What long wheelbase minivan gets 36 mpg on the highway?
Drummer owns the trailer. It goes on the 92 explorer when the entire band goes together. 5 guys plus the P.A., guitar amps, 5 mic stands, stage monitors, etc. 4X4 neccessary for mud and snow sometimes. It’s only the 4.0 v6 but it “gits’er done” and I would have any thing less. The wife has an 06 Escape hybrid which specifically states no trailer towing in the owners manual.
Drummer owns the trailer. It goes on the 92 explorer when the whole band travels together with the addition of the rest of the gear ; P.A.system, stage monitors, guitar amps, mic stands, backdrop, lighting, etc. 4x4 neccessary sometimes for both mud and snow. I wouldn’t have anything less. This one’s a 4.0 v6 but it “git’s er done”. The wife has an 06 Escape hybrid which expessly states no trailer towing in the manual.
How true when you think about it. The “glut” seems to exist when people buy the immage and the want over the actual need. This is why I have three to pick form in the back yard, based on job needs of the day. The 79 pickup stays parked most of the time with a grand total original miles on it of 70.000. The 06 Escape hybrid is the daily runner to work and road trips. The 92 Explorer is the work horse.
You-tube clip shows how silly a Hummer H1 is for actually carrying things.
The Smart Car will amaze you as it out carries the Hummer.
Benzman
It also shows how one can get over confident with their vehicle. Notice how he bought small items whereas she got a lot of larger items. Know your car and it’s limitations.
I just took an 800 mile trip in an Explorer fully loaded with a carrier on the back for extras (a home chest freezer). 23.9 mpg through the hills of PA and NY, that is as good as any vehicle! It’s how you drive. Trip cost me $30 more tan last year. Why would I go out and buy something different?
First, Economy of Operation: What approach results in the least overall cost of ownership? As with brides and grooms, one size does not fit all, but in general a used car will cost you less over its life span than a new car. Depending on your actual use, a heavily discounted gas guzzler may perform better than a Prius for economy of operation. Try taking a few cuts at it with a calculator to see what brings you the least overall cost of ownership.
Second, Carbon Foorprint: Some vehicles with anticipated high longevity and superior accident avoidance features delivering 22 MPG, may have a lighter carbon footprint than a 45 MPG vehicle that has fewer accident avoidance features and a shorter anticipated lifespan. Here, a 4-runner may have a ligher carbon footprint than a Prius. We don’t know because no one (that I know of) is doing such total-life-cycle calculations.
Third, What do you Really Want to Own?: Whatever the form factor, and whatever the image you want to project, in my experience quality pays off over the long term. In short, if you want a minivan then get a Honda. If you want an SUV, try Mercedes, Acura, Toyota or Nissan. Ditto if you want a sedna or sports car. As in the Anderson Windows ad, “When do you want to pay for your car, now, or every time you turn around?” Last, not only do the quality makes last longer, they also tend to deliver a safer, and more enjoyably experience every moment of use (our 18 year old Lexus LS400 has 230K miles and still has the original exhaust system, suspension, alternator, and the paint and leather look like new)… how good is that car? It has probably been the most economical car we’ve ever owned.
Just my dos pesos.
Second, Carbon Foorprint: Some vehicles with anticipated high longevity and superior accident avoidance features delivering 22 MPG, may have a lighter carbon footprint than a 45 MPG vehicle that has fewer accident avoidance features and a shorter anticipated lifespan. Here, a 4-runner may have a ligher carbon footprint than a Prius. We don’t know because no one (that I know of) is doing such total-life-cycle calculations.
I don’t remember which website it was, but it showed that an H2 was actually producing less overall emissions than a Prius, including the emissions from the making of the vehicle
you want to save $ on your vehicle? i usually pay cash for a $2000 to $4000 car. if i buy american i try to stay under 70,000 miles, german or japanese under 150,000 miles. i generally drive for about 8 - 18 months then sell it for what i paid for it. with very few exceptions i have also found the better the car (mercedes, bmw, lexus, toyo, infinity) the more economical the car. fewer repairs and higher resale. since i don’t ever have a car payment i can drive whatever i want and the $500 - $600 a year i might spend extra in fuel doesn’t effect me adversley. the cool part is i change cars often so i get to drive a nice variety of them. now i realize that some people have special car needs (towing, large families etc. etc) but my system should still work. i do try to stay away from american cars. i currently have a 95 buick park ave. paid $2000 a year ago w/ 80,000 miles. it now has 89,000 on it and has cost me $2600 in repairs. as soon as i get that new motor in she’s gone!!! the only thing i do miss is that “new car smell”. i have looked and looked for an air freshener that truley smells like new car but no luck.
Towing a boat every weekend is one thing, but too many SUV owners try to justify their purchase by towing the boat twice a year (spring drop-in, fall pull-out). Rent a damned truck for two days a year to do chores like that!
The vast majority of SUVs will never tow anything, and will never leave pavement (until they roll over on the Interstate). They prove how hairy-chested their owners are, even the soccer moms. I pity the few people (for their gas costs) who can actually justify owning one, and laugh at the “suffering” of the rest. Reality check time, folks!
Towing a boat every weekend is one thing, but too many SUV owners try to justify their purchase by towing the boat twice a year (spring drop-in, fall pull-out). Rent a damned truck for two days a year to do chores like that!
You have no idea what you’re talking about. Go and TRY to rent a truck to tow with on the weekend you need one…especially on a holiday like 4th of July. It’s IMPOSSIBLE…I know I tried. You have to reserve one MONTHS (7-8) in advance. You might be able to if you live near large metro airport (I don’t). Rental agencies do NOT have a lot of trucks to rent. Even the large ones in our area has 1 or 2 that can tow with. Some have trucks to rent but you are NOT allowed to tow with them. I only tow my trailer 4-5 times during the summer…it’s just IMPOSSIBLE to rent one at the times I need it. Especially since most of the time we decide to go camping on Thursday before the weekend because the weather is good.
