How many people daily drive their tow vehicle? I sat down and did the math and the lease payment + fuel + insurance for a basic Chevy Cruze to commute to work in was cheaper than just fuel to commute in my truck. That does not even include the wear and tear I am saving on my truck. For me it made sense to lease a car that I don't have to pay to fix (under warranty for the whole lease) and just use my truck for towing and hauling when needed.I drive about 10k miles a year commuting. 10,000 miles / 12 mpg = 833 gallons of gasoline. At $3.75 a gallon average that is $3125 a year just for fuel.In the Cruze: 10,000 miles / 35 mpg (my historic average for the last 4 months) = $1071 a year for fuel. Lease payments are $120 a month = $1440 a year and insurance is cheap because adding a 3rd car gives me a bigger discount. In the end with insurance it is right around $3000 a year for the car. The big bonus is I am saving 10k miles a year on my truck and the maintenance $$ that goes along with it and I don't have to pay to maintain the car since Chevy offered free regular maintenance on the 2014 models.

If the numbers work for you, then sure, it makes sense. My buddy has a V10 F250 he uses to pull his horse trailer. So yes, for him it made sense to have an economy car to commute in. He bought an older Civic. I have another friend that is leasing a Nissan Leaf electric car, and he tells me the numbers work out on it as well, since the 2500HD sits at home most of the time now.

There's also the convenience of having that second car. We too have a Cruze (Eco, 40mpg) that we use exclusively for grocery-getting and local travel at home. And it's available for children/relatives when they fly in to visit. Also the truck is just more painful to maneuver and park in the city. If that's all we had, I'm sure I'd be driving my wife around to all her affairs.But when we're in Florida over-winter, and elsewhere camping, we gotta use the truck for getting around. Ends up only about half our truck's mileage is towing. Total mileage about 13K miles per year.The gas costs in Canada are much higher than in the States, so it makes even more sense here to have a second vehicle, but still I don't think that we're saving any money if we consider the initial cost of the second vehicle. For high mileage commuters though, it sounds like a good financial idea.

brulaz wrote:There's also the convenience of having that second car. We too have a Cruze (Eco, 40mpg) that we use exclusively for grocery-getting and local travel at home. And it's available for children/relatives when they fly in to visit. Also the truck is just more painful to maneuver and park in the city. If that's all we had, I'm sure I'd be driving my wife around to all her affairs.But when we're in Florida over-winter, and elsewhere camping, we gotta use the truck for getting around. Ends up only about half our truck's mileage is towing. Total mileage about 13K miles per year.The gas costs in Canada are much higher than in the States, so it makes even more sense here to have a second vehicle, but still I don't think that we're saving any money if we consider the initial cost of the second vehicle. For high mileage commuters though, it sounds like a good financial idea.That's the thing, I don't even consider my commute high mileage. I travel 17 miles each way.

It's all about miles driven. We've been lucky of late that the commute is zero miles in the winter and 10 miles roundtrip in the summer, so we would be losing money buying a seperate car.Of course if we are going purely for the financial benefit, buy a 5yr old car for $10k. Assuming you don't abuse it, you should be able to get 10yrs out of it with it being reliable and your lease payment would have it paid off in around 7yrs. Your insurance will likely be a bit cheaper as it's worth less.Unless you are talking crazy high miles, I wouldn't put much emphasis on wear and tear for the truck. Regular use is actually good for mechanical devices, so modest use likely will result in a longer lifespan than sitting for a month or more at a time between hard use towing.

valhalla360 wrote:It's all about miles driven. We've been lucky of late that the commute is zero miles in the winter and 10 miles roundtrip in the summer, so we would be losing money buying a seperate car.Of course if we are going purely for the financial benefit, buy a 5yr old car for $10k. Assuming you don't abuse it, you should be able to get 10yrs out of it with it being reliable and your lease payment would have it paid off in around 7yrs. Your insurance will likely be a bit cheaper as it's worth less.Unless you are talking crazy high miles, I wouldn't put much emphasis on wear and tear for the truck. Regular use is actually good for mechanical devices, so modest use likely will result in a longer lifespan than sitting for a month or more at a time between hard use towing.I agree that the tow vehicle still needs to be driven regularly and mine gets used every weekend for home depot runs or going fishing and things like that, it just made financial sense for me to get a separate car to commute. The nice thing about leasing is you always have a new car that is always under warranty. I was just curious how many people daily drive their tow rigs and how many have trucks dedicated to towing/hauling. I daily drove trucks for 15 years before this.

Daily Driving Tow Vehicles | Good Sam Community

rowekmr
Explorer
Jul 02, 2014
Up to 2 years ago I had a dedicated TV (gasser) and a car or suv as a daily driver. My first attempt to consolidate the 2 into 1 for $$$ savings (insurance/maintenance) was a Navigator which was marginal for towing my TT and drank too much gasoline for me (11 mpg city 16mpg hgwy). I use my current TV as a daily driver and although it is a little big to my liking I never run out of room when we go shopping or pick up people and so far I have been getting an avg of 16 mpg which is only 1 less than the 06 Explorer I had previously as my DD.
Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Jun 23, 2014
afishinado wrote:
Everyone has their own set of circumstances for what they drive when. My TV is dedicated to just being that and nothing else. In fact, once our annual trip is over, I intend to park it in a storage facility, and drop the insurance on it for the next 9 months. They can reinstate full cover for a day, week or whatever with just a phone call. I have 5 vehicles (and 3 Harleys) for just my wife and I (I'm semi retired and work from home). Her daily driver is a 10 Mustang ragtop, mine is a 12 Tahoe, plus I have a 92 Carrera that has become a garage queen. One more, the car I drive most frequently, a 03 Jeep Wrangler in fair (at best) condition, it is my real daily driver, hasn't left town more than 3 times in the last 5 years. I park it anywhere without concern, hell, I leave the key in it 90% of the time, and the back and rear windows haven't been in it since I bought it. That monster Dodge aka The Tank, is all the PIA I knew it would be driving in/around town...

