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Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,705 posts, read 58,031,425 times
Reputation: 46172
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wheelsup
... Nobody cares about your 30 year old $35 veggie oil burning cars. ... I'll keep my one car and spend <$500 a year in gas from a gas station 4 mins from my house with no straining involved to get the fuel into my gas tank.
Dude, you need to look at the title of the forum... Plenty of folks get by fine with <$1000 cars, with insurance under $200 / yr. There is absolutely no problem finding fuel in my airbag equipped car that doesn't even fall to 1/2 tank before 650 miles. (try that in a Pious). I have to travel cross state with the poor state employees force to drive those disasters (MANY, MANY EXPENSIVE and time consuming tows for them). They have to stop several times for fuel, during my 1250 mile range. If I am incapable of filling it myself, I can drive across a bridge to OR and have it MANDATORY pumped for me. BTW, My filler necks accept REAL DIESEL nozzles (High flow) (Truck sized, not like the whimpy Ford Diesel pickups that must fuel at the car pumps).
I live in the boonies (National Park) so I must commute, I have no need / use for wireless devices, as we are stuck on dial-up, (No cell towers or Dishes allowed).
I need no remote devices, I just have a push button, as no-one is gonna steal my car
I have over 3million fleet miles without a tow or a trip to the dealer / fix-it shop.
My tax / plates are $38/yr
My grease cars run fine on JetA, there is plenty of that for free at maint facilities around the world. No jetA?, just pour in used motor oil, no motor oil? then peanut oil will do. No mods needed.
My cost per mile including Capital Expense (Vehicle) ins, tires, maint, plates, taxes... is far below $0.10. I don't live 4 miles from anything, and must drive 20k + / yr. No time available to be sitting at the fix-it or car stereo shop. As long as I have a $50 radio with aux for iPod, I'm fine.
I live frugally... But very happy to travel extensively on millions of 'free miles' by air, and very cheap by land.
There's no reason it shouldn't. My '85 Corolla was still getting 40 when it had 280K. My current '01 Sentra still gets 38.
If I wanted a car to last me 20 years or 300K, the Prius is the last place I'd go. The battery pack is guaranteed for only 100K and I think they still cost around $5,000 to replace.
My parents actually have a 2005 Prius that has almost 550,000 miles on it so far. The battery hasn't needed to be replaced yet, but they did just recently replace the engine with a refurbished one.
The odometer stuck at 299,999...so they've had to keep track of their mileage by hand since then.
They drive the car pretty hard (commute from El Dorado Hills, CA to San Jose, CA and Cupertino, CA) yet it's still going on the original battery. May not be the case for everyone, but since they have such a long commute the fuel efficiency and reliability of their Prius has been great for them.
I doubt I could take practical advantage of such transportation options in my life.. but it's still good to let go of the groupthink that one must stick with gasoline powered vehicles (including hybrids.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by wheelsup
Dude you need to let it go. Nobody cares about your 30 year old $35 veggie oil burning cars. The masses like me want turn key cars that just work and are safe and where we don't have to hunt down our gas. When I go out of town I don't have to worry if my wife's car is going to break down on the side of the road because the XYZ has failed after 30 years. I don't have to worry if she gets hit that the car will crumple up into her.
Plus in my state if you register a car you have to insure it continuously so owning 30 cars will at minimum cost you roughly $7200 a year in insurance which blows any savings you ever can have owning a $35 car out of the water. Not to mention the $30 a year in property tax so tack that on to your $7200 a year in insurance and you are at $8000 a year in ownership costs and you haven't even spent one minute looking for gas or changing your oil. No thanks. I'll keep my one car and spend <$500 a year in gas from a gas station 4 mins from my house with no straining involved to get the fuel into my gas tank.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,705 posts, read 58,031,425 times
Reputation: 46172
Quote:
Originally Posted by ragnarkar
.... but it's still good to let go of the groupthink that one must stick with gasoline powered vehicles (including hybrids.)
