Spend on Gas or Parts ?

November 04, 2006, 02:33:08 PM

Over the time, i have learned how a vehicle can be a "good partner" if i do the right choice. Here in mexico, if some of you have traveled here, you have seen than many, if not all of the cars are 4 cilinders.....taxis, light trucks, city police (yeah, police interceptors with 1600cc 110 hp), and so on. And here the 4 cilinder cars are usually expensive than 6 or 8 cilinders when used. Yeah, the 4 cilinders are great at mpg, but no more. Now, i know what there in the States or Canada they use V8 cars to police interceptors or taxis....and i agree doing that. One time i saw a mint crown victoria with the performance improved badge, and surprise! it has 350,000 miles, and the owner said he never had any serious issues with the car!.

Now, coming back to here, is common to change clutches in manual transmissions in 4 cilinders cars every time i change my platinum spark plugs (like every two years...), replacing heads, even camshafts ! so i say, what the hell ? the last time my dad changed a clutch was in his F-200 like 12 years ago and still is running ok. I think the "American/Canadian" way to buy an expensive car first and beat the hell over the time is a better choice than buy a cheap car, which in 60,000 miles would need a serious overhaul, only because is better at mpg....

So, what is better, spend little money on gas but with reduced durability, or more in fuel but run forever and ever ?