I am now one of “those people”
I turned the key on my 1995 Ford Taurus and threw it in reverse. I heard a clunk, something not uncommon for the car, but I didn’t really think anything of it. As the speed limit in my town is 25 MPH, I didn’t attempt to go higher than that until I was out of town limits. It took me about 10 minutes to realize my transmission was shot.
I loved my car. Don’t let anyone say otherwise. My blue Taurus had character, maybe made more so by the bumper stickers on the back:
Reunite Gondwanaland
The lottery: A tax on people who are bad at math
Those two politically neutral bumperstickers have been great conversation starters with soccer moms after a school board meeting, and with political candidates (I particularly remember explaining where, or rather, when, Gondwanaland was and a rudimentary discussion on plate tectonics with Pete Coors, who ran for senate in 2004).
So I’ve replaced my Taurus with another car. A 2004 Toyota Prius.
I’ve always thought that Prius owners are snooty, smug, pretentious hippies who have more money than sense. So it was really difficult for me to accept that a Prius was the right car for me.
Before car shopping, I made an Excel spreadsheet detailing the cost of the car, the cost of gas (on a sliding scale) the cost of yearly repairs including oil changes, the amount of miles I would drive, the MPG the car got according to Consumer Reports and the years I would own the car. The EPA’s fuel economy Web site was my home for several days.
The spreadsheet didn’t lie. Considering my 80-mile daily commute, a used Prius was by far the best deal for me over a five-year period (or longer). Now that I’ve driven it for a couple of days (and received a ding on my windshield from a rock on the highway, grr) I can see why Prius owners are so darn smug. The gas consumption gauge is addicting. I’m getting 45.1 MPG if it’s accurate.
The only thing missing is the bumper stickers.