Quote:
Originally Posted by pgfpro
I agree that payback is very important. I figure it would take me a couple years to pay off my modifications.  |
The point I was trying to make is that if you only worry about the economic benefits to yourself, you are going to limit yourself, not only creatively but also your level of craftsmanship. Ecomodding has an opportunity to become a brand new area of the Car Culture. But if you guys worry too much about nickles and dimes, you're going to limit your greatness.
Getting high fuel mileage is not always about dollars. A certain level of coolness has become associated with being green in certain circles, and some people are willing to pay more money than they will ever recover economically for that coolness - thus, hybrids.
For example, The Toyota Highlander Limited retails for $33,220. The Toyota Highlander Limited Hybrid retails for $41,220 - exactly $8,000 more. What does that get you? 9 mpg in the city and 1 mpg on the highway, and built in obsolescence on the batteries. You can do the math if you want to, but even if you drive that car a million miles, you will never come out ahead economically on that car.
So why do it? Well, for the coolness factor. A prius and a corvette serve the same function in that respect. Neither one is the most cost-effective way to achieve what they achieve, but they both look good doing it (to different groups, obviously).
So don't be afraid to calculate the true cost of your mods, including R&D time. Hell, I know guys who have spent 15 years modding one car. And it's generally the guys who are short on cash but long on time that come up with the truly original mods.