What do you have? 3 kids? But there are options other than a suburban. My Freestyle hold 4 kids in carseats and will get 27mpg driving 70mph on the highway. And there are quite a few new CUVs that will do at least as well as your GrandPrix on gas.
True, but they can't tow our 4500lb boat or 6,000lb camper, plus people and gear. Not to mention we currently don't have any car payments, so paying for gas is really a non-issue.
We have 2 girls 9 & 5 that are at that "she's touching me stage". I know it's excessive, but when they each have their own row, they fight about 1/10th as much.
The Freestar/Taurus X make a lot of since for those who need room & AWD. We had a 2006 500 (wife's company car) which we liked for the most part (loved the room and gas mileage was decent, high 20's on hwy). Now my wife has an '07 GrandPrix (company car) which I can't wait to get that POS out of our driveway. We used to take the 500 on trips all of the time, now we never drive the GP and take the Suburban instead 'cause the GP is so damn uncomfortable.
From GCC.. Oak Ridge Natl Laboratory studied the potential effects of PHEVs on the power generation system.
"ORNL Study Explores PHEVs’ Impact on Power Generation Requirements 13 March 2008
Sum for all 13 regions of projected 2030 generating capacity (top left), base generation (top right), and new generation dispatched (bottom) to meet demand for each PHEV recharging scenario. Click to enlarge. A recent Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) study examines how an expected increase in ownership of plug-in hybrid electric cars and trucks could affect regional power generation requirements depending on what time of day or night the vehicles are charged. The researchers concluded that supporting a 25% market share of light-duty (cars and SUVs) PHEVs in 2030 could require either major new power generation resources or no new resources at all, depending on when people recharge."
Interesting..I'd plan on there being some restrictions on recharging times. link to the whole article
Here's an interesting nuance also. Somebody commissioned this study giving them certain assumptions/parameters. One of which apparently is the national fleet being as much as 25% PHEVs by 2020. Hmmmmm
The company car is definitely a huge perk. I remember when we both had commutes before she had a company car, back around '99-'01. She had a minivan and I had a midsize car and we're spending $500+/mo on gas back then. I don't want to think what that kind of driving would cost today, easily $1,000+/mo.
Now I basically drive very little during the week, so normally we don't have more than $200/mo + gas for weekend get aways, so it's really not an issue even though I drive a vehicle that gets poor mileage.
The Suburban meets our needs/wants. Currently, I just can't justify buying an extra car just for better fuel economy. The cost of the car + insurance, maintenance, etc. still doesn't make financial sense.
Wow. Well, I was a teenager in the 70s when they had the gas rationing, and I hope they don't go back to that. It would be nice if I could drive less, but it's very likely to go over $4 in the summer of 2008, and summer in Oklahoma means 90 degrees plus, which means whenever I DO drive, I'll be using A/C and thus more gas.
Maybe if we're all forced to drive less, the demand will decrease and so will the price? And, I suppose I could cut back on my Haagen Dasz to make up for the increase in the transportation budget, but the Netflix stays!
I shudder to think what the price of airline tickets is going to be this summer. Wow.
Well a Prius sounds like a good ideal or for the same amount of money that a Prius costs I could by a Fit and drive for 55k miles, or an Accent and drive 75K miles or a Smart and drive 90K miles.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Well, it wasn't quite rationing in those days. They did the odd even day thing and the lines disappeared pretty quickly.
I don't recall any odd/even stuff going on, but I do remember limiting purchases to 5 gallons and no one selling gas on Sunday (with the exception of the tollway).
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
What about all the pollution caused in the manufacture of the electric motors and the batteries. And then there's the end-of-life pollution in salvaging or junkyarding the motor and batteries.
Yes it does take more material and effort to make the battery and electric motor ..but less material and effort to make the transaxel over a traditional transmission. So what's the net extra difference?
But the end-of-life question is just lack of knowledge on the part of the questioner. Research helps.
But this isn't the forum to discuss greenie pros and cons. This is just about cold hard cash, filthy lucre, $ signs and greenbacks. Nothing more.
“Property taxes are getting way out of line in many areas. We are paying $8k/yr on a $350-$400k house in central Illinois.'
Ouch. I suppose combined family salaries need to be in the $100,000 plus range in order to manage. For comparison our average home price is about $170K with a property tax around $2,500. People can manage when the combined salaries are in the $50K to $60K range. Our commutes here are also relatively short. I travel about 2-3 miles in 6 to 10 minutes. Total petrol used last month – 12 gallons. $4 a gallon is not a problem. Even $7 to $8 would be manageable.
