Hey all,

I am considering putting in for a job opening with my employer at another office. If obtained this job would make my commute about 140 miles round trip monday through friday. This puts 36,000 miles on the car in a year. Figure another 4,000, at least, of personal mileage outside of work.

So, I just got my MINI in March and am already at 15k. By the time I'd be taking this position I'll probably have 17k. Then over the next four years I'll amass 160,000 miles on the car. Grand total when the car is paid off, 175,000 miles.

Is my MINI going to make it? I don't mind buying a new car at that time I just want to know I will make it to that point. If I were to do this I would start having the oil changed every two months, obviously with full synthetic. I'd also have my mechanic check it head to toe each time for issues. Is this car a sprinter or a long distance runner?

Next, value. So it'll be 5 years old with 175,000 miles on it. Interior and exterior will be in good condition. Not mint but certainly nice. These cars may hold their value but what should I expect then, a tenth of what I paid (24k)?

It's the major factor in deciding whether or not I go for it.

Appreciate your opinions.

Matt

P.S. Moving is not an option so please don't suggest it.

 

I have your exact commute, 140 miles per day. I will have had my MINI for exactly three years tomorrow and will be right at 92500 miles. The first year I didn't use it to commute much, and then in the summer I only work four days, so it has had some time off.

As for the MINI making it, I would say yes, if taken care of. I plan on mine making it that far and then some. What will it be worth? I have no idea, I have never even concidered selling mine

They were takling on whiteroof radio and one guy (sorry forgot the name) has an 02 with 130k+ miles and it was still blue booking at 16k ish.

Nik

 

If I had to put that many miles on a car I would pick up a cheap used civic and keep the MINI as a weekend car. Then again I'm cheep and don't like the idea of driving a nice new car into the ground in 5 years.

 

Matt, there are a number of NAMers who've gone over the 100K mark in their MINIs. Doug in FL (dpilgrim) was the first, and recently got a second MINI, giving the first one to his wife (and I hear it's still running great). As long as you maintain your MINI, changing its oil and checking the tire pressures, watching the levels, etc., it should run well for a long time. Good luck with the new job!

 

Your question is somewhat complex but I have some similar experience to share. My daily commute has been around 55 miles each day for the last 10 years. Mix that in with other daily routines, and I've been running up 20-30K miles a year on my vehicles. Highway mileage is generally easier on a car, so your long commute shouldn't doom your car to a short life, but it will drive down the car's resale value in a hurry. You will have to drive something, and I think the MINI fits the bill for it. Relatively cheap to own and operate, decent gas mileage, fun factor. You do have to own up to the fact though that your car will have "diminished" value. I have generally sold my cars near the 3 year old mark, and have always gotten less for them than a low mileage version would have. If the new job supports "paying more" for a car, then you should go for it.

 

Buying another car is not an option. Simply can't afford to do that + maintain the insurance. We aren't poor but with a house and two cars a third one isn't in the cards.

I'm not looking to get a "high" value for the car at the end of the run. I'd settle for enough to put 25% down on the new one. And it would be another MINI.

Maintenance will be the key I presume. That can be handled easily enough.

This new position would pay 14% more than my current position so it looks to be worth it. We shall see. No guarantee I'd get it either but need to decide if I will try.

 

Opportunity for more quality time with your MINI, Matt!

 

I average anywhere from 35-32k miles per year and just got my '06 Mini. My theory is this - it's worth the depreciation for the enjoyment. Remember if you are spending 2+ hours per day in a vehicle then it should be something that:

1. Gets decent mileage
2. Is safe and controllable
3. Is fun to drive

Some folks keep their Mini's as special occasion drivers. I plan on driving mine into the ground. I'm assuming most of that is highway miles, so that's pretty easy on a car. My highest mileage car was an 1984 Lincoln with a 5.0L engine it. Nothing special, but it had 84,000 miles on it when I bought it. I changed the oil and replaced the muffler and tires. I sold it at 165,000 miles for about half what I paid.

It's hard to predict the future, but you may find that by the time the Mini has that many miles on it a few years from now that it's better just to keep it around as a fun car. Regardless, it will depreciate with time, but that is true of anything you buy. It would be bummer to get a vehicle you don't enjoy as much and end up with nearly the same depreciation factor.

 

IMO, your vehicle (whatever it is) should not drive a job decision.

