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Cars for All Occasions: The 90% Rule

Erich Zechar - Feb. 2006

It happens to all of us. You let our emotions get the best of you in car buying, and soon enough you look out the front window and there sits Rusty, your full-size gas-powered money pit. Sure, Rusty is stylish, comfortable, and solid, but he sure doesn't sit well with your bank account, and soon enough you're breaking a sweat just watching the odometer roll over. He's big, bulky, and a waste of your time and money. Just a bit of planning and foresight can make you ooze happiness over your next car purchase, and that's just what this article aims to help with.

Like anything else you pay good money for, planning is a prerequisite for finding true love at the end of the car-shopping rainbow. We here at Low End Living like to call upon the 90% rule when determining what vehicle can fulfill your transportation needs. It goes something like this:

Your vehicle should fulfill 90% of your yearly needs, no less.

We're not just talking about your needs hauling lumber here, either. Why not 100%? Well, aiming for 100% will get you stuck with Rusty. No one vehicle will ever fulfill 100% of your needs or wants for a year, more than likely. If we can't have all our needs fulfilled, most people will err on the side of excess when choosing a car. Driving around with 2 tons of excess vehicle is like wearing two sweaters on a summer day. You can do it, but you won't be comfortable. Remember, if you need to move a bunch of stuff, or even pick up a chair from the mall, there are plenty of places willing to rent you a truck. So what are your individual needs? What do you want?

Needs/ Wants Capacity Capacity can refer to cargo or people. Do you tow a boat or haul rocks to the quarry on the weekends often? Do you have a large family? These kinds of factors eliminate whole categories of vehicles. If you just need to haul people, consider a station wagon or minivan instead of a truck. As an aside, anyone who immediately dismisses a minivan or wagon needs to go out and drive one - many of the newer models are a blast to drive. On the other hand, if you get in your car and 90% of the time it's just you and 60 cubic feet of air, you would probably be happiest driving a more efficient small car. Think long and hard here - it is tempting to overstate your needs, much like you over packed for that last vacation.

Mileage YMMV is a popular Internet acronym that stands for "Your Mileage May Vary," and nowhere is this caution more appropriate than in the world of car shopping. We'll look at the used or new debate in the next installment, but an important factor in any car buying decision should be how often and far you plan on driving. If you drive a lot of miles in a year, and I would say more than 25,000 is a lot, you will have better luck with a newer car that can handle the strain and still be comfortable.

Drive Wheels Maybe you get snow, and it sure gets cold come December. Thankfully all car heaters work well enough nowadays, but it seems the car buying public has bought into the idea that living with snowfall means all four wheels are needed to propel the car. Yes, All- or Four- wheel drive can be easier and safer to drive on those few days where six inches of snow pack the streets, but do you really want to haul around all the extra weight that these drive trains require for the 360 days that you will not want it? Here at Low-end Living we've never gotten stuck in winter, even driving a two-wheel drive car, and we live in snowy Detroit, Michigan. A four- or all- wheel drive vehicle will cost more to buy, own, and operate than a comparable two-wheel drive version for many reasons, and this should be considered when purchasing.

Personal Style/Preference Disclaimer - we have a quirky sense of style, so it's difficult to advocate on this matter. Still, style matters to everybody, and surely it will play a part in your decision. Nobody needs sexy curves, luxurious style, and a powerful engine, but most of us want at least a taste of all that. Our advice? Just try to keep a level head about it. You probably will not race your daily driver, and luxury and style can cost you in more ways than one. If you're going low-end, don't forsake your wants, but look at them objectively. So long as you don't compromise all your needs on it, a little style never hurt anybody.

That said, while you may lust after that red Hummer H2, there is something satisfying and even endearing about driving a car for one-tenth the cost. And to be honest, any car today should satisfy your need for speed. Most accelerate quite quickly, unfortunately at the expense of fuel economy. The slowest cars now may take 15 seconds to reach 60 miles per hour. I would venture a guess that the average for all cars is around 8.5 seconds, which is the same rate that sports cars from 15 years ago accelerated at.

Making a simple list of your needs and matching them to a vehicle not only saves you money and headaches, but it can be loads of fun too if you are interested in cars, or even lists. We aren't saying that you should have a list of potential cars on you at all times, like we do, but with proper planning, your next car purchase can keep you satisfied for years. Now get out there and do some research!

Next Column: Should I Buy Used or New?

Vehicle Type	Best Picks	Likes	Dislikes
Small Car	Scion xB, MINI Cooper, Honda Civic, Chrysler PT Cruiser	Gas mileage, reliability, tight parking, city driving	Back seat passengers, road trips, high winds
Family Sedan	Ford Taurus, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Mazda 6	Hauling medium families, gas mileage (some), highway jaunts, blending in	Lots of cargo, depreciation, standing out.
Small SUV, Station Wagon, Minivan	Honda Element, Volvo V50, Dodge Magnum, Nissan Quest	Small families on vacation, gas mileage (some), towing medium loads, loading up with cargo	Single people, the style-conscious (some)
Truck, Large SUV	Honda Ridgeline, Ford F-150, Dodge Ram diesel	Towing over 4000 lbs, hauling lumber	Being empty, parking lots, bumpy roads, gulping down gas
Sports Car	Ford Mustang, Mazda MX-5 Miata	Twisty roads, quick jaunts, being seen in	Cargo hauling, more than two passengers, gas mileage (some)

Note: This table's picks have a decidedly new-car flair to them. Look for a used car buyer's guide on each of these classes in the future.

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Well this is somewhat embarrassing, isn’t it?

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Cars for All Occasions: The 90% Rule

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