The rest-of-the-world 'group thinks' (acts) in the realm of diesel hybrids, which are far more economical and maintenance free than gasoline (OPEC centric). Not that Diesel is the savior... it just happens to currently lead the power/hassle ratio for transportation. (and diesel / equivalents have significant BTU/volume advantage over gasoline). While I am hoping the algae> Biodiesel folks get commercialized soon, I will not fear if something newer, and simpler than 1880's technology comes along.
As a new product engineer, I would be far more impressed if Hybrid technology would have targeted the package and people transportation industry worldwide (24/7 use), rather than consumers who use their product 20 min / day. We would be far more advanced, more reliability, lower cost, higher efficiency today. Tho the hybrid consumers might be driving Checkers. Checker Taxi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia An Illustrated History Of Checker Motors | The Truth About Cars
It is too bad we lost the momentum of the 1970's, we had a parking lot for plug-in hybrids at each of our factory sites over 40 yrs ago... My BiL was constantly getting 50 mpg in his gasoline powered Saab Sonnet, which had coasting technology ... (which btw, was not Maint free)
StealthRabbit. I am really enjoying your posts and your outlook on things. I've already looked in several places for diesel VW's on CL, EBAY, and AutoTrader,but in west Texas, and TExas in general, diesel VW, or diesel anything is hard to come by. You would think it would be a natural choice out here. Lots of open miles and a lot of distance to cover. But its the exact opposite. Pick up Trucks and SUV's are the preferred choice. Its almost like burning extra gas is a hobby for so many. But in Texas, there's a lot of people who think they are what they drive, and because mine is bigger, I'm superior to you.???????????????????
Anyhow, based on your many years of expertise, where might I begin searching for the kind of vehicles your suggesting??. Or are there other brands like Saab, Volvo or Mercedes you might suggest. I've tended to shy away from European products because of their reputation as expense, expensive to repair, etc. When I was a kid, I had a 58 Bug and loved it, but I'm not sure that would be a good choice for wide open highways in west Texas. Mine didn't like going much over 50.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,705 posts, read 58,031,425 times
Reputation: 46172
Quote:
Originally Posted by Prairieparson
... I've already looked in several places for diesel VW's on CL, EBAY, and AutoTrader,but in west Texas, and TExas in general, diesel VW, or diesel anything is hard to come by. ... where might I begin searching for the kind of vehicles your suggesting??. ...
As with anything, once it hits the market it is overpriced... Ironically I buy most my cars in TX, AZ, NM, GA, as I only look for 'rust-free'. TX has a favorable low price for used cars (As everyone in TX eventually wants a PICKUP or SUV with one of those wobbly trailer hitch cooler platforms)
I buy from DFW and AUS or SAT, and don't do Houston. I Use Crazedlist to search regional Craigslists (only in non-rust areas). I and many others use Rsss feeds to get notification quick (They only imported a 1000 of my favorite models to USA and many of those are crashed and ALL have high miles... (I have had 3 hit by cell phone talking SUVs).) 4 TDI specific Used Dealers ALMOST always beat me to the deals, They buy for $3000 and resell for $10k+. They are west coast based have beat me to Alaska, Nova Scotia, and Florida cars. I have diligently searched for 12 yrs for TDI Passats, but the Rabbits, Jettas, Golfs are EZ to come by. A 2001 - 2003 Jetta wagon is a good choice for someone wanting a 'turnkey' purchase, and doesn't mind learning / studying maint proceedures. I change my 100k timeing belts for $12 - $40 in parts, a dealer wants $800. One car a recently bought had an excellent belt change done via a mobile mechanic for $200. (that was a good deal), They only require clean / dry fuel ALWAYS and filters / oil change annually, and that is it... Within the last yr there have been several good deals on TDI Passats in NM, AZ, TX, which I found / secured but decided against, as too far to ship / drive home. + I have plenty of projects.
BUT... the best deals are in your neighborhood Brier patches, where all rabbits hide. I often get them for free, or <$100.
