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Originally Posted by 320touring
1. If all manufacturers offered an 'eco pack' on all models
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Should be stock !
Sports option = eco package.
Better streamlining will make it go faster
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2. Is fuel consumption (and associated cost of fuel) really signifiant compared to the depreciation of buying a new vehicle?
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Definitely !
Operating costs are quite significant :
At the moment, my 64 month old car has cost as much to operate than to buy.
At 86K miles / 138K km it has depreciated to 1/3 of its original value.
Total fuel cost is just shy of 1/3 the purchase price - despite it being a rather frugal diesel, and despite diesel being a good deal cheaper than gas over here.
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I.e. Which is the buyer more concerned about-fuel costs or the monthly repayments?
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They'd have less to worry about the latter if they had looked closer at the former before buying
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3. Why is society predisposed to the idea that 'new is better than old!'?
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Because the idea has merit.
My current car is a lot safer than any of the previous ones, and it is environmentally cleaner to boot.
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Looking at this from a resource use point of view, then surely reuse is better?
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It's not just a new resources issue.
When burning the same liter of fuel, old (Euro 0) cars can pump out up to 6 times more pollutants than a current new (Euro 5) car.
Re-using old cars doesn't require the resources needed to produce a new car, but their continued use itself is worse on the environment.
An old car is also far worse on its occupants when things go badly wrong - it doesn't need to be of your own doing.
For every car, there's a time to start looking beyond good MPG - depending on its age and use.
There's no reason why Honda couldn't have produced a true, back to basics, 2nd gen. Insight incorporating all of today's safety features yet still be @ lower vehicle weight and lower fuel consumption than the Insight II it's producing now.
Most of the excessive vehicle weight can be attributed to larger-sized (or rather oversized) vehicles equipped with all sorts of unnecessary creature-comforts, like 8-way electrically adjustable, heated seats.
Ultimately, the trend to buy new vehicles will also see the Frank Lee economists being able to buy less polluting cars at reduced prices
But schemes like "cash for clunkers" have put a serious dent in the used car market wherever they were implemented.