Eco-warrior

Yes, another car-free vehicle thread. Bear with us.

In the interest of avoiding conflict, let me just say that I've been car free for going on two years here in Seattle. When I had a car I drove it maybe twice a month for 6 months before I sold it. Since then I've gotten married and even though the wife shares the car-free environmentalist views that I have, she's going to need (take my word for it, I hate Cars) to get around a bit when we move to Minneapolis next year. The question then is, since I am horribly conflicted about owning a petrol vehicle, whether I get say a Honda Fit (subcompact, rated 31/38 though real world tests show it getting low to mid forties for light footed drivers) or say a Civic hybrid rated in the low to mid 50s city/highway.

We're kind of set on getting a new car for a couple reasons. She really needs credit, I have horrible luck with old vehicles and we do not want ANY repair costs, and the resale value must be up there in case we're able to change our situation in 3-4 years. I've looked into the a Volkswagen TDI as well but they're insanely expensive due to the biodiesel trend and have very luke warm reviews with durability not to mention I've read that there are warranty issues with running B99. The way I figure it, we'll be using the car little enough that the emissions difference with Diesel will be negligble.

Any other ideas would be good too.

turkdc

Congratulations on your decision to purchase a car. Have you considered the Chevy Aveo? It's resale might not be what you would get for the Honda, but they are very inexpensive and the warranty would cover you until you would be in a position to sell the vehicle.

TimJ

I test drove a Fit and it's a nice car. It's definitely a really small car- everything about it is small- but it's about as versitile a small car as you can get. The Nissan Versa is another nice, small car, that isn't as small feeling as the Fit and basically just as versitile. It doesn't get as good mileage though- something like 30 on average. Between the two the fit would definitely have the better resale value, and a civic better than the fit. I actually didn't like the Fit a whole lot simply because it's so small, but it's actually a very cool car and right now it's the best compact out there.

lyeinyoureye

+

+

=Efficient, reliable transportation on the cheap. In terms of equivalent emissions, unless you bike at 5-10mph or eat nothing but food you grow yourself w/ no fossil fuel inputs, a car that's set up properly is going to be as efficient as you and much faster. Now, if you go velo, that's another story, but bikes have killer drag.

Eco-warrior

Only difference between the fit and civic being about 5 grand . I want to support the new technology, but I dont know, in all practicality, it would make that much of a difference if we were to drive very sparingly. Another reason we are getting one is because airplanes are, well, I try to avoid them at ALL possible for several health and other reasons.

gerv 

There are many good reasons to buy a car, but these aren't on the list. Good credit? Resale? You need to check the facts here. Your credit is likely to be better if you don't have a car. Resale? Well...

Eco-warrior

You misread my post, we're getting a car for other reasons. Reasons I largely left out because I did not want to start a debate. The new car thing is a penchant I have for new things, things that dont need repaired, and if my 0 credit history wife can get a few points tacked on in the process of being on a small loan, all the better.

Mainly just looking for a little logistically advice on whether people think a car-lite lifestyle makes paying a premium on a hybrid wortwhile?

wahoonc

IMHO...no

I have driven the Fit and actually liked it, but I also used to have a Honda Civic 1200 that I drove the wheels off of. Instead of buying new maybe keep an eye out for a gently used one? I saw one at our local dealer the other day, it was just over a year old, had 10k on it and was about 85% the price of a new one. Person that traded it didn't really like and traded for a Pilot

Aaron

gerv 

I'm not sure what car-lite means to most people. To me, it means driving less than 5000 miles a year and using alternate means (like bikes, walking, buses...) whenever possible. To you, of course, it might mean something different. To my mind, though, if you were able to reduce your vehcile usage to less than 1000 miles a year, it would absolutely be a waste of time owning a car. Better to rent when you need one. (Of course, disclaimer time: I should confess that I own a car and have trouble keeping my family use under 5000 miles, even though I bike often, occasionally walk and occasionally bus.... my goal however is to reduce my car mileage. I find the fewer miles my car travels, the easier my life gets.)