Hey Scotty,
I may be switching jobs here in the near future and the prospective new job will require me to use my own vehicle for the first year before a company car is provided. Currently I drive a 2016 Nissan Titan XD so that's going to be out of the question as the 15MPG it gets would kill me, even though I do get mileage reimbursement. So I've been looking at a few different cars on the used market and want to know what you think. I'm looking at 2010-2015 Toyota Camry, and Camry Hybrid, and 2010-2015 Honda Accords. I know you're a Toyota guy, but I was just wondering if there is anything in particular to look out for, especially since all of these will likely have over 100k miles. Thank you, your channel is awesome!
Check Scotty's opinions about these
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/vid-review/vehicles-reviwed-by-scotty/
2016 Nissan Titan XD so that's going to be out of the question as the 15MPG it gets would kill me, even though I do get mileage reimbursement
That's 67 gallons per 1,000 miles - about twice that of the average compact.
That's about 23 cents per mile in fuel costs, not too horrible.
use my own vehicle for the first year before a company car is provided
So you want to buy an entire car to cut your fuel expenditure in half - only for one year?
I'm looking at 2010-2015 Toyota Camry
2.4 engine cars burn oil,
Later 4 cylinder models (2012-2014) have torque convertor issues.
Toyota official TSB: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2017/MC-10146516-9999.pdf
And the V6 has horrid fuel economy.
So the only car in this category that's not horrible (excluding fuel hungry V6s)
Is the 2015 2.5L Camry but then again it only gets 28mpg combined.
In your Titan you're getting the same as the "EPA city" millage for your car, chances are this will be also true for the Camry and you'll get the 21 mpg it advertises.
So is it worth buying an expensive 2015 car to save 20 gallons per 1,000 miles?
Assuming you drive the average 14,000 miles that's about a $1k difference - less than the cost of insuring an additional car.
2010-2015 (...) Camry Hybrid
a 2010 Camry Hybrid has 13 year old batteries - the age when these begin to fail.
You could get a 2015, it advertises 40 mpg combine but then again it's a somewhat new and expensive car.
2010-2015 Honda Accords
As far as 4 cylinder engines with automatics, they all get in the low-mid 20s in the city.
The CVT accord also doesn't improve much, it does reach 30 mpg combined but still only 26 city and it also adds the added expense of ensuring a CVT.
If you wanna save on gas, you need to look at cars that make gas savings their main point.
I previously had a Kia Niro (Guinness World Record holder for world's most efficient hybrid car) car - and it made lots of compromises mechanically to achieve the the pretty incredible fuel millage, so it's not a great option.
Similarly I would not recommend the "MPG king" (Ioniq Blue). There are videos of people getting over 65 MPG on it (and I was able to get that on my Niro) BUT, the mechanical complexity, the dual clutch, and the GDi engine, make them nightmares when they breakdown eventually - and after 125k miles breakdown they do.
Maybe if you're planning on owning it for a year then a 2015 Leaf? their book value is like $3k. They're absolutely worthless, they're at the age they begin to loose capacity (as it's a very early crappy attempt at an EV) but with such a low purchase price, 30 kWh/100miles efficiency (very early crappy ev, that's poor efficiency) - assuming you can plug it in at home (and don't need more than 50 miles of range a day, again very early crappy ev), at the average US electricity cost it's about $7 of electricity per 100 miles (so like half of what it costs to run a Corolla),
but this is about the same as a Prius so NOT a good option either...
Perhaps the best option is to try and find a reasonably priced PRIUS Hybrid that's not too old.
But then again, the fuel savings cost delta is going to be eaten up by the expenses of owning another car.
And driving a Prius is not fun.
Y'all bring up some good points about the cost compared to fuel savings. I didn't know about the toyota oil burning and torque converter issues. I should have clarified, this will be a lot of highway driving, covering at least two New England states and also likely New York. The Titan is my beast, but shes a real beast and I don't want to be spending that kind of money on gas. I figured, used Toyota or Honda for a year, and then sell them for pretty close to what I paid since they retain resale value really well. The other car I was slightly considering is a VW TDI, but their resale is crap, and the newer ones don't get that much better mileage than a Camry or Accord so the price of diesel isn't justified. Also, the Leaf is a no-go. Not only do I absolutely refuse to own an EV, it doesn't have the range I will need.
With lots of highway driving miles it may actually make a bit of sense.
A titan does about 17-18 mpg, while a Corolla can do about double.
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You need to figure out the total millage you expect to drive and compare it with the additional insurance, feeds, and maintenance costs it's going to add - I do not think you can save much.
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As far as TDI, Due to US emission standards and performance requirements - US market VW TDIs don't get good MPG.
https://imgur.com/a/9dvEvQB
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Personally we have a company car in the household, an EV (150 mile daily commute) - But it's NOT a relevant discussion as in the US there are not any good used options and with US gas prices it doesn't save much money.
Did you sit down and calculate how much money you would save on gas per week by getting a new car using realistic estimates for how much mileage you would drive, the fuel economy, and the cost of gas where you live? Before you buy another car make sure you do that; you might not save as much money as you think once you factor in the cost of a new car.
For example in your current car at 15 MPG driving 600 miles a week with gas at $4 a gallon, you'll spend $160 a week on gas. If you had a car that got 25 MPG, all else being equal, you'd only save about $65 a week on gas which equates to about 3,300 a year.
I currently drive a 2012 Honda Accord, and I love it but even I don't get 25 miles per gallon combined city/highway. I get more like 21 and I have a four-cylinder version. Also if I had to buy this car today I'd expect to pay about 10 grand for it. You'd have to drive an awful lot to make buying a new car worth it. After going over your situation you might find you'd actually save money by sticking with your current car till you get the company car.
God bless!
the prospective new job will require me to use my own vehicle for the first year before a company car is provided.
If you won’t need 3 vehicles after 12 months, I recommend you just use Uber/taxis to go where you need to go, or even drive just your Titan everywhere.
Even if you spend $5000 extra on fuel in 12 months, it might still be cheaper than the loss you may incur when you decide to let go off the additional vehicle, plus any added maintenance/fees.
Adapt your driving style to extract maximum mileage out of your current vehicle.
All the best.
