How did I do? I bought a new car for my niece

I gave 22,540 + sales tax.

Here is the window sticker.

http://webpages.charter.net/kilowatt...%20Sticker.htm

It seems like you got a pretty decent deal, IMO. I'm pretty bad at
negotiating these type of things.

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> I gave 22,540 + sales tax.
>
> Here is the window sticker.
>
> http://webpages.charter.net/kilowatt...%20Sticker.htm
>

Are you going to pay for her gas, also? You do realize there is a hybrid
version of that available for not much more than you paid. For the vehicle
you BOUGHT, you got a decent deal I believe. But I hope your niece has a
darned good job to pay for the gas for that vehicle. Note that gas will be
well over $3 per gallon within a couple of years. $5 per gallon is likely
long before that vehicle wears out. -Dave

"Scott en Aztlán" > wrote in message
...
> On 14 Mar 2005 13:26:33 -0800, "
> > wrote:
>
>>I gave 22,540 + sales tax.
>>
>>Here is the window sticker.
>>
>>http://webpages.charter.net/kilowatt...%20Sticker.htm
>
> You did ****ty. It's a Ford.
>

*rimshot*

"Dave C." > wrote in message
link.net...
>
> > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> > I gave 22,540 + sales tax.
> >
> > Here is the window sticker.
> >
> > http://webpages.charter.net/kilowatt...%20Sticker.htm
> >
>
> Are you going to pay for her gas, also? You do realize there is a hybrid
> version of that available for not much more than you paid. For the
vehicle
> you BOUGHT, you got a decent deal I believe. But I hope your niece has a
> darned good job to pay for the gas for that vehicle. Note that gas will
be
> well over $3 per gallon within a couple of years. $5 per gallon is likely
> long before that vehicle wears out. -Dave

20/25 MPG? That's not bad at all, especially for a vehicle that is
relatively tall. From what I hear those little 6 banger Escapes are
reasonable quick too.

Heck, I've been driving cars that get 12-16 MPG for the past 4 years I've
been driving. In the past year my car has gotten typically 13-14 MPG and
I've been feeding it either 93 or 94 octane. I've driven 18,000+ miles since
last March. It's well worth the cost in gas to drive a full-size car instead
of some econobox. I tried the whole econo-box thing, twice. Once with a
Honda Prelude and the otehr with an Olds Calais, both were 4 bangers with 5
speed manual (overdrive) transmissions. Both got excellent mileage (about 30
MPG for the Honda, and 25-26 for the Calais). The Honda was too
uncomfortable to drive for more than 20-30 minutes (too small). The Olds was
much better, but cramped for more than one passenger and could have been a
little bigger.

Neither of the econo-boxes was very well suited to moving anything large
around either. I can fit my Traynor head and cab in the trunk of my Galaxie,
and also my bass. All that and still have room for more. For vacation I fit
several duffel bags (baseball bags actually, wide and long enough to fit a
baseball bat), a large suitcase, and two bikes in my trunk. All I had to put
in the passenger compartment was the cooler with drinks and food, but I
wanted that up there anyhow. A larger vehicle is much more practical for
many people. My Galaxie is my vehicle of choice, but a SUV or truck would
probably work fairly well too, and get comparable mileage (somewhat better
highway from overdrive gear on a more modern truck).

Regardless, the insurance cost on those vehicles was ridiculous compared to
my Galaxie. I did the math, and the cost was the same to drive my Galaxie or
the econo-boxes, if I drove less the Galaxie was cheaper. So I decided to
keep driving the Galaxie. Gasoline is not the greatest factor when
calculating the annual cost of a car, it is insurance in most cases,
especially relatively young drivers (as I presume this man's neice is).

I'm curious, how much does the hybrid feature cost? For a typical person
driving 50/50 city highway 10,000 miles/year how much money is saved? How
long does it take to repay the cost of the hybrid feature? How reliable is
the hybrid feature? How long do the batteries last (I'd guess about 7-10
years is a reasonable life to expect), and how much do they cost to replace
(I've heard $5000-$10000 for various hybrids). So after x years of paying
off the cost of tyhe hybrid feature, do you save enough money in fuel costs
after that to pay for your new battery packs and installation in a few more
years?

Not to mention teh fact that if a person has the money to buy a brand new
car, why should (s)he care about fuel costs? If a person has that kind of
money fuel mileage on any new car shouldn't matter much as they all get
reasonably good mileage. If the person is getting a new hybrid for
pollutions reasons, well that ludicrous. The pollution from making that car
far exceeds the pollution from driving an older less efficient car for the
rest of it's practical life. Not to mention teh fact that pollution from
passenger automobiles is a fairly low percentage of our air pullution in the
U.S. The vast majority of air pollution does not come from cars... Not even
close.

Okay, I'm done rambling on for now. There you have my critical ramblings and
thoughts on mileage, hybrids and pollution. Take it for whatever it's worth.
I'd wager about two cents...

Cory

You're not gonna end up paying for her gas as well are you? She's your
niece right?

Bernard farquart wrote:
> "Scott en Aztl=E1n" > wrote in message
> ...
> > On 14 Mar 2005 13:26:33 -0800, "
> > > wrote:
> >
> >>I gave 22,540 + sales tax.
> >>
> >>Here is the window sticker.
> >>
> >>http://webpages.charter.net/kilowatt...%20Sticker.htm
> >
> > You did ****ty. It's a Ford.
> >
>=20
> *rimshot*

And what kinda car do you own? A Rice Burner? We buy American made
cars in America. I lost my job because people like you stopped buying
American Made. I support myself and my country's jobs. So buy American.

On 15 Mar 2005 08:20:28 -0800, "moneymouth" >
wrote:

>And what kinda car do you own? A Rice Burner? We buy American made
>cars in America. I lost my job because people like you stopped buying
>American Made. I support myself and my country's jobs. So buy American.

So Hondas are OK?

--
Bill Funk
Change "g" to "a"

"moneymouth" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> And what kinda car do you own? A Rice Burner? We buy American made
> cars in America. I lost my job because people like you stopped buying
> American Made. I support myself and my country's jobs. So buy American.

Many (even most) of the components in modern "American" cars are not
american made, or American designed. The things that are american made (some
foreign cars) all the money goes back overseas. It's a lose-lose situation.
American cars were great until the '80s, that was really a low for American
quality, not to mention the utter gutlessness of those cars. The
'performance' engines were small block V8s putting out 150 HP on a good day.
Sad. In any case, I've not seen quality American cars in a good long time.
Some that are brnaded under American names are decent, but I wouldn't call
them Aerican cars as many of the components are not American. Personally, I
drive American cars only. My first car was a '67 Galaxie, my second a '68
Galaxie (currently drive the '68). Both are about as American as you can
get.

Anyhow, just giving you a wake-up call that tehre is no such thing as an
American car anymore, unless I'm terribly mistaken (which I would love to
be, in this case).

Cory