Any sense swapping vehicle

[andrew_j]

Drive a paid for 2015 Honda Pilot base model with 113k that gets 21mpg.

I am considering a hybrid job role requiring 100 mile highway round trip daily commute 5 days/month. Balance remote. It potentially may increase to two weeks a month.

Like comfort/capacity of Pilot except lack of heated seats and yucky fabric seats that show any stain including water.

Considering comfortable 4 door sedan with 40 mpg+ highway / under $20k used or $35k max new only other requirement heated leather/leatherette. Pilot worth about $10.5k.

Any justification yet?

 

[Rogueman2016s]

Nope.

 

[Egg_Head]

Invest in getting the Pilot tuned up, new tires, suspension work if needed, sheep-skin seat covers and enjoy the ride. Good luck with the new opportunity.

 

[dishdude]

If I was spending that much time in a vehicle, I'd want something comfortable I enjoyed driving.

 

[SC Maintenance]

You simply need to calculate an ROI.

Pilot = 100 / 21 = 4.76 gallons per trip. Lets just assume $4 per gallon (insert your own number) = $19.04 per trip.

Used sedan 100/40 mpg = 2.5 gallons x $4/gallon =$10 per trip.

Difference is $9.04 per trip.

$9500 price difference / $9.04 price difference = roughly 1050 trips the ROI is break even. Even at 10 trips a month that is almost 9 years. Its 18 years at 5 trips a month.

Drive your Pilot into the ground, unless you wish to change for other reasons.

 

[demarpaint]

Not all vehicle purchases make sense, especially when asking strangers. The only person/persons that matter are you and your significant other. Case in point my 2016 JKR, it made perfect sense to me, and still does. My wife was on board, done deal, in fact so much so that when things settle down a bit I plan on buying a new JLU Rubicon X.

 

[Graham Piccinini]

Buying a more fuel efficient vehicle seems like false economy, once every expense related to that additional vehicle is considered. I'd keep the Pilot. Our 2009 is coming up to 200k miles soon, and is still very comfy and gets same MPG (I do have VCM disabled).
The only way it does make sense to me, is to sell the Pilot and find a more fuel efficient vehicle for whatever money you get out of the Pilot. Like a used Prius V, with leather heated seats. It's the biggest Prius ever made, so you're not giving up too much capacity compared to a sedan. And you should still see over 45MPG pretty effortlessly.
Anyways, good luck, weight all the PROs and CONs. @demarpaint makes a valid point as well.

 

[skyactiv]

Type in heated car seat cushions on Amazon or Walmart.com. They work. I bought a cheap Goodyear branded one at Menards which works good and plugs into the 12V outlet in my center console.

 

[racer12306]

If you want a new car, get a new car. As shown by @SC Maintenance , the fuel economy economics rarely works. Even daily trips with that math will take 4 years to recover. @Graham Piccinini is right though, that’s the only way it works, no extra money out of pocket. But then you’re looking at a big unknown history.

My wife and I commute together and she really likes the heated seats in her van but we drive my truck. I bought these Zone Tech Seat Cover Cushion Premium Quality Classic Black Comfortable Seat Cushion https://a.co/d/22StzjU and have been pleasantly surprised. They were only $50 when I got them.

 

[atikovi]

Dump that gas hog. No need to drive a 7 passenger SUV alone for that much. My Corolla hybrid gets 60 mpg and has all the comfort anyone needs. Just about drives itself with automatic steering and braking and radar cruise control. Not sure if heated seats are available, but really, when it's cold out you're wearing a jacket anyway, and the heater will warm the inside 5 minutes after a cold start.

 

[dlundblad]

If you want something new, get it.

At the moment, I drive ~100 miles round trip 5 days a week in my old truck so I am the wrong one to ask. Lol.

 

[SC Maintenance]

If you want something new, get it.

At the moment, I drive ~100 miles round trip 5 days a week in my old truck so I am the wrong one to ask. Lol.

Me too.

Almost no one cuts me off in my old truck.

I always get cut off while driving my wife's new Rav4

 

[jeepman3071]

If I was spending that much time in a vehicle, I'd want something comfortable I enjoyed driving.

100 mile highway commute 5 days/month is very little.

I used to do 100 miles/day every day and that was a little over an hour each way. I think there are a few ways to make the Pilot a better and more comfortable commuter (you can install aftermarket seat covers with heaters) but it will take a while for any fuel savings to make up $40k for a new vehicle. You will also miss the space of the SUV. I'd say fix up the Pilot, drive it for a bit and save up for a new SUV. I love my BMW sedan for long trips, but its replacement will likely be an X3 or X5.

 

[supton]

Haven’t run the numbers but I don’t think the math works here. Not at 5 days per month.

That said… NH road salt. It may be time to move on, period. Do a good inspection.

Of course you could always change vehicles later, after a year or two, why rush now? As said, the numbers don’t make sense, yeah thats lousy mpg for a commuter vehicle, but still the cheaper option.

 

[GMFan]

Financially speaking, this isn’t justifiable on its own. However it is justifiable if you want a new car. Nearly the entirety of the driving public drives vehicles that aren’t financially justifiable, but not everyone wants to drive a 30yr old car. Needs vs wants. Best of luck with the new job!

 

[fisher83]

Buying a newer car to replace a perfectly good paid for one is almost never financially justifiable. But if it makes you happy and doesn't put you in a bind, go for it.

 

[racer12306]

100 mile highway commute 5 days/month is very little.

I used to do 100 miles/day every day and that was a little over an hour each way. I think there are a few ways to make the Pilot a better and more comfortable commuter (you can install aftermarket seat covers with heaters) but it will take a while for any fuel savings to make up $40k for a new vehicle. You will also miss the space of the SUV. I'd say fix up the Pilot, drive it for a bit and save up for a new SUV. I love my BMW sedan for long trips, but its replacement will likely be an X3 or X5.

I did too. Did it in a Neon and a Focus, not especially comfortable but can’t argue with 36-40MPG. I value comfort more now. For example we drove my Ram to Orlando last month instead of the Pacifica. ~5-6mpg difference

100 miles in NH could be tricky, if it’s highway, that’s great. If it’s not that could easily be 1.5hrs each way. Comfort will be important imo.

 

[andrew_j]

It’s a 45-50 minute commute thankfully as I live close to our only east-west highway in state and workplace close too.

Car is only need of $600-700 timing belt (friend) and likely $1000 in suspension work(clunky backing up and turning hard).

 

[panthermike]

Like others have said, financially doesn't make a whole lot of sense You're not really going to come out ahead on that deal.

However I totally agree with demarpaint, if you want something new that's a totally different story. And if you do you should get it

 

[99Saturn]

Run the gas savings for the entire remaining usable life of the vehicle, not just the commute. Include how much you estimate you lose by waiting the get rid of the Pilot (will be worth less than the $10.5K it is now). You can throw in other factors (will the cost of entry for the next vehicle change, repairs on the Pilot, etc.) - a lot of those will be harder to estimate.

Fairly certain from a pure financial sense you'll still get the same answer as everyone has said, the financials won't make sense.

I ask myself the same thing about jumping into a new economy sedan but my daily driver is virtually worthless, assuming the decision doesn't get made for me (rust, accident, etc.) it'll end up being the convenience factor for me.