My beater has passed 170,000 miles. I couldn't get the key to turn the other day, and the steering column wouldn't lock.
Rather than spend a day ripping my car apart, I had it towed to a dealership where I was told it would cost $900 to repair. A spring had broken and the column lock pin had fallen into the key mechanism. I told the mechanic to throw the pin and spring away because I don't care if the column locks, I just don't want it to lock while I'm driving down the freeway. I'm going to hotwire the switch, which means I also won't need an ignition key. So, for now I can continue to drive it, but only until I find a replacement.
We are a two-car family. My wife drives a Prius and I am driving an '89 Cherokee. I haul heavy stuff in it fairly often and use it to visit my forest property on logging roads once in a blue moon. Otherwise, it sits idle most of the time, thanks to my hybrid electric bike and working out of my home.
I'm thinking Yaris hatchback with a trailer hitch and a roof rack. I should still be able to haul stuff around the city now and then using my fold up trailer, and put other things in a cargo carrier for longer trips. I can rent a truck when I need to haul big stuff.
I'll tell you what else I like about a Yaris. It has electric steering. I have a pipe dream of modifying one with A123 batteries and an electric motor to drive the back wheels. Most cars need the engine running to drive pumps, which drive their power steering and brakes. With electric steering, I can turn the motor off and run the power steering on batteries. My wife and kids want me to get something bigger because we have always relied on the Jeep to haul the big stuff around. I don't know. I think we could live without it -- but a Yaris might be a mistake. What should I do?
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KenG Posted 8:43 am
25 Oct 2007
If you want to spend some money, the Ford Escape Hybrid will get the same gas mileage, tow 1000 lbs (conservatively rated due to the transmission, not the frame or suspension) and is a lot more car than the Yaris. Definitely an easier transition from the Cherokee. - Bad news - waiting list.
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spaceshaper Posted 10:35 am
25 Oct 2007
The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.
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Sam Wells Posted 10:49 am
25 Oct 2007
And think about it, your old Cherokee will end up somewhere, like in a used car lot, a junkyard, or in Mexico. Now you have TWO vehicles to deal with, twice the global warming and pollution stuff.
I know, when you get a little older and busier you don't have time to rebuild cars and swap out short-blocks, suspensions, and whatnot. I haven't rebuild a car in years, although the older Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, and Datsun (my favorite) went forever, maybe a half million miles on each.
But environmentally speaking, when you buy a new vehicle you've inherited as the pollution that went into making it. /sam
Onward through the fog
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Biodiversivist Posted 12:48 pm
25 Oct 2007
I can't buy a Ford Escape hybrid because I've been poking fun at them for years as a kind of oxymoron. Maybe I shouldn't have done that....
It also has 2 wheel drive, so is it an SUV or is it a station wagon with big wheels posing as one?
The thought of rebuilding the Jeep has crossed my mind many times. The energy used to manufacture and maintain a car is not trivial, although I don't know if anyone knows what that is with any certainty. The dust to dust study I'm familiar with is a piece of crap. Two things are for sure. It only gets 15 MPG, at best, and I'm sure the tail pipe emissions blow. But mostly, I know that rebuiding your old car is not a model for others to emulate. It won't happen because there is too much variability in car models, parts become difficult to find, they are unreliable, and worst of all they tend to have low status.
Maybe I should wait for the return of the TDIs with their new air pollution technology. Those cars have really high mileage.
Nobody makes the car I want--a plug in. We have to start driving much lighter machines with hybrid electric drives. I would like to set an example if that is possible, like with the hybrid electric bike. Picture a Yaris with 12 Dewalt battery packs in the spare tire area driving electric motors on the rear wheels with a ten mile range for around town errands.
More advice please.
In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world
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David Roberts Posted 1:25 pm
25 Oct 2007
grist.org
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KenG Posted 2:29 pm
25 Oct 2007
If you really want towing capability I'd look for something a little bigger than a Yaris. Used is a good idea if you don't put a lot of miles on. Think about minivans. More room, better mpg than the Jeep. If you don't need to haul the family along, think about a 4 cylinder Ford Ranger pickup. Surprisingly good gas mileage and real hauling capacity.
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Nucbuddy Posted 8:27 pm
25 Oct 2007
Ditto, as long as you can find a tow hitch for an older Yaris. The only economic reason to prefer new over used is if you are planning on putting on substantially-more mileage than the new-vehicle fleet average of 15,000 miles per year. (My personal cutoff would be something like 20,000+ miles per year.) Used cars can be purchased online on eBay, Auto-Trader, etc.
By the way, you can put a hitch on a Chevy Aveo, and it is a far better value than a Toyota Yaris (especially considering the fact that Toyota's quality ratings have been dropping like rocks).
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amazingdrx Posted 11:11 pm
25 Oct 2007
Faced with a similar problem on a GM vehicle, I bought a 100 dollar replacement steering column. It installed in a couple of hours, of my inexpensive repair time.
http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog
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justlou Posted 11:27 pm
25 Oct 2007
Top mileage I have seen for a pickup in the US is about 26 mpg. Sorry, but I don't consider this good.