The MINI should last the 175K - it's got a solid engine and no obvious points of failure. With that mileage rate, however, you will need to contemplate additional maintenance - shocks, tires, wheel bearings and other wear items.

What will it be worth? Fine question. Given input from Edmunds, probably $8-10K. Of course, the mileage will drive away some buyers, but attract those that want a great car for a relatively low price.

The true decision points, IMO:
Intrinsic:
140Miles/day = ~3hours in the car and out of your life
You'll be 1.5hours from home - any issues with kids/school/sports?
Job satisfaction - will you enjoy it more? (job, people, location)

Explicit costs: - may be less additive given you're already driving at a 20K/year clip
Gas - @ 30MPG, that's 93 gal/month or $200+
Maintenance - wear items, brakes, tires-figure a new set each year
Mileage - more mileage means the car is worth less
Do you have to take a day off work to get the car serviced?
Do you make more at the new job to offset the additional costs?

If you need to get a cheaper car, there are many cars that are cheaper to run (and run into the ground) than a Cooper. But do you want to spend three hours a day in one of them?


Good luck with the decision!

 

This was kinda fun. I took my Cooper S ($24,750 new) and pretended that it was a 2002 model with 150,000 miles on it, and condition was "Good". The blue book on it came back at $12,475 for my ZIP code for private party value. So a drop of about 50% for that time frame.

By comparison, I took my Toyota Matrix which was $18,400 new and made it the 2003 model (no 2002 to compare) and 150,000 miles on it. It came out to $8,645. My guess is that a 2002 model would be slightly less. That's a bit more than 50% depreciation by comparison to the Mini.

So you'd have to compare your estimated depreciation against the estimate of whatever you would replace the Mini with to see if there really is any significant difference.

 

I'm asking myself the same question. Though I've modded mine, and therefore am a bit more attatched.

I've got about 10k miles in 6 months. I've calculated commuting miles, and it comes to exactly 1/2. 5000 miles to and from work, and 5000 fun miles. I'll be done with my warantee in another 18 months, which made me consider alternatives... I'll likely stick with the Mini though, and just buy an aftermarket warantee.

 

Thanks to all for the opinions.

First, let me make this clear...I am in no way considering selling the MINI. This is MY car and it isn't going anywhere except with me behind the wheel.

The main issue was durability and value. Most of you are of the opinion that MINI is good in both categories which is what I was hoping for.

No issues with kids, don't have any.
Is the job better? Eh, its supervisory which I am not in right now and its a stepping stone.
Time in the car isn't an issue. I'd leave earlier than the wife which is no big deal and would arrive home maybe 15 minutes after her.
Servicing the car at the dealer would be easier since this position is located in the same city as the dealership (maybe 15 minutes away). I am an hour and 15 away from them right now. But I'd have all service work done by a local after the warranty is up.
Gas....can't believe I forgot to think about that. That's where I need to do the math. Thanks Eric.

Decisions...Decisions...

 

140 miles a day is a crazy conmmute! The pay must be fantastic to put up with that kind of driving.

 

It's a fairly normal commute here in crowded SoCal, C4! LOL! I'm thinking that motoring from Lafayette to (I'm guessing) Baton Rouge isn't too bad...

 

I did my second year of late-in-life grad school at a 300 mile commute each way once a week, M to F, on a 1989 and 1997 Kawasaki ZX-7, Tampa to Miami. It was worth it just to get away from the after graduation soon-to-be-ex girlfriend for a week at a time. But that's a different STORY. Never missed a class or was even late for one that I didn't intend to be. Left about 3:30 AM to make it by the 9AM class. Boy, did the DEAN hate seeing me roll into the campus on my racebike all loaded down with my casebooks, 1/2 hour before class started every Monday, absolutely a TRUE story. By the third year I was taking Southwest Airlines, Tri-Rail and the Metrobus.

 

Supervisory jobs deserve a company car.

 

Not when you work for a state government whose budget is in crisis after two major hurricane strikes a month apart.

After the gas calculation its starting to look like its not worth it. I'll probably end up staying put and hoping my boss moves up into a cushier slot at HQ thereby allowing me the same position but in my office.

 

I think the MINI will hold up as well as any other car, but if I were you I'd seriously think how much more you'll be paying out of pocket for gas & vehicle expenses for this new job. After 4 years of car payments you're left with a vehicle with 160k miles. A typical Honda would have had it's timing belt replaced twice under that use.

