I am officially conflicted. My old 40 MPG Honda Civic is about to give up the ghost

[squawk7700]

and I've been looking to replace it but I don't have a lot of money - for sure not enough for a hybrid or a new car. My neighbor offered to sell me an 'extra' car she's had since her husband passed away a year ago for like -real cheap-

I mean cheap like 5 hundred bucks...for a car that runs perfectly well...and gets about 12 miles a gallon. I bought it.
And it's a pretty cool ride...a 1989 Mercedes 560SL convertible. That gets
about 12 miles a gallon.

I figure I can buy, even at $4 a gallon, a bunch of gas before reversing the economic advantage, but what about the consumption? I don't drive a lot of miles nowadays and I want to imagine that insulates me from the obvious charge of profligate energy use/waste. What you all tink about it?
(sic on tink) ;-)

[Duke Newcombe]

1. B, b, but...you're killing my children with your excessive carbon footprint, you fiend!!

Kidding :)

Enjoy the Mercedes, and do what works for you in the short term. There may be kits to convert it to biodiesel, or to enhance its performance, or you can just plan your trips with the car to use less gas.


Duke

[Taverner]

2. If you can get to CA the first edition Priuses are going for decent rates

[truedelphi]

3. When you buy a new car - any new car- you have used up a HUGE

Amount of the earth's resources. By buying used, you are avoiding that depletion of old Mother Nature.

Over the next few years, I beleive there will be car kits for every model and type of car, so that we can convert our cars to run on something other than gas.

Enjoy the car. Enjoy the fact that it was cheap for you to purchase - and that the money you aren't paying for a car payment can offset the rise in gas prices.

[elocs]

4. If you drive few miles and money is an issue, I think you made a good decision.

It's a cool car and runs well. If you bought a new car you would be making payments of over $200 a month with increased insurance and even if you had a 30+ mpg vehicle, gas would still be $4/gallon. Enjoy your car and congratulations because in effect you have also performed an act of recycling because it takes a lot of energy to make a new car.

[Warpy]

7. Same here. If you live in an exurb

and commute 100 miles each way to work, then a hybrid would be essential.

However, if you live close to work and shopping and drive very little, suit yourself.

You're probably quite a few years from the break even point, and then you might be able to find a hybrid with dings and dents in your price range.

[squawk7700]

15. I'm basically semi-retired and don't commute but I do live 15 miles from town

so that's a trip I really do have to make more or less weekly for supplies. I've even cut down from bi-weekly over the last few months which has helped especially with the old Honda (I think I might try to keep it alive if I can manage the upkeep - I'm a pretty good mechanic)

Thanks

[elocs]

19. I have an '06 Scion and most days I don't even drive 10 miles.

I am only 3 miles from my work 4 miles from the mall area with the supermarket. At most, only about 6 miles or less from anywhere I need to go to in my community. I would be just fine with a good running older car, even if it did not get good gas mileage. If I needed a car for a long trip I would simply rent one.

[jmowreader]

48. Hybrids aren't "all that" on a 100-mile drive

They're great and economical in town, true, but in country driving they're just another small, economical car.

Which means someone like me (30 miles each way, most on the interstate) would be better served by something like a Corolla or an Escort.

[Warpy]

51. Right, the cost savings would have to be looked at carefully

but people driving from an exurb with a lot of stop lights down 20 miles of Interstate and spending more than half the trip in stop and go traffic would find a hybrid more economical. The same goes for an interstate that is clogged with commuters, making it a stop and go proposition instead of a straight haul at 75.

I went for the econocar instead of a hybrid because, even though I live in a city and would realize the largest savings, I just don't drive all that much.

It's not what you drive as much as how you drive. Were I to commute 20 miles across town every day, I'd have gone for the hybrid.

[old mark]

5. I had a great old Oldsmobile Touring Sedan...

when I was working, 8 way power seats, Bose stereo, all blue leather interior, sun/moon roof, rack and pinion steering, air suspension, wood dash. Got almost 12 mpg.
Loved to drive it to work, really comfortable, great hiway car, just too much for gas. Sold it, got a VW Passat.
It was probably the last American car I will own, and I had a good time with it.

I was looking as some older Mercedes when I got the VW. Great to drive-enjoy it.
If you still have the Civic, maybe it's repairable. Have a good mechanic take a look at it.

mark

[jmowreader]

6. I think you should fix it up nicely and sell it

The proceeds from the sale of a Mercedes 560SL convertible in good condition will be more than enough to buy an economical new car.

[squawk7700]

18. That is certainly an option! I don't know yet, though, how much $$ it will take to

make it tres desirable. :D

[Canuckistanian]

8. What people ALWAYS ignore

Is the cost of USING a product instead of merely BUYING it.

