Can an extra car be considered a good prep item or not

[Anne In TN]

Can an extra car be considered a good prep item or just a finacial liability
Folks,

We cannot make up our minds what to do. Our car repair shop is top notch and we use them a lot because we keep older cars that are forever needing work done. They are nice older cars and still cheaper to repair than have newer ones. Also, we don't owe anything on them. When we take our cars in for repair, we are always given a loaner car to drive while ours are being fixed. My son fell in love with this one loaner car which is a 1988 Buick LeSabre. My husband agreed that it was a nice car. Well, out of the blue yesterday, the owner of the shop called us to offer us the car for $750. He will guarantee for 30 days and if , later, something goes wrong with it that costs more than the car is worth, he will buy it back from us for the same price. He also said we could make payments.

Now, my dilemma: We have 3 people in our family but I don't drive although I used to and still have a license. We have two running cars that my husband and son use. However, my son has two specialty cars that he is slowly working on to have them on the road.

How can I justify getting this car from a prepper's point of view? I regard the car my husband drives as my car and would be happy for it not to be used so much as it is a classic and I want it to last the next 20 years. When one of my son's cars was on the road, all went well with having the three cars and letting mine not be driven so much.

Recently, though, a contractor who is working on our house, said that if we got the loaner car and let my car sit again, that the seals and hoses would dry up. He said that a car needs to be running frequently.

We do have one debt we are paying on so this car would set the paid off date back two weeks.

We can do without the car. So, is there a good reason why we ought to get it? We kind of want to get it because we can trust it and the seller, and it is really a good deal. But we still have to remember that we have to pay for tags, and insurance. (Unless we decide to just park it to be used in hard times if one of our other cars goes down and we cant fix it.) But then again, as our contractor said, the car should be driven to stay in good shape.

I really didn't want to spend money on anything that is not prep related so How can we fit the car into a prep category. Some website off of Google stated that the gas mileage on those cars is 17 to 25 mpg so we cannot use the excuse that we can drive it to get better mileage than other cars.

I know I probably appear very thin headed in that we have only two drivers with four cars and considering a 5th. Then again, if times get really bad, I may have to drive too.

Perhaps a better prep item would be to buy another ounce of gold!

[Freeholder]

JMO, but this looks more like a want than a need. I would get all bills paid off and make sure you have all your preps in line before even considering another car -- and then you need to consider what on earth you are going to do with it when you can no longer afford gas for any of the vehicles. If I still had my old van, I was going to convert it into a combination greenhouse/chick brooder/food dryer (not at the same time -- each thing would be at a different time of the year). Haven't yet figured out what I'll do with my pickup when I can't drive it any more -- but am likely to run out of money to make the payments at the same time as I run out of cash for gas, so it'll just have to go back to the dealer at that point.

I don't know how long it's going to be before gasoline for vehicles becomes nearly unobtainable and unaffordable (for all but the filthy rich). But I'll be surprised if it's more than another five or ten years. Maybe not that long. Cars are the last thing I'd be putting money into if I already had a vehicle.

Kathleen

[Doc1]

I don't know how long it's going to be before gasoline for vehicles becomes nearly unobtainable and unaffordable (for all but the filthy rich). But I'll be surprised if it's more than another five or ten years. Maybe not that long. Cars are the last thing I'd be putting money into if I already had a vehicle.

Kathleen[/quote]

This is important and Kathleen is dead-on here. Any vehicle you get should be able to make you money or serve an important utilitarian purpose. Additionally (as most of you know my very strong feelings on the subject) it needs to be a DIESEL.

Most folks have no clue what severe fuel availability problems are like as an ongoing fact of daily life.

These lessons will be indelibly imprinted on all soon enough.

Best regards
Doc

[SheWoff]

I'm with them on this one. If you are going to get yet another vehicle, it needs to be diesel and an older model (think EMP). If it were me, I would put the money into paying off other debts or getting some more preps. YMMV.

