milage

Today, on my drive home from work, I'll go past the 70,000 mile point in my truck. It's now 6 years, 6.5 months old. That's 206 miles per week or 10,705 miles per year....

It still runs quite well but I doubt I'll keep it much longer. Probably sometime in March I'll trade it in. I really want a Honda CR-V but I can't quite get myself to go past the $20k mark for a vehicle so I'll probably get something more modest.

The Hyundai Elantra sedan, around $14k, is nice albeit low powered; maybe I'll get one of those. Since I don't put many miles on my truck, the gas milage isn't a big factor for me regardless of gas prices.

My truck averages 27 mpg and anything above 25mpg is fine. The CR-Vs are around 30mpg and the Elantra gets about 28mpg.

UPDATE: It's 14 miles from work to home so I hit the 70k mark about a third of the way home. I remember it being a big thing with my brother and I when we were kids, watching those numbers slowly turn over. Usually 5 digts were an event, we never had a car long enough to see 6 digits move. Unfortunately those joys of childhood fade as we get older and since so many mileage displays today are LCD, there's no fun involved of seeing those number physically move.

Comments

Anonymous said…
So, I see your economical thoughtfulness transcends just haircuts. I moved from Kernersville about 3 years ago. My hubby was a Forester for the state. It is a beautiful state.
utenzi said…
Yep. I hate replacing my car since it's so much money down the drain. The Nissan truck I have now is just my 4th vehicle since I tend to keep them around 6 years each.

Were you born in NC? I was born in NY and moved here to NC from GA around 7 years ago.
Anonymous said…
I tend to keep a car a bit longer than you do. I'm still on my second. (Though the fact that I'm not driving kind of has been keeping me from getting another. LOL) I shoot for 10 years between cars. I was procrastinating on my second one when I was rear-ended, kind of forcing the purchase of number two in 1990. So, this one is 15 years old, but has been on its last leg for the past 4 years or so. I can't really afford a new one though, so I'm thinking of getting a used one to get around in. Soon.
Anonymous said…
I'm sure you've considered this but be sure to look at repair/maintenance costs for the CRV vs the Elantra.
I have a feeling the CRV will cost you less in repairs and headaches (no data to back it up though!).
Anonymous said…
My minivan has 104,000 miles on it, and I have been wanting to buy a new one since I hit 75,000 miles.
utenzi said…
Good suggestion, Ahamed. Honda has a sterling reputation but Hyundai has a 10 year warrentee to combat their bad quality control issues in the past. BTW, the last few pictures you've posted are great. The watermelon today is quite cute.

Judy, I've only had two cars that I went past 100k on and both were on their last legs when I traded them in. I just don't take proper care of the things. More oil changes and tuneups would keep them far happier!

Teresa, I guess if you're not driving it much it's a waste of money to get a new one. My truck is from '99 so it's a lot newer than your car. What's the mileage on yours?
Anonymous said…
Mine has about 105,000 miles on it. I don't know exactly as it's living at my brother's house at the moment.

I don't believe any of the cars we had when I was a child had 6 digit odometers, Dave. I know my first car didn't. When the insurance adjuster looked at it, she asked me if it had rolled over since I had less than about 55,000 miles on an almost 11 year old car. I just didn't drive far most days. With the second, I drove close to 100 miles a day to work for 4 or 5 years -- thus the large milage toll even though I've driven very little the last few years.
Anonymous said…
I love watching numbers tick over!! It's great fun!!! You've kinda lost me with all the car talk though... I read that and all I saw was blah blah blah. But it's not my fault, I'm a girl!
:o)
utenzi said…
You're so adorable, Yaeli. I'll miss you while you're off adventuring on that island. You be careful!
Anonymous said…
Ah, but when you have an '84 Oldsmobile like myself, you can still enjoy it every time :)

Sadly, my gas mileage is likely no-where near yours :(
Anonymous said…
I reached the 140,000 mark with my little Honda Civic last October...I stated I was going to drive it until it died. I did just that...2 months later hubby totaled my baby. No one was hurt except for my car fortunately.
utenzi said…
Chris, it's great to see you. You've been so quiet of late on your blog I was afraid you'd been kidnapped or something. I'm sorry to hear that your car had a slightly premature death but at least it had a long life with you first.

Glyn, you beat me, man. I guess I'm harvesting the fruits of those two wins last week. Now it's my turn to drink bitter wine. As for an '84 Olds... trade up!
Anonymous said…
We have a 2002 Dodge Mini Van, also known as the Loser Cruiser. I have a feeling we will be running it into the ground. It would be nice to trade, maybe for one of those new Charger's (yummy), but we still have to be good parents and take the kids with us. Kids can really cramp your car style. Of course, when my dad had his '61 Corvette, all three of us just squeezed into to passanger seat.
Anonymous said…
My car has about 270k on the clock! I wouldn' be surprised if I have it long enough to see it hit 7 figures...if it survives that long!
Anonymous said…
Good memories of Dad's Vega. We saw 100,000 and 200,000. In between, we saw dad under the hood a million times. We saw each other stacked on laps because there wasn't enough room for all of us. We watched Dad pat the dashboard to get the radio to work and to tell "her" thanks.
Happy Thanksgiving David!
Lois Lane
Anonymous said…
I get great mileage on my bicycle - all I need to do is make sure I've had enough OJ, toast and hummous before setting off :)

Our Windstar van - we're such staid parents - is just a baby. We'll be keeping it for a while. At least it has a sunroof, leather seats and a ton of doodads to keep us comfy and occupied. I've never even had a vehicle with power windows before this one, so it's been a bit of a kick thus far.

I know what you're thinking: I'm a Luddite. Weird, eh?

Michele says hi, BTW. Good to see you again this weekend!

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