New Car Fever

Two things are abundantly clear to readers of this blog:

1. I agree with the vast majority of scientists that burning fossil fuels is causing global warming which can lead to climate change; and,
2. I love cars.

I’m also very frugal.  I don’t like having a car payment, so my wife and I keep our cars as long as we can.  Our 2007 Dodge Caliber has about 85,000 miles on the odometer; our eleven year old Dodge Caravan – over 140,000 miles.  Surprisingly, both cars average around 28 mpg on the highway; respectable gas mileage appeals to both our frugal side as well as our desire to burn less fossil fuel. 

Anyway, I recently took the van in for an oil change and asked my mechanic to do a pre-inspection. He told me that by the inspection deadline (July 31), the minivan would need a new muffler and tail pipe, front brakes and some body work.  All-in-all, the work would probably run around $1,000.  Of greater concern, he pointed out that oil was seeping out around both the oil pan and  head gasket.  He told me that if the seep got worse, oil dripping on the hot engine could catch fire.  So the bottom line was whether to invest $1,000 or so in a car that is nearing the end of its life, or to put that money toward a new car?  That is a valid question to ask a practical woman like my wife.  But for a man, there is only one realistic conclusion:  my mechanic just gave me a perfect excuse to buy a new car!  He told me this old one’s going to catch fire and burn, so it’s a safety issue that is not even subject to debate!  I got a fever, and the only cure is to buy a new car!

So what kind of new car should I get?  Despite the recent downturn in oil prices, I was looking for a significant improvement in gas mileage.  Gas prices will come back up and when they do, I want to be getting better than 40 mpg in whatever I am driving.  I considered a Fiat.  It is quite cute, but very, very small.  I thought about a fully electric car like the Nissan Leaf.  It currently advertises a range of 70+ miles, but when the charge runs out, you better be home or at a charging station or have an up-to-date AAA membership to tow you home.

 

I really liked the Chevrolet Volt.  It’s a plug-in hybrid.  That means it is completely an electric car for the first 40 miles of driving.  But when the charge is depleted, it has a gasoline engine that kicks on.  The engine acts as an electric generator to feed the battery which continues to power the car.  With a fully charged battery and a full tank of gas, the Volt has a range of about 350 miles.  Since I buy my power from a supplier that generates electricity from windmills, I would be significantly reducing my carbon footprint.  The only drawback was the price.  Volts sell for $35,000 and higher.  The most we've ever paid for a car is around $20,000.  Even considering the $7,500 federal tax credit and a potential tax rebate from the state, I had a hard time getting past the sticker shock of a $30,000+ car.

Despite being discouraged by the price, I did some checking with area Chevrolet dealers.  Several did not even have a Volt in their inventories.  But then I found one dealer that was offering several 2014 models at fairly reasonable prices.  I drove out to test drive one. I really enjoyed the quietness of the ride and felt like it had plenty of power to scale Pittsburgh’s hills.  Between the trade-in value of the van and the various incentives offered by General Motors and the dealer, I got what I considered to be a very good deal.  I even got the red color that I liked the best.  And without too much convincing, my very practical wife approved of the purchase.

 

I've been driving our new Chevy Volt around town for the past two weeks.  Its computer and various electronics are several generations advanced from the 2005 minivan, so I am in the process of climbing a fairly steep learning curve.  But what I like most is that I've only used about 2 gallons of gas since I brought it home from the dealer.  Over the past couple hundred miles of driving, I have averaged better than 200 mpg.  Sometime this summer, my wife and I plan to drive it to Colorado.  That will be a true test of how practical this semi-electric car is and how far this country has come in accommodating electric vehicles by providing convenient charging stations.   But the beauty of the Volt is that it can run completely on its gas engine mode even if you can’t find a charging station.

 

So my new car fever has broken.  I hope to drive this one for as many miles and as many years as that reliable old minivan.  And I am pleased that as those miles accumulate, I will be doing my small bit to help reduce emissions of CO₂ and to preserve the global environment for my kids and grandkids. And I’ll be doing it in a cool, red, sleek, sexy automobile.