Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2007 21:47:34 -0500
Reply-To: Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
Subject: Re: Total restoration cost!
In-Reply-To: <412390.42547.qm@web30207.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Malcolm,
You are absolutely right. That is why I now have that Tropi-Cal T-396. This
is our third motor home since '97. It brings lots of smiles to my face. I
enjoy driving it, maintaining it, and using all the toys in it. Even when 4
or 6 of us are traveling in, it often does not make economic sense. I can
buy an awful lot of airplane tickets for the monthly payments alone. It is a
life style choice. It is a freedom choice, friendship choice, etc. All I
really need is more time to enjoy it. I was only trying to point another
cost to the total cost of ownership equation.
I bought my '87 Syncro Westy in February of '88. The build date is June'87.
The dealer had it on their lot since September. I got for $20k. It took me 5
years to pay for it. For a number of years it was both my daily driver,
especially for getting to work in winter and our travel vehicle. As if a
family of three was not enough, we added a center seat and frequently my
in-laws traveled with us. Many NY to Florida trips and a NY to California
trip with in the Westy. When needed, we used tents and motels. In 1993, we
drove from NY to Alaska. Went to Prudhoe Bay. It turned 100k traveling from
Anchorage to Denali. 11,700 miles. 5 rock holes in the windshield, big dent
on the cowling, and all 4 tires made it there and back. Although the tranny
has been repaired twice, most of the mechanicals are still original. My goal
has become "how long" can the engine go?
FWIW, our first motor home was a 1992, Tioga Arrow. 27' Class C. It had 36k
miles on it we got for $22. In 1999 we traded it in with 65k on it for $20k.
For that money it heat, AC, generator, hot water, etc. It did take a lot of
maintenance for a low miles vehicle.
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Malcolm Stebbins
Sent: Friday, February 02, 2007 10:00 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Total restoration cost!
It may be that the smiles on our faces are more important than the money.
It might be more about
"utility theory" and not so much about the money. Having $30/$44/$65,000
says NOTHING about the
"opportunity cost" in adventure and smiles. I'd rather have 10 years worth
of adventure and
smiles than $65,000 in 10 years. I've had my vans in Saudi Arabia, Morocco,
I drove my van from
Cairo to Amsterdam, and several trips through England and Western Europe.
I've driven across
Canada a few times and across the northern US. And I'm just getting warmed
up!
As for "In general, car addicted people are not good money people." ...... I
have a Pd.D. in
Finance from a big school :-) and I am an Associate Professor of Finance
at my local U, and I
can tell you with ABSOLUTE authority! that "it's not about the money" The
investment is in my
life!, Not in my van. "economic sense" is subjugated to lifestyle and
adventure. :-) Malcolm
Stebbins
--- Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET> wrote:
> One thing I don't see mentioned is the cost of the money! If you have $30K
in cash to put into
> your vehicle, think of what that could be in 5 years. At a modest 8% you
would have over $44k in
> 5 years. Almost 65K in 10. The 30K in cash could be a future retirement
home. Heck, you could
> invest the 30k, use the $200 month earnings to pay off a cheap car and
still have the $30k at
> the end. Well, not quite with taxes and stuff.
>
> In general, car addicted people are not good money people.
.......................
>
> As for spending that type of cash on a vehicle for a trip, just don't make
economic sense.
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