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Daily Driver?


MiKa

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  • Member For: 18y 3m 7d
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: Melbourne, VIC

I know the question is a bit situation specific, but just want a general idea. Is a daily driver worth it?

I just got a new job near the city and my T is my current daily. My job now allows me to fill up once a week, I work close to home and what ever I get up to on the weekend, still once a week ~$70. Now with this new job driving to the city and back everyday around 35min each way (no traffic, with traffic on the monash who farkin knows how long) my fuel usage at a guess is gonna be a bitch. The new job pays more but with the extra fuel it won't be that great..

Is having a daily worth the extra rego and insurance is basically what I'm asking?

What cars are good daily's? Little corolla or something on gas? I wouldn't put my T on gas, it wouldn't be worth it (2003 BA with 200,000kms) Gas system worth more than the car lol...

Any info welcome..

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  • Member For: 17y 9m 21d
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: SW Sydney

I used to have a little civic as a daily Mike, the thing was excellent on fuel and required very little maintenance - all of which you can do yourself on such a basic car. Rego and Insurance can offset the scale, but considering I was doing almost 100km everyday the fuel saving was worth it alone. Then factor in the extra servicing cost of the falcon ($150 in oil every couple of months) plus wear and tear on your pride and joy I found it was worth having a run around. Plus my car was a bit of a pain around town with the heavy clutch and firm suspension, running down to the shops in a comfy buss box is hassle free!

The biggest issue you will face is trying not to mod the daily....My civic ended up with Koni's, wheels and a stereo among other things..lol

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  • Donating Members
  • Member For: 18y 3m 7d
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: Melbourne, VIC

Yeah Pat I can see the mod thing happening already, its got to have a nice stereo and wheels to offset the lack of power lol.. Also forgot to mention the initial cost of the daily too..

Was kinda thinking outside the box and maybe sell the T and get a VW diesel or something? Diesel is more expensive than unleaded fuel but I put BP98 and that sh*t is cray cray even on the 'cheap' day.. Still got a nice car, not as quick but could be fun and get good kms... But I'm 6'3 and 110kg, so dunno how that will work haha..

Not really fussed about the T tbh, id love a G6ET something newer..

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  • Member For: 10y 10m 25d
  • Gender: Male

its all reliative. Ie I just bought a XR6as a daily/station/tow car as it will warrent farr less attention (cops/thevies/matainance/) than my Sil80

but yeah it is sometime good to have a car you have little sympothy for and dont mind if it get a few more dings. From memoroy VIC rego is way cheaper than NSW so a little run around may be worth it. If you are doing it purily for commute, little 4cly hatch back would be best as way cheaper to run, insurance/ rego is cheap chainge the oil every 10K and dont worry about too much else

Igf you get an expensive/ 4L large car, wouldnt really be worth it.

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  • Member For: 11y 9m 3d
  • Gender: Male
  • Location: Frankston, 3199

How many km's should be the question.

I'm getting 19c/km on petrol (long term average) $1.64/l PULP

I'm getting 11c/km on LPG (short term average) $0.80/l LPG

(both prices can vary)

Difference is 8c/km as a rough guide for me

25,000kms a year at 8c saving = $2,000 saved

25,000kms @ 5c would be $1,250

10c saving would be $2,500 a year (if PULP goes to about $1.70 and LPG stays where it is now @0.74 for example)

All cars are different and I'm wrapped with the economy I'm getting on gas (probably a lot is due to a decent tune) - would probably be getting better economy on PULP if I tuned for it too.

There's heaps of estimates out there on economy figures of LPG vs Petrol - my figures are probably best case scenario (but they have worked for me so far :))

For me - the initial cost of the gas system (a tax refund that I would have blown on other stuff and gotten no long term result from) is now a thing of the past.

The difference in fuel cost a week well over $40 - that's noticeable for me.

If I was still driving to the city every day it'd be the difference between leaving the car at home or being able to drive.

For my cruise across to Adelaide it changed from fuel being the main budget item to accommodation being the main cost etc

Sure - it's no where as large a % difference in cost as it used to be and the installations now cost more than they did, but there's still valid reasons to get it done.

If you've got a car you love and fuel prices are dampening the affection then a LPG system could be the thing that makes it all perfect again.

Take the costs of a 2nd car out of the figures (rego, insurance, purchase price, maint and servicing etc) and the higher price of the new kits don't really seem so bad.

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  • Member For: 13y 10m 19d
  • Gender: Male

Ive got a 28km round trip to work everyday and only use 3.4ltrs of fuel, on 98 at $1.75 avg in Canberra that's 5.95 a day. Around here that's less then the cost of a bus. When u figure it's actually only $30 in fuel a week for me to get to and from work it's jack all. My costs are from longer trips on the highway every few months to see family.

I'm on a lease so my cost per ltr comes down a few cents to about 17cents for the to and from work.

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