“The monthly cost of the property taxes alone is more than the rent on our first apartment when we got married 12 years ago.”
I think the technical term for that is inflation.
Albert A. Bartlett: "The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function."
I wonder, do those aftermarket air intake kits for modern cars really do much for mpg and performance? Or is it just a gimmick?
I can't say that they will for every car but they do for some.
Some people make the mistake of removing the stock air cleaner box and merely clamping on a K&N filter. Although the airflow is now less restricted the engine bay heat is being sucked right into the intake. This pretty much nullifies, or even decreases any performance gains from the new filter.
A heat shield should be used if the new filter is going to be exposed to the hot air.
Also, if better airflow is made at the intake the exhaust should also be made less restrictive.
I can post links of dyno tests done on Vipers before and after with K&N filters. These are actual Viper club guys, not stuff you'll see from the manufacturer.
Do you happen to know the name of the other "standard" for gas additives that's in competition with Top Tier? I think Exxon/Mobile may be a member of that group and some other car manufacturers. I lost my link a while back and can't remember what they called themselves.
I wonder how much BP paid Ford to put "use BP fuel" on the gas caps of all those Fords.
Isn't that amazing -- a person trades in a Tundra for a Corolla. Did he even consider a smaller truck?
This probably falls under one of those universal laws which states that: The amount of time (in seconds) a person thinks logically about a purchase is inversely related to the purchase price in dollars. The formula is:
S=k/d where k is a constant (1.000000) Surprisingly this constant holds regardless of wealth, IQ, race or gender. It also appears to adjust automatically for inflation, which is really strange. :surprise:
If you make a $1 purchase the result is 1/$1 = 1 second of logical thought.
If you buy a $20,000 car the result is 1 divided by 20,000 or 0.00005 seconds of logical thought.
Isn't that amazing -- a person trades in a Tundra for a Corolla. Did he even consider a smaller truck?
How do you know he didn't, Maybe he didn't need a truck (most truck owners I know don't need one). Maybe the Corolla has better mileage which s/he is looking for.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
1st: Since the price of food is rising along with the price of gas, I fear that any Haagen Dasz rationing would have little effect on your overall budget.
me: I stopped at a convenient store today for a gal of 1% which was $3.15 last week, and was surprised to find it had dropped to $2.95. So maybe the Haagen Daz and other ice cream won't go up. 93 octane which I use, is $3.40/gal here in NH. But I only get gas once every 3 weeks if I don't take any trips. If you only drive a little, it really make little difference what you drive or what the cost / gal. is. The major affect of high gas is the cost of goods, and the effect on the stock market.
I wish the rest of you would find ways to use less gas, and stop going into bankruptcy and foreclosure! Work harder or smarter, or spend less.
Well in this guy's case, he started making the argument that he rarely uses his truck for anything a small car couldn't do. He has a boat that he has to tow occasionally, but his wife's Sequoia can do that. I don't think he really does anything "dirty" that you'd need a pickup truck for, like hauling dirt, junk to the dump, etc. I'm guessing what happened was that he bought this truck back in late 2003/early 2004, when gas was still cheap, and just didn't think of the fuel costs. As I recall, gas really didn't go up to $2.00 per gallon until the summer of 2004. Plus, I don't know where this guy worked back then. He's only been on our project for about a year, so it's possible that he didn't have as far of a commute back then, either.
And I guess trading a full-sized Truck for a Corolla isn't too far of a stretch. My uncle has both a '97 Silverado and an '03 Corolla! He bought the Corolla as soon as the truck was paid off, although in my uncle's case, he bought the Corolla to prolong the life of the pickup. The truck was already up to about 100,000 miles, and he figured it was better to get a cheap $15K economy car that got good gas mileage, and save the truck for when he needed its capabilities, rather than run the truck into the ground and then go buy another new one.
I ended up getting my '85 Silverado soon after he bought his Corolla though, so we use it for most of the rough, dirty, abusive stuff. So his '97 has actually had a pretty easy life.
"I'll just keep driving my Prius past the gas stations just like I do now!"
That's great, just remember that when it comes time to replace the nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery pack (118 lb) you might be in for sticker shock. Here are they nickel prices per pound from the USGS. 03 - $4.37 04 - $6.27 05 - $6.68 06 - $11.00 07 - $17.12 You are looking at about $2,000 in raw nickel costs in 2007. In another few years that could be $5,000. Who will want to buy the car knowing they will need to buy an expensive battery pack costing thousands of dollars? Enjoy the high mileage while you can but remember there is no free lunch.
