2011 VW Polo GTI - right on the US average but in Australia instead. VW in a world of hurt right now based on their EV delusions. My guess is they will be forced out of Germany entirely to a location with cheaper energy costs.
Yup. We repainted our 2008 Tacoma last year. With over 200K mi, it’ll need a new engine sometime relatively soon. At an estimated $5K, this is far less than a new truck at over $50K. No idea if I’ll ever buy another vehicle when this one keeps working.
Here's my little "N of 1" story. I am 72 years old. I bought the first generation of Prius in 2002. Drove 200k miles in 20 years (my daughter had it in college). Paid $20k for it. Got nearly 40 mpg blended. Great little car with the best turning radius I have ever seen. I could easily turn around on my street and park right up snug to the curb. Kept it maintained and never had an issue with the batteries til 20 years and then the frame was rusting and it was junked. I got $300 for it and my wife and I went out to dinner a couple of times. I asked the junkyard guy how he recycled the batteries. This was on a late March day on a scudzy Maine road with frost heaves and an overgrown forest. He said he had a half acre of em down yonder. There was nothing to do with em. Wow!! In 2012 I bought a third generation Prius v little station wagon. Drove it for 12 years and put 236k miles on it. I was working fine, but I figured I should get a new car - that I must be near its timestamp. The car cost $6.85 per day over the 12 years to own. Probably that same amount to register, insure, and fuel. I considered going all electric, but couldn't see my way there for a number of reasons. One, I read a review of a Car and Driver guy who test rode the VW all electric in July and could not figure out how to turn off the heated steering wheel cause all he had to go on was a touch screen. Also, I had sticker shock. Everything was too expensive and too overwrought with "options". Third, I read this Substack and others and I wanted to send a message to make my climate friends perhaps think a little more. So we bought a Subaru Crosstrek for $28k. 26mpg. I am going to spend a few hundred dollars more per year on gas. But I saved $20k upfront. I have heated front seats, a great sound system and it handles well. As the advertisements say on the Celtics broadcasts during the depths of a Maine winter, "the number one selling car in northern New England." That's what I got. Happy as a clam. As a sweetener, I was in California in Santa Barbara wine country for a fancy wedding in July. So many Los Angelenos sitting in their Teslas waiting for a chance to charge so they could get back to Santa Monica. Back in Maine I was so happy to climb into my little Subaru and look forward to 15 years of good life.
I have 2 Buicks for me and the missus: 2008 and 2011, each with more than 130,000 miles, and we maintain them to last many more years. In retirement, I could affird to buy her a new sedan, but she loves her Lucerne, and they don't make them like these anymore. I have a 2002 F150 with 375,000 miles that my son drives. We intend to make these last.
I can relate to this! Still have my 2001 Acura. l didn't trade it in when I bought a 2021. I've had offers to buy it, but I keep it. I know how all the buttons work. Do you know that the gas cap for a 2021 Acura cannot be opened if one of the electric powered car windows is down??? Question: When I criticize offshore wind, I often get the refrain "offshore oil is worse." How do you defend offshore dino juice?
A huge part of the problem with EVs is the precipitous drop in value within two years of buying from new. Although it's not something the media or car trade tends to cover, one enterprising YouTuber in the UK, whose channel focuses on cars, looked at the costs of the exact same model of VW Golf- one EV and the other ICE. Both car values had lowered to £18K after two years, but the EV had fallen much further. The petrol car had an original sticker price of £24K, whilst the EV had dropped in value by a whopping £18K, from £36K.
Very few people can afford to lose that much money on a new car in two years. The situation is complicated by the fact that for those who prefer and enjoy driving their cars over long distances, rather than taking a train, EVs are completely unsuitable, because of the length of the recharging breaks.
The better solution is persuasion. For a start, kids sharing a bus to school is good for their emotional development (with the exception of cases of chronic and persistent bullying), even though it can be somewhat unpleasant- and the school run is a major source of transport CO2, especially given that it significantly adds to congestion during peal periods.
