what was funny was that when I traded in my 98 Cavalier for my 05 Cobalt coupe, it wasn't because I wanted a new car. I kind of needed one. The Cavalier had over 200,000 miles, had had some rust repaired a year earlier and it was returning, the clutch was getting to the point where it was going to need to be replaced, the trunk lock didn't work, the door locks didn't work, i had replaced the fuel tank with a used one (don't ever do this) and the new fuel pump leaked... it was just getting to be a nickel and dime losing proposition. In retrospect, the Cobalt was a sensible purchase because it was inexpensive ($14,000) had a number of incentives (which dropped the sticker to just above $10k), was pretty peppy, handled ok and had features that I wanted (such as A/C).

In 15 months, I put 49,000 miles on the car. It's best mileage returned was on a trip to Tennessee and back where i got 44mpg. I verified the mpg-meter at the pump and it was dead on. Not too shabby for a 150hp 2.2L DOHC engine. The only reason that I traded that car was because I could. It wasn't "fast" enough so I jumped into an enormous payment and a car that really wasn't meant to be driven in the snowbelt. I mean, I love my SS, but there are days when it's just an uber pain in the ass.

Posted by Samurai The only reason that I traded that car was because I could. It wasn't "fast" enough so I jumped into an enormous payment and a car that really wasn't meant to be driven in the snowbelt.

I can see trading in or up because you want to nothing wrong with that. I went from my old 87' 1.5L tercel to my 01' 8.1L suburban because I wanted to (but I also planned on the bad mileage and additional costs ahead of time). I was more talking about people who buy a new car that gets only marginally better mileage than what they had (plus the added payment and insurance costs) and then can't figure out why they aren't saving money every month. Or can't figure out that in the long term buying a hybrid doesn't really save you anything because of the additional costs of owning it.

Posted by atomx Costs are being drastically reduced and non expensive bla bla bla...but we can have faster, longer lasting, almost maintenance free cars that don't cost more than a years wage...I hate to say it but that might become highly taxed...People are driving around in the Jeeps saying I'm green because it cost less in all aspects...Lets break this down simply and slowly. How much do you spend on gas each year driving a jeep? And have I misused the point of this thread?

are you even capable of making the distinction in your mind between energy and money? Because we are talking about ENERGY

Yes, one on your rooftop. And you can sustain yourself and your family.

While under that rooftop, maybe. Until you leave the comfort of your rooftop and go outside, go to the store, to work, all in order to buy products and services that took energy to produce that your pissass little windmill did NOT generate. Methinks you need to actually spend some time researching your claims about IBM's "cheap materials" and Spain's "wind farm targets" because you seem to believe lithium just magically appears out of the ground in unlimited supply as long as you have money to buy it.

Not to begin on the energy statements again (yet).

from the same local:
http://motortorque...ten-green-cars.asp

Jeep Wrangler With a massive CO2 output in excess of 300g/km the Jeep Wrangler should have no place in a list like this. It is pretty much the very epitome of the American SUV that is as eco-friendly as it is child-friendly. However, according to a study by CNW Marketing Research the Wrangler has the smallest ‘dust-to-dust’ energy use of any car in the world due to its ease of manufacture, recycling and a longer lifespan. According to the report, then, a Jeep Wrangler beats the Prius hands down for dust-to-dust emissions. The dust-to-dust notion is sound. The report – however – is not, with dubious methodology and guesstimation undermining the claims. Still, bet it caught your eye.

Posted by Uzi- THIS ^^^^ I've never understood when people think they are going to save gas money by getting a newer car when the car they have isn't that old. Maybe if you are going from a 1970 big block Cadillac to a used Geo metro you might break even pretty quick, but most of the time it takes much longer. Yet every day I see people willing to sell the decent vehicle they've got jump 15K into debt and gain 4 mpg average from what they had :0

I can't count how many people have advised me to sell my truck and buy a car to save on fuel.

It's ridiculous because, while the truck isn't the best on fuel, I didn't pay for the truck in the first place (my father purchased a new one and I'm the primary driver of this old one). Why would I buy a car to save, what, $20 per tank? Stupid thinking.

my mom did get rid of her Silverado when the lease was up and bought a Pontiac G6 sedan. The downside was that she bought a 2.4L VVT four cylinder. It's working all the time and gets about the same mileage as the V6 model.
duh.
she still loves the car even though i think it's as ugly as a hedge fucking fence.