I’m driving a 2002 Mazda MPV, horrible mileage, about 12 with the kind of driving I do. I go a few blocks up a steep hill, stop go get the dog in the house, put it in the van, and repeat this up and down, in and out the rest of the day. I make about 40 of these kinds of stops each day, but only do about 20 miles total. I also drive 20 miles freeway on my commute. The gas is killing me.
I want a different car. Most of the dogs I take care of are small, they sit in the back of the van. I know dog walkers who use station wagons, even honda fits. I can fit 8 small dogs in the back of a fit. But it is a little small, so I was thinking something more like the NIssan Cube. But the mileage isn’t too good for what I read.
My other concern is that I get in and out of the car so many times a day, I like to sit high so that I avoid lots of wear and tear on my knees/back with the in and out, up and down.
You are correct sir,
Actually, in the 80’s there used to be a guy with a team of huskies hooked up to a covered wagon who drove down Valencia St. In SF Mission District (hipster central nowadays).
I guess with the little guys, I could sit in a red wagon, and they could pull me.
How much do you want to spend? An electric car might work for you. You can go up to 40 miles before the gas engine kicks in on a Chevy Volt. A 2013 Nissan Leaf S will cost $28,800 MSRP and has a range of up to 80 miles. But you have to have a way to charge it at home. The same goes for the Volt. The vot is almost $40,000 and has unlimited range. I think you will get a big tax break with either.
You would be perfect for a hybrid or electric, but at 7k that’s out of your budget. Might I make a suggestion? Since you’re getting such lousy gas mileage (12 mpg) now, anything would result in significant savings for you. Suppose you spend $1000/year on gas. If you find a car that gets 24 mpg in the city, that’ll cut your bill in half, to $500. Going all out for a hybrid at near 50 mpg would cut that bill to $250-a big improvement, but not as big a difference as just getting to something in the mid-20’s mpg. You should be able to find something in decent shape for 7k that gets around 24 mpg.
I had looked at the Matrix/Vibe as an option. I think the seats are a little too low for me. Getting in and out of the car about 40x a day really takes a toll on the body. If I sit just a little higher up, I can sort of slide right out and gently hoist myself back in rather than all the bending and crouching. It is important. I don’t want to save money on a vehicle only to give it to a chiropractor!
I hadn’t thought of a used ford escape. I’ll check into that one too.
I sure did like the c-max! Go check it out if you haven’t yet. Nice.
Thanks once again for all the insightful input. It really helps to get opinions.