Second, effective persuasion usually involves incentives, rather than the unremitting fear mongering to which we are constantly exposed. I have yet to meet anyone in-person or online who has received their three free days of annual leave for taking socially responsible transport alternatives into work- like public transport, ride sharing, or using a scooter. Governments and corporations pretend to be dead keen on climate action, but when it comes at their expense, rather than at the expense of the little people, they stay silent.
The shift to remote working was generally a good thing for climate, yet employers wanted people back in the office for what exactly? To prevent a looming collapse in the commercial real estate bubble...
My car is a 2008 Corolla. Only 118,00 kilometres so far. I intend to keep it for as long as it runs. Runs great, good gas mileage and the AC still works. Have no interest in a new car, even less in an EV.
While I support EVs, I like how you gathered data. For climate considerations, data needs to look at the total US fleet. Your average age and fleet size surprised me. Thanks for showing the facts, as better conclusions can be made.
good one. A neighbor in Austin drove a Ford model A. It was incredibly simple to repair, got 20 miles to the gallon, and ran at a top speed of 55 MPH. Pretty good for a one hundred year old car. I blew up the engine on my Toyota Sienna after I drove it for 330,000 miles. And I bought it used...
Since, during the financial crisis of the first decade of the new century, there was no deflation reset of prices, since new credit money/debt was to reinflate real estate values, I began to tell my wife that the future would be: "Pay more, get less."
As your automobile ownership demonstrates, a good way to cope is to have bought reliable vehicles. We have a 2003 Mazda and 2017 Prius Prime. The latter is our electric wheelchair once we get halfway to its 2047 replacement date.
Those that make use of Consumers Report data will be better informed. All life is risk management.
In Daniel Yergen’s book “The New Map”, he points out that new car sales only replace between 6%-7% of the global automobile fleet each year. Even if EV sales were 10% of new car sales, it would still take decades before they comprised any sizeable portion of all automobiles on the road.
2011 VW Polo GTI - right on the US average but in Australia instead. VW in a world of hurt right now based on their EV delusions. My guess is they will be forced out of Germany entirely to a location with cheaper energy costs.
2002 Buick Park Avenue, 2005 2500 Dodge Cummins, 2014 Kia Sorento. Not planning on trading or upgrading.
Renting cars I agree with you. It takes 20 minutes in the drivers seat figuring the car out before I can safely leave the garage
Love my 2000 Ford Ranger. 249,658…and counting…
Yup. We repainted our 2008 Tacoma last year. With over 200K mi, it’ll need a new engine sometime relatively soon. At an estimated $5K, this is far less than a new truck at over $50K. No idea if I’ll ever buy another vehicle when this one keeps working.
I want a pickup truck but without any crazy stuff. You can get a Toyota brand new for $10k. But of course, not in North America.
Here's my little "N of 1" story. I am 72 years old. I bought the first generation of Prius in 2002. Drove 200k miles in 20 years (my daughter had it in college). Paid $20k for it. Got nearly 40 mpg blended. Great little car with the best turning radius I have ever seen. I could easily turn around on my street and park right up snug to the curb. Kept it maintained and never had an issue with the batteries til 20 years and then the frame was rusting and it was junked. I got $300 for it and my wife and I went out to dinner a couple of times. I asked the junkyard guy how he recycled the batteries. This was on a late March day on a scudzy Maine road with frost heaves and an overgrown forest. He said he had a half acre of em down yonder. There was nothing to do with em. Wow!! In 2012 I bought a third generation Prius v little station wagon. Drove it for 12 years and put 236k miles on it. I was working fine, but I figured I should get a new car - that I must be near its timestamp. The car cost $6.85 per day over the 12 years to own. Probably that same amount to register, insure, and fuel. I considered going all electric, but couldn't see my way there for a number of reasons. One, I read a review of a Car and Driver guy who test rode the VW all electric in July and could not figure out how to turn off the heated steering wheel cause all he had to go on was a touch screen. Also, I had sticker shock. Everything was too expensive and too overwrought with "options". Third, I read this Substack and others and I wanted to send a message to make my climate friends perhaps think a little more. So we bought a Subaru Crosstrek for $28k. 26mpg. I am going to spend a few hundred dollars more per year on gas. But I saved $20k upfront. I have heated front seats, a great sound system and it handles well. As the advertisements say on the Celtics broadcasts during the depths of a Maine winter, "the number one selling car in northern New England." That's what I got. Happy as a clam. As a sweetener, I was in California in Santa Barbara wine country for a fancy wedding in July. So many Los Angelenos sitting in their Teslas waiting for a chance to charge so they could get back to Santa Monica. Back in Maine I was so happy to climb into my little Subaru and look forward to 15 years of good life.