We have three vehicles here for example, but they all have their own purpose. Not saying this is how you should do it, this is just how we did ours. A Ford F250 work horse truck that we use to haul corn, dog food, sunflower seeds in at least 50 lb bags, fruit trees or what have you. It gets lower end gas milage, so we don't use it too often. Then we have a Pontiac mini van that gets 40 mpg that we use for trips to town or down to the lake to go fishing. It's our go anywhere vehicle. Last we have our dear old 1980 chevy panel van. It sucks gas like we breathe air. But we just start it up every few days, don't drive it too often. That's our bug out vehicle. We have the needed parts stored for it in a faraday box in case of EMP and we have to get around. But each vehicle is needed here and has it's own uses.

She

[money matters]

First off: Where ya gonna go?

If you are anticipating collapse there will be only few reasons for travel, especially with fuel all but unobtainable; medical emergency (maybe), and bugging out, vacating the area. The roads will not be the safe lanes of conveyance they are today, so where is there to go? Where will you be able to shop?

If you own a farm/ranch, maybe you have bulk fuel storage? If not, you can store fuel in 50gal drums or buy a tank. Better than money, if you can keep and preserve it.

If you are going to keep fuel or keep a vehicle fueled, you need fuel stabilizer (StaBil). or 10x better fuel restorer (PRI D, for diesel and PRI G for gasoline). Got any?


A good "extra" vehicle would be a mid 90s diesel 4x4 truck in 3/4 or 1 ton weight rating. An in-bed tool box with fuel tank would give you another 100+ gallons of range. My 95 Dodge with 6cyl Cummins is a 4x4 and has delivered 24mpg at 65mph with 4 occupants and a full load of shopping supplies in the back. It has gotten 17mpg towing 8K lbs with a full load in the bed. Range with full load of fuel, #2 diesel, is over 700mi. I don't have a spare tank. A truck with a full size bed will take a camper, but it is more effective to use a topper shell to save weight.

A vehicle that is even more versatile is a used diesel pusher motorhome. A mid-90s model in the 32' range will cost $15-$20K and can carry about 2 tons of gear while getting 10-12mpg, plus you have chemical toilet with holding tank, shower lavatory, full kitchen, sleeping accomodations for 6-8, heating & cooling, auxillary genset of 6kw plus propane tank of about 40gals. Fuel capacity about 100gals. Not much on dirt roads, and prone to high centering, but these machines are built on commercial truck chasis and are very durable. For bugging out, attach a 12-14ft trailer. I have seen Camper trucks pulling a 5th Wheel trailer and a boat! So, if you need to go somewhere and be at home whenever you stop, a motorhome is a great way to travel.

If you have a well and septic tank, a motorhome is very livable. Nice to have a barn or metal building to park in, no need to run your propane heater then. Building a house remote is a PITA, but getting a well and septic plus a lg pole building you can convert to a home, that would be easy/breazy.

Almost hard to imagine why anyone needs a "car" anymore. Something with versatility, range, and weight-carrying capacity seems more prudent, unless you do a 100mi daily commute and then maybe you're better off on the bus or train?

I think most vehicles are just going to sit. The make good storage for fuel. Just be sure you have a siphon hose or some PRI. It may be a long while before it is safe to travel out of your immediate area.

[Wildcat]

I'm with them on this one. If you are going to get yet another vehicle, it needs to be diesel and an older model (think EMP). If it were me, I would put the money into paying off other debts or getting some more preps. YMMV.

We have three vehicles here for example, but they all have their own purpose. Not saying this is how you should do it, this is just how we did ours. A Ford F250 work horse truck that we use to haul corn, dog food, sunflower seeds in at least 50 lb bags, fruit trees or what have you. It gets lower end gas milage, so we don't use it too often. Then we have a Pontiac mini van that gets 40 mpg that we use for trips to town or down to the lake to go fishing. It's our go anywhere vehicle. Last we have our dear old 1980 chevy panel van. It sucks gas like we breathe air. But we just start it up every few days, don't drive it too often. That's our bug out vehicle. We have the needed parts stored for it in a faraday box in case of EMP and we have to get around. But each vehicle is needed here and has it's own uses.

She

40 mpg? :shock:

[dreadstalker]

I'm with the rest of them on this. a extra vehicle is a want more then a need.

[dreadstalker]

I'm with the rest of them on this. a extra vehicle is a want more then a need.