It's what I call the "CFL Light Bulb" effect.

Yes, CFL bulbs are far more expensive, but they SAVE money in the long run because they use less energy and last far longer than regular incandescent bulbs.

If people were made aware of the ULTIMATE cost of their choices, we wouldn't BE in this mess to begin with.

[Duke Newcombe]

11. Good point...

Unfortunately, that calculus also doesn't bode well for anything but a first generation hybrid as a car purchase:

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/fueleconomy/articles/116513/article.html

Duke

[squawk7700]

16. That's true. And I have no idea what you think I should do.

:D

:hi:

[Canuckistanian]

25. You are indeed in a quandary

Used high mileage vehicles cost big $$$. They're in demand these days.

But you have to save immediate money.

I'll have the same problem when I have to replace my aging Sable.

I have no solution for you, only a complaint that you and I have no OPTIONS because of short-sighted thinking of car manufacturers.

[squawk7700]

27. Well if you're looking for a fight, forget it...I agree with you 100%

:D

[taterguy]

9. I think a bicycle is the best method of transportation for short distances

[squawk7700]

28. It most certainly is...however we live out in the boondocks and none of the distances are short.

;-)

[mr_hat]

10. Never mind the cost of gas. Wait for the first repair...

[squawk7700]

17. I probably should have mentioned...I've been a pretty good mechanic for many decades

I rebuilt the engine on a Mercedes 190SL (only Merc I ever owned up to now...and that was when I was 21 yo) in my mom's driveway in 1963. I know parts are expensive but what isn't nowadays? ;-)

[JerseygirlCT]

32. Can't tell you how envious I am of that

I'm entirely at the mercy of the mechanics... I hate that feeling!

[squawk7700]

33. At risk of sounding sexist, I'd love to be able to make a souffle.

:D

If you can't, welcome to the club. :-)
edit: I'm embarrassed I didn't even spell souffle right.

[JerseygirlCT]

36. Thanks for the welcome!

Because I've never been able to get interested enough in the kitchen stuff to get any good at it, either. Although I'd have a much better idea of where to start with a souffle than with an engine, lol.

I'm pretty good at most things artistic. I can plan and create a kick-ass direct mail fundraising campaign. I'm a great mom...

But a domestic goddess, I ain't!

[tridim]

12. I still kick myself for selling my Honda CRX

If it were me I'd look into an engine swap. That's a relatively cheap option.

[squawk7700]

26. You mean a swap into my Honda? Whoa, not sure about that...the car is a 1981

and the motor isn't the only part of it that's worn out. The odometer quit turning at 197000 miles... 5 years ago.
:shrug:

[ThatsMyBarack]

13. I want my mom to buy me a Prius!

But she says, "I just bought myself a new car. Why do I have to buy another?"

So I guess I'm on my own.

[uppityperson]

14. You do what you have to do. Later you can put in a liner and make a little hot tub.

It depends on how much you drive, but comparing the money and energy and resources needed to have a free used low mpg car vs a new higher mpg car, it is a trade off. Looking for the highest mpg used car is my strategy of course, but it would be difficult to pass up a free one. Perhaps having a free on, you could put money away to buy a higher mpg one later.

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

20. $500

That's a hard deal to turn down. Even though we all would rather have hybrids and high-efficiencies, it's difficult to turn down a running vehicle at $500. My sisters first car was $3k, got less than 20 mpg, and had never-ending problems. No AC, shorts, faulty wiper system, and the the brakes were shot to hell (pads and discs). She probably put almost as much money into fixing it as she did buying, and the thing drove about as nicely as a Mack truck.

So while you may feel a little guilty, I wouldn't be too hard on yourself.

[mrcheerful]

21. The one thing that strikes me as odd is this ideal that a more fuel friendly vehicle will save a

person money, not talking about the guy who lives 50+ miles from his job, but the average driver. What I am talking about is like me for example, I don't work, SSDI, and what I noticed was the van that I drive, SO got it in a divorce settlement, I use about 20 to 30 gallons of gas a month going for doctors visits and shopping for food, a once a month shopping trip, this is an average because in the winter I can use much less, 5 to 10 gallons a month. When I had my 89 Buick Centuary I also used the same 20 to 30 gallons a month driving, it had a 4 cyclinder engine front wheel drive. I never did more with the car, just I noticed that I would back track and waste gas by idling in traffic or other wasteful driving habits that I try to avoid with the van. But isn't that the type of behaviors that people who trade up to fuel friendly vehicles do with little or no other thought then I get great gas mileage with this vehicle so I can drive it more? The good news about the van driving habits is I have the SO doing the same, instead of hippity hopping all over town, she now tries to plan her routes so we can get everything in one trip with very few left turns across traffic and no back tracking.

