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Re: [RC] I couldn't afford NOT to (was: Towing Vehicle) - Michael LewisYou found trucks to rent?!?!? I called u-haul and several other companies prior to taking the plunge on my Ram 3500 only to find that nobody would rent a truck capable of pulling a gooseneck. As a matter of fact, some places wouldn't rent me a truck to pull anything--payload only, no towing.What gives?!?! Mike Bad spellers of the world, untie! ----- Original Message ----- From: "k s swigart" <katswig@xxxxxxx> To: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 12:55 PM Subject: [RC] I couldn't afford NOT to (was: Towing Vehicle) Michelle Aquino said: I'd love to have bigger truck, and I'm sure it would provide a lot more security, but there's just no way I could afford to keep two vehicles for towing and commuting separate... If one does the math with respect to cost of gas associated with commuting in a tow vehicle, one does not have to commute very far for it to easily become cost effective to run two vehicles, especially if you take into consideration the cost of repairs and the cost of tires as well. My commuter vehicle is dirt cheap to operate, and if you buy a used cheap one, it is also dirt cheap to register and to insure. When I first decided to take the two vehicles option (because I was commiting in my truck), I paid $600 for a used Dodge Colt and reduced my gasoline bill from $10 per day to $10 per week (this was when gas was barely over $1 per gallon) and the cost of tires from about 1.75 cents per mile to 0.2 cents per mile (tires for the dinky little car cost about 1/10th the tires for the truck--although this difference has now come down and the tires for my truck are only about 6 times the cost of my car tires instead of 10 times). After I drove the Dodge Colt into the ground (it had paid for itself in gas money within a couple of months, I drove it for about a year), I replaced it with a $700 Subaru that got the same gas mileage. Drove that one for over 75,000 miles before it died. Personally, I can't affor NOT to keep two vehicles for towing and commuting. And unless they do very little commuting, I am willing to bet that if other people were to do the math, they would find the same to be true. If, on the other hand, you do very little towing, thent he cost effective thing is to own a commuter car and RENT a tow vehicle when you want one. And if you go that route, you can rent as much vehicle as you need for THAT trip rather that owning as much vehicle as you might need for any trip. Commuting in a tow truck is rarely ever cost effective, for anybody. kat Orange County, Calif. :) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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