Abaddon wrote:

so if I buy a month in advance I can save myself a wopping 14 cents!!!..there are a few problems here...

Congratulations. You have a maintenance free vehicle? Calculating for gas is the easiest means, but does not reflect the entire equation.

I assume you, unlike Commrade Bucy (who also does the SF - Mountain View shuffle), have no intentions of giving up your vehicle entirely. So we can not eliminate most of the major California vehicle expenses (registration and insurance). However, you might qualify for a significant insurance reduction if you told them you were planning on driving 200 miles per week less. That is worth quoting out and adding to the equation.

Then there is depreciation of asset. No, you probably don't plan to sell your car, but regardless of the plan... your car wears out as a function of mileage. I don't know the life expectancy of your car, but eliminating up to 10,000 miles (40*5*50) of wear a year has to mean something. If you have the standard 4 year/50k warranty, that may not be easy to calculate. Looking at warranty extension quotes, we can ballpark $100-200/year coverage difference.

In general, companies have a standard car usage per mile reimbursement rate. That tends to reflect the cost of gas and wear. For a kick, ask your employer what their mileage rate is. It is probably between $0.30 and 0.60 per mile, which would act as a daily cost estimate of $12-24 dollars.

RE: caltrain blows