[Vwdiesel] Was-It's peak oil,duh,-now-mileage comparison

[B & R Decker]

Hi William;
	Let me put forth this scenario for an 8 year 100,000 mile cost using
your fuel costs
Option 1 
You buy a new Prius for $20,000 dollars plus $7,777 for gas a total of
$27,777 not counting maintenance and Insurance. After 8 years with no
warranty left what will the Prius be worth? Not a whole lot I would believe.

Option 2 
You completely restore your 1981 VW Dasher diesel.  Remanufactured 1.6
diesel, repair or replace all moving parts, paint, detail and including a 5
speed upgrade. I'm allowing $8,777 but I doubt you should have to spend that
much. Fuel $9,111. Total $17,777. I would believe a restored 35 year VW
diesel with only 100,000 miles will probably be worth more than the Prius
after the 8 years.

Invest the $10,000 you saved at only 5 % and you will have $14,774 to the
good. Upkeep on the Prius for 8 years will surely be more than on the
Dasher.
Brian Decker
Boisfort Rabbit Rescue

-----Original Message-----
From: vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com [mailto:vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com] On
Behalf Of William J Toensing
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 2:51 AM
To: vwdiesel at vwfans.com
Subject: [Vwdiesel] Was-It's peak oil,duh,-now-mileage comparison

I believe the attraction of diesel, to me anyway, is to save money.
Currently, here in Grass Valley, CA., 87 octane gas is selling for $3.499 a
gallon & diesel for $4.099 a gallon, a spread of .60 cents a gallon. I think
it boils down to the cost per mile for fuel, not MPG. Why diesel is now
costing so much more than regular, I don't know. Probably because Big Oil
can get it. Whether this much spread between regular gas & diesel will
continue, I don't know. I currently drive a 2001 Ford Focus ZX3 5 speed. It
averages around 28 MPG. What I would really like to get, if I can afford it,
is a new TDI  Jetta sportwagon. I am also considering a Toyota Prius. I
suspect the VW will handle much nicer, but will be more costly to maintain
in view of VW's less than stellar reliability record. In Calif., the Prius
has a 8 year 150,000 mile warranty on all the hybrid components including
the batteries. 
Based on the current cost of regular & diesel, assuming an average of 45 MPG
for both the Prius & the TDI sportwagon I came up with the following cost
per mile: 2001 Focus $0.125, TDI $0.091, Prius $0.077. The projected fuel
cost for 100,000 miles would then be: Focus $12,500, TDI $9,111, Prius
$7,777. Additional fuel costs for the next 100,000 miles would be, using the
Prius as the benchmark, would be: $4723 for the Focus, $1,334 for the VW
TDI. Since my Focus is now 7 years old & has 108,000 miles on it,
deprecation will be minimal but I would anticipate considerable repairs for
the next 100,000 miles whereas the Prius would have minimal repair costs.
VW-TDI, who knows but probably much less than my Focus would require.
Deprecation on the Focus would be less than on the TDI & Prius since the
Focus is probably now worth about $4,000.
GM plans to bring out the plug in Chevy Volt in the fall of 2010 as a 2011
model & I hear Toyota will bring out a plug in Prius at that time as well.
The advantage of a plug in vehicle will be that they can run on batteries
along for the first 40 miles before the engine kicks in to recharge the
batteries. Since 80% of drivers drive less than 40 miles a day, 80% of the
time, a plug in hybrid would make the most sense to me, in terms of saving
on fuel costs. I fear we will be paying $5 or $6 a gallon for gas & diesel
in a few years.
If you think my projections are wrong, please pick them apart. I am
currently retired & will reach age 75 this coming May. Cost wise, I think it
will be much cheaper to keep my Focus & get my '81 Dasher diesel wagon up &
running, than to get a new car, at least until the plug in hybrids become
available.
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