I might be waiting a long time, but I don't consider anything under 40 mpg as being good.
We really need to be pushing higher standards. Which means getting rid of a lot of weight we are moving around needlessly. What ever happened to the idea of simplicity? There is a tremendous amount of crappola built into modern vehicles, much in the name of luxury. Who needs all this crap?
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KenG Posted 11:44 pm
25 Oct 2007
A quick look at the EPA website shows no non-hybrids that get 40 mpg highway and only about 7 small cars that get at least 35 mpg. The proposed 35 mpg (combined) CAFE requirement will rule out every non-hybrid non-diesel car now on the market.
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mihan Posted 12:05 am
26 Oct 2007
Could work, you never know until you try.
It sounds like you just need a small but capable car. Since you don't drive it that often, it doesn't make sense to get a hybrid; a new-to-you car will have a lesser environmental impact than a new hybrid.
Don't get something bigger (forget the Escape!)---as soon as you do, you will rearrange your life so that you "need" a bigger (less efficient) car. It's one of the reasons I haven't gotten a car yet.
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justlou Posted 12:34 am
26 Oct 2007
That the Honda Civic or the Beetle are getting this lousy of mileage reinforces my point about vehicle weight. The potential gains of small are often lost with all the unnecessary weight.
You will not be hauling literally a ton of cargo in your 4 cylinder Ranger.
What about the option of renting a bigger vehicle when you really need to haul a ton of cargo and driving a very fuel efficient vehicle when you don't? The dollars saved while driving the very fuel efficient vehicle would more than pay to rent only when that option was needed.
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Biodiversivist Posted 12:39 am
26 Oct 2007
Nucbuddy,
Your comment prompted me to poke around until I found this review of the Aveo. The charts are really useful. It also looks like the Aveo is designed and built in Korea.
There does not seem to be a whole lot of difference between these economy cars. I was driving a '92 Tercel with automatic transmission while the Jeep was in the shop and I seriously doubt that any of these cars are an improvement over it. They just keep changing the look to compete for customers.
Car technology has peaked just as recip engined airplanes did in the '40s. The jet engine revolutionized air travel. We need to replace the recip on cars as well (a jet engine would be cool, but not very practical). On the other hand, we may one day see micro turbine engines powering serial hybrids. A turbine engine is also less fussy about the fuel you feed it.
I have never owned a new car. All of my cars have been American made. My wife has never owned a used car and all of them have been made in Japan. I go for inexpensive maintenance hogs, she goes for reliability.
Hoping to punch out of the box this time. Still undecided. I definitly do not want to put an electric drive on a big heavy car. That would take a big motor and a shitload of batteries. The days of the SUV are numbered. They are not good candidates for high mileage and 90% of them are never used for sport or utility.
What somebody needs to do, and I may or may not be the one, is put this car I envision together with off the shelf components. Picture a small economy car with an electric drive blowing tire smoke all over a drift car track. It would run out of juice in about five minutes but the image would be made by then. Turn the recip engine back on and drive home.
In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world
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Matt G Posted 2:34 am
26 Oct 2007
If you want an electric car for running around town when it's raining, consider something like the Zap Xebra. It's $10k, and will run at 40mph for 25 miles, and carries 300lbs worth of up to 4 people (heh - small people, obviously). I believe they're still on lead-acid battery technology, but it would be a great platform to experiment with better battery systems.
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KenG Posted 3:25 am
26 Oct 2007
Justiou - I don't think you understand us truck guys. Hauling a ton in a Ranger is not a problem. I regularly haul over a ton in my 6 cyl Dakota. Infamous episodes in my past include 1800 lbs of gravel in a Datsun with a curb weight of 2200 lbs and 3700 lbs of scrap iron in a stock F-100. When you need a truck, you really need a truck.
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Matt G Posted 5:05 am
26 Oct 2007
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KenG Posted 6:53 am
26 Oct 2007
My feeling is we won't see great increases in mileage until we get the car weight down and that will require a market for expensive small cars or a reduction in safety standards. And there will still be a significant need for larger vehicles. Since I traded the minivan in on the Escape hybrid we've had several instances where we had to take two cars instead of one (5 passenger instead of 7 passenger). I think one of the great truisms is that things never work out as well as they looked on paper.
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justlou Posted 9:55 pm
26 Oct 2007
I own a Chevy Silverado and a Ford F-250 that I use for work. I wouldn't put a ton in either one of them. But I do have a gooseneck trailer for the F-250 that I can haul some real loads on.
But when I am not working I prefer to drive the Toyota Camry which gets double and triple the mileage of the two work beasts.
My first Camry purchased in 1990 got 34 mpg on the highway. In 17 years, other than the high mileage hybrids (there are some hybrids getting lousy mileage), the auto companies really have not improved much. My expectations of getting 40 mpg for any future vehicles are not unrealistic.
