Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > West Virginia
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 06-03-2008, 06:32 AM
 
Location: Lost in Montana *recalculating*...
19,616 posts, read 22,496,269 times
Reputation: 24621

Advertisements

The only upside to the rising costs of fuel is that improvements in efficiencies will start to really blossom. My wife and I are extremely hesitant to shop for a new(er) car for outright purchase because I feel in the next 3-5 years we may see a wholesale improvement in vehicle efficiency. I think we may opt for a 3 year lease on a Toyota Corolla to tide us over. My truck will see very limited use, reserved only for camping, firewood hauling and the occasional run to the hardware and lumber yards. Hopefully bio-diesel comes around, and I'll be happy to wait.

In the meantime it seems folks should be able to 'get by' if they simply alter some of their normal daily routines and purchasing habits.

I can't tell you how many vehicles I've seen TODAY that are carrying one occupant. A fellow rider and I on the transit have been counting. It's 90% or GREATER. The only multi-occupant vehicles are construction trucks! How much easier could it be to cut your fuel cost in half or maybe more?

It really is funny to hear people bemoaning the price of fuel and energy when they aren't willing to take little steps to conserve. Bitching about electric and NG costs? I hope you're hanging your laundry on the line and not shoving it straight into the dryer.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 06-03-2008, 05:26 PM
 
11,944 posts, read 14,755,915 times
Reputation: 2772
Quote:
Originally Posted by Threerun View Post
The only upside to the rising costs of fuel is that improvements in efficiencies will start to really blossom. My wife and I are extremely hesitant to shop for a new(er) car for outright purchase because I feel in the next 3-5 years we may see a wholesale improvement in vehicle efficiency. I think we may opt for a 3 year lease on a Toyota Corolla to tide us over. My truck will see very limited use, reserved only for camping, firewood hauling and the occasional run to the hardware and lumber yards. Hopefully bio-diesel comes around, and I'll be happy to wait.

In the meantime it seems folks should be able to 'get by' if they simply alter some of their normal daily routines and purchasing habits.

I can't tell you how many vehicles I've seen TODAY that are carrying one occupant. A fellow rider and I on the transit have been counting. It's 90% or GREATER. The only multi-occupant vehicles are construction trucks! How much easier could it be to cut your fuel cost in half or maybe more?

It really is funny to hear people bemoaning the price of fuel and energy when they aren't willing to take little steps to conserve. Bitching about electric and NG costs? I hope you're hanging your laundry on the line and not shoving it straight into the dryer.
I can tell you that you're lucky because not all people who chose to live in one place and work elsewhere have the convenience of public transportation connecting both dots. They're boxed into the only solution of driving a vehicle, or being fleeced by the housing market where they work. Mass transit systems wont work in all places due to population variables.

I don't own a dryer yet. I can't use the clothesline outside because it's rained just about everyday I've lived here to some degree or another. Predicting the weather and figuring out the way to dress has been tricky to say the least! lol I need a dryer, but I'll definately be shopping around for the higher energy star ratings, and plan B old school partial drying on basement clothes lines (channeling your excess furnace heat to reduce needs).

Wise to hold off on purchase of regular cars, but I think you might do well to forget that corolla and get a hybrid version. 40+mpg is a worthy return, and the resale value of those trying to get off full blown gas economy will help you into whatever next phase car they come out with more readily. As far as I can tell the WV toyota plant is only doing assembly (no mfg) of 4 & 6 cyl- no mention of hybrid assembly. http://www.toyota.com/about/our_business/operations/manufacturing/tmmwv/index.html (broken link)

I stopped myself from buying a toyota sienna last year- thinking I needed it for regular runs to home depot whatnot, and especially wanting rural life down the road- I'll need AWD. Truth is, the larger purchases of lumber etc- i can rent a truck from home depot very reasonably, and not incurr the full cost of higher depreciation and operating costs all year round. Truth is if I'm self sufficient enough I'll just stay home when the weather doesn't cooperate with my car (which I noticed was customary here during february storms). Full stocked pantry solves most problems.

FYI biodiesel you can do now, but expect that oil companies seeing lucrative margins will gobble up the source supplies of waste stream oil in conjunction with local govt incentives for home heating oil/industrial scale boilers market/truck diesel market. Google home brew biodiesel- make your own with a left over old hot water tank if you can learn all the problems to solve in processing before making $$$ mistakes ruining an engine. Look at it as work you do for yourself instead of paying an oil company to do it for you. Can't be cheap about education if you want to win this game. I'm rooting for you!

Anyone in automotive business right now can research out conversion kits for cars and cash in on demand for those folks at the mercy of high fuel prices with SUV's they're in love with. Whenever there is demand, profits can be made if you can market properly. This is opportunity knocking.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-03-2008, 07:18 PM
 
Location: Lost in Montana *recalculating*...
19,616 posts, read 22,496,269 times
Reputation: 24621
I want a 3 year lease on a Corolla, not a purchase. It's a hedge that a) Toyota will ramp up production on hybrids that will serve to moderate their price somewhat or b) newer more fuel efficient gasoline sedans will hit the market (which is where all the effort is now).

