Leaving car at work?

[Kurtatron]

Hello community,

I have an interesting opportunity. Would it be worth it to leave my car at work overnight rather than park it in my garage at home overnight? It's a 99 Toyota Solara beater with 210k miles. I'm trying to save money by keeping it running as long as possible. I have other means of getting to and from work, but I need the car there because I need to routinely drive during work.

Just pondering the idea of effectively reducing miles and cold starts by half. Would that basically double the car's remaining working life? This would be a long term lifestyle choice. I could do this for years, weather permitting. So it may be worth it. Also consider that the road leading up to work is really rough on the suspension, potholes and the like. What do you think? I'm not asking about time hassle, just whether the reduced running time would extend the interval between repairs and if a garage does more good than leaving it outside.

 

[MaximaGuy]

Sure, as long as the company security and/or private security employed by the bldg owner is aware. Some paperwork may be needed to be put on the dash to let the security folks know as such - remember there are many teams of security folks who may not be aware of this arrangement. I know of a friend who parks his car at employer parking lot for not having to rent one every time he is in town.

 

[RooflessVW]

Worth it? The car is supposed to serve you - inconveniencing yourself to save "wear and tear" on a 20 year old Toyota strikes me as a fool's errand.

 

[WylieCoyote]

If Detroit is anything like Dallas, he's also saving himself considerable aggravation by letting someone else (train?) do the driving. I know I'd certainly be riding DART if I could.

 

[SZR48207]

Didn't George Costanza do this and his boss thought he was putting in a lot of hours? (only later to think he went missing and had to be replaced) LOL

 

[WyrTwister]

Is it 100% insured ? What is the value if it " disappeared " . Would the insurance at work cover it .

Any place you can " plug it in " in the winter ( engine heater ) .

 

[pcoxe]

Originally Posted by MaximaGuy
Sure, as long as the company security and/or private security employed by the bldg owner is aware. Some paperwork may be needed to be put on the dash to let the security folks know as such - remember there are many teams of security folks who may not be aware of this arrangement. I know of a friend who parks his car at employer parking lot for not having to rent one every time he is in town.


If there should be a calamity like the building catching fire, rescuers may spend a lot of valuable time looking for you while you're not there.

 

[AZjeff]

Wait, you don't want to use your personal car for personal use but have to use it for work? Please tell us you're getting a nice mileage allowance from your work for doing this.

2nd thought, frugal is good, but, if you're trying to extend the life of this 20 yr old car out of necessity hopefully things look better in the future for doing it. Do you have a good car at home?

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted by WyrTwister
What is the value if it " disappeared " . Would the insurance at work cover it .

I think it would be silly for a person to ask or expect their employer's insurance to cover anything that happens to their car when parked there.

 

[exranger06]

How many miles is your commute? Obviously the fewer miles you accumulate the longer your car will last, and the more money you'll save. If it's no hassle to use public transportation for the commute and your employer has no problem with it, then I don't really see an issue. The IRS mileage reimbursement rate is about 54 cents per mile. That's not a made-up number; they chose that number because most cars actually cost roughly 54 cents per mile to operate. This includes cost of fuel, maintenance and repairs, and depreciation. Obviously some cars are more expensive to operate than others, but 54 cents is a pretty good average. So if your commute is 20 miles each way, you'd save about $22 per day, minus the cost of using public transportation.

 

[MNgopher]

I would ask your employer first if that is acceptable.

I occasionally left my personal vehicle at work over weekends for convenience, but had the blessing of my employer, so long as I notified them when I was doing it.

As others have said, seems like a fools errand to protect a car whose better days are already well behind it...

 

[IndyIan]

I think your alternate transportation has to be nearly free for you break even on saving on maintenance. If you can bike safely to work that would be worth doing for its own sake.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by exranger06
How many miles is your commute? Obviously the fewer miles you accumulate the longer your car will last, and the more money you'll save. If it's no hassle to use public transportation for the commute and your employer has no problem with it, then I don't really see an issue. The IRS mileage reimbursement rate is about 54 cents per mile. That's not a made-up number; they chose that number because most cars actually cost roughly 54 cents per mile to operate. This includes cost of fuel, maintenance and repairs, and depreciation. Obviously some cars are more expensive to operate than others, but 54 cents is a pretty good average. So if your commute is 20 miles each way, you'd save about $22 per day, minus the cost of using public transportation.


They average that number out over a year based on a certain number of miles. There are certain costs which are fixed like depreciation and insurance that add to that number. So not driving as much actually increases your cost per mile as you still have those fixed expenses regardless of mileage.

As for the OP, I guess that's one way to cut down on mileage, but it will probably cost you more time commuting. So it's a trade off. For me, I'd just keep driving it and ditch the car when it dies or just start looking for a another car that's more reliable and has less mileage.

 

[Kurtatron]

Originally Posted by IndyIan
I think your alternate transportation has to be nearly free for you break even on saving on maintenance. If you can bike safely to work that would be worth doing for its own sake.


Yes. That is the alternative transportation. Biking. I can bike to work Tuesday thru thursday, doing this will get me exercise, since I don't really do anything else to get my heart pumping. I'm too lazy to want to exercise after work, but I was wondering about the outside elements of parking the car outside vs garage. My company has a bunch of other company vehicles left on the lot everyday. I think mine will be fine.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted by Kurtatron
Originally Posted by IndyIan
I think your alternate transportation has to be nearly free for you break even on saving on maintenance. If you can bike safely to work that would be worth doing for its own sake.


Yes. That is the alternative transportation. Biking. I can bike to work Tuesday thru thursday, doing this will get me exercise, since I don't really do anything else to get my heart pumping. I'm too lazy to want to exercise after work, but I was wondering about the outside elements of parking the car outside vs garage. My company has a bunch of other company vehicles left on the lot everyday. I think mine will be fine.

All our cars have lived outside without any serious issues. They are parked facing north which helps with headlight fogging and dash fading. My focus has some fading on top of the door skin plastic, and perhaps the plastic covered roof radio antennae wouldn't have broken down? The Focus was probably spec'd with the cheapest "passable" grade of plastics,and its still mechanically sound. Nothing cosmetic is going to end its practical life for me anyways. Something expensive or structural will have to rust out, or the trans or engine blow.

 

[spk2000]

Car will be fine. I do it all the time while driving their vehicle on trips. Hopefully they are paying you mileage when driving for work. Then save that money for next car. Less starting and driving should result in longer vehicle life.