| Great Time To Buy as New Car (If You Need One) | 1 comment |
 22 Aug 2003 @ 11:17, by Raymond PowersLetecia sent me that some sent to her. With gasoline now well over $2.00 I'm happy to note, I've studied the car market pretty well and I have some suggestions for fuel efficient cars. This is a great time of year to buy as the dealers are trying to get rid of last year's inventory. Last year at this time I got a Honda Civic EX for $14,888, $16,000 out the door with mats. Real world mileage averages 32 mpg for me, CR rates it 29 mpg overall average, EPA rates it 32/38. You'll need to shop around, mostly online with LA dealerships to get a price that good. Small sedan: My favorite choice is the Honda Civic HX, rated 36/44 mpg with a manual transmission, probably about the same with the CVT automatic. All the other Civics get about 32/38 but the EX has a much better engine than the DX and LX, with 10 more hp but still the same mileage. There's a $2,000 bump between models. Don't bother to consider the Civic hybrid. Civics have excellent resale value, depreciating only about $1,000 per year after the first year. In my circumstances I estimate the Civic EX costs a total of around 23 cents/ mile to drive including all costs. I'm not crazy about owning the two passenger Insight, though CR puts its mileage at 51 in overall driving. Corolla is comparable to the Civic. Toyota's $10,000 Echo is roundly dissed as junky and underequipped but it does get a real world average of 38 mpg in CR tests, the best of all conventional cars other than stinky diesels, better than Civic Hybrid. The Prius is redesigned this year as a midsized fast back hatchback with good cargo space and even better mileage that should average around 45 mpg overall. However, I wouldn't get one personally, as they are considerably more expensive than conventional cars and estimates on replacing the battery at roughly 100k miles runs around $3,000 currently. There's a cost benefit trade off between the nickel battery and all the tech and the improved mileage that doesn't quite cut it in my analysis. That's a big topic, I know, with political ramifications. If you regularly need a larger car the Toyota Matix or Pontiac Vibe, nearly identical, are rated 28/33. The back seat is extremely low and though the cargo space is 160% or so of a Civic, you'd have to block your rear view to use up the space. Ford is planning a hybrid Escape SUV, but the same concerns about hybrid tech would bother me. Ford Focus Wagon is huge and should average about 24 mpg overall, but it is not recommended due to reliability concerns. Most small wagons get pretty bad mileage. Even the tiny Mazda Protege wagon only averages about 23. Another good plan is to get the smaller car (or no car) and to rent a larger one when needed, like for family vacations. Enterprise has great weekend prices--cheaper than owning. And Home Depot rents out a flatbed for $15 for an hour and a half, no other charges, I think, if you do occasional building and stuff. But, of course, the better plan is to live close to work, and to walk, bike, carpool or bus. Take all means to drive fewer miles. Make those miles car-mandatory miles. Anyway, this list is not comprehensive. Check edmunds.com and consumerreports.org. You might get a Mini Cooper and still keep your status as an enviro. Don't get a diesel. Happy biking. |