OttawaXJ

If you're DDing your XJ any sort of distance you should have a second vehicle. Its complete idiocy to DD a Jeep anything more than a few miles a day.

People then say "Well OttawaXJ where am I going to come up with the cash for a second vehicle?" Uhh, maybe don't buy that 1500$ set of tires and lift you want right now and put it off a bit. "Well OttawaXJ, i dont think the savings would be enough to warrant a second vehicle"

Would it?

'99 Toyota Camry = 32mpg
150 miles a day is 4.6g per day. So at 4$/g thats $18.40 a day in gas.

Week = 5 days = $92
Month = 4 weeks = $368

99 Jeep XJ = 16mpg
150 miles a day is 9.37g per day so 4$ x 9.37g = $37.50 a day

Week = 5 days = $187.5
Month = 4 weeks = $750

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Now keep in mind many people are in situations like myself where in Canada we pay $1.30/Litre, how much is that in Gallons? 1 Gallon = 3.79 litres roughly so that means in Canadian dollars I pay $4.927 Gallon. And since we're just about on par today thats how much it is I pay here.

Here are the calculations I did when I went from DDing my 4cyl Ranger and having a jeep on the side vs buying a 1999 Toyota Camry

Spencerville Ontario to my office on St. Laurent in Ottawa = 85km one way



97 Ford Ranger = 10.69L/100km hwy(aka 22mpg)

170km/day x 10.69L/100km = 18.173 L/day

18.173L/day x $1.3/Litre = 23.62/day

23.62 x 6 days a week(my fiance works saturdays) x 4 weeks = $566 /mo

Now Factor into the Ranger equation that gas prices go up in the summer, we're looking at probably around 1.40/litre this summer but for argument sake we'll keep the 1.30/litre



99 Toyota Camry = 7.35L/100km average(aka 32mpg)

170km/day x 7.35L/100km = 12.495 L/day

12.495 x 6 days a week x 4 weeks = $299.88 /mo

Difference of $266.12



Adding a second vehicle to my insurance policy cost me 50/mo so that drops the profit of $266.12 down to $216.12.

So that is $2593 in FUEL SAVINGS every year you could put towards your jeep. Looks like a new lift kit and tires every year to me.

A Camry around here costs about $3000, so it would take about 14 months of driving before the Camry paid for itself and started being profitable for me, if you get a vehicle cheaper it'll be even sooner.

Few things to keep in mind:

1. That 32mpg camry is average mileage taken from my friends fuel log from work(we can write off gas if we keep a log through work) but he lives much closer to work and is in more stop and go traffic so my MPG numbers at that distance would be MUCH better. Probably closer to 36mpg based on my research on Fuelly.com

2. My truck is already better on gas than a Jeep, that 22mpg i listed for my truck is based on the best i could get out of the old girl. Shes tired and doesnt like the hwy much so more than likely that would be lower.

3. Jeeps on the highway ESPECIALLY lifted ones don't do better than 20mpg, please dont try to argue this fact, they really dont unless you're drafting or aren't modified.

Thanks for Reading.

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TL: DR version

You save $2593 a year driving a Camry vs a Ford Ranger which is better mileage than a Jeep, and thats including the cost of adding a second vehicle to insurance.

XJ BoSS

The best upgrade is a cummings

OttawaXJ

Would you like me to do an analysis for a Cummin's 4bt or 6bt vs a 99 Camry. lol

martyinco

Forgot to factor in insurance, and a place to keep the second vehicle

OttawaXJ

I factored in Insurance, place to store second vehicle is about 40$ per month, so subtract 480 from 2593 and you get $2113 Fuel savings.

No matter what you add, if you're wheeling your Jeep and you live more than 50km from work you should really have a second vehicle.

