All too often people will buy a vehicle "to save money" but they don't
calculate the real total cost of owning and driving. We have an '05 Accord
LX 4-door with 196K on it.. Our commute is 75-80 miles per day, mostly
rural highway, and we get 27 to 28 mpg. On trips up to DFW or to the San
Antonio area we'll usualy get around 30 while on cross country trips it's
not unusual to get 33+. The car's in really good shape and long paid for so
while a new ride with better mileage is tempting, dollar wise it doesn't
make sense when a $400/$500 payment is included, even getting 40 mpg.
I think it's more or less the same idea with the '02 Suburban we bought
last summer. We're the second owners and got it for $7200. Heck of a lot
cheaper that $45K for a new one! Even at 17 or 18 mpg we're better off
taking the Suburban instead of two high 20 mpg cars if we'll all fit in it.
If the kids get too rowdy thre's always the roof rack! It's also got the
full towing package with 3.73 gears so it'll handle a car hauler or travel
trailer pretty well, too. Even if I had to rebuild the engine and trans
(which I doubt, they're in great shape) I'm still way ahead compared to a
new one.
All that said, drive what you want for reasons that satisfy you, not
someone else. For fun driving I hop in my Datsun 2000 and soon I'll add a
couple of 510s.
Just sayin'
Ron
On Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 12:56 PM, Jeff Scarbrough <fishplate@gmail.com>wrote:
> On Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 1:31 PM, <pethier@comcast.net> wrote:
> > The important factor here is how you are going to drive a car. If you
> spend a lot of time on the freeway in normal traffic, the hybrid is a waste
> of money. Any cheap econobox is gong to do better than hybrids in overall
> costs.
> >
> > If you spend all your time in short trips around town and sitting in
> traffic-jams in nice weather, the hybrid is the way to go. A plug-in
> hybrid even better.
>
>
> This ^^^
>
> Only marginally connected to the discussion, we bought two new
> vehicles this year; one for me and one for my wife - which will be
> opassed down to my daughter in bout 18 months, when she goes off to
> college.
>
> I traded a 97 F150 V6 for a 2012 F-150 EcoBoost. I gained about 12%
> increase in fuel mileage, and for the first time in 15 years, I have a
> truck that can capably pull the car trailer...up to 11,300 pounds,
> they claim. And, it's fun to drive. Twin turbos = very little lag to
> speak of (when the occasion calls for Go!). I have 5300 miles on it,
> and it's 1000 percent more comfortable than the 97 econotruck.
>
> My wife got a 2012 Jetta SE. It's more of an appliance than a Car,
> since it's minimally equipped - the only gauge in the car is for fuel
> level - but it has power windows and doors, and Bluetooth for the
> phone. If it had automatic headlights (or on all the time like our
> Volvos) it would be perfect for its intended purpose. We looked at
> TDIs and liked them, but this was an end of the month, end of the
> model year, last on the lot special that we just couldn't pass up.
> The TDI would have been at least $6k more, which spoiled the economy
> of it.
>
> Both vehicles turned out to be a compromise between fuel mileage,
> which is probably the largest ongoing expense, and comfort/fun, which
> if it's lacking offsets the economy. But we've been pretty happy with
> both.
>
> And, when I need extra smileage, I can choose a Triumph. So there's that.
>
> Jeff Scarbrough
> Improving the economy in Corrosion Acres, Ga.
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