"How do you know he didn't, Maybe he didn't need a truck (most truck owners I know don't need one). Maybe the Corolla has better mileage which s/he is looking for."
You are right, I don't know. The Tundra and Corolla are very different vehicles, however. I would expect a pickup to be used to haul dirt, sand, wood, motorbikes, atvs and maybe tow things. The corolla would be limited to the occasional 2by4 sticking out the window.
That makes sense. I think what your Uncle did will become more common. Having two or three vehicles each with their own purpose (a commuter car, a van for people and maybe a truck).
That is a very interesting point. Most folks think that batteries will come down in time. With the cost of precious metals skyrocketing many auto parts will become higher priced. I think the catalytic converter for the Prius was already over $1000 for some folks that had them fail after 36k miles. Much of the gas in the USA had very high sulfur content until the 2006 mandate went into affect. Catalytic converters have some kind of exotic metal in them.
" ... just remember that when it comes time to replace the nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery ... you are looking at about $2,000 in raw nickel costs in 2007. In another few years that could be $5,000."
Or maybe you could just replace it with a Lithium Ion battery.
Toyota already has a million hybrids on the road. After 10 years, the world's still waiting for the mass failure. .
Most of that million is in the last 4 years. So we have not gotten a good look at battery life. The Insight had a few failures to deal with. Could be why Honda dumped it and the Accord hybrids. Would you buy another Civic Hybrid with 101k miles and no battery warranty?
PS The lithium Ion batteries are twice the price or more of the NiMH.
however. I would expect a pickup to be used to haul dirt, sand, wood, motorbikes, atvs and maybe tow things.
How many people do you know that drive pickups? Most that I know don't need a pickup. Just because someone drives a pickup doesn't mean they need a pickup.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Diesel engines for small cars seems to be a good option-the rest of the world has been using them except the US, per gallon they get about 30% more gas mileage if not more, and the engines last a lot longer. The 2008 VW Jetta will have a diesel engine option sold in the US for the first time, emission laws will be met with the new superdiesel fuel being sold now in the US for this purpose. About time !! Chrysler just announced that it will also produce a small diesel engine car for the US market. I am hoping Chrysler means the Dodge Caliber SRT4 or R/T will get a 2.0L diesel giving it great gas mileage 28mpg city like the Liberty diesel got (my brother has a diesel engine in his Jeep Liberty in Canada that does 28mpg city and diesel is cheaper per gallon there than in the US). Since diesel engine technology is well established and perfected for years now it should beat out any battery powered car or hybrid until gas go to say $10/gallon at which point we will all be riding bicycles to work or taking buses or the subway, or perhaps a hydrogen cell type car like that introduced in the west in California and British Columbia.
That's great, just remember that when it comes time to replace the nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery pack (118 lb) you might be in for sticker shock.
Huh???..weird post..
Why in the world would he want to replace a perfectly capable battery? And when do you envision that this might happen? In which state are you speaking about?
Do you have any clue what the Fed Govt has found in its studies of hybrids at INL? It might be interesting to do some research.
Enjoy the high mileage while you can but remember there is no free lunch.
Your fears are noted but they belong in the 1492 time frame when the civilized world 'knew' that the earth was flat, that if one travelled too far one would fall off the edge ( need to replace the batteries ). There was a whole thread here at one time filled with 'flat worlders'. However they have all moved on as there have been few if any isolated instances, certaily nothing to get worried about.
Toyota pays a $200 bounty on all batteries from 'terminated' hybrids. Whether they even get the chance to pay the $200 bounty to the salver is probably more realistic given the market price. With the salver extracting the nickel for his own account he may just sell it for more on the open market.
"The Insight had a few failures to deal with. Could be why Honda dumped it and the Accord hybrids."
Honda didn't dump the Insight -- they replaced it in 2006 with the Civic Hybrid. They discovered, to no one's surprise, that a full-sized, four-door hybrid sells better than a sub-compact, two-seat, two-door.
As for the Accord Hybrid, it was a marketing mistake. It made the Accord Hybrid a V6 so it wouldn't undercut Civic sales. However, at the same time, Honda offered an Accord with a 4-cyl. gas engine, which seriously undercut the Accord Hybrid sales.
Dumb move, and I'm sure some heads rolled because of it. But there was nothing physically wrong with the Accord Hybrid.