XJ BoSS

6bt lol. One day. Or a ford 390. That's most likely going in one jeep soon

northline76

You've forgotten a huge part of owning a vehicle. Schedualed maintance, and unexpected. What happens when that that second vehicle drops a couple of main bearings or some gears in the trans?
So factoring in normal maintance and unexpected maintance you lose that 2k you just saved in gas. Even if you got a newer vehicle then you'd have to make payments most likely and again that money your saving in gas go to that. ( before you say oh its a toyota they are very reliable, I work on them everyday, they aren't as great as they've been made out to be and the newer ones have pretty bad quality issues.)


Having a second vehicle is a luxery most can't afford or don't want to. Yes I've seen your calculations and such and I fully agree that having a second car if you have to commute such distances every day is a good idea. I used to have a dd that got good gas mileage and had to jeep too. As a college student it simply was too much hassle. Id fix one thing on the jeep and something would break or go bad on the car. Plus up keeping two vehicles was crazy to fit in with a full schedual of work and school. It was worth it to get rid of the car and just drive my jeep.

And lastly one part you over looked, to me that jeep is who I am. I've built it up, taken care of it and basically owned it since new. People see my jeep and know its me right away. I'm proud of the work I've done to make it unique to me. Even on long trips I'm always excited to drive, when I had the car I no longer enjoyed driving. I felt bland driving something that was just plain jane off the lot. Its easily worth it to me to pay the extra for the not so great mpg. So for the few who are willing to go through the extra hassle having that second car is great, but from what I've seen most rather just drive their jeep.

OttawaXJ

Ford 390? Someone missed the point of the thread. lol

And North I'm not going to bother trying to argue any of those points because I simply believe that in college you shouldn't own anything but a beater car to get you to work and class. Beyond that is just the imperialism imbedded in most people. So all i can say is good luck to you.

The point of this thread is to put your Jeep on the back burner for driving duty so it can be used to wheel.

northline76

The points I brought up can easily apply to other who are not in college. I won't even get started with your belief of a stereotypical college kid car because that simply would get out of hand.

I brought up several valid points disagreeing with putting your jeep on the back burner so it can be a wheeler only.

What's the point of posting a thread only to ignore others post who bring up valid points? Do correct me if I am wrong, but isn't a thread meant for discussion? If your not going to be willing to discuss valid points then we might as well get the mods to close this thread because it has zero purpose.

OttawaXJ

Ok I'll play then. I figured it simply wasn't required but if you're going to get bent out of shape about it.


Happy? The whole post is redundant which is why I didnt bother.

FYI: The Difference between the JEEP and the Camry is $4500 a year at YOUR gas prices. well over 5000 for my gas prices. So yes i stand behind my stance.

MTLXJ

All I can say if you're complaining about fuel consumption don't buy an xj in the first place! I swear, most of the time my friends worry more about my gas tank than me lol

OttawaXJ

My point MTL was for people who commute long distances, they're nuts. I feel for you though man, I know you guys usually have a good 5 cents a litre on us here in Ottawa.

But yes I agree if you're worried about gas you shouldnt own an XJ, or atleast shouldnt DD it. that was the summary of the post.

stormitecture

How about making it a suggestion for conversation. Everyone has their own circumstances.

EVERYONE CAN MAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS.

I have a two mile commute, but also use my Jeep mostly for business and chasing (where 10,000 miles in one month is common). When I'm making good money, the gas part is irrelevant. If it gets me to places to make more money, then $5 and $6 per gallon of gas is fine). Now do I must **** off miles? NO! Do I find ways to make good sound business and financial decisions...yes. I think many can.

Of course some are just passionate and shouldn't ever apologize for driving their Jeeps daily on long commutes. The minute someone else tries to dictate what I can and can't drive is the day you see me pick up arms and fight against those suppressing freedoms (and I'm one who generally thinks guns are silly!).

As far as discussion goes, I thought, 20-25mpg hwy was possible without much modification effort, for an XJ.

XJD

LOL Well if your broke it's not your sport........

MTLXJ

My trick for not spending a lot on gas is 1. Use transit 2. Get friends to drive(My friends always want to drive for some reason)