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Terracore, good point about hauling your own trash to the transfer stations. I'm sure it cound be done in a sedan, but it would likely be unpleasnant to say the least.
It doesn't have to be. I know a lot of people who deal with this chore successfully who don't own pickups. It helps a lot not to generate a lot of waste that has to go to the transfer station, so that involves the choices one makes at the store, and not to let it accumulate for long. And if you compost the organic waste at home, which many residents can, and wash out the recyclables before you toss them, the amount of odor can be minimized.
I certainly wouldn't buy a pickup just to be able to haul the garbage.
Location: Southernmost tip of the southernmost island in the southernmost state
982 posts, read 1,164,671 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OpenD
It doesn't have to be. I know a lot of people who deal with this chore successfully who don't own pickups. It helps a lot not to generate a lot of waste that has to go to the transfer station, so that involves the choices one makes at the store, and not to let it accumulate for long. And if you compost the organic waste at home, which many residents can, and wash out the recyclables before you toss them, the amount of odor can be minimized.
I certainly wouldn't buy a pickup just to be able to haul the garbage.
Agreed OpenD. A sedan could even be outfitted with tow hitch and you could pull a small trailer to cover most hauling needs (within reason). I'm leaning towards a pick-up for those times I want to take my dogs along. Yes, they couls ride in a sedan as well, but then you get into issues if you want to/need to stop and they are in an enclosed car . So I'm leaning towards having a pick-up as a second or third vehicle.
I go to the transfer stations weekly. I see people hauling their leaking garbage from their sedans almost every week, and none of them look happy about it. And neither do their sedans. I'm *sure* the bags/bins/boxes probably weren't leaking when they left the house.
Yes, you can buy a trailer for your sedan. Or for the same price you can score an old used but functional pickup off of craigslist and not block off the *entire* transfer station mega dumpster because you pull up parallel to it because you don't know how to back it up properly (which in my observation, is 100% of trailer pullers at the transfer stations. I'm sure somebody here will tell me how great they are at backing them up, however I have never ran into these expert trailer-backer-uppers). From all of us that have waited patiently while a single person blocks off 5 or 6 other pull up slots- please, if you can't back a trailer in, don't bring it to the transfer station. I saw one guy block the entire thing off for 20 minutes and generate a line that backed up into the highway.
They do have small platforms that plug into a receiver hitch that can hold a single garbage can (sort of a modification of a bike rack concept)- that might be an option if that is all you generate. But remember if you are making extra trips to get rid of garbage at $4.00/gallon ($4.50 in Kona) for gas, that gets expensive really quick.
Going back to my original comment- your lifestyle will dictate what kind of vehicle you drive.
Last edited by terracore; 06-02-2014 at 09:57 PM..
Hybrids are unnecessarily complicated machinery, and very often the better fuel mileage they sometimes give will be offset by higher initial cost and maintenance fees over the long haul. If something goes out in the electrics, all bets are off, to put it mildly. I doubt seriously that you will be doing your own maintenance on one either, as they require specific product knowledge and tools that only a dealer would have.
Take a little advice from someone that made their living working on cars for decades in dealerships....don't buy one unless it's new, has a good warranty, and you plan on selling it after a few years. You have to wonder about their ability to keep a good resale value too. The market for these autos is very small, so selling it later could be a big issue. Just buy an economical small Toyota or something similar if you want relatively low initial cost and good gas mileage, along w/ excellent reliability. Again, today's cars are not really user serviceable due to their complicated electronics (think multiple computers for just the fuel system), but that's the beauty of the Toyotas....you probably will not need to do anything to it. When we moved off island about 10 years ago, my wife's Camry had about 200,000 miles on it. She gave it to her oldest son, who did zero maintenance on it. I don't think he's even changed the oil in it! Now, w/ over 300,000 miles on it, it is ready for the junk heap, but it keeps on running. I was factory trained on Toyotas and they are very, very good cars.
It's sorta funny, because one of the main reasons we moved state side was to get rid of our cars and simplify our lives. We ride bikes, walk, and take public transportation now. That's almost impossible to do in Hawaii and have much of a life. Here on the continent it works really well because of the easy access to buses, trains, light rail, planes, shuttles, cabs, etc. I don't even have a driver's license anymore, and don't need one either. When we lived in Tucson I paid 10 bucks for a state I.D which never expires (there is no expiration on it at all, which has been a little awkward w/ airport security at times). If I play my cards right, I'll never have to go to a DMV office, buy auto insurance or put gas in a car again for the rest of my life. Yay!
