike:
-Better mileage
-More fun
-Profit!

 

I will be doing something similar. More than $3k though. I'm a construction electrician and end up on sites that easily have me driving over a 100 miles a day. In my tacoma that's a fill up about every 2.5 days plus over 2000 miles a month. So for me it's cheaper to have a fuel efficient vehicle, along with my truck lasting longer from not putting so many miles on it.

 

Kailey Jo - You're brave to ride a bike living in Ontario. I can only imagine the Harsh winters!!!

I'm saving for a classic muscle car and by no means ready to buy or have the money for it. But if I get a used modern classic NOW it might be worth getting. It will need to be 4 door, $10k or less, 30+MPG, and fun to drive. Like a Acura TSX, BMW 3, Mazda 3, Civic SI, or Jetta GLI. A fun car to whip through application mountains roads with the family.

As I think about it more, I'll eventually get bored with the 4 door sporty car and go back to the muscle. I'm drooling just thinking about resto mod by Detroit Speed. Or even a killer 1973 K-5. Shoot...I'll even take a CJ7 with 350 swap.