I would not drop the insurance. Put "storage" insurance on it. It's cheap and will protect against fire and theft.
afishinado
Explorer II
Jun 23, 2014
Everyone has their own set of circumstances for what they drive when. My TV is dedicated to just being that and nothing else. In fact, once our annual trip is over, I intend to park it in a storage facility, and drop the insurance on it for the next 9 months. They can reinstate full cover for a day, week or whatever with just a phone call. I have 5 vehicles (and 3 Harleys) for just my wife and I (I'm semi retired and work from home). Her daily driver is a 10 Mustang ragtop, mine is a 12 Tahoe, plus I have a 92 Carrera that has become a garage queen. One more, the car I drive most frequently, a 03 Jeep Wrangler in fair (at best) condition, it is my real daily driver, hasn't left town more than 3 times in the last 5 years. I park it anywhere without concern, hell, I leave the key in it 90% of the time, and the back and rear windows haven't been in it since I bought it. That monster Dodge aka The Tank, is all the PIA I knew it would be driving in/around town...
ls1mike
Explorer II
Jun 23, 2014
I drive a fully loaded supercharged 04 Grand Prix with 60,000 miles on it. It is my daily driver been paid off awhile. I also have 2000 Trans Am WS6(63,000 miles), been paid off since 05. Comes out in the summer.

My Truck is an 02 Silverado, this past trip this weekend I rolled 36,700 miles. My wife has a 2013 Equinox. We pay 189 bucks a month for it.

Not a truck guy never have been never will be. I have vinyl seats, rubber floors, manual windows and locks. It is a tool for me. I run it a couple times a month in the winter and it gets used a bunch in the summer. It is paid off. That is how I like it. The Equinox payment makes me sad. :)
stetwood
Explorer
Jun 22, 2014
DIRTI, is a mostly fixed significant cost of ownership. D=depreciation, what will the depreciation of the two vehicles be. I=interest, what is the interest and opportunity cost of having the two vehicles (include DIRTI in the calculations) R=repairs,(tires, oil changes,car washing and other maintenance costs which are variable depending on miles driven, T=taxes (licenses and sales taxes on the purchase price) I=insurance.

The savings in variable costs,(gas)must offset DIRTI to justify have a second vehicle, plus the desire to have that second vehicle.
camperfamily
Explorer
Jun 22, 2014
My '13 Superduty is just year old and almost 19k miles on it. Its my DD at 55-70 miles a day (depends where I need to drop the kids off). I did the numbers on a commuter. Financially its a mess. Insurance here in NJ would cost me close to $1000/year. I get 15+ with my truck commuting. A car big enough to not be killed in, used at a somewhat reasonable cost, would only yield about 30mpg. No savings for me. Leasing would be pricy as I need at least 15k/ year.

The other problem is that I can't fit another vehicle in my driveway. No chance. And I can't make it bigger - property line on one side w/retaining wall, and another wall on the other side with water/sewer/natural gas lines on the other. AND I can't park on the street overnight from Nov. 1 to April 1.

Also. the added mass and probable crash survivability is priceless. I've seen some terrible crashes on my commute. Cars broadsided by semi trucks at highway speeds; cars t-boned and pushed against concrete barrier and then slammed again resulting in all doors being blocked, unconscious driver w/likely head injuries; serious rear-end chain reactions (loaded dump truck lost brakes on a hill, plowed into stopped traffic at a light at the bottom of a 1 mile 6% hill -- they have nowhere to go to crash but the cars -- and that happens at least 1x/year). I could go on. But feeling that my chances to returning home to my kids every night is priceless, to me.

Plus, by the time I wear out a diesel truck drivetrain it would be time for a replacement anyways due to other factors like rust and age related failures.
mr__ed
Explorer
Jun 22, 2014
My truck is also my daily driver. It's a 2007 and now has 98k miles on it. I would love to have an older small car to get around in but since I travel often it would be impossible to take with me. If I had a partner that person could drive the car to the next location but I solo so that's out of the question.

Since I often spend entire winters in Yuma, AZ my other thought was using the car only in that area and leaving it there until I return. At least I'd have the use of a car for about 6 months out of the year.

To tell the truth, it gets so complicated that I put these thoughts on hold indefinitely and will no doubt keep using my truck as a daily driver.
dcb17b
Explorer II
Jun 21, 2014
I drove my 03 150 as a DD for four years till it was paid off. I then bought a 09 Vibe and use it as my DD. The payment was the same and I figure it will be cheaper to replace the Vibe with another gocart than replace the 150. I do drive the truck for truck stuff and just to move it once a week or so. In my situation it is good to have a backup vehicle for the wife or kids if needed.
JIMNLIN
Explorer III
Jun 20, 2014
With a 660 mile a week commute a second econo car was out of the question. I tried a econo box but insurance/upkeep was simply too much. Lease was out of the question driving that many miles.

Retired now but the last two years I worked I drove the Cummins on that long daily commute.

Most folks math/figures will be different so choose what fits your pocket book or likes and go with it. One size don't fit all.
JordanH
Explorer II
Jun 19, 2014
What ever is most feasible for you is the best choice! The last 2.5 years my daily driver has been my truck, which is also my tv. In those 2.5 years I've put 133,000km on my truck, which brings it up to 256,000km. I don't consider your 10,000miles a year very much milage, but if it will be cheaper for you to have both, go for that!