Sidelining the 31-year-old Trooper Orphan

[BonzaiDuck]

I love it here. We have lived here since 1997.

It's just that So-Cal is so crowded. Everywhere is becoming crowded. That is -- if you want to live near conveniences like a Walmart or Costco. looking at some of those farmhouse properties sprinkled along US 395 between here and Reno, you wonder what happens when they have to go to the doctor, or go shopping. I suppose it's manageable.

Today, I took the Trooper out for a round-trip to COSTCO. It needs to be driven about once weekly. Over the 1,333 miles driven in my RAV4 so far, the gas mileage reported on the instrument cluster is 39.4 MPG. More than double the highway MPG on the Trooper. Somehow, the Trooper has lost something in my estimation. 12 MPG city driving can't compare to the 41 MPG of the RAV4. The Trooper will cost me something short of $1,000 annually for insurance and registration. Assume it's up to date on repairs -- not likely to need anything over the next year.

 

[JulesMaximus]

My Lexus gets around 15-16mpg average but I haven’t really been driving it much. I am working from home, because I am immunocompromised due to chemotherapy, so really the only time I drive anywhere is to go to doctor’s appointments.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

My Lexus gets around 15-16mpg average but I haven’t really been driving it much. I am working from home, because I am immunocompromised due to chemotherapy, so really the only time I drive anywhere is to go to doctor’s appointments.

Visiting a friend for lunch on Friday at Portillo's in Moreno Valley, I decided to top up the RAV4 tank at COSTCO ($4.05/gal) across the street. I was about a quarter tank down. $14. A full tank gets me about 500 miles. I shouldn't need any gas for the month's remainder.