Little Cars

Photos From Here

I've been thinking about buying a new vehicle for my commute back and forth to the college. When I worked at the high school, I averaged about 50 miles per week on the truck, partly because I worked so close and partly because I did as much commuting on my bicycle as was feasible. And there was that stretch when gas went to over 4 bucks per gallon and I just refused to give in and pay that. Now, however, I average some where around 200 miles per week and that's starting to kill off the ten year old pickup truck. If I buy a new truck, that's going to set me back about $30K. I need a truck to pull my trailers and to haul things around but about 98% of the time I'm just driving a big, empty vehicle that gets lousy mileage on my commute to school. If I were to get a little POS car that gets twice the fuel economy and is half the cost of a new truck, I can just park the old Dodge and use it only when I need to haul something around or pull a trailer.

With that in mind, I've been internet shopping, looking at new small cars. Remembering the attempts at making small cars by the domestic automakers of the past, the Corvairs, Chevettes, Pintos, and the noteworthy 1980 Ford Mustang Ghia pictured above, I'm a little reluctant to even consider such a thing. However, if my wife's new Buick is any indication of progress, they have actually figured out how to make a decent little car. Wanting to stick with an American made vehicle, I've been comparing the Chevy Spark, Ford Fiesta and the Dodge Dart. There's a Chevy and Ford dealer in town so that's a plus and both of the vehicles are a bit cheaper than the Dart. The Fiesta Hatchback with the 5 speed manual is less than $15k but it only comes in black, white or silver - the three colors I would least like on any new vehicle I would buy. However, here's an idea:

Maybe take the Plain Jane and get it "dolled up" with a little striping or something cool. I saw a big Jeep at school the other night in the parking lot and it had Popeye in stenciled type lettering underneath the front doors with a painted picture of Popeye with the words "the Mercenary" underneath that. I don't know what the story is but it looks cool as hell on the side of the Grand Cherokee. Don't know that I'd want anything along those lines but a little pinstriping could be just the ticket.

Anyway, one of these days I'll head up town and check out the Fiesta and the Spark. If I save a conservative estimate of 25 bucks per week on fuel, that's $100 per month which would be half of the car payment if I make a decent down payment and the car should require a minimum of service before I quit teaching at the college in a couple of years. At that time I could trade it in on something decent or give it to my oldest grandson who would be about ready to get his driver's license. Of course, I may test drive them and decide that the small cars are still cheap cars and just aren't worth buying. You'd think they'd have to be better than a Chevette, though.

Stay warm and have a good weekend.