[squawk7700]

23. Your approach makes sense for sure and I try to conserve while driving too.

I've done it for years...minimizing the use of brakes, coasting when it's feasible, avoiding gridlock in rush hour (I learned that from living in Tampa back in the early 1980s...when walking would have been faster, yikes)

[bean fidhleir]

22. That's a big plush car!

Perhaps you could replace the engine with one made for, say, a 160. Even a 160D. A liter and a half should be plenty to move even a monster like that around.

[squawk7700]

24. Actually it's not that big...I just got back from driving it home. It's a 2 seater

with a little doggie-sized thing in the back...however as I admitted at the start it does have a ridiculously large engine...but I don't think a 1500 cc engine would get it out of my driveway. ;-)

[CRF450]

41. Large engine doesn't quite mean "worse mpg" automatically.

The 7.0 505hp v8 in the Corvettes can right up to 30mpg on the highways.

[AlCzervik]

29. can you afford to fix it if it breaks down? If so i don't see a problem with it.

i love German cars, i have one and so does my husband but the cost for maintenance and repairs is more costly but then again if you can do it yourself then excellent. Sadly, i cannot.

[squawk7700]

31. I can handle most mechanical issues...I overhauled the engine in my 190SL 40 years ago

in my mom's driveway :D But not so sure about these newer ones. (that was my only Mercedes...I've had half a dozen Porsches but they're a very different animal. ;-))

[bullwinkle428]

30. Here's a good picture of one for those that are curious...

[squawk7700]

34. How spooky is this??? It's the exact same color and the shadows of the 2 guys

look just like me and my BF! :scared:
EEK

But I see palm trees and we left Florida years ago. :rofl:

[bullwinkle428]

35. I just did a Google image search and took what I thought

was the best-looking picture, that also happened to be an '89 model!

It's a sweet ride! From a "total carbon footprint" perspective, you really are better off buying used, and if you don't have to put lots of miles on it, fuel costs shouldn't be prohibitive. Happy driving!

[squawk7700]

38. thanks! We don't normally do a lot of car miles (but it's damn tempting to do a road trip!)

:D

[dflprincess]

37. Any chance you can find a used Civic for around the same price?

My Civic just turned 11 and my mechanic tells me I should be able to get at least 4 more years out of it. I'm getting 33 mpg in the city and usually get around 38 on the highway (and, of course, Honda engines are suppose to burn cleaner than others). I keep toying with the idea of a new car because, even with my mechanic's assurances, I don't entirely trust it any more (ever since the exhaust pipe fell off on the way to work last winter). But, I keep putting it off because I love this car and the new ones don't get the same mileage.

[squawk7700]

39. I have looked, I promise. The old Civic is a 1981...the head gasket is blown

and I used some magic juice last spring (a year now) that's supposed to fix that...and it has...so far. But I'm just not comfortable with the idea of taking off on a long trip with that kind of history. Sigh.

[FarCenter]

40. C'mon, you're putting us on?

'89 560 SL for $500? KBB would put it close to $10,000 unless it is high mileage and really ratty.

Drive with a light foot and enjoy.

[squawk7700]

45. It's true. I have wondered if she wants to get in my pants...? Not kidding.

We barely knew her before this deal came up (we meaning me and my bf of 29 years now)...we've run into dozens of women over the years with 'conversion' in mind. ;-)

[CRF450]

42. 12mpg out of a 227hp v8 engine?!?! I'd say rediculous too for a car that small.

Come on, I know that v8's in mustangs and camaro's had about that same output at that time, yet they got much better fuel economy. My car has a 350hp v8, averages around 22mpg, and has reached 31mpg/HWY. My truck has a 230hp 4.7 v8 and gets around 16mpg. It has more to do with the vehicles weight that determins fuel milage for a given engine type. That 560 is a small car too. Smaller than my Trans Am, yet worse mpg...

[squawk7700]

46. This beast has a 5.6L V8 engine. I HOPE it's not as bad as I said, that's what I found on some

websites which I know aren't gospel. :D

[CRF450]

47. I did a quick lookup on the specs, its said that it should average around 15mpg

[Buzz Clik]

43. From the pure economy of it all -- you made a good choice.

[ileus]

44. why do you hate al gore?

LOL....nice find if you ask me.

[ColbertWatcher]

49. Self delete. n/t

[Lydia Leftcoast]

50. There are still small cars on the market

and some of them are even used.

If I ever have to replace the car that my mother gave me when she stopped driving, I'll go for a lightly used subcompact, the smallest one I can fit into. (In the past, I got good deals on used rental cars.)