I have 2 Buicks for me and the missus: 2008 and 2011, each with more than 130,000 miles, and we maintain them to last many more years. In retirement, I could affird to buy her a new sedan, but she loves her Lucerne, and they don't make them like these anymore. I have a 2002 F150 with 375,000 miles that my son drives. We intend to make these last.
The folks who think putting a touch screen in a car is a good idea should be soundly smacked with a flounder, repeatedly, until they make fish sounds.
I can relate to this! Still have my 2001 Acura. l didn't trade it in when I bought a 2021. I've had offers to buy it, but I keep it. I know how all the buttons work. Do you know that the gas cap for a 2021 Acura cannot be opened if one of the electric powered car windows is down??? Question: When I criticize offshore wind, I often get the refrain "offshore oil is worse." How do you defend offshore dino juice?
A huge part of the problem with EVs is the precipitous drop in value within two years of buying from new. Although it's not something the media or car trade tends to cover, one enterprising YouTuber in the UK, whose channel focuses on cars, looked at the costs of the exact same model of VW Golf- one EV and the other ICE. Both car values had lowered to £18K after two years, but the EV had fallen much further. The petrol car had an original sticker price of £24K, whilst the EV had dropped in value by a whopping £18K, from £36K.
Very few people can afford to lose that much money on a new car in two years. The situation is complicated by the fact that for those who prefer and enjoy driving their cars over long distances, rather than taking a train, EVs are completely unsuitable, because of the length of the recharging breaks.
The better solution is persuasion. For a start, kids sharing a bus to school is good for their emotional development (with the exception of cases of chronic and persistent bullying), even though it can be somewhat unpleasant- and the school run is a major source of transport CO2, especially given that it significantly adds to congestion during peal periods.
Second, effective persuasion usually involves incentives, rather than the unremitting fear mongering to which we are constantly exposed. I have yet to meet anyone in-person or online who has received their three free days of annual leave for taking socially responsible transport alternatives into work- like public transport, ride sharing, or using a scooter. Governments and corporations pretend to be dead keen on climate action, but when it comes at their expense, rather than at the expense of the little people, they stay silent.
The shift to remote working was generally a good thing for climate, yet employers wanted people back in the office for what exactly? To prevent a looming collapse in the commercial real estate bubble...
My car is a 2008 Corolla. Only 118,00 kilometres so far. I intend to keep it for as long as it runs. Runs great, good gas mileage and the AC still works. Have no interest in a new car, even less in an EV.
While I support EVs, I like how you gathered data. For climate considerations, data needs to look at the total US fleet. Your average age and fleet size surprised me. Thanks for showing the facts, as better conclusions can be made.
good one. A neighbor in Austin drove a Ford model A. It was incredibly simple to repair, got 20 miles to the gallon, and ran at a top speed of 55 MPH. Pretty good for a one hundred year old car. I blew up the engine on my Toyota Sienna after I drove it for 330,000 miles. And I bought it used...
Since, during the financial crisis of the first decade of the new century, there was no deflation reset of prices, since new credit money/debt was to reinflate real estate values, I began to tell my wife that the future would be: "Pay more, get less."
As your automobile ownership demonstrates, a good way to cope is to have bought reliable vehicles. We have a 2003 Mazda and 2017 Prius Prime. The latter is our electric wheelchair once we get halfway to its 2047 replacement date.
Those that make use of Consumers Report data will be better informed. All life is risk management.
Cuba here we come.
In Daniel Yergen’s book “The New Map”, he points out that new car sales only replace between 6%-7% of the global automobile fleet each year. Even if EV sales were 10% of new car sales, it would still take decades before they comprised any sizeable portion of all automobiles on the road.