"Would you buy another Civic Hybrid with 101k miles and no battery warranty?"
I wouldn't buy ANY car with 101k miles. Would you?
As an aside...it seems that one can find plenty of Civic Hybrids unlike the Prius. I checked the inventory at a nearby dealer and he had 11 Civic Hybrids in stock.
Except that while gas around here is around $3.35 a gallon and diesel is already well over $4.00 a gallon.
they get about 30% more gas mileage if not more
With the fact that a diesel engine usually costs more and the price of diesel is approaching 30% more than gas any savings in mileage is wiped out by additional costs.
and the engines last a lot longer.
Since gas powered engines are now able to go 250K miles + with proper maintence I don't see that as a plus for diesels.
Bring out all those diesels and watch the price of diesel go up and it will be those driving gassers that will be the smart ones.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Your fears are noted but they belong in the 1492 time frame when the civilized world 'knew' that the earth was flat,
In 1492 they knew the world was round, it was a commonly accepted fact. The thing about Columbus is that he was wrong on the size of the world, he thought it was much smaller than it actually was.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I wouldn't buy ANY car with 101k miles. Would you?
Yes I would. I sold my 2005 GMC Hybrid PU and bought a 1999 Ranger PU truck with 106,000 miles. I pocketed close to $20k dollars and have a truck that is more usable for my PU needs.
There were several Insight owners here at Edmund's complaining that their battery had lost some of its oooomph. Honda told them it was within tolerance, whatever that may be. Also one or two Prius owners have complained that their battery did not seem to be doing as well as when it was new. This is an issue that will have to be dealt with by all hybrid and EV owners. Batteries deteriorate over time. Especially Li-Ion batteries. I am not saying that hybrid batteries are dying by the 1000s. I am saying most people will just get less mileage and not know the reason why.
"Or maybe you could just replace it with a Lithium Ion battery. "
That is possible but as gagrice said price is an issue. Wikipedia has an interesting section on Li-ion batteries. "A unique drawback of the Li-ion battery is that its life span is dependent upon aging from time of manufacturing (shelf life) regardless of whether it was charged..." "At a 100% charge level, a typical Li-ion laptop battery that is full most of the time at 25 degrees Celsius or 77 degrees Fahrenheit will irreversibly lose approximately 20% capacity per year." That would mean the life span will be limited to about 5 years. "In certain situations where the temperature is too cold (below the recommended battery temperature) the battery will still hold its charge but cannot be recharged as a result of the cold temperature." That would be a big deal in the Northern states and Canada. "Li-ion batteries are not as durable as nickel metal hydride or nickel-cadmium designs " I would think that is also a big deal in a vehicle. "Li-ion chemistry is not as safe as nickel metal hydride or nickel-cadmium" I would prefer my car not catch fire or explode, but that's just me. Sounds like Li-ion batteries get recalled now and again too.
I agree that the NIMH batteries seem to be doing well or better than some expected. The question I have is how long will they really last? If they can last 15 to 20 years it won't be much of an issue.
I'd consider a high mileage vehicle if it was something fairly simple, rugged, and durable, and comparatively cheap to fix, like a pickup. And the price was right. Dunno if I'd be so willing to do it with a car these days, though. Reliable they may be, but simple, rugged and durable? Cheap to fix? Doubtful, nowadays. I dunno, maybe if I could find a cheap Crown Vic or something.
Or, if it was a newer car where I knew its history and that it had been maintained well, and that the miles were mostly highway. For example, my Mom & stepdad's '99 Altima now has something like 250,000 miles on it, and is still running fine. It's getting to the age now where, even though it seems fine, I'm sure something could go at any minute. But I would have trusted that car at 100,000 miles to go awhile longer. I really don't like the car, because it's not that comfortable and is kinda ugly, but I would've trusted it. Now at 250,000 miles, I wouldn't trust it. I guess if they gave it to me and I really needed a car, I'd take it, but I would definitely be saving money for repairs and an eventual replacement car.
Yes recycling is the way to go. Too bad some people are not waiting, they are pulling the catalytic converters off the cars right out in the parking lot. Platinum is going for $2,000 an ounce. If there is 1/20 of an ounce of platinum in a converter we have $100 worth. Lets hope the thief's don't figure out an easy way to remove the NiMh batteries.
Since diesel engine technology is well established and perfected for years now it should beat out any battery powered car or hybrid until gas go to say $10/gallon at which point we will all be riding bicycles to work or taking buses or the subway, or perhaps a hydrogen cell type car like that introduced in the west in California and British Columbia.
