It was the latest in a series that I had owned or operated going back to high school (with a four year hiatus when my first was sold to fund my kicking P-75 with 16MB of RAM ). The one prior to the latest was owned by the wife of a certain semi-famous ballplayer:
The most recent was a great car. It had pretty darned good pickup for its kind. I beat anyone of the line with it, if I so chose. Sucked up gas lke an SUV (20/25), but no payments, and got me to and from work. So what if the radio had a busted speaker, and at highway speeds, the wind drowned it out?
Sadly, the good car drove its last, at least under my ownership. The problems started here:
It quickly devolved into something that would cost more to repair than the car is worth.
So my fiancee and I made a decision... Put our proverbial dyed-in-the-wool, Taxachusetts, bleeding-heart tree-hugging liberal ideals into practice. After much wailing agnashing of teeth at car prices, we got one of these:
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Still gets you from point A to point B. Congrats on the new car!
I'm still driving my baby. Almost like mine. Mine doesn't have the queer wheels on it and actually looks like it's been used. After 70,000 miles I hope it looks used.
I'm still holding out on fuel cells. Or maybe a Hydrogen burning engine. But they haven't touched that yet.
Posts: 2208 | Registered: Feb 2004
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Good deal Bok....you get a tax break for buying one of those, right?
How much more was the hybrid model compared to the regular engine one? I'm not asking what you paid, really...that is NOMB (none of my business... ), just the difference between models that you looked at in the Boston area.
I want to buy one of those, and JenniK and I have been talking about trading in her car for one...
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Kwea, no tax break, as it was technically Certified Pre-Owned (don't ask) with 100 miles on it. We got an extra year of warranty instead. It costs several grand more than the high end Civic, but has a some extra safety (side and front airbags) that doesn't come stanard in the non-hybrids (I believe). The price for this 2004 and a 2005 were essentially the same, since they are in fair demand; most places had only 1 or 2 on the lot. Could I have haggled? Sure, and maybe dropped the price a grand, but I needed a car sooner than later, and I'm keeping this car for the long-haul, so the cost will be spread out over a decent amount of time.
It's nice having a new car. I can hear the radio at reasonable decibles, I can carry on a conversation at normal volume at highway speeds. It drives nicely, and the auto-stop stuff, plus CVT (it's an automatic with an infinite amount of gears, so there's no downshifting), and battery charging/usage, makes it fun to try to get good mileage.
My commute to work is uphill, include the huge Belmont Hill (yup, the one with the Mormon temple), so my mileage dropped to 37 and change this morning. I hope to increase it on the ride home.
Kale has a Diesel Jetta. Actually, Mike also has one, and so does our dad. They're lovely cars. I enjoy the oomph. And... that's a hill, over on Route 2? I hadn't noticed.
I don't have a car yet -- my bike is just fine for now (I even ride the five miles between my house in Somerville and Kale's in Arlington), and the T is good enough for me in the winter... but when I do get a motorized vehicle, I think I might try a hybrid.
Do they make stick-shift hybrids? I don't think I could bear to give up the oomph.
Posts: 1785 | Registered: May 1999
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Yup, I like my 98 Jetta TDI. Been getting about 46 mpg lately, though it'll probably drop in the winter. Diesel's getting expensive, too, sadly. Posts: 1810 | Registered: Jan 1999
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martha, yup, the Honda Civic Hybrid comes with a 5-speed manual transmission, which is both cheaper than the automatic (by a grand), AND can get better mileag (by a little bit).
My fiancee, alas, cannot drive stick. So CVT is where we are
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OOOoo does this means you could plug your car into one of those fun stops at Aielwife? (shows her ignorance into hybrid engines)
I've *always* wanted to see a car plugged in there. Usually people just park. I suppose you probably don't have the occasion to park there even if your car does plug in. Posts: 872 | Registered: Mar 2002
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No plugs. There is a small efficient gas engine, coupled to a small erlectric motor. This is the case for every production hybrid available today. The electric motor is used for assistance in acceleration, or for stop and go city traffic, mostly, depending on the hybrid. You still have to fill up the gas tank... Just only 500-600 miles or so, for a 10-12 gallon tank.
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). The one prior to the latest was owned by the wife of a certain semi-famous ballplayer:
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Darn age laws... ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
), just the difference between models that you looked at in the Boston area.![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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