Further Paring
So now I'm deciding between the Civic and a Subaru Forester. I like the Forester better than the CR-V. And, financially, I'm not sure the Civic Hybrid is worth it over the normal one for how much I drive. Under normal driving, it would save me 571 gallons after driving 60,000 miles. It'll probably take me 5-10 years to drive that much (I hope), so I'd save 50-100 gallons a year. And I feel like the tide is turning in terms of global warming awareness, gas prices, public transportation, etc, so I think that in 5-10 years there will be many more good high mileage options for cars and/ or enough better public transport that it won't matter as much. Also, it annoys me that the Hybrid trunk is only 10 cu ft, and there's no pass-through, since that's where the batteries are.
The real problem is that I really like the small SUVs. I always have. Some people love sports cars. I like little SUVs - the 2-door Ford Explorer, CR-Vs, newer RAV4s, ... Small but functional. And so cute!
The Forester gets 20/ 26 mpg, so it's not that different from a mid-size sedan, but it gives lots of back seat space, AWD, and a large back area. I've tried hatchbacks, but the side and rear visibility on the Forester are much better, and, well, it's AWD. Why can't somebody besides Ford make a hybrid one of those babies? (I looked at the Ford Escape, but it doesn't do as well on crash tests as the Forester, costs ~$7k more since they're selling for over list, and only has better gas mileage for city driving).
So now I need to do 2nd test drives of both (which might require a trip to a town about 30 mi away since the local Subaru dealer only had the turbo Forester) and decide if I should be practical or not. (In terms of gas, the Civic would save me ~600 gallons over 60k miles).
Sorry for boring y'all with my car decision stuff. I'm doing it partially because it helps me order my thoughts.
The real problem is that I really like the small SUVs. I always have. Some people love sports cars. I like little SUVs - the 2-door Ford Explorer, CR-Vs, newer RAV4s, ... Small but functional. And so cute!
The Forester gets 20/ 26 mpg, so it's not that different from a mid-size sedan, but it gives lots of back seat space, AWD, and a large back area. I've tried hatchbacks, but the side and rear visibility on the Forester are much better, and, well, it's AWD. Why can't somebody besides Ford make a hybrid one of those babies? (I looked at the Ford Escape, but it doesn't do as well on crash tests as the Forester, costs ~$7k more since they're selling for over list, and only has better gas mileage for city driving).
So now I need to do 2nd test drives of both (which might require a trip to a town about 30 mi away since the local Subaru dealer only had the turbo Forester) and decide if I should be practical or not. (In terms of gas, the Civic would save me ~600 gallons over 60k miles).
Sorry for boring y'all with my car decision stuff. I'm doing it partially because it helps me order my thoughts.
posted by Random Questioner at
10:50 PM
4 Comments:
did you try a matrix? It's little SUV-like, but with somewhat better gas mileage.
By
Snow, at 10:11 AM
I tried it, but I thought it needed a little more pep and a more comfortable seat/ driving position. Toyotas and I have never really gotten along. Or, rather, other cars have gotten along better with me. I really wish they still made a Civic hatchback. I also wish that most hatchbacks had better side/ rear visibility, especially for the left shoulder check.
By
Random Questioner, at 1:40 PM
How about a diesel car? We just got back from England where diesels are all over the place (and are less dirty than trucks or than they were some years ago) and get AT THE LOW END 60 mpg...
By
Anonymous, at 6:32 AM
I would LOVE a diesel. Unfortunately, VW is the main company that makes them here. In my town there's a wait list until next March, and VW doesn't do as well in reliability or safety as I would like. Subaru is starting to make diesels - I think they just introduced them in Europe this year. They're planning to bring them to the US, but it's still a few years off. :(
Europe is way ahead of us in terms of cleaner and better mpg cars, even for the same models.
By
Random Questioner, at 6:11 PM
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