I'm curious what kind of workplace you go to regularly that a truck is a good option for?
replyThis truck is compact/low-cost enough that you could commute to a city job, and its competitors for that are basically the Leaf, Bolt, Fiat 500e, Kia Niro and Hyundai Kona.
replyThe bed is pointless for commuting, but so are the back seats in any of those other cars.
I commute in a Fiesta, and it’s been years since anybody has sat in the back seats.
You can get a lot of Uber rides for $20k.
reply2 years worth according to my math using ride.guru and that's in advance. That also means I don't have a truck and I have to coordinate trips twice a day. And that strictly commuting, not accounting for all the other uses I have for a car...
replyOf course, my remark was more on if the sole purpose was to drive to and from work. It seems absurd to be ok with spending $20k if that is the primary feature. I'd expect a few more use cases, especially to buy new vs. used. But I've gone years with a used $800 car and my current vehicle was acquired in 2011, was only 5 years old at the time, for around $8k and has been going fine since.
replyThat jives pretty well with the total cost of ownership of a vehicle. There are plenty of reasons why one would want to buy, but unless one of those reasons is specifically “to be a frugal driver with a Civic/Prius/Corolla”, Uber at least seems cost-competitive for in-city use.
replyI’m a two-car household with my partner, but I’ve assumed that if one car is out of commission, we’d be fine with Uber+one car for at least several months while we take the time to thoroughly research/negotiate/etc. options.
$50-100 a day goes quicker than you’d think.
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