"davedave1111" (davedave1111)
02/15/2014 at 18:33 • Filed to: None
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"davedave1111" (davedave1111)
02/15/2014 at 18:33 • Filed to: None | 0
| 4 |
Been a little while, I've been way too busy with a new business and family stuff to drop in here for the last few weeks.
But mainly I've been feeling too ashamed to post here: I've been seriously contemplating buying a Prius. I know, I know, but it's for work. Today's the first chance I've had to sit down and work out the economics of it, and Good News , it's not cheaper than alternatives. Thank fuck for that. I don't have to buy a Prius, I won't buy a Prius, hell, I don't think I could have brought myself to do it even if it had been cheaper, but I'm so glad I don't have to ever consider it again.
The alternatives generally aren't too much better, but they make me much happier. Since it's all for urban use - stop-start traffic only, really - I've been looking at some of the slowest cars on the planet. The Hyundai Matrix's 18 second 0-60 time seems like a challenge, but I suspect if I treated it that way it wouldn't even get the claimed 40mpg round town - not good enough. Or there's the slow and ugly Yaris Verso.
I'm holding out hope that I'll find a Multipla cheap enough to pay for lots of fuel. If not, though, hopefully it'll be a Fiat diesel that wins. A Grande Punto is probably big enough, and the 1.3 diesel gets 50ish mpgs around town.
But if I can, I'll be going full Oppo and buying a manual diesel estate. Or maybe a manual diesel van-with-windows. Who here wouldn't want a Kangoo?
And at just 12.5 seconds to 60, it's practically a rocketship compared to other options.
Milky
> davedave1111
02/15/2014 at 18:48 |
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European life when it comes to practical cars seems rough ….. I'm sorry. I'd give you some of our cheap gas if I could.
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davedave1111
> Milky
02/15/2014 at 18:58 |
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Bit impractical. A friend of ours is in the USAF, and used to be based in the UK, not far from London. We'd joke about siphoning the gas he could buy on base at US prices into my car, but even that was a bit too much faff.
Really, it's not so bad normally. It's just that in this particular case the only thing the car will be doing is sitting in traffic, for about 5k miles a year. As long as it carries everything I need to carry, driving dynamics and speed are completely irrelevant.
Anyway, thanks to the high fuel costs here, I'm effectively getting a second car free out of the fuel savings - I'll still keep the E30 for fun (or sell it for something else in the same vein). It's nice having a car you really don't give a fuck about, because you can treat it like you're on a TG challenge. In that sense, the Yaris Verso might be the most fun.
duurtlang
> davedave1111
02/15/2014 at 20:17 |
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Given that use, will a diesel be a wise choice? From what I understand diesels suffer if they don't get warm properly. I'd guess you'd be better off with a gasoline powered vehicle.
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davedave1111
> duurtlang
02/15/2014 at 20:31 |
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The difference in fuel economy is enough to make it worth taking the car for a spin up the motorway to clear the DPF every now and again, if I have to. I think it depends on the car as to whether it's a problem. The age I'm looking at may be pre-DPF anyway.