And the problem with that is? :confuse:
I'm getting ready to hop on my pollution-free, gas saving machine for the ride to work in about an hour. Looking forward to the ride home at 12:30 a.m. Sunday nights are always peaceful, with everyone else in bed and just myself and the occasional deer to enjoy the stars overhead.
Heck, I even have a hub generator for my headlight, so no high price battery problem like the hybrids.
>Your fears are noted but they belong in the 1492 time frame when the civilized world 'knew' that the earth was flat, that if one travelled too far one would fall off the edge ( need to replace the batteries ).
If I were a Toyota salesman I might use that kind of begging-the-question logic. The 1492 date has no relevance in an era where pollution is a question and problem. Are the batteries made in the US for the Prius? Motors? Or are they made somewhere that the pollution laws are more lax--sort of like the Steinbeck era of business ethics.
The pollution overall from a Prius is greater than with an equivalent high mileage car, I'll use Corolla for the salesman example. There's lots of metal that is easily and safely recycled after 300 K mile lifetime for a well-cared for example. No exotic metals to end up in the landfill or sit beside the garage when it fails the next owner who bought the used car.
I saw a Prius traveling I65 that speeded up to 75 or so for miles and then slowed down to 65 for a few miles and then speeded back up. She did this over and over. It didn't seem to just be a driver without cruise control (unless hers didn't work).
Is there a problem that can occur with a hybrid that would necessitate this kind of speed variance? Overheating? Bad batteries?
It was a Florida-plated car in Kentucky so they had traveled a while.
Do Diesel engines still have the problem where they're not well-suited to short trips? I was always under the impression that Diesels were best suited to applications where they were constantly running, and going long distance, such as with trains, bigger trucks, motorhomes, etc. Or, even a light-duty truck or a car, if you had a long commute.
However I was under the impression that if you did a lot of stop and go driving, or most of your driving was shot trips (my situation) that Diesels really aren't well suited. Hopefully that's changed.
Is there a problem that can occur with a hybrid that would necessitate this kind of speed variance?
Did it look like a fairly new vehicle? She might have been following the owner's manual advice too closely, where it usually says to vary the speed for the first 1,000 miles.
I don't think cars like the VW TDI suffer anymore from short trip mileage, than a comparable gas or hybrid. The diesel definitely shines on the long haul. When you can get 27.9 MPG in a 5300 lb GL320 CDI cruising at 75 MPH, makes me wonder if I was a bit premature buying the 15 MPG Sequoia. Diesel will have to be over $5.15 per gallon compared to the current $3.62 unleaded to be a poor choice.
Comments
True, but they can't tow our 4500lb boat or 6,000lb camper, plus people and gear. Not to mention we currently don't have any car payments, so paying for gas is really a non-issue.
We have 2 girls 9 & 5 that are at that "she's touching me stage". I know it's excessive, but when they each have their own row, they fight about 1/10th as much.
The Freestar/Taurus X make a lot of since for those who need room & AWD. We had a 2006 500 (wife's company car) which we liked for the most part (loved the room and gas mileage was decent, high 20's on hwy). Now my wife has an '07 GrandPrix (company car) which I can't wait to get that POS out of our driveway. We used to take the 500 on trips all of the time, now we never drive the GP and take the Suburban instead 'cause the GP is so damn uncomfortable.
Oak Ridge Natl Laboratory studied the potential effects of PHEVs on the power generation system.
"ORNL Study Explores PHEVs’ Impact on Power Generation Requirements
13 March 2008
Sum for all 13 regions of projected 2030 generating capacity (top left), base generation (top right), and new generation dispatched (bottom) to meet demand for each PHEV recharging scenario. Click to enlarge.
A recent Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) study examines how an expected increase in ownership of plug-in hybrid electric cars and trucks could affect regional power generation requirements depending on what time of day or night the vehicles are charged. The researchers concluded that supporting a 25% market share of light-duty (cars and SUVs) PHEVs in 2030 could require either major new power generation resources or no new resources at all, depending on when people recharge."
Interesting..I'd plan on there being some restrictions on recharging times.
link to the whole article
Here's an interesting nuance also. Somebody commissioned this study giving them certain assumptions/parameters. One of which apparently is the national fleet being as much as 25% PHEVs by 2020. Hmmmmm
Now I basically drive very little during the week, so normally we don't have more than $200/mo + gas for weekend get aways, so it's really not an issue even though I drive a vehicle that gets poor mileage.
