Daily Driver T2 - Do I need a reality check?!

Discussion in 'Buying a VW Camper' started by Gobsheen, Mar 9, 2015.

  1. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    So I wonder how many of the 10,000 miles the car has to do to pay for itself. There's probably a formula for that but I'll try 50/50 split
    5000 in car = £375 + rest = £585
    5000 in bus = £1000 + rest = £1335
    Total £1920, still cheaper to have both. :thumbsup:
     
  2. Is there any way you could work out that it's cheaper for me to also buy something like a Karmann Ghia with a subaru engine? I'd like to convince the girlfriend that I need three cars.
     
    Iain McAvoy likes this.
  3. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    If it'll do 40mpg it'll save half your bus running costs while appreciating in value. Win win! Try that. :thumbsup:

    You'll find she understands this way of thinking, being female and good at justifying shopping.
     
  4. Out of interest how have you worked out fuel costs? What's the car? My figures would look pretty different.

    My car (a mk 2 golf) costs quite a bit more to insure than the camper (£130 vs £300) and £220 a year to tax, whereas the camper is free. I reckon fuel cost in my car is more like 2/3 of the camper, but I couldn't say with any accuracy.

    Agreed re comfort though.
     
  5. I drove various buses for 10 years as daily drivers ,when you reach a certain age you want to have weekends off and not under your camper..

    To get into a nice daily driver car and not worry about anything is priceless...:thumbsup:

    get a t4/5 diesel...
     
    Dicky and burntout like this.
  6. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    Golf TDi, average 65mpg. Bus average 25, (£1800) but that's fanciful so adjusted cost up 10%. Figures are rough and ready but near enough. All fuel at £1 per litre, then the golf adjusted as fuel more expensive.
    Was just thinking out loud, but on top of that the golf doesn't ever go wrong. It's had 4 bushes, 4 shocks, some tyres and a wiper spindle assembly in 10 years.
     
  7. Reckon we are hitting that "certain age" :lol: Wouldn't of bothered us a few years back but now that time seems somewhat more important for other "things" :p
     
    lost-en-france likes this.
  8. MorkC68

    MorkC68 Administrator

    I don't think it cost too much extra if anything, it just means they are more secure! I'll have to check the paperwork, see if it did cost owt!
     
  9. The idea of it is great, I'd love the security of it but units don't come cheap on Slough Trading Estate.
     
  10. Mine was my daily for 3 years with a 1600tp in and is still my daily with a scooby lump in it
     
  11. rickyrooo1

    rickyrooo1 Hanging round like a bad smell

    i'm glad @zed did the pigeon maths, we run the same daily so it's a fair comparrison my bus does less mpg and i have to buy tax so it confirms it's cheaper to run 2 vehicles for me.
     
  12. I think it cost me about £20.

    Hmm... 65mpg sounds less realistic than 25 to me, but then I've never had a modern diesel. 500 miles for £100 in the bus sounds about right, but do you really reckon you can do 500 mixed miles in the Golf for £37.50? If so it's time I changed my motor.

    How old's your Golf? Is that kind of MPG realistic from a car that's stopped depreciating?

    Serious questions. The most modern car I've ever owned was from '92 and I've never owned a diesel apart from my T25.
     
    MorkC68 likes this.
  13. MorkC68

    MorkC68 Administrator

    We (at work) have been renting our unit for 16 years, the bus unit was empty..he did us a great deal for a private rental long term (ie while work was renting, we would rent too). Sorted!
     
  14. rickyrooo1

    rickyrooo1 Hanging round like a bad smell

    zed lives in the flatlands and drives a 2002? golf same as me, i get 50 plus mpg on a short hilly commute to work and easy 60 plus on m/way so he prob can get 65, the 52 plate 100bhp golf 1.9 diesel is the most fuel efficient car i've ever owned.
     
  15. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    Commute to work, flat empty fen roads, mpg by computer thing 12 miles. I can get it to over 80mpg regularly in the summer by coasting up to junctions and down a 1/2 mile hill at the start of the out journey. My record is 91mpg over the 12 miles from cold, max coasting, fen wind behind me. Car is 2001 not very modern.
     
    rickyrooo1 likes this.
  16. rickyrooo1

    rickyrooo1 Hanging round like a bad smell

    i had a 6 speed bora 1.9 tdi 130bhp best i ever got was 56mpg the 100 bhp 5 speed golf best i had was 68mpg the bora was shed loads quicker though.
     
  17. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    The one tiny hill, warming up in a 30mph zone and usual wind direction mean I always get 5-10mpg more on the out journey than the home one. Yes it's a dull journey!
     
  18. You got a very good deal, I'm sure I wouldn't be able to though even though the company I work for has been renting since 1932 here.
     
  19. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    I only use the car to commute, I drive on empty flat roads, I drive like your great grandad, I only accelerate extremely slowly - on the out journey most of this is on slight down gradients. Mostly 50mph, some 60 mph, some 30 mph. There are 5 level crossings on the route so I usually get stopped at one of those. Sometimes 2 or 3 times by the same ruddy train! 65 is without trying hard at all though and reasonable acceleration. The other stuff is for trying to break my own record.
    I think I get 8-900 miles on a tank. One summer I used the bus for 3 months just because, and it ruined me financially! Honestly for me it's 3x the price to drive the bus once everything else is paid for.
     
  20. That's impressive.:hattip:

    But the OP said, "Whatever I buy has to be a daily runner". So the question isn't whether he should buy a bay and an economical car, it's whether he should buy a bay, or something else.

    He says "less than 10k miles a year", he also says, "My commute is about 8 miles to the train station each day but I'll use the motorbike some of the time in the better weather." I think much less than 10000 miles. Let's say 16 miles a day, 200 days a year. That makes 3200 miles.

    So based on a pound a litre and 25 mpg he's going to spend £581.90 on fuel in the camper.
    If he bought your golf instead, at 65mpg and 7p more a litre he'd save £342 a year on fuel.

    By the time he's taxed the golf and paid for the more expensive insurance there's very little in it. Incidentally, if he bought a golf like mine (35mpg, insurance £300 a year, tax £230) he'd end up a couple of hundred quid worse off (before maintenance) than with the camper. If he bought something modern, sporty and thirsty he'd be even more skint.

    I reckon while your Golf depreciates by say £100 a year until it gets to about £500, the camper's likely to rise in value. 5% on £9000 is £450. That's £550 a year he's up. So if he spends £550 a year maintaining it he's quits. I don't think that's entirely unrealistic... :cool:

    If the camper does work out more expensive then realistically it'll be because the OP can't resist the temptation to improve it, get non-essential work done, buy shiny bits and bobs which soon add up... I know that's why mine costs me a fortune. :D
     
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2015
    sANDYbAY and zed like this.

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