In Canada we are at about 4.12 per US gal for gas and 4.40 for diesel. I love my V10 for towing my fifth wheel, getting building supplies, and short trips every second or third day to keep things lubed up but I sure would not want it to be my daily driver. For that I have an 02 Honda Accord which is
2.5 times better on fuel, not nearly as much fun to drive, but easier to park in a strip mall. A CC LB was not made for strip malls.
Just wondering if more people should not be ordering V10s and putting the extra money they save on a PSD towards a smaller vehicle for a DD.
Insurance companies should have a better deal for people that do this because right now the cost of insuring a second vehicle makes this idea less viable but still practical at today's fuel prices which I am pretty sure are here to stay. Just a thought.

 

That's basically what I did, wrench. I drove my f350 as a DD until the price of gas put me on the poor list. Now I have a good DD, the cost insurance was not that bad, and I'm saving money in the long run.

 

My V10 has been relegated to SNOW and TOW duty...see sig pic for the daily drivers.

Anyone who believes ANY SD chassis is 'fuel' effecient...has been smelling too many fumes (gas OR diesel)...sorry...

Now there are those SD drivers also USE their SD's as WORK vehicles...but I beleive those to be a smaller percentage of the population...many V10 or PSD's are simply for the 'beat your chest' factor as daily drivers (IMO)...well sooner or later the $$$ has to run low for other needed items...

I'm fortunate to have two other vehicles to drive between my wife and I...for the cost of petrol even here in the states...the V10 or PSD is NOT a commuter...no matter how you try and convince yourself...unrealistic INTERNET mpg claims don't stop the frequency or quantity at the pump...sorry...

joe.

 

Gotta agree... I parked my Buick wagon while I performed a major tune up on it. The tune up could've been done in a weekend, but the more I pulled out of the engine bay, the more I wanted to replace, and the deeper I got into getting her ready for another 160,000 miles of use.

Sooo.... the F250 became my daily driver from August '07 to the end of January '08. Yeah, it gets decent gas mileage considering it's a 7300lb truck with the aerodynamic qualities of a brick. But putting $80-$90 worth of gas in her every Friday was nuts.

Granted the wagon only gets 21mpg, it's damn near double what the truck pulls down.

The truck has been relegated once again to towing the camper, hauling firewood, taking trash to the landfill and deer hunting. It was never purchased to be used as a daily driver, glad I'm back in the saddle again and that I have the option to go with either vehicle.

Enjoy,
RustyFuryIII

 

Well I probably shouldn't, but I do drive mine to work each day. It's only about 1.5 miles, but right now it's too cold in the morning to ride a bike. Plus, there is a little "wow" factor involved when kids say "Dude, nice truck!!" It's a way to relate to some of them that don't have much else.

 

take the miles you drive per year. figure how many of those would be with your dd instead of the sd. figure out how much you would save with a smaller vehicle on gas. subtract the cost of insurance for the second vehicle, subtract the depreciation on the second vehicle per year, subtract the loss of income off the money spent on the second vehicle that you could have invested and you can figure out your savings. you would have to also add to the formula the less depreciation on the sd as you would put less miles on it. at 10,000 miles per year for me i could buy a yugo to drive.

 

Mine is a DD during the wintertime. I only drive 2 miles to work, usually only fill up from half tank every other week on payday, so it's not too bad. As soon as the snow melts I start riding my motorcycle... 40mpg!

I plan to buy a mustang to use as a DD when the roads are clean in the wintertime... but probly won't happen for quite some time.

 

I drive a V10 daily. About 100-120km a day. Costs my boss about 600$ a week if I drive it on the weekend. It get's about 250km to a 130$ tank of fuel!

 

Unless you have absolutly no choice these are not good daily drivers as the MPG alone is sort of low in city traffic not to mention the size of these things... Our daily driver is a 04 Honda Civic 30/33 MPG city driving. Our V-10 was used as a tow vehicle only and did very little else.

 

I guess our hobbies must be limited enough that, though it is somewhat more expensive, I still use it, and will continue to use it as a daily driver. It does everything I want, including getting me to work and back. You just have to learn to manuever in traffic/parking lots, or park farther away.

 

My 99 F350 V-10 is my daily driver and here's why. I live fairly close to work. I put about 6000 miles a year on it. I drive one of our other vehciles when I can, but the wife works and my son commutes to college, so they each need a car.

The cost to buy, title, insure, pay personal property taxes, maintain (tires, oil, brakes, repairs, etc), a high MPG vehicle almost wipes out the gas savings.

Plus, the F350 is much safer. And there is extra time involved in maintaining another vehicle.

So when I added it all up, I really don't save anything by parking the F350 and getting another vehicle.

So make sure you factor EVERYTHING in when you contemplate getting another vehicle as your daily driver.

 

I drive my 99 with 4.56s and stock tires 50 miles per day(AVG 11mpg). Over the summer, I bought a 04 dodge neon to use as a daily driver. I drove it four times and hated it. My SO now drives it.

I'll keep driving my SD and unfortunately, contributing to recond profits for the oil companies.

 

Wrench, I did the same thing.
I got a 00 accord as the daily driver.
But Fridays the eagle fly's and the mighty V10 ROARS....

 

I use my F250 for a daily driver, I have since I bought it ~6 years ago. When gas went up to 3+ a gallon I was driving 85 miles a day. I couldn't sell it for enough to bother and buying a second vehicle to maintain, insure, license and fuel was not cost effective when I did the math unless I bought a pristine car for less than about $1,500. I also looked at trading my truck in on an econo-box, couldn't get enough money for the truck to buy the commuter and a beater truck. So I still have my truck with 105k miles on it and am glad I didn't get rid of it now that I only drive 40 miles a day.

 

I do not understand the insurance company thinking. Why do they charge so much for having a 2nd vehicle when you can only drive on at a time? The total time on the road is the same for 2 cars as for 1 car.

If they made the combined 2-vehicle liability cost only a little more than for one vehicle (instead of a lot more) then more people would get fuel efficeint cars for their daily driver.