Location: Southernmost tip of the southernmost island in the southernmost state
982 posts, read 1,164,671 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by smarino
Hybrids are unnecessarily complicated machinery, and very often the better fuel mileage they sometimes give will be offset by higher initial cost and maintenance fees over the long haul. If something goes out in the electrics, all bets are off, to put it mildly. I doubt seriously that you will be doing your own maintenance on one either, as they require specific product knowledge and tools that only a dealer would have.
Take a little advice from someone that made their living working on cars for decades in dealerships....don't buy one unless it's new, has a good warranty, and you plan on selling it after a few years. You have to wonder about their ability to keep a good resale value too. The market for these autos is very small, so selling it later could be a big issue. Just buy an economical small Toyota or something similar if you want relatively low initial cost and good gas mileage, along w/ excellent reliability. Again, today's cars are not really user serviceable due to their complicated electronics (think multiple computers for just the fuel system), but that's the beauty of the Toyotas....you probably will not need to do anything to it. When we moved off island about 10 years ago, my wife's Camry had about 200,000 miles on it. She gave it to her oldest son, who did zero maintenance on it. I don't think he's even changed the oil in it! Now, w/ over 300,000 miles on it, it is ready for the junk heap, but it keeps on running. I was factory trained on Toyotas and they are very, very good cars.
It's sorta funny, because one of the main reasons we moved state side was to get rid of our cars and simplify our lives. We ride bikes, walk, and take public transportation now. That's almost impossible to do in Hawaii and have much of a life. Here on the continent it works really well because of the easy access to buses, trains, light rail, planes, shuttles, cabs, etc. I don't even have a driver's license anymore, and don't need one either. When we lived in Tucson I paid 10 bucks for a state I.D which never expires (there is no expiration on it at all, which has been a little awkward w/ airport security at times). If I play my cards right, I'll never have to go to a DMV office, buy auto insurance or put gas in a car again for the rest of my life. Yay!
Great post smarino and some good food for thought. I agree, I've had some mid-90's Toyotas that were just about indestructible.
This was in the news Friday. For those with electric vehicles it's a boost (pun intended) to their usability.
From the article: "And the Kona Nissan dealership has begun selling the electric car called the Nissan Leaf." Perhaps things have changed, but they originally weren't selling the vehicle because it could only be serviced on Oahu. Hopefully that isn't still the case.
In the 90's I had a sporty Honda Civic CRX that got 49 MPG highway and it wasn't a hybrid, and was actually affordable to buy and maintain. What happened?
My Prius is eight years old and has only been to the shop once, for a 60k checkup. But, as you say it is a Toyota. When I got it in 2006 both the IRS and State of Colorado offered a $3000 tax credit for hybrids bringing the cost down to below many economy cars. The resale value mirrors the cost of fuel and I saw the Kelly Blue Book value go from $9000 to $14000 when the price of gas spiked!
My Prius is eight years old and has only been to the shop once, for a 60k checkup. But, as you say it is a Toyota. When I got it in 2006 both the IRS and State of Colorado offered a $3000 tax credit for hybrids bringing the cost down to below many economy cars. The resale value mirrors the cost of fuel and I saw the Kelly Blue Book value go from $9000 to $14000 when the price of gas spiked!
You'll never see a tax credit on a hybrid ever again. In fact, many states are moving to charge electric and hybrid vehicles larger registration fees to make up for the loss in fuel taxes. While they might (jury is still out) be better for the environment, they cause the same damage to pavement as all the gas guzzlers that provide the tax revenues via fuel taxes to maintain the roads. Except in Puna, of course.
From the article: "And the Kona Nissan dealership has begun selling the electric car called the Nissan Leaf." Perhaps things have changed, but they originally weren't selling the vehicle because it could only be serviced on Oahu. Hopefully that isn't still the case.
The dealerships that sell Leaf's have to have a technician who is certified for the hybrid - lots of safety stuff regarding the battery packs, etc. That took them some time to send off a tech for the training.
Quote:
Originally Posted by terracore
In the 90's I had a sporty Honda Civic CRX that got 49 MPG highway and it wasn't a hybrid, and was actually affordable to buy and maintain. What happened?
Your friendly government regulators killed affordability...
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. So I'm leaning towards having a pick-up as a second or third vehicle.
