Back in my day! Alternately: Are you better off than you were 7 years ago?

[tehfanboi]

So I've owned my Ford Focus for 7 years now. We've had good times, and bad times. But one thing that has been pretty consistent about the car is the miles per gallon. It was never the best out there, and with hybrids being more affordable it is getting blown out of the water. But for a non hybrid it was always pretty solid. I remember people

Comments

[djedi]

Yeah, get an electric car! I am actually interested in seeing how these new models pan out. Honestly, I'd love a Prius version where you could plug it in at night and it used the electric motor more.

[wildrice13]

Is there such a thing yet? It HAS to be technologically feasible, and probably fairly efficient too, though if it doesn't exist I can point you to EXACTLY why: oil interests. Assholes.

[drygo]

This is one of the many reasons I'm glad I don't drive. I mean, I know how to drive, but I don't own a car, and I take public transportation everywhere. Luckily, I live in a city conducive to doing so.

Sometimes when I think about possibly moving back to the country where much of my family lives, I think about the money I would save by not living in an expensive city. But, then I realize that buying a car, paying car insurance, and then paying for gas to drive long distances (since everything and everyone is so far apart), is such a huge expense. I end up realizing that if I moved out to the country to save on housing, I'd lose all of it by the enormous expense of having a car and everything that goes along with that. There's really no point from a financial perspective.

[liz_gregory]

As far as I know, they pulled the last electric car off the market a few years ago (I don't remember the reasons, but lots of owners were rather annoyed - it was a lease-only vehicle and they just stopped renewing them). The best hybrid we've found - a "true" hybrid that relied mostly on the electric, and only supplements with the gasoline engine when necessary - is the Prius, and we're getting an average (o0ver 2 years of all inds of driving) of 45.5mpg. The Hoda hybrids (Corolla, Civic, etc) are mainly gasoline engines with electric assist, and probably get similar mileage, but aren't quite as environmentally friendly, nor do they have the 10+ years of experience backing them (the Prius was introduced in Japan in 92, or thereabouts).

I'll stop trying to sell the Prius now, but I completely agree that mileage is getting to be a bigger and bigger concern, witness the numbers of hybrids increasing on the roads around here...

[tehfanboi]

Yeah I am leaning towards a Prius when it comes time to get a car. Though I do want to check out the Honda Civic hybrid as well.

[liz_gregory]

another thing - hatchbacks have more trunk space! )

[djedi]

The rumor I heard was that they wanted to declare the project a failure, but apparently it was a pretty good success, so they pulled the plug.

There are some new electric cars coming onto the market in the next few years though.

I do recommend the Prius. The newer ones are even better and the gas mileage is nice.