 

Yeah, I know that long work conmmutes are fairly common for most people in this country. I am very "anti-long conmmute" kind of person and that is reflected in my choice of area where I live (City vs the suburbs). I cringe to think about a 60 mile roundtrip conmmute, imagine a 140+ mile drive.

Certaintly, most folks don't have a choice and you have got to do what you got to do. But if you do have a choice, always opt to work as close as possible to home whenever possible. I worked for an IT company for 6 years and my conmmute was 4.5 miles each way or just about 10 minutes. That is heaven . I am also a firm believer of teleconmmuting from home.

Recently I was watching on PBS a very interesting documentary by an expert American urban planner (Whose name escapes me know) and it showed how poor urban planning, the over-reliance on the motor vehicle, the spread out suburb developments and the lack of a good public transportation infrastructure have all contributed to the long, dangerous and frustrating conmmutes Americans face each and everyday. In most areas of this country, if you don't have a car you are a dead duck. You can't go to work, you can't go to school, you can't even get groceries. Miami is one of such cities. We have a 22 mile above-the-ground Metrorail system that only serves the east side of the city and most of the stations take you right into the middle of nowwhere and some others into very questionnable neighboorhoods.

For those of you road warriors that have to confront long drives to work...more power to you. But this is in no way what I would call "quality of life".

If I were offered a great job far away from home, I would look at my conmmute expenses, tires, maintenance, tolls and gas. Also consider the risks of spending more time in traffic, the stress, etc. Do you have quality time left to spend with your family and loved ones? Will you have time left to enjoy life? Will your nervous system breakdown will all the stress incurred in driving in top of the job stresses?

The numbers and math only tell you part of the story. Remember, we have to work to live, not live to work.

 

Good points. I spend about 1.5 hrs a day in my car, though I take advantage of hte time with my BlueTooth to talk to family, get a little work done, etc. This is also my "quiet time" for the day too.

 

The most memorable line I can remember from a alternative transportation paper I wrote in 1977 about traffic back then was, "ONE person in ONE car going ONE place." Despite my moto commute above I am a big supporter of mass transit, but you just can't get Americans out of their cars, unfortunately. A blend of mass transit and bicycles would solve most issues because most buses or trains get you within 5 miles or so of most people's final destination, perfect for a short bike ride. I have to admit I even got lazy over the years and switched from pedaling to riding powered two wheels and now the MINI. It seems like in the USA we are stuck with cars, we'd better develop clean and efficient models soon. The earth can't support another consumer like us and China is right on the verge of breaking out into a middle class consumer society, it could be a problem sooner rather than later.

 

^^ I agree, a 130-140 round trip commute per day is a bit much. But considering where I live, I'm happy with the choice to commute. My whole commute is at the speed limit (maybe alittle more ) hardly ever any traffic delays, and it's a beautiful drive. The major plus is its a great time to problem solve, and undwind from work, so that my time at home is not affected my work issues. Sure I wish I lived closer, but maybe in the future I'll me able to work out of the main office which would only be 10 miles. (then I'll be riding my bicycle to work) But till then I'll enjoy the drive while I can.

Bishop is a town of roughly 3500 people with around 12000-15000 people in the entire county (2nd largest in Ca). So to get a job that pays anything above $9.00 per hour is an acomplishment. I would loose more money by taking a lesser paying job closer to home than I do in gas and maintenance.

In college I had a 20 mile commute to school that took longer than My 65+ mile commute does now. I would rather have my long stressfree commute, than a short stressful one.

Nik

 

Sorry but i don't agree with getting another car and just driving the Mini on the weekends. We got our Minis Because we love out Minis. Monetary value only means something it you do not keep long term and you really need to get some "value" at trade in. With cars getting to be very expensive. Average car price is getting close to 35k to buy and loans going upwards of 84 months monetary value is always in the equation. Remember the longer you own it the better the "value" so long as repairs are not overwhelming you. But as far as i'm concerned even with the money I have put into My R50 you cant but the happiness that a MINI can give you.

 

My Mini R53 JCW is my weekend/project car and my Volvo S80 2.4T is my daily driver, so I agree haha

 

Nice choice of cars!

I have my 2003 R53 and 2007 Volvo S40 T5.