The Suburban meets our needs/wants. Currently, I just can't justify buying an extra car just for better fuel economy. The cost of the car + insurance, maintenance, etc. still doesn't make financial sense.
Only if you believe it does.
The reality of it is different.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Maybe if we're all forced to drive less, the demand will decrease and so will the price? And, I suppose I could cut back on my Haagen Dasz to make up for the increase in the transportation budget, but the Netflix stays!
I shudder to think what the price of airline tickets is going to be this summer. Wow.
When gasoline goes from $3 to $4, I'll pay, but I'll complain only 33% more.
.
Since the price of food is rising along with the price of gas, I fear that any Haagen Dasz rationing would have little effect on your overall budget.
And isn't Haagen Dasz wholesale price in Euros? Considering the dollar's rapid devaluation, maybe it's time to switch to Blue Bunny.
.
Well, it wasn't quite rationing in those days. They did the odd even day thing and the lines disappeared pretty quickly.
Real rationing is more in the line of what we had in WWII where you actually had to have a ration coupon to buy gas.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I don't recall any odd/even stuff going on, but I do remember limiting purchases to 5 gallons and no one selling gas on Sunday (with the exception of the tollway).
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Häagen-Dazs was invented in the Bronx in 1961. (link)
Häagen-Dazs translated to English means "a fancy Scandinavian-looking name will sell better to Americans."
Pass me a bowl of that Top Tier gas, will you?
What about all the pollution caused in the manufacture of the electric motors and the batteries. And then there's the end-of-life pollution in salvaging or junkyarding the motor and batteries.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Top Tier Info for the Sceptics
What You Don't Know About Gas Quality May Destroy Your Car
Yes it does take more material and effort to make the battery and electric motor ..but less material and effort to make the transaxel over a traditional transmission. So what's the net extra difference?
But the end-of-life question is just lack of knowledge on the part of the questioner. Research helps.
But this isn't the forum to discuss greenie pros and cons. This is just about cold hard cash, filthy lucre, $ signs and greenbacks. Nothing more.
Ouch. I suppose combined family salaries need to be in the $100,000 plus range in order to manage. For comparison our average home price is about $170K with a property tax around $2,500. People can manage when the combined salaries are in the $50K to $60K range. Our commutes here are also relatively short. I travel about 2-3 miles in 6 to 10 minutes. Total petrol used last month – 12 gallons. $4 a gallon is not a problem. Even $7 to $8 would be manageable.
“The monthly cost of the property taxes alone is more than the rent on our first apartment when we got married 12 years ago.”
I think the technical term for that is inflation.
Albert A. Bartlett: "The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function."
I can't say that they will for every car but they do for some.
Some people make the mistake of removing the stock air cleaner box and merely clamping on a K&N filter. Although the airflow is now less restricted the engine bay heat is being sucked right into the intake. This pretty much nullifies, or even decreases any performance gains from the new filter.
A heat shield should be used if the new filter is going to be exposed to the hot air.
Also, if better airflow is made at the intake the exhaust should also be made less restrictive.
I can post links of dyno tests done on Vipers before and after with K&N filters. These are actual Viper club guys, not stuff you'll see from the manufacturer.
I wonder how much BP paid Ford to put "use BP fuel" on the gas caps of all those Fords.
It's become like "placement" payments for putting brand names into movies.
BP gas on the gas cap!
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
This probably falls under one of those universal laws which states that: The amount of time (in seconds) a person thinks logically about a purchase is inversely related to the purchase price in dollars. The formula is:
S=k/d where k is a constant (1.000000) Surprisingly this constant holds regardless of wealth, IQ, race or gender. It also appears to adjust automatically for inflation, which is really strange. :surprise:
If you make a $1 purchase the result is 1/$1 = 1 second of logical thought.
If you buy a $20,000 car the result is 1 divided by 20,000 or 0.00005 seconds of logical thought.
:shades:
How do you know he didn't, Maybe he didn't need a truck (most truck owners I know don't need one). Maybe the Corolla has better mileage which s/he is looking for.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
me: I stopped at a convenient store today for a gal of 1% which was $3.15 last week, and was surprised to find it had dropped to $2.95. So maybe the Haagen Daz and other ice cream won't go up.
93 octane which I use, is $3.40/gal here in NH. But I only get gas once every 3 weeks if I don't take any trips.
If you only drive a little, it really make little difference what you drive or what the cost / gal. is. The major affect of high gas is the cost of goods, and the effect on the stock market.
