Really Riding in Style Now
We've been talking for years, literally, that we would like to get a Hybrid. Not just for the fuel economy but also to support development of alternative technologies. (Yes, we also pay extra every month to have our electricity generated by wind turbines)
But, it wasn't a priority. Changing cars is a real hassle. I still loved my Outback, even if it no longer made sense for our driving habits. Having exchanged mountain roads for huge amounts of highway miles (we looked it up - I put 18,000 miles on last year) it's inappropriateness was becoming more and more obvious. Something I got to ponder frequently at the pump as I filled up once or twice a week.
Also, the Outback had started to leak oil. It's always burned a lot, but never leaked until a few months ago. Finally, something weird was going on in that the temperature gague would peg and afterwards if you opened the hood you saw that coolant had boiled over. When Dave looked into it, and found signs of motor oil in the coolant, we decided it was time to ditch the car real quick like. That was Monday night.
By Thursday Dave had located several hybrids to drive - one new, two used. He drove the new on in the afternoon and I stopped in on my way home from work. Having a new - unclaimed Hybrid on a lot is an anomaly, generally they are ordered and takes 1-3 months to get them in. So, we jumped at the car and bought it Tuesday.
Besides the fact that the 2005 and 2004 models we considered had 11K and 25K miles on them respectively and were within $2000 of the price of the brand new car! And the Tax Credits only apply to new cars. What with $2100 federal tax credit and $2500 Colorado tax credit, that made the new one less than the used. That was a no brainer. Sure, we have to wait for a year to get that money back, but seeing as how we're just now filing 2004 taxes (don't ask) and will immediately file 2005, we're doing fine with tax returns about now.
Believe it or not, one of the selling points of the 2006 was that the radio comes MP3 ready and with Aux input standard. Interesting that the 2006 Civic non-hybrid does not. I guess us hybrid owners are into the gadgetry. Soooooo - Dave got to spend time to remove the stereo and speakers from the Outback that he installed for me for Xmas and put them into his car. So now we're both riding in style!
But, it wasn't a priority. Changing cars is a real hassle. I still loved my Outback, even if it no longer made sense for our driving habits. Having exchanged mountain roads for huge amounts of highway miles (we looked it up - I put 18,000 miles on last year) it's inappropriateness was becoming more and more obvious. Something I got to ponder frequently at the pump as I filled up once or twice a week.
Also, the Outback had started to leak oil. It's always burned a lot, but never leaked until a few months ago. Finally, something weird was going on in that the temperature gague would peg and afterwards if you opened the hood you saw that coolant had boiled over. When Dave looked into it, and found signs of motor oil in the coolant, we decided it was time to ditch the car real quick like. That was Monday night.
By Thursday Dave had located several hybrids to drive - one new, two used. He drove the new on in the afternoon and I stopped in on my way home from work. Having a new - unclaimed Hybrid on a lot is an anomaly, generally they are ordered and takes 1-3 months to get them in. So, we jumped at the car and bought it Tuesday.
Besides the fact that the 2005 and 2004 models we considered had 11K and 25K miles on them respectively and were within $2000 of the price of the brand new car! And the Tax Credits only apply to new cars. What with $2100 federal tax credit and $2500 Colorado tax credit, that made the new one less than the used. That was a no brainer. Sure, we have to wait for a year to get that money back, but seeing as how we're just now filing 2004 taxes (don't ask) and will immediately file 2005, we're doing fine with tax returns about now.
Believe it or not, one of the selling points of the 2006 was that the radio comes MP3 ready and with Aux input standard. Interesting that the 2006 Civic non-hybrid does not. I guess us hybrid owners are into the gadgetry. Soooooo - Dave got to spend time to remove the stereo and speakers from the Outback that he installed for me for Xmas and put them into his car. So now we're both riding in style!
Labels: Personal
posted by Monica at Sun Pony |
8:50 AM
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