solution to $3 gallon gas

[Aftermath]

You're missing my point. I never said you, specificly, need to go buy a new Jetta because it's good for you. My point is that people who buy cars for commuters should look into buying small efficient cars. I know of plenty of people who drive inneficient cars day in and day out. One of my good friends drives a late 90's Grand Marquis as a daily commuter. Why? Because he got it for cheap. Of course he also complains to me about how much it costs and how often he has to fill up on gas. My sugguestion to him? Trade it off for a Ford Focus or something. He'll see almsot 40mpg on the interstate instead of 22mpg and the Focus is a dirt cheap used car too. I didn't ask him to go spend $25k on a new Jetta either.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: EyeMWing
Both cars will have been replaced by then

I think you are missing the whole point. Oh wait, look at that quote above. You will eventually have to replace your minivan. When you do, you might find it cheaper to buy something a bit more fuel efficient. What is so hard about that concept? No one said you have to replace anything today.

Although, for many people, a minivan is the perfect vehicle. Decent gas mileage, more passenger/cargo room than an SUV, drives quite nicely, can in some cases even tow quite a large load, etc.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: 733SHiFTY

Originally posted by: raptor13
Motorcycle.




/thread

^also true^

and less extreme than my bike idea

(and fattys can use them too)

I guess you won't work in the winter either 🙂

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: Mickey Eye
Is it true that public transport in the US sucks? I have heard that being said. I know you have a fairly decent underground networks in some of your cities but how does it average out?

On average it stinks. Here bus stops are a couple miles apart, your never sure where they're going unless you get a schedule, and they only come by ever 30-45 minutes.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: oboeguy

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: oboeguy
W(ho)TF cares if a car is "boring"? It's a bleeping tool to get you places. If you want to tax your own stupidity, fine, just don't whine about gas prices.

<--- bike commuter laughing all the way to, check that, past the gas station 😀

That's strictly a matter of opinion.
What you are saying is roughly equivalent to "Who cares if this food tastes like uncooked feces? It's sustenance for your body!"

LOL you have a point but if I eat tasty food it doesn't clusterbleep the rest of the world now, does it? (actually, see below, maybe your food is inefficient) What's more, if you eat expensive food and start to whine about how much it costs, that would seem stupid too, right?

FYI, vegetarian here. Meat is a ridiculously inefficient food source, but we won't get into that here.

Consider that unless you're buying locally grown veggies, you're wasting a lot of gas getting everything shipped to you.

 

[Rogue]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
motorcycle > * 😀

Actually, I believe motorcycles put out more polution than the average car does.

 

[EyeMWing]

Originally posted by: Aftermath
You're missing my point. I never said you, specificly, need to go buy a new Jetta because it's good for you. My point is that people who buy cars for commuters should look into buying small efficient cars. I know of plenty of people who drive inneficient cars day in and day out. One of my good friends drives a late 90's Grand Marquis as a daily commuter. Why? Because he got it for cheap. Of course he also complains to me about how much it costs and how often he has to fill up on gas. My sugguestion to him? Trade it off for a Ford Focus or something. He'll see almsot 40mpg on the interstate instead of 22mpg and the Focus is a dirt cheap used car too. I didn't ask him to go spend $25k on a new Jetta either.

A GM is a big, soft place with a pretty cheap interior where you can more or less be comfortable. A Focus is, comparatively, a cramped, noisy place with REALLY cheap interior. There's more to driving than how much it costs. When you drive the same route day in and day out, it becomes a part of your lifie. It can good, or it can be bad. The difference comes from what you drive and your personality - how your personality works with your car. People who own bigger cars and like them because they work for them will complain about gas prices - because they can't find anything else to complain about. People who drive small cars and like them because they work for them will complain about other people complaining about gas prices and not understand that everyone can be happy with what they find ideal.

 

[EyeMWing]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: EyeMWing
Both cars will have been replaced by then

I think you are missing the whole point. Oh wait, look at that quote above. You will eventually have to replace your minivan. When you do, you might find it cheaper to buy something a bit more fuel efficient. What is so hard about that concept? No one said you have to replace anything today.

Although, for many people, a minivan is the perfect vehicle. Decent gas mileage, more passenger/cargo room than an SUV, drives quite nicely, can in some cases even tow quite a large load, etc.

Thing is, with each replacement, the fuel efficiency at each price point will increase - roughly in proportion to each other. I just kept FE constant so rudimentary algebra could be used to model the problem. Of course nobody is going to buy a $700 10-year-old van, drive it for 10 years, and then pay $700 for a 20-year-old van. That's just ridiculous. Changing the fuel efficiency accordingly with each generation shouldn't affect much. You're welcome to do the math if you wish.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: EyeMWing
You're welcome to do the math if you wish.

Your request is granted. Lets say your minivan died. You can replace it with a $30k 2006 Honda Odyssey EX with leather for 28 mpg on highway or a $30k 2006 Ford Freestar with 27 MPG highway. I'll just use 27 MPG for both.

Or you can replace it with a $30k Saturn Relay 3 AWG with 23 MPG highway.

Cost to buy is basically the same, cost to finance through a bank would be basically the same. Cost to maintain certainly will vary. The Odyssey has very high reliability ratings, the Freestart just average, and the Relay is too new to know its reliability (although Saturn isn't very good for reliability on its other vehicles).

60 miles:
2.22 gallons/day Odyssey or Freestar
$6.67/day Odyssey or Freestar
2.61 gallons/day Relay
$7.83/day Relay

Net savings: $1.16 a day. Not a huge difference, but you would save $423.48 a year, or if you keep it 10 years you'll save $4234.78.

Note: you could do the exact same math with equally priced used minivans as well. Buying the more fuel efficient used minivan could save you $400+ a year. Heck, even if the less fuel efficient minivan cost $1000 more, you'd make it back in just over 2 years and everything else will be gravy.

 

[acemcmac]

Here's my train of thought...

I wonder what this will do for the urban real-estate market. I'm sure some of the ghetto closest to the city will need to be redeveloped as people start to look at moving back into the cities....

The main reason I can think of not to live in the city is cost of living (what you save in gas, you'll pay in tax)... but if the per capita net income starts to rise by people moving back into the cities, then local taxes can go down and some of the stupid ordinances will get rolled back... either way, with people comign back, land values in the ghettos might be able to come back up and provide the same advantages that living in the suburbs do....

The problem I face is that there is no "cheap land" in the suburbs. If I want to own an acre that's not in a ghetto, I'll have to go 70+ miles from downtown philly... 🙁