Gas Money

A person commented that I drove a lot of miles. It's true, I do, but I've always loved to drive or to ride motorcycle long distance. I've also always tracked the fuel mileage I get with whatever vehicle I'm using. Several times a sudden drop in mileage has pointed to a problem that hadn't shown up yet at the dealership when I had the truck in for oil changes, like when the fuel pump was starting to go bad. It also let me know that adding the bed cover two years ago gave me 2- 3 mpg better fuel economy, and it shows that using ethanol decreases my mileage by 12-15% as does the winter fuel mix up north.

I used to use a computer based program to track the  mileage, but back in April of 2009 I discovered www.fuelly.com. I just sign in, input the odometer reading, gallons of fuel purchased and the price per gallon and Fuelly does all the calculations, plus you can customize it to show lots of different statistics. They even have a mobile app so you don't have to wait until you have internet to add your fuel-ups.

I had filled up the tank on the truck a couple days ago, and since I don't have a smartphone I went online to add it. I happened to click on the All Time Cost Analysis and  this is the shocking chart that came up.

Seriously, $24,000!?! That's more than I paid for the 5 acres of land and mobile home here in TN! It's double what I paid for the 6 acres in Minnesota with a house and a couple outbuildings! Either I spend way too much on gasoline or I buy really cheap real estate.  LOL

I really love my Tundra, and it actually gets good mileage for a 10 year old truck with 175,000 miles on it. If I'm not hauling I get right around 18 miles per gallon, and have had several tanks over 23 mpg. It's the hauling that kills me, the mileage can drop as low as 9 or 10 mpg if I've got a heavy load and/or large trailer. The lifetime average since I bought the truck in July of 2008 is 14.9 mpg, and I've been towing or hauling over half the time. That's still better than the 4-6 mpg I got with the Class C with no toad. 

When it comes time to buy a new truck I'll do a ton of research, cost of ownership, number of repairs, etc. I'll also check on Fuelly to see what kind of fuel economy different makes and models get in real life. We all know the estimated mileage stickers on the window are not accurate unless you're a professional driver going 45 on a closed track with no accessories running and a good tailwind. LOL In a perfect world the rebuilt Caboose weight will come in low enough that I can continue to use my current Tundra, but I'm afraid it may end up too heavy.