|
Why would anyone think this project was aimed exclusively at Prius owners?
Not everyone has, or more importantly, wants to spend $22k on a new Prius, or $22-25k on a 2009 TDI, for that matter.
I paid less than half (okay, as of this writing *two* more payments and I own it outright) that amount for my 2000 TDI.
One of my friends paid, total, about $3k for his '86 diesel Rabbit, which costs him nothing but insurance, fuel, and maintenance each month. He didn't send 2200 lbs of metal and plastics to scrapheap, nor chuck it away like a 2-4 year old used tissue like those that lease their rides.
He'd actually be the sort that would consider restoring his car, but swap in a TDI engine at $3-4k keep his little miser going, when the original 1.6L eventually (if ever?) kicks the bucket.
His car, and to a lesser degree, newer-ish cars like my almost decade old one, are part of that majority of cars on the road -- only 8-10% of the cars on the road are replaced with newer ones each year.
Not everyone is interested in the fool's errand of buying new throwaway cars and taking the depreciative financial hit for the sake of slightly F/E gains or eco-statement snobbery.
And yes... as you might tell, I'm not participating here for bragging rights ... I'm doing it for frugality firstmost. Spending $1000 a month* on higher car payments, higher insurance, to save relatively few dollars on fuel cost isn't sound thinking, in my view.
* Thinking of the costs of financing fully a 22k car + insurance ... yes, you would be nearing that amount...
|