If you want to save money…The BEST way is to drive the vehicle until it’s worth NOTHING…Then buy a new one…Forget about the resale value. Buying a car for it’s resale value really is a poor financial decision.
Mike, I think he’s talking about keeping the boat at a marina and hiring someone to put it in/out once a year, as opposed to having to drag it to the lake every-time you want to use it.
One reason that I don’t currently own any campers, dirt bikes, snowmobiles, boats, race cars, etc. is the necessity of owning a tow vehicle. Maintaining those toys is bad enough, but also having to own a big, silly truck makes it more trouble than it’s worth (for me).
You have no idea what you’re talking about. Go and TRY to rent a truck to tow with on the weekend you need one…especially on a holiday like 4th of July. It’s IMPOSSIBLE…I know I tried. You have to reserve one MONTHS (7-8) in advance. You might be able to if you live near large metro airport (I don’t). Rental agencies do NOT have a lot of trucks to rent. Even the large ones in our area has 1 or 2 that can tow with. Some have trucks to rent but you are NOT allowed to tow with them. I only tow my trailer 4-5 times during the summer…it’s just IMPOSSIBLE to rent one at the times I need it. Especially since most of the time we decide to go camping on Thursday before the weekend because the weather is good.
Why would you go to a rental agency for a tow vehicle? Why not U-Haul or one of its competitors? Also, my local hardware store has rental work trucks that would be good tow vehicles.
If I wanted to rent a tow vehicle, I think a car rental agency is the last place I would go.
Why would you go to a rental agency for a tow vehicle? Why not U-Haul or one of its competitors? Also, my local hardware store has rental work trucks that would be good tow vehicles.
I tried them. First off…I’m going camping with a family of 4 so I need a Van of some sort…NOT a Bench seat cargo truck. UHaul has several vans they rent…BUT Not ALL are equipped to Tow. They were actually the FIRST place I tried. There’s a very big UHaul in Manchester NH.
Mike, I think he’s talking about keeping the boat at a marina and hiring someone to put it in/out once a year, as opposed to having to drag it to the lake every-time you want to use it.
If you drive the boat to a Marina ONCE a year…then back…then yea you MIGHT be able to rent a truck to do it…But not everyone can.
One reason that I don’t currently own any campers, dirt bikes, snowmobiles, boats, race cars, etc. is the necessity of owning a tow vehicle. Maintaining those toys is bad enough, but also having to own a big, silly truck makes it more trouble than it’s worth (for me).
I own a camper because I’m getting too old for tenting. Although my youngest and I do some back backing and mountain climbing. But when the family wants to go camping for a long weekend…the camper is far far better. It’s something we like to do, and it’s just plain easier then trying to RENT something. My 4runner doesn’t get GREAT gas mileage…but I average about 22 highway…which isn’t bad.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t do the boating/camping thing, it’s just more trouble than it’s worth for me. My kids are teenagers now and too busy/uninterested to go “family” camping anyway. I’ve rented RVs in the past (when the kids were small), but I hate having to drive big RVs around locally, so I do understand the advantage of camping trailers. When my kids move away, I might get back to doing some “real” camping in the mountains (I’m not much of a climber, but I do like to hike a little).
Regarding boating, I learned a long time ago that I can’t sail to save my butt, and motor boats don’t really interest me. Of course, I don’t currently live near much water anyway. I like Warren Buffit’s approach; when someone asked him why he didn’t own a yacht he said that he didn’t need one because his friends all owned them. (-;
The website that villified the Prius was an example of the best junk science and scientific fraud I have ever seen. The essence of the claim was the emvironmemntatl damage done by International Nickel in Sudbury, Canada, which, IN THE PAST, put a lot of SO2 into the air and ran a really dirty operation. In those days, Inco supplied nearly 90% of the world’s nickel, a very strategic material.
Since that time, nickel is produced in Indonesia, Guatamala, Polynesia, and many other places. Those plants are very clean as is the current Sudbury plant. So those claims are a misrepresentation of the worst kind. You could certainly claim that the 50s chrome loaded monsters had a bad environmental footprint.
The second intentional misrepresentation is that the manufacture of a car represents the major carbon footprint. We’ve pointed out in previous posts that on average the manufacture of a car takes only about 15% of the TOTAL LIFE CYCLE ENERGY DEMAND!!! This includes the spares for the repairs and manitenance and all the fuel and lubricants. If you don’t believe me, contact the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), who have studied this subject to death!
So, a Prius, which gets at least 2x the gas mileage of a mid size Hummer, would have to incur 57.5% (1-.85/2)of its life cycle energy in its manufacture, or 57.5/15=3.83 times the energy of a Hummer. This argument is so ludicrous that we will spend no more time on it.
It always puzzles me how otherwise rational and intelligent people lap up junk science, outright lies, and distortions in order to either prove a point or to get something for nothing.
Although I believe in wearing out a car once it is built, there are circumstances where scrapping it before the end of it’s life makes sense. A pre-catalytic conerter 1970 full size V8 car is worthy of being scrapped, no matter what condition it’s in.
If you own a side-by-side 1970s frostfree fridge, which consumes 2600 kwhrs per year, you would do well to have it recycled, since a new one uses only 550 kwhrs!
Well, it depends on the car. If it were something like a 1970 Challenger or Imperial, I wouldn’t send it to the scrap yard, I’d actually SAVE it from the scrap heap…