There are not any other models / makes of Diesel cars that have the volume or economy of as VW Diesel. + ANY water cooled VW from 1975 - 1999.5 has identical motor / block mounts. (excluding wasserboxer, but they only came in Vanagon which also had diesel option, so mounts are available). It takes about 8 hrs to make a nice low mileage Gasser into a diesel (engine and tranny swap). Pre 1996, they only require a hot wire to the fuel switch and a 30A push button for Glow plugs... talk about simple... Post 1996 requires ECU, but also avails TDI power and economy (about 2x performance of IDI NA... early diesel). I buy wrecked TDI donors for ~ $1200 and a very nice donor GLX Passat Wagon (gasser) for $1500. It takes about 20 hrs to make a 52 mpg 'limo' w/ 25 gal tank from a gasser donor.
I doubt I could take practical advantage of such transportation options in my life.. but it's still good to let go of the groupthink that one must stick with gasoline powered vehicles (including hybrids.)
I considered diesel but I had trouble getting over:
The diesel stench, it lingers
Paying 10%-15% more for the fuel outweighed the MPG advantage over similar gasoline cars
The diesel cars tend to be much higher priced than gasoline cars, several thousand if not more. That buys a lot of gas
All newer diesel cars are VWs which have atrocious reliability ratings, just look up the HPFP failures on newer VWs, it's a $10k-$14k repair, never mind all the electrical issues and just poor quality levels
I considered diesel but I had trouble getting over:
The diesel stench, it lingers
Paying 10%-15% more for the fuel outweighed the MPG advantage over similar gasoline cars
The diesel cars tend to be much higher priced than gasoline cars, several thousand if not more. That buys a lot of gas
All newer diesel cars are VWs which have atrocious reliability ratings, just look up the HPFP failures on newer VWs, it's a $10k-$14k repair, never mind all the electrical issues and just poor quality levels
You don't have these issues if you convert to bio-diesel.
You don't have these issues if you convert to bio-diesel.
Sure but you unfortunately are left with even bigger problems, and the issue of an unreliable, prone to break down and expensive to fix car is still a reality.
You have to spend time collecting the fuel
You have to filter it
Depending on climate you have to convert it
You have to add a tank in your car if running straight WVO
All for what amounts for roughly $700/yr in fuel savings. Me? I'll work a day of overtime to pay for gas for an entire year over spending time every other weekend collecting oil, straining, filtering, and money on chemicals to convert, along with the expense of adding an additional tank in your car (if you run straight veggie oil) etc etc.
The poster above who is so pro-old-vw, lives in an area where he can park 30+ cars in his yard. Does that reality exist for the rest of the country? And if it did, do you want to live like that? I do not. It's great he spends very little on gas but if he lived in my state he'd spend more than I spend in 7-8 years on just licensing and insuring those cars and they haven't driven a mile (you must keep your cars registered, pay property tax, and keep them insured in my state).
Sure but you unfortunately are left with even bigger problems, and the issue of an unreliable, prone to break down and expensive to fix car is still a reality.
You have to spend time collecting the fuel
You have to filter it
Depending on climate you have to convert it
You have to add a tank in your car if running straight WVO
All for what amounts for roughly $700/yr in fuel savings. Me? I'll work a day of overtime to pay for gas for an entire year over spending time every other weekend collecting oil, straining, filtering, and money on chemicals to convert, along with the expense of adding an additional tank in your car (if you run straight veggie oil) etc etc.
The poster above who is so pro-old-vw, lives in an area where he can park 30+ cars in his yard. Does that reality exist for the rest of the country? And if it did, do you want to live like that? I do not. It's great he spends very little on gas but if he lived in my state he'd spend more than I spend in 7-8 years on just licensing and insuring those cars and they haven't driven a mile (you must keep your cars registered, pay property tax, and keep them insured in my state).
There's nothing wrong with being frugal AND smart. Clearly, it doesn't make sense to put in countless hours trying to save a few hundred dollars or even a few thousand dollars when that time be better utilized earning money. Sure, $700 is a lot of money. But if you have to go through so much to save it when you can work a merely 10 hours over a years time to make it.... one has to think about whether the savings are really value-added.
I commend you on using your critical thinking skills.
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