In my last post, I discussed why private-transportation costs (car, insurance, taxes, gas) in Las Vegas are among the highest in the U.S. This time I cover how I personally keep these costs down, knowing full well that not all these tips are applicable to everybody’s situation.
Owning a “Minimum-Cost Ride”
There are times in my life that I drove a brand-new Lincoln Continental, a BMW, plus at one time I actually had two cars (a convertible and a Jeep, again both brand new). Been there, done that, made all the lease payments. In July 2015 just before I moved back to Las Vegas from Cleveland, I traded in my dark blue 2012 Hyundai (purchased new) for a used white 2013 Hyundai Tucson with 28,500 miles on it. Three and a half years later, I own a fully paid for, well-maintained, very safe “minimum-cost ride” with 48,000 miles on it (and that includes the 2,000 miles driving across the country in August 2015). I will have to replace the tires soon (shopping around for the next sale) and, of course, I pay for semi-annual maintenance, including fluid changes, but my collision insurance and registration fees are both low. I wouldn’t consider a new car even if I won one in a casino drawing.
Quick note: The reason I recommend light or white cars in Las Vegas is that they’re cheaper to keep cool in summer. Next time you’re in a parking lot on a hot day, put your hand on a white car and then on a dark car (careful!) and you’ll understand my point. Downside to a white car in Las Vegas? Almost everyone has one, so locating it in the crowded parking lot can be a chore.
Shopping for and Reviewing Auto Insurance
At a recent Meetup group, I sat across from Victoria Sutherland, Trenchant Insurance ([email protected]), who mentioned that auto insurance should be shopped at least every other year. In my case, she recommended that I seek out a low-mileage discount and strongly reconsider the need for uninsured-driver coverage, which covers your medical bills and loss of income if you have an accident with an uninsured driver (or a hit and run). If you’re already on a good medical plan and your income isn’t wage-based, the chances that you’ll need to collect either of those are quite low and you could save $100 a month by skipping it. Of course, these tips are in addition to keeping a good driving record (never drink and drive) and a good credit report, and maintaining deductibles as high as you can afford to pay in case of an accident. Vicky recommended the Nevada Insurance Council for more information.
Finding Cheap Gas
Websites and apps will help you locate cheap gas and they’re great if you’re on the road, but I just scout around my neighborhood for the cheapest places to get gas with cash or a debit card. I generally go to the cash-cheapest station after I pick up the weekly groceries, using additional ATM cash I get at the checkout (which is free).
I don’t belong to Costco (or similar), as the fees don’t cover the discounts. Neither do I use my Von’s Rewards at the nearby Chevron. The base price is too high, you have to have a near-empty tank to really save much, and the rewards can go further if you use them for groceries.
Walking
Two years ago, I took up walking 10,000 steps a day for general exercise and was quick to discover how many of my daily tasks (going to the grocery for a small purchase, visiting nearby restaurants, picking up dry cleaning, etc.) I could accomplish on foot.
Research Transportation Alternatives
Next time I’ll discuss Las Vegas’ improving transportation alternatives, including CAT and Uber/Lyft.
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Las Vegas gas prices>
http://www.vegasgasprices.com/index.aspx?fuel=C
I used to buy my fuel at Sam’s Club,until they closed in Seattle. Darn.I saved more than the cost of membership for the year.$35.
I use Gieco .com car insurance and I got a rate adjustment for driving only 3,000 miles per year! I no longer drive to work,daily.
No,I will NEVER buy a new car.The depreciation/insurance cost is terrible for the first 5 years.
I tried to buy a white car,but couldn’t find what I wanted.My dark blue car is almost invisible.It also has almost no shiny chrome.
With the amount of drunk drivers in LV, I would never go without UM (uninsured motorist coverage)
We received the following detailed comment from John via email. Here it is in its entirety. Definitely worth reading if you rent a car in Las Vegas or anywhere, for that matter.
First, for many years, during our annual LV trips for CES, we always rented cars using AMEX credit cards.
For any rental car, you need three classes of insurance: 1) “Collision/LDW”, 2) “Liability” and 3) “Anti Rental Agency Weaselling.” AMEX (still) offers a product “Premium Rental Protection” which offers *primary* Collision/LDW up to and including the price of a Mercedes should you be involved in an accident with one, and what I’d call “rock solid” Anti-Weaselling coverage for the rental car itself. This covers situations where you pick up a rental car at night in the rain, and when you return it, the rental agency “discovers” a scratch on the fender that you didn’t see when you picked it up. They then try to slam you for all sorts of costs including the dreaded (daily) Loss Of Use while the rental car is (ever so slowly) being repaired. PRP covers damage to rental cars with a value up to $75k and covers Loss Of Use charges.
The big difference between Rental Agency LDW and Amex PRP is that PRP is priced *per rental* and not *per day*. The price of PRP is $25-$30/rental depending on which state you live in. California is actually cheaper than most other states. PRP costs ZERO when you’re not renting a car. In other words, no PRP-specific “annual” fees. If you want PRP coverage auto-enabled for any car you rent, all you do is call Amex customer service once and have them add it to your card. Then, whenever you rent a car with that Amex card, you’ll see a separate $25-$30 PRP charge post to your card two days after your rental charge posts.
Now, I cuurently carry an Amex Gold and a Chase Sapphire Reserve VISA as my “primary” credit cards. Amex keeps nagging me to upgrade to Platinum, but I’m not willing to pay the $550 annual fee associated with it. The CSR VISA is also a $550/yr “premium” card, but they rebate $300/yr worth of “travel” charges which makes it a $250/yr card. Their definition of “Travel” includes, Airfare, hotels, restaurants, and even “transportation” which includes Uber, Lyft, Monorail tickets in LV, etc. Finally, the CSR VISA also includes *primary* LDW for rental cars.
So, these days, depending on where I’m renting a car and from which Agency, I’ll use the CSR VISA for the rental. This is true for Las Vegas. However, if I’m renting in a location that might in any way be considered “sketchy”, I’ll rent the car with Amex, just to have the “firepower” of Amex Customer Service available should a problem arise. Rental Agencies do not even *try* to screw around with Amex. Might you need that “artillery” backup when renting from, say, Hertz in Las Vegas? No. Enterprise Rent A Car in Fort Lauderdale? Yes.
Amex Gold has better Membership Rewards rates than the CSR VISA for Restaurants and, weirdly enough, Grocery Stores. It also includes an automatic 1yr extension to the warranty of anything purchased with the card. So the Gold card is now primarily my Restaurants/Supermarkets/Warranty Extension card unless I’m going to need Amex Customer Service Artillery Backup. The CSR VISA gets everything else including rental cars.
Also, Jeffrey really needs to install the GasBuddy app (IOS, Android) on his phone. It’s free and lets you quickly find he cheapest gas “near me” which is useful when you’re driving in an unfamiliar locale.
Finally, he should look into auto insurance rates from AAA the next time he does a survey. I know that Northern NV is handled by the same part of AAA that handles Northern CA. For divers clean clean records and clean FICO scores, it tends offer the cheapest rates. I don’t have direct experience with the AAA division that handles Southern NV, but if I needed insurance there, I’d certainly get a quote from them.