I wish the rest of you would find ways to use less gas, and stop going into bankruptcy and foreclosure!
And I guess trading a full-sized Truck for a Corolla isn't too far of a stretch. My uncle has both a '97 Silverado and an '03 Corolla! He bought the Corolla as soon as the truck was paid off, although in my uncle's case, he bought the Corolla to prolong the life of the pickup. The truck was already up to about 100,000 miles, and he figured it was better to get a cheap $15K economy car that got good gas mileage, and save the truck for when he needed its capabilities, rather than run the truck into the ground and then go buy another new one.
I ended up getting my '85 Silverado soon after he bought his Corolla though, so we use it for most of the rough, dirty, abusive stuff. So his '97 has actually had a pretty easy life.
That's great, just remember that when it comes time to replace the nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery pack (118 lb) you might be in for sticker shock. Here are they nickel prices per pound from the USGS.
03 - $4.37
04 - $6.27
05 - $6.68
06 - $11.00
07 - $17.12
You are looking at about $2,000 in raw nickel costs in 2007. In another few years that could be $5,000. Who will want to buy the car knowing they will need to buy an expensive battery pack costing thousands of dollars? Enjoy the high mileage while you can but remember there is no free lunch.
You are right, I don't know. The Tundra and Corolla are very different vehicles, however. I would expect a pickup to be used to haul dirt, sand, wood, motorbikes, atvs and maybe tow things. The corolla would be limited to the occasional 2by4 sticking out the window.
Or maybe you could just replace it with a Lithium Ion battery.
Toyota already has a million hybrids on the road. After 10 years, the world's still waiting for the mass failure.
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Most of that million is in the last 4 years. So we have not gotten a good look at battery life. The Insight had a few failures to deal with. Could be why Honda dumped it and the Accord hybrids. Would you buy another Civic Hybrid with 101k miles and no battery warranty?
PS
The lithium Ion batteries are twice the price or more of the NiMH.
How many people do you know that drive pickups? Most that I know don't need a pickup. Just because someone drives a pickup doesn't mean they need a pickup.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Chrysler just announced that it will also produce a small diesel engine car for the US market. I am hoping Chrysler means the Dodge Caliber SRT4 or R/T will get a 2.0L diesel giving it great gas mileage 28mpg city like the Liberty diesel got (my brother has a diesel engine in his Jeep Liberty in Canada that does 28mpg city and diesel is cheaper per gallon there than in the US). Since diesel engine technology is well established and perfected for years now it should beat out any battery powered car or hybrid until gas go to say $10/gallon at which point we will all be riding bicycles to work or taking buses or the subway, or perhaps a hydrogen cell type car like that introduced in the west in California and British Columbia.
Huh???..weird post..
Why in the world would he want to replace a perfectly capable battery? And when do you envision that this might happen? In which state are you speaking about?
Do you have any clue what the Fed Govt has found in its studies of hybrids at INL? It might be interesting to do some research.
Enjoy the high mileage while you can but remember there is no free lunch.
Your fears are noted but they belong in the 1492 time frame when the civilized world 'knew' that the earth was flat, that if one travelled too far one would fall off the edge ( need to replace the batteries ). There was a whole thread here at one time filled with 'flat worlders'. However they have all moved on as there have been few if any isolated instances, certaily nothing to get worried about.
Toyota pays a $200 bounty on all batteries from 'terminated' hybrids. Whether they even get the chance to pay the $200 bounty to the salver is probably more realistic given the market price. With the salver extracting the nickel for his own account he may just sell it for more on the open market.
Honda didn't dump the Insight -- they replaced it in 2006 with the Civic Hybrid. They discovered, to no one's surprise, that a full-sized, four-door hybrid sells better than a sub-compact, two-seat, two-door.
As for the Accord Hybrid, it was a marketing mistake. It made the Accord Hybrid a V6 so it wouldn't undercut Civic sales. However, at the same time, Honda offered an Accord with a 4-cyl. gas engine, which seriously undercut the Accord Hybrid sales.
Dumb move, and I'm sure some heads rolled because of it. But there was nothing physically wrong with the Accord Hybrid.
"Would you buy another Civic Hybrid with 101k miles and no battery warranty?"
I wouldn't buy ANY car with 101k miles. Would you?
they get about 30% more gas mileage if not more
With the fact that a diesel engine usually costs more and the price of diesel is approaching 30% more than gas any savings in mileage is wiped out by additional costs.
and the engines last a lot longer.
