I drive a 1991 Honda Accord (2.2L 4cyl 5-spd manual), which gets about 30 city / 34 highway miles per gallon. It has 265,000 miles on it, so the registration costs about 15 dollars per year, and insurance costs about $250/year. I paid $1 for the vehicle.
I heard someone say something the other day that betrays a critical viewpoint upon our vehicles which way too many people hold. The man said to consider a vehicle as something which gets you from point A to point B, NOT as an investment. Financial decisions are not so easy to qualify as “right” or “wrong”, but a vehicle should be considered a financial decision. Anything which can give us all a little more literal (and financial) oxygen should be considered an opportunity to make the best choice.
Hands down, purchasing a used vehicle is the better financial decision. The older the vehicle, the less you lose to depreciation. If you absolutely must have a new vehicle, some buys are deceitfully terrible ideas. The very efficient Toyota Prius hybrid can be bought for around $22,000, but its hybrid system is extremely expensive to replace. The Honda Civic, with its $15,500 starting price and good efficiency and reliability, ends up becoming a better overall value.
I also applaud the person who talked about the car myth. If you live within 15 miles of work or school, then biking is an effective method of saving money, and even time. Some regions are better-equipped for bicycling than others, but this is a great option that should really be considered.
The major issue, however, is probably outside of the scope of this forum. The increased mobility that cars offered led to the creation of the SUBURBS, which in essence decentralized society and dissociated home and school from work. Perhaps this complete perversion of the idea of urban planning is the primary reason Americans spend so much more time driving and pumping gas than other societies. If we can refocus our society to centralize our urban models, we can do more with a smaller space. Hong Kong and Tokyo are perfect examples. Perhaps Manifest Destiny spoiled us with so much land that we are now reaping the consequences of it. More should be done with less.
Obviously, I have gone beyond the literal question of what is the best and cheapest mode of transport, but we should be willing to re-think transportation. What is so wrong with mass-transportation? Why can’t we create condensed urban centers where we can work, play, eat, and sleep within a 15-minute bike ride? Why should we spend 20,000-40,000 miles and countless hours driving when we can spend infinitely less time and energy propelling ourselves to our destinations? The benefits of a planned society are numerous, and we should be willing to dream.
But for those of you who have money to burn and no time to dream, you should buy the BMW Z4, or maybe go nuts and get a Motor Sport Elise, a Porsche Boxster, a Saleen S7, or a Lamborghini Diablo. After all, it will build your own kids character if they have to pay their own way to college.
loading....
