L.A. Driving Costs Rank Highest in the U.S.
Los Angeles is top-ranked again. The freeway metropolis was recently ranked as the most expensive U.S. city in which to drive.
Runzheimer International, a consultant to operators of commercial vehicle fleets, found that it costs $7,529 annually to operate a new intermediate sedan in Los Angeles.
The study found that Los Angeles ranks as the costliest city in terms of fixed costs, which includes the big category of insurance. In terms of operating costs--including fuel, tires and maintenance--only Boston exceeded Los Angeles.
The four costliest cities following Los Angeles were Philadelphia, Detroit, Boston and Hartford.
The least costly city was Sioux Falls, S.D., where it costs a $4,626 to operate the same intermediate size car. The other low-cost cities were Eau Clair, Wis.; Burlington, Vt.; Boise, Idaho, and Billings, Mont.
Runzheimer did not explain the reasons for the cost differences, but motorists face higher insurance costs in big cities and more costly mechanical services. Auto theft in Los Angeles leads the nation.
Runzheimer based its estimated annual $7,529 cost on a car driven about 15,000 miles annually. That amounts to about 50 cents per mile, a far higher cost than most major corporations pay employees in compensation for using their own cars.
On that basis, a trip to a grocery store 2 miles away adds $2 per week to the weekly grocery bill or about $100 annually. A 50-mile daily commute costs $25.
Question: My 1983 Toyota Corolla has some of kind of an electrical problem. The charge light comes on after I start the car and a knocking noise occurs 35 to 40 times. It doesn’t happen every time, but it is getting more frequent. One dealer said I needed an alternator, which solved the problem for a little while. Why does it happen? I hope you do not feel that I am a bold person, I am only desperate. --E.B.
Answer: I can understand desperation when it comes to electrical wiring, because few systems on a car are more knotty to tackle or more costly to fix.
There are specialized garages to handle virtually every mechanical area on a car, ranging from cooling systems to brakes. But very few specialty electrical shops exist, despite the fact that electrical systems are the most sophisticated systems on new cars.
The most likely source of your problem is a short or open circuit in the wiring or charging system, which occurs intermittently as the car warms up. As a result, voltage is not reaching the alternator to open a relay circuit that allows the battery to be charged.
Assuming that the knocking problem is part of the electrical problem, you might be hearing a regulator or relay switch inside the alternator. It could have a poor connection or a poor electrical ground. Another possible cause might be a battery defect. Generally, a weak battery can not turn over a starter. But your Corolla has a reduction gear starter, which takes very little current to operate.
It is possible that the battery has enough of a charge to turn over the starter, but not enough to trigger a relay switch inside the alternator that allows the battery to be charged.
If a Toyota dealer performed the original repair on the alternator, you should return it to that dealer and say that it did not fix the problem. Within certain bounds, the dealer should be liable for his diagnosis of the problem.