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amazingdrx Posted 12:42 am
27 Oct 2007
The carbon fiber body is even ready for mass production. Check it out on the Eco-Tech program on the Science Channel.
All that is lacking now is an auto company to mass produce and market it.
http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog
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amazingdrx Posted 12:46 am
27 Oct 2007
Great stuff!
http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog
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tnrkitect Posted 3:20 am
27 Oct 2007
I use my truck as a daily driver, as well as for the use a truck is intended for, namely hauling stuff. Frequent building projects at home, combined with helping out on my mom's farm, along with hauling of a covered utility trailer result in my need for the hauling capacities of a truck on a regular basis.
The lack of a vehicle with the same capabilities that gets better gas mileage has forced me to admit that my best choice is to spend the money needed to keep this current truck on the road.
If someone could come out with a reasonably priced retrofit kit to make it a plug in electric, I'd be ecstatic.
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JMG Posted 4:24 am
27 Oct 2007
(re: the oft-heard claim that "The latest Lovins Hypercar is almost ready for manufacturing. 100 mpg plugin hybrid.")
Save the world: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions 5% annually.
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John Fish Kurmann Posted 3:46 pm
28 Oct 2007
In addition, the Yaris is very much an economy car, with lots of cost-cutting choices made in its design and the interior materials used. The Fit uses higher-quality interior materials and has an extremely versatile and roomy interior design for a subcompact car, it's a 4-door rather than a 2-door hatch, and it comes with side and side-curtain airbags (which would be very important should you be unfortunate enough to be plowed into from the side by a mammoth SUV or truck) plus antilock brakes standard (both of which are only optional on the Yaris). And the Fit does have electric power steering, so your electrifying dream is still potentially realizable.
Downsides: The Fit's base price is $2,650 more than the base price for the Yaris hatch, though I've read that it's really hard to find a base Yaris and, if you do, it won't have side airbags and antilock brakes; add those and the price gap will narrow. Also, the Fit's EPA fuel economy rating is 1 MPG less combined city/highway than the Yaris's. If you wait a year, a redesigned Fit is supposed to hit the market that's supposed to be more fuel-efficient.
For those who've argued it makes more ecological sense to repair your old beater or buy used rather than buy a brand-new car, this blog post from the Union of Concerned Scientists explains when that's not true.
Also, here are some studies which explored automotive lifecycle energy use:
"Automobiles: Manufacture Vs. Use" by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (only a summary)
"Energy and Emission Effects of the Vehicle Cycle" by researchers at the Center for Transportation Research of Argonne National Labs (unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be available for free)
"On the Road in 2020: A life-cycle analysis of new automobile technologies" by researchers at MIT
Smog-forming air pollutant emissions are another consideration, of course, and new cars typically do a much better of controlling these pollutants than older cars do.
And, if you're not in too much of a rush, you might be able to find a used Fit or Yaris hatch, eliminating worries about being responsible for the energy use and toxic chemical releases due to new car manufacture.
The world is sacred, and I am part of it.
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John Fish Kurmann Posted 1:07 pm
29 Oct 2007
If you look into the Fit, be aware that the Sport trim level's MSRP is $15,270 compared to the base trim level at $13,950, the latter being the version I compared to the Yaris in my previous comment. That $1,320 buys you a nicer audio system, a body kit of plastic pieces stuck on the car to make it appear more sporty (I think they look cheesy), and a few upscale features. Unfortunately, the base trim is apparently harder to find than the Sport trim.
The world is sacred, and I am part of it.
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John Fish Kurmann Posted 1:50 pm
29 Oct 2007
If you look into the Fit, be aware that the Sport trim level's MSRP is $15,270 compared to the base trim level at $13,950, the latter being the version I compared to the Yaris in my previous comment. That $1,320 buys you a nicer audio system, a body kit of plastic pieces stuck on the car to make it appear more sporty (I think they look cheesy), and a few upscale features. Unfortunately, the base trim is apparently harder to find than the Sport trim.
Honda also has plans to introduce a dedicated hybrid model (instead of a hybrid version of one of their conventional cars) that will be a small family car priced under the current Prius and Civic Hybrid yet projected to go farther on a gallon of gasoline than either. No production date has been announced, though, so it may not be out for a couple years.
The world is sacred, and I am part of it.
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Biodiversivist Posted 2:37 pm
06 Nov 2007
The Prius is a computer on wheels. You stomp two pedals and aim it. The car I am planning to build would resemble an airplane cockpit inside. You would decide when to kill or start the internal combustion engine. You would decide when to flip the electric motor into regeneration mode to slow down. I envision controlling regeneration braking with a lever similar to the throttle controls in a plane. The ICE would turn off and on with a single switch. Somebody find me a sponsor so I can get paid to do this....
In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world
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Biodiversivist Posted 3:02 pm
06 Nov 2007
In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world
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