|
For those who are willing to work on vehicles there are always opportunities. I used to take advantage of those opportunities and still do, but to a much lesser extent. I will be getting my 1987 Yamaha SRX 250 on the road shortly. Probably on antique plates since it eliminates tag renewals, taxes, and the insurance for me is $89 a year. I might even go aero and try for 100 MPG on that bike. I think it has the potential at about 300 pounds with a 6 speed tranny and a two stage carb with some VX like swirl at low throttle openings, before the second barrel comes on line at higher throttle openings.
Daox, I appreciate your confidence in my abilities although I doubt I would get 60 MPG in a Prius at 67 MPH average speed on I95 with about 720 pounds of payload.
I also tend to shy away from used parts when it comes to a hybrid battery that is that age. I just feel like with the cost of the used part are you really ahead if all of the batteries are reaching their life expectancy? Not meaning to start an argument, my position is supported by the retained value of hybrids over 10 years old, which is why I feel when the battery warranty is gone you are looking at a potential repair that would cost as much as the car was worth.
Look at it this way. a 2001 Prius with 101k miles in excellent shape, versus a 95 Civic VX with the same mileage in excellent shape. Which one would you pay more for, even though the non hybrid is 50% older.
When I retired from working on cars, for a living, over a decade ago I decided that I wanted to own cars that were totally reliable and I was willing to pay a premium for that reliability. The Fiesta fills the bill perfectly. In fact I have a 90 day unconditional warranty on the car and have had absolutely no problem. I did find a couple of minor things, like a cracked dipstick handle. The friend who fixed it told me "just go out there and grab one off one of the other two Fiesta's we have. Took about 30 seconds.
regards
Mech
|