Since gas powered engines are now able to go 250K miles + with proper maintence I don't see that as a plus for diesels.
Bring out all those diesels and watch the price of diesel go up and it will be those driving gassers that will be the smart ones.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
In 1492 they knew the world was round, it was a commonly accepted fact. The thing about Columbus is that he was wrong on the size of the world, he thought it was much smaller than it actually was.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Yes I would. I sold my 2005 GMC Hybrid PU and bought a 1999 Ranger PU truck with 106,000 miles. I pocketed close to $20k dollars and have a truck that is more usable for my PU needs.
There were several Insight owners here at Edmund's complaining that their battery had lost some of its oooomph. Honda told them it was within tolerance, whatever that may be. Also one or two Prius owners have complained that their battery did not seem to be doing as well as when it was new. This is an issue that will have to be dealt with by all hybrid and EV owners. Batteries deteriorate over time. Especially Li-Ion batteries. I am not saying that hybrid batteries are dying by the 1000s. I am saying most people will just get less mileage and not know the reason why.
That is possible but as gagrice said price is an issue. Wikipedia has an interesting section on Li-ion batteries.
"A unique drawback of the Li-ion battery is that its life span is dependent upon aging from time of manufacturing (shelf life) regardless of whether it was charged..."
"At a 100% charge level, a typical Li-ion laptop battery that is full most of the time at 25 degrees Celsius or 77 degrees Fahrenheit will irreversibly lose approximately 20% capacity per year." That would mean the life span will be limited to about 5 years.
"In certain situations where the temperature is too cold (below the recommended battery temperature) the battery will still hold its charge but cannot be recharged as a result of the cold temperature." That would be a big deal in the Northern states and Canada.
"Li-ion batteries are not as durable as nickel metal hydride or nickel-cadmium designs " I would think that is also a big deal in a vehicle.
"Li-ion chemistry is not as safe as nickel metal hydride or nickel-cadmium" I would prefer my car not catch fire or explode, but that's just me. Sounds like Li-ion batteries get recalled now and again too.
I agree that the NIMH batteries seem to be doing well or better than some expected. The question I have is how long will they really last? If they can last 15 to 20 years it won't be much of an issue.
Or, if it was a newer car where I knew its history and that it had been maintained well, and that the miles were mostly highway. For example, my Mom & stepdad's '99 Altima now has something like 250,000 miles on it, and is still running fine. It's getting to the age now where, even though it seems fine, I'm sure something could go at any minute. But I would have trusted that car at 100,000 miles to go awhile longer. I really don't like the car, because it's not that comfortable and is kinda ugly, but I would've trusted it. Now at 250,000 miles, I wouldn't trust it. I guess if they gave it to me and I really needed a car, I'd take it, but I would definitely be saving money for repairs and an eventual replacement car.
And the problem with that is? :confuse:
I'm getting ready to hop on my pollution-free, gas saving machine for the ride to work in about an hour. Looking forward to the ride home at 12:30 a.m. Sunday nights are always peaceful, with everyone else in bed and just myself and the occasional deer to enjoy the stars overhead.
Heck, I even have a hub generator for my headlight, so no high price battery problem like the hybrids.
Who said there's no free lunch? This is fun.
Think outside the box.
I'm not sure what the other standard is but I found an old Carspace discussion on the following:
Exxon/Mobil and Top Tier
If I were a Toyota salesman I might use that kind of begging-the-question logic. The 1492 date has no relevance in an era where pollution is a question and problem. Are the batteries made in the US for the Prius? Motors? Or are they made somewhere that the pollution laws are more lax--sort of like the Steinbeck era of business ethics.
The pollution overall from a Prius is greater than with an equivalent high mileage car, I'll use Corolla for the salesman example. There's lots of metal that is easily and safely recycled after 300 K mile lifetime for a well-cared for example. No exotic metals to end up in the landfill or sit beside the garage when it fails the next owner who bought the used car.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Is there a problem that can occur with a hybrid that would necessitate this kind of speed variance? Overheating? Bad batteries?
It was a Florida-plated car in Kentucky so they had traveled a while.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
However I was under the impression that if you did a lot of stop and go driving, or most of your driving was shot trips (my situation) that Diesels really aren't well suited. Hopefully that's changed.
Did it look like a fairly new vehicle? She might have been following the owner's manual advice too closely, where it usually says to vary the speed for the first 1,000 miles.
I'd take a used Miata with 150,000 miles on it btw. Especially if it was around 800 bucks.
Diesel is up to $4.09 here.