At what gas price will you sell your LR3?

[ChuckD]

We're lucky to have a Mini Cooper for most of our running around (36mpg). I do find it hard to walk past the LR3, though. I started using manual shifting to extend mileage with good results. Last reading is 19.6mpg over about 400 miles, with average speed of 46mph. We drive mostly on North Carolina rural roads at about 50. I have noticed that the truck seems to get better mileage at 70+mph freeway speeds.

ChuckD

 

[richpike]

I have noticed that the truck seems to get better mileage at 70+mph freeway speeds.

ChuckD

I've noticed that too - which is totally counterintuitive. Perhaps the torque converter doesn't lock up until higher speeds?

-Rich

 

[tommithy]

My findings are slightly different. I've found that the sweet spot for us here in the Pacific Northwest is 65mph for best mileage. Up to 70 is slightly lower (.2 mpg or so) and after 70 it starts falling off quickly. 75mph drops us almost 2 mpg.

We were off-roading yesterday in the Tillamook forest and we dropped all the way down to 10.3 mpg. Of course that's to be expected when you're creeping along at less then 8 mph for most of the day.

Oh, and regardless of the price of gas, we'll keep the LR3.

 

[toddjb122]

So, I started this thread & am obviously concerned about the cost of driving the vehicle I love and am always looking around for options. When I see other SUV drivers I regularly ask them what MPG they are getting...and you know, most do worse than the LR3. At almost 60K I got 20.5 MPG highway with a big luggage carrier on the roof this weekend. (highway) I still get 14ish for normal driving around town.

The thorn is of course that high octane cas is usually 20 cents more a gallon...and I hear you that over the course of a year it isn't that much of a difference. But, $90 tankfulls still make you cringe.

I saw a guy on the beach this weekend with an FJ Cruiser. Which, properly equipped, I think would be a nice small SUV option. (would certainly blow away a Ford Escape!) The engine is only a V6 which he admitted had the vehicle underpowered and reving high most of the time, but it can be made sharp looking and is respectable offroad. Plus, according to him it isn't as light as it looks which perhaps gives the sense of a more solid vehicle. Anyway, he sees mid-teens as well around town and if he takes it easy on the highway he said he'll see 20 mpg. Not enough of a difference to make me go and buy one, for sure, but the car is half the price of an LR3 which makes it worth considering. His opinion was that a bigger engine in the FJ would not work as hard and he'd get better MPG. ?

I don't know where I'm going with this....I guess just that there aren't many better options right now if you're already sititng in a rover. If I was looking to buy, I'd probably be picking up something used and waiting to see what happens. In a couple years gas prices will have forced some better MPG SUV solutions to the market.

 

[broiler]

I looked into getting an alternate good mileage car to use for my daily commute, but the numbers didn't make much sense. For example, I could buy a used Ford Focus for about $7K, but when I calculated how many miles it would take to pay for that using the difference in mileage, it wouldn't pay off until I put 50K miles on the Focus. The numbers I used were 16MPG for the LR3 and 32MPG for the Focus and also having a to pay .20 more per gallon for gas on the LR3. It took 50K miles to pay the $7K for the Focus. However this is not including the lower cost of maintenance for the Focus, and that I could sell it and make some money back. It's also amazing how much the prices have gone up for used economy cars. That $7K Focus is 3-5 years old with 70K+ miles on it. Don't even try the numbers on a Civic or Corolla!

 

[SSS]

Great poll question... but the reality is, we all bought these things knowing that fuel-efficiency wasn't going to be their redeeming feature... If fuel was ever a pressing concern (unless we're talking $10/liter or gallon, we all would have bought something else.

 

[broiler]

I couldn't take it anymore and earlier this week I bought this:

(this isn't mine, but it's the same model and color that I ordered)

It's a Keeway ARN 150 scooter ($2000). Really quick, top speed of 60 MPH and gets 85 MPG! I still have the LR3, but I'll be using the scooter for commuting to work when the weather permits. My commute is about 10 miles and I can take all rural side roads (max 45 MPH), so I feel that this is perfect. The only problem is getting the scooter as sales have gone through the roof because of gas prices. I went to 3 dealers and there are waiting lists everywhere. If I'm lucky I should have it in a week or so. Besides the gas savings, I'll also be saving a ton on maintanance as the scooter is super simple to care for. Changing oil is even easier than on a lawn mower and brakes are snap. Most of the parts are super cheap too.

 

[richpike]

I couldn't take it anymore and earlier this week I bought this:

(this isn't mine, but it's the same model and color that I ordered)

It's a Keeway ARN 150 scooter ($2000). Really quick, top speed of 60 MPH and gets 85 MPG! I still have the LR3, but I'll be using the scooter for commuting to work when the weather permits. My commute is about 10 miles and I can take all rural side roads (max 45 MPH), so I feel that this is perfect. The only problem is getting the scooter as sales have gone through the roof because of gas prices. I went to 3 dealers and there are waiting lists everywhere. If I'm lucky I should have it in a week or so. Besides the gas savings, I'll also be saving a ton on maintanance as the scooter is super simple to care for. Changing oil is even easier than on a lawn mower and brakes are snap. Most of the parts are super cheap too.

That is probably a pretty good investment. Assuming (all fair assumptions IMO):

-You can drive it to work every work day
-It really does get 85 mpg
-The LR3 gets 14mpg
-Gas goes to $5 per gallon

You would save over $1500 per year, paying for that little guy pretty darn quick (not even taking in to account things like maintenance, residual value, etc).

Having said all that, I just don't think I could drive something like that. Zero protection (imaging getting hit by an LR3), zero fun, very little practicality. I think I'd buy a Mini Cooper before I went this route - I'd only get 35mpg, but it would be fun to drive, have a much better safety rating, and they are holding their value like none other right now too.

Just my $0.02.
-Rich

 

[broiler]

Zero protection (imaging getting hit by an LR3), zero fun, very little practicality. -Rich

ZERO fun???? This thing is a blast to drive! Way more "fun" than my LR3!! I had a Honda Elite 150 scooter many years ago and I had tons of fun driving that around.

As far as safety, yes, that was my biggest concern. However, once I mapped out a route on rarely used country side roads, I felt much better. The alternate route only adds a little more than a mile to my current route, but is much more scenic. I'm really looking forward to having fun driving again!

P.S. - And did you see the RECORD price jump in oil today?!!??!? $5/gallon is just around the corner. Do I think this is a bubble? Yes. But sometimes bubbles can survive a LONG time. . .

 

[richpike]

ZERO fun???? This thing is a blast to drive! Way more "fun" than my LR3!! I had a Honda Elite 150 scooter many years ago and I had tons of fun driving that around.

Fair enough - I've never driven one, so I guess I can't judge the "fun to drive" aspect.

P.S. - And did you see the RECORD price jump in oil today?!!??!? $5/gallon is just around the corner. Do I think this is a bubble? Yes. But sometimes bubbles can survive a LONG time. . .

That was pretty amazing - I definitely agree that $5 gas is just around the corner, but I also agree this is a bubble. Eventually the speculators are going to hit their limit, the Fed has stopped lowering interest rates (so hopefully the dollar will strengthen up), and people are clearly starting to change their driving habits (like you! ), so I expect that by winter we will be back down to $3ish a gallon. I doubt we will see <$2 a gallon for some time, but eventually I bet we will even see that again too (I remember when gas was less than a $1 in the 90s and I bet a lot of people in the 70s said we'd never see cheap gas again!).

-Rich