In 3 years I turn the keys over and then make my purchase. No risk of a depreciating asset dragging me down.

As for dryers- none are energy star rated. Zero. The only thing recommended is to look for one with a good dry/moisture sensing capability which will automatically adjust the thermostat when less heat is needed.

We recently bought a LG front loading washer. That thing is amazing. Average annual cost to operate is estimated at something like $30 (maybe less, I'll have to look). The cost was steep, around $900ish, but now we pay for water and with two kids- it made sense.

You can buy the 'matching' dryer if you are so inclined to such things, and it also costs... $900ish. You gain nothing in efficiency or cost savings, you simply pay a premium to have a matching set.

We bought a good extra capacity Kenmore dryer, with sensor, on sale for less than $300. We use it sparingly though.. We hang our general laundry in the basement, right next to our new furnace which pumps warm air into the laundry room.. Clothes are dry in a day. Time is on our side, as the wife doesn't work, so why rush laundry?

My old house we hung them in the basement, next to the woodstove. They were dry in less than 3 hours
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-03-2008, 07:22 PM
 
Location: Lost in Montana *recalculating*...
19,616 posts, read 22,496,269 times
Reputation: 24621
Oh and I'm not going to gamble with homebrew veggie diesel in a Cummins engine that cost $5,000 to replace. I get over 20mpg as it stands, it's paid for, it hauls the ever living snail snot of whatever I need to lug and I only pump fuel in the tank every two months. I can handle that one.

It's the folks that bought the "MEGA-ZILLLA HEMI-POWERED" fuel sucking pigs that are hurting. Especially those that use them as daily drivers to the office or plant.

What in the hell were they thinking?

Last edited by Threerun; 06-03-2008 at 07:58 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-03-2008, 07:42 PM
 
11,944 posts, read 14,755,915 times
Reputation: 2772
They were thinking the sky is the limit in income, but never the sky the limit in prices. Party is over, put down the booze if you really want the hangover to end.

Sounds like you've made very wise decisions based on your actual circumstances. We can only do what tradition and technology can offer us. Thanks for your input- hopefully things will be less piecemeal solutions over time.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-03-2008, 08:02 PM
 
Location: Lost in Montana *recalculating*...
19,616 posts, read 22,496,269 times
Reputation: 24621
Wise is complimentary. I try to base or purchases on need, economics and efficiency.

Some my decisions haven't been so wise. Like our first house in Kearneysville with 3 acres of manicured of grass to cut. But nooooo... My wife and I said "Oh look how BIG and pretty that lawn is!!"

What in the hell were we thinking? 6 hours a week sitting on a lawn mower and another 2 with a weed whacker.....
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-03-2008, 10:25 PM
 
11,944 posts, read 14,755,915 times
Reputation: 2772
Quote:
Originally Posted by Threerun View Post
Wise is complimentary. I try to base or purchases on need, economics and efficiency.

Some my decisions haven't been so wise. Like our first house in Kearneysville with 3 acres of manicured of grass to cut. But nooooo... My wife and I said "Oh look how BIG and pretty that lawn is!!"

What in the hell were we thinking? 6 hours a week sitting on a lawn mower and another 2 with a weed whacker.....
I had to cut my grass with a weedwhacker the whole lot because a mower is kind of treacherous with this slope. I caught some deer noshing in the backyard, made me wish I had something growing that they'd eat down to the root. Maybe some goats? lol charleston city ordinance is gonna smack me in the head with my crazy ideas!
Wondering how aggressive deer get for veggies if I put up a hoop greenhouse or rows of cold frames. Guess I should ask the garden blog folks. Little old lady across the street has to spray her roses daily so they don't decimate those.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-04-2008, 06:21 AM
 
Location: Western Pennsylvania
2,429 posts, read 7,225,182 times
Reputation: 830
I saw in the paper yesterday that GM is going to build a new compact car in Lordstown... I guess to replace the Cobalt. Gonna have a 1.4L turbo engine, they say it gets 9 mpg more than the car it replaces. (My Cobalt gets low 30s, so that would put it at 40 or a little more.)

I agree with ThreeRun, in a few years we should be seeing some really good numbers on the mpg front. And most vehicles, for at least the next 10-15 years, are still going to be gas or diesel (including hybrids).
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-04-2008, 07:45 AM
 
4,714 posts, read 13,293,197 times
Reputation: 1090
Chrysler advertisement:

The best 6 passenger car you can buy...highest mileage...41 hwy...29 city.. 5 year, 50,000 mike warranty

Car: 1983 Dodge Aries K-car....this car retailed for $6,949.00 and is certainly being assembled in a foreign country as our car body dies are used elsewhere after their 5 year life here in the USA..

It's time to bring this car back into the stream...Anyone know where they are made...

thanks.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-04-2008, 08:40 AM
 
Location: Western Pennsylvania
2,429 posts, read 7,225,182 times
Reputation: 830
Are you related to Lee Iaccoco, DK?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:



Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > West Virginia

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:09 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top