Public Opinion Poll

[ladysprite]

For a little while now my sweetie and I have been bouncing around the idea of getting a second car. It's really a necessity at this point; with me working at various random places around the state it's extremely difficult to drive him to and from work every day, and public transportation for him is an expensive hassle.

We've been kind of assuming we'd get a used car, just to save money, but I'm realizing that that's actually somewhat of a hassle. Neither of us is much of a car guru, and in spite of the help of extremely knowledgeable friends, I've had enough bad experiences that I'd never quite completely trust anything particularly old. So this put us looking for a fairly high-end, gently used car with no known vehicle-health issues.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that it would probably be more efficient, overall, to get a second new car. The car I currently drive is, in fact, a fairly high-end, gently used car with no known health issues. If we bought another used car, odds are we'd need to replace one car or the other within a few years. On the other hand, if we get a new car now, the car I currently use can become my sweetie's, and there would hopefully be no need to buy any more vehicles for at least a while. Part of me feels like I'm being overly extravagant and spendthrifty, but another part realizes that, if we can afford the payments, this may be the most reasonable way to go.

The other reason the new-car concept has so much appeal is that I'm thinking of buying a gas-electric hybrid. With all of the driving I do, and with the ludicrous gas prices, it seems a lot more efficient to have a car that gets much better mileage. However, I also know that my knowledge of cars is not merely woefully lacking, but functionally utterly absent, and I don't want to hop into something like this without a lot more information.

So - does anyone out there reading this own a hybrid car, or know someone who does, or at least have a strong opinion about them one way or the other? And if so, would you be willing to share any info or opinions with me?

Comments

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

You know what I'd love to have?

A 5 year old diesel. 5 years old, so it's off warranty, and cheap enough that I feel like I can gamble. Then I'd get the conversion kit to let it run on vegetable oil.

It doesn't mean you put vegetable oil in the main tank; you need regular diesel in the main tank, because until the engine is hot enough, vegetable oil won't work. But, you have a secondary tank, and a button to start using it, once the engine heats up.

Restaurants have to pay to have cooking oil hauled away. They'll give you oil for free. You run it through a large coffee filter, and pour it into your secondary tank, and voila, you have a frenchfrymobile!

However, the conversion voids the warranty, and unless you have a good mechanic, things could go wrong, and if you're like me, you might keep forgetting to check with the restaurants until they've already thrown their oil away, etc.. Still, right now, it's my dream car, and diesel is more efficient than gas, so it has good mileage, used McD grease or diesel.

So, none of this means anything to you, but it still gives me a chance to talk about one of my ittybitty dreams.

[griffinick.livejournal.com]

I've been hearing a ton about biodiesel recently...is it as efficient as gas/electric hybrid?

[jtdiii.livejournal.com]

It is no where near as efficient. Most biodiesels are still in the mid twenties in miles per gallon.

Since you are burning used fry oil most of the time, which is free most people are not all that worried about the efficient. Note that here in New England you can really only use this 3/4 of the year, as in the winter the fry oil congeals into a solid mass. Still it can save you a remarkable amount. Note that in the -20F range you need to start running kerosene, as diesel starts to gell.

There are some amazing diesels coming out in the near future though with up to 70mpg... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8129979/

[jtdiii.livejournal.com]

The Mercedes diesels are an excellent choice for this project. I bought my 1980 300D at 100,000 miles and it was still running well at 13 years old with 240,000 miles when it was eaten by a jacked up Ford Bronco. They are long out of warranty, and run forever, with at least one model in the mid west having gone over a million miles.

If it is already out of warranty, there is nothing to void, and since they last so long you know that you can recoup your expenditures. The only drawback is that maintenance is higher than for domestic. The 1980's had brake pad that had to be replaced every 20,000 miles and wheel bearings every 60,000. Still by buying used you can research what commonly fails on the model you are looking at, to plan your expenses.

In NE rust will eventuall destroy them though. :(

[sdorn.livejournal.com]

I've occasionally read about these, and apart from the smell of someone else's fries, it sounds great!