Zoomie

== Overview ==
{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" border="0"
|- valign="top"
| In an effort to save money, I bought a 1989 Mazda 323 1.6L four banger for $500, just for my 80 mile round trip commute to work 5 days a week. This car is kind of an experiment for us. Will it actually save money in long run? Will I find it an acceptable mode of commuting 80 miles a day in such a small and rough car? Will it be dependable enough? Etc. The alternatives are to spend more on a used car (in the hopes its more dependable resulting in lower repair costs), getting a used or new car with payments/warranty, etc.<br><br>So far I'm expecting to save at least $160 a month just in gas over my 2002 Ford Expedition. Outside of gas, insurance is cheap, parts seem to be cheap, and of course, NO CAR PAYMENTS!<br><br>Trying to keep everything on the cheap, after purchasing it, I spent another $150 on two new tires, some minor exhaust fixes, and misc parts from a U-pull it junk yard (two new stop light assembly, a few interior parts, etc). 6 months after that, I bought a couple of new tires for the rear. Other than that, I haven't put another $ into it other than gas. It has been highly dependable, it will need some transmission work as its a bit hard to shift in lower gears at times, but its been like that since I got it. So far so good! || <img src="{UP}Zoomie/89_Mazda_323_Hatch.png" title="1989 Mazda 323 Hatchback">
|}
== Expense & Work Log ==
This is a list of all the expenses and work I've had to put into the car. This is mostly for me so I can see over time if this car actually saves me money.

{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" border="1"
|- style="background-color: rgb(153, 0, 0); color: White; font-weight: bold;"
| Date || Amount $ || Description
|- 
| 10/??/2009 || $500.00 || Purchase of car.
|- 
| 10/??/2009 || $100.00 || Two new front tires.
|- 
| 10/??/2009 || $25.00 || Two tail light assemblies, misc interior parts.
|- 
| 12/13/2009 || $3.99 || A few times I had a hard time getting engine to turn over when starting. Ended up that battery cables were corroded, so I took them apart and sanded them and battery posts and all is good now. Took about 15 minutes. While I was doing that, I also installed a battery clamp down kit so the battery can't move around since the stock one was missing.
|- 
| 12/15/2009 || $35.00 || New oil, oil filter, engine oil treatment, new headlight.
|- 
| 3/15/2010 || $77.00 || New rear tires.
|}

== MPG Log ==
I'm pretty anal about keeping track of fuel mileage. Although, not so anal about updating this page with each tank, but I'll try!

{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" border="1"
|- style="background-color: rgb(153, 0, 0); color: White; font-weight: bold;"
| Date || Amount $ || Miles || Gallons || MPG || Comment
|- 
| 10/30/2009 || $18.02 || 229.7 || 6.068 || 37.9 || First fuel up, from different pumps so not 100% accurate.
|- 
| 11/04/2009 || $25.06 || 271.9 || 8.442 || 32.2 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 11/05/2009 || $7.10 || 79.3 || 2.407 || 32.9 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 11/25/2009 || $24.57 || 318.5 || 9.171 || 34.7 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 12/02/2009 || $24.87 || 275.2 || 8.435 || 32.6 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 12/09/2009 || $26.38 || 299.5 || 8.945 || 33.5 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 12/16/2009 || $27.13 || 309.7 || 9.199 || 33.7 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 12/31/2009 || $28.30 || 298.5 || 9.438 || 31.6 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 1/8/2010 || $27.14 || 332.4 || 9.697 || 34.3 || Just before this tank, I flushed engine oil and added engine restorer.
|- 
| 1/14/2010 || $28.82 || 359.9 || 10.562 || 34.1 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 1/21/2010 || $25.58 || 304.7 || 8.823 || 34.5 || After this tank, future tanks will all be premium grade.
|- 
| 1/28/2010 || $27.34 || 378.6 || 10.766 || 35.2 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 2/8/2010 || $26.73 || 310.3 || 9.221 || 33.7 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 2/11/2010 || $30.38 || 309.9 || 9.803 || 31.6 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 2/22/2010 || $26.62 || 330.5 || 9.248 || 35.7 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 3/1/2010 || $22.00 || 263.7 || 7.748 || 34.0 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 3/5/2010 || $26.07 || 308.2 || 8.780 || 35.1 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 3/10/2010 || $29.46 || 298.6 || 9.360 || 31.9 || Let my fiance drive it once to her work and MPG drops 2-3 MPG!
|- 
| 3/23/2010 || $24.65 || 270.1 || 8.219 || 32.9 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 3/26/2010 || $27.59 || 309.5 || 8.903 || 34.8 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 4/1/2010 || $24.47 || 270.7 || 8.079 || 33.5 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 4/6/2010 || $29.04 || 302.7 || 9.371 || 32.3 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 4/13/2010 || $29.54 || 301.4 || 9.352 || 32.2 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 4/22/2010 || $29.59 || 308.3 || 9.223 || 33.4 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 4/27/2010 || $23.43 || 273.4 || 7.562 || 36.1 || Not sure why the jump in MPG on this tank.
|- 
| 5/3/2010 || $26.76 || 306.4 || 8.834 || 34.7 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 5/9/2010 || $31.74 || 311.8 || 9.861 || 31.6 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 5/19/2010 || $28.48 || 309.0 || 8.930 || 34.6 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 6/3/2010 || $24.35 || 286.2 || 8.014 || 35.7 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 6/12/2010 || $26.31 || 313.2 || 8.602 || 36.4 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 6/17/2010 || $28.42 || 295.1 || 9.326 || 31.6 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 6/30/2010 || $27.40 || 306.0 || 8.987 || 34.0 || &nbsp;
|- 
| 8/9/2010 || $30.39 || 321.4 || 9.620 || 33.4 || &nbsp;
|}

[image|Chart last updated 4/27/2010|{UP}Zoomie%2fzommie_mpg.png]
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