Got a new (not really new) toy.
This past weekend we picked up a new ride. Ok, new to us that is.
It’s actually another Land Rover. A 1991 Land Rover – Range Rover – Great Divide Edition #101 of 400. Quite a mouthful. It has a manufacture date of May/1990. That makes it over 18 years old or 2 months younger than we’ve been married.
I got hassled by my sister for buying a ‘gas guzzler’ instead of some hippy-mobile. I told her I was thinking of the environment when I bought it. By buying a used car I saved it from a landfill/being junked. Also, I saved the world by not requiring the use of all new resources to build me a new car.
Likewise, it is far cheaper to keep an older car running if you’re the least bit mechanically inclined. I do all my own maintenance on my Defender. They are both fairly electronics-free. I did the math with the help of an MPG calculator I found online. At $4/gallon I’d need to drive a new Prius about 150,000 miles before I’d break even on the purchase price between the two vehicles. I also assumed paying cash for that new car which wouldn’t happen. So add in finance fees and you push that break even point out closer to 200,000 miles. I drive on average about 6,000 miles/yr (even less now that I’m travelling all the time) which means 200,000 miles is a long, long time. Over 30 years to be exact. That also assumes any repairs are equal. This is totally not the case. I sure as hell know I won’t be messing with the engine, motors, and batteries in a hybrid in my garage at home. So now I’d have to pay dealer prices for any repairs, driving up the costs of a hybrid well above my ‘old’ truck.
Best of all, show me a hybrid that can drive 30 miles from the nearest road, all in leather swathed comfort, and get me the hell away from everyone else. 🙂