Monday, April 15, 2013

Auto Emeritus

Well, after 18 years of loyal service, I have retired my 1995 Civic and purchased a new car. Meet C:


I don't have the heart to get rid of the Civic yet, and it is relegated to the dog's car at the moment. It's not worth anything, but might make a good beater car for Mr W. That phase is only four years away. We'll see. There's plenty of parking on the street outside my house, and it is cheap to keep the Civic. I'm designating the Civic "auto emeritus", like a retired college professor who still hangs around. 

C is a Prius C. The baby Prius. It's subcompact, so about the size of a Honda Fit, which was my other choice, except the Fit just didn't deliver in the gas mileage department. I mean, a small car should get 35-40 miles per gallon, in my opinion, and the fit gets a yawning 30 mpg combined. 

They had two of the trim line (there's four levels) I wanted. I chose this blue color, "Summer Rain Metallic". Cars have come a long way in 18 years in terms of technology. My Civic has airbags, and the SRS light on the dashboard always comes on when I start the car, but after 18 years, who knows if they work or now. C has a bunch of airbags, and that makes me feel safer. 

Here's part of the sticker:


I like that the fuel savings over five years really eats into the price difference between a hybrid and a gasoline engine only car (which was about $3K for what I was looking at). On the down side, it is a little smaller than my Civic. It is a small car. But it has enough room for our stuff if I want to take Mr W and the dog on a road trip. 

I also like how there's all these readouts and calculations that the car's computer does, and one can scroll through the different screens to see information about gas mileage in real time. It also provides feedback as one drives, which I think really does train the driver to get the best gas mileage possible. The key is to drive like a person who is not in any kind of hurry. Avoiding punching the accelerator and then leaving plenty of time to stop (which charges the battery) look to be the way to go. 

We're getting snow right now. Fingers crossed that I don't get in an accident! 




3 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh! Bite your tongue for mentioning the word "accident" with your purdy, new vehicle! You're a safe driver who is used to driving in Colorado snow so it will all be fine. (I know, I know, it's not YOUR driving you have to worry about. It's those other nimrods. Ahem.) Wowzer, nice lookin' car! Love the color.

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  2. It's adorable! If that is appropriate for a car. I didn't even know they made a tiny Pious. The color is really nice. And, really, how much car do you really use? I will be interested to hear how you like it, as you drive it and become accustomed to it. My car will soon need to be placed in the "emeritus" category, so I'm all ears.

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  3. Nice color... The fuel saving will be even beter than listed because fuel prices could easily double in the next 5 years. It is a good investment. Congratulations!!

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Hi, sorry to make the humans do an extra step.