Prius teaches a lesson… Ok, so I’ve been toying with the idea of swapping the Prius for something a little bigger. Well, ok, A LOT bigger, as, obviously, I need to openly express my manhood in any random parking lot and highway merges. Anyway, over the weekend, one dealership actually shoved a 2004 Ford Expedition down my throat, while trying to shove a mediocre deal up another orifice, gave me dealer plates, and told me to take it home for the weekend to see what I thought. Wow. Awesome ride, thing has three rows of seats, and you can supposedly cram in 8 people, while smoothly running over whatever angry minority mob you might come across given it’s 4-wheel independent suspension system. So, I thought about it for a while… It was a beautiful State-police-esque blue with “privacy†windows, and as one might expect from a 2004, it was in really good shape (took it into my garage, got under it, checked out a bunch of the components (things like tie rod ends, ball joint boots, exhaust system, etc.)). So I went to check out the fuel economy on http://www.fueleconomy.gov , and, of course, as I expected, the fuel economy sucked. What I didn’t expect, is just how much of a pollutant it is (if you haven’t already done so, check out that site, and compare various vehicles to the Prius :lol: ). Anyway, I was lost in thought for most of the weekend over whether or not to lay the smack down, and as Nike once said, “do itâ€. I mean, I loved it. Felt like your own personal armored vehicle, and being that I’m leaving for Florida for vacation over the weekend, it would have made a most excellent travel vehicle (hence the “Expeditionâ€, I suppose). Then I started going through bank statements assessing what my average monthly expenditure for fuel was. Turns out, I average about $90 per month with the Prius. With my prior truck (having very similar mileage to this particular Expedition), my monthly average was anywhere between $275-$375. So then I started taking count of all the “stupid†crap I spend money on over any given month. You know, stuff like DVD’s, video games, books, going out to eat, porn, escort services, etc., when the following phrase popped into my head: “treat yourself, not oil companies…†I was suddenly sickened at the thought of spending an extra several hundred dollars on nothing more than simply fuel. There was/is just no really good reason for it (unless, of course, you have legitimate use for such a vehicle, which I fully admit I don’t :lol: ), regardless of how good of a deal I could have scored. Problem is, the Prius has placed a serious bias upon me. Now I groan with gas-guzzler disgust even on vehicles that get, let’s say, around 25mph on the highway! So, the next morning (one day early), I said, “F-thisâ€, and returned the truck to a rather glum looking salesman for whom I spent no less than 4 hours with test driving about 5 different trucks, feeling better about myself, the environment, and my wallet. The end. h34r:
The children you may have someday, or already have at miscellanious locations around the world, will thank you for that
Nice!! You are one classy guy! LOL! Good choice re: the car though. Maybe you can just shell out $ to rent a big truck when the need to 'go bigger' arises, but keep on driving that Prius the rest of the time.
:lol: Much like being surrounded by obese people slobbering down chili at Wendy's leaving goatee pattern chili stains on their fat faces with shiny fat sausage-like fingers from greasy fries on a 90 degree day... ...I just felt icky. Seeing the rating at the left-most side of the scale, right under the "worst" caption wasn't too cool. :angry:
Amazing... thank you Squid for an inspiring story on your decision... What bugs me is the middle aged couple who was taking delivery of a large Toyota SUV or something the day after I got my Prius... She stopped in amazement next to my Prius, nosing around and asking the dealer about it... he was nice and said to her it is my car and if I agree I can show her the car... I was ready to do so, filled with pride, but then she sort of gave up even on looking... and went back to her husband to their brand new Highlander (non-hybrid) or something... Like them, all too many people would simply enjoy the "brute force" and false safety feeling of a huge "gas guzzler" while when asked about the environment on the other hand I bet they'll put together a nice self-PR-ish statement... Well, PC has won Squid, or rather Squid has won himself... as someone's great sig line sais... "one car at a time..." Well done Squid... if only the Prius would teach that lesson to more and more...
You're a capital fellow, Squid. Did the sales guy openly weep? The guy was probably ecstatic that you were showing so much interest in the vehicle to begin with. I know what you mean. As I was driving back from downtown denver today (~82 MPG over a 15 minute period on city streets) I was cursing the H2's and agro drivers. It's almost like reverse road-rage. :blink: Beautiful imagery. :lol: The guy in the restaurant in "The Meaning of Life" comes to mind.
If you got him to weep, Squid, 100 points to you. (Getting car salesmen to weep helps you to get into Heaven.) :lol: "Would you like a Ford Escort? It's wafer-thin!"
Good dog. :et, pet, pet:: Go-oo-od dog. Now the junk you spend the rest of your monthly stash on will be even more GUILT-FREE, right? And your public PC thought process will have come full circle. Onward!
...I don't know about weep, but he was visibly disappointed. I spent a lot of time test driving different trucks, going back an fourth, like a 6 year old at a toy store: pick up one, put it down and pickup another. Put THAT one back and pick up the OTHER one again... That sort of thing... I sort of felt bad for him though... Apparently, he was going through a bad divorce, fidgeted a lot, and had a face for which only a lot of stress could shape. He had one of those funny names (something like (name changed to protect his identity :lol: ) Mikey Michaelson) for which he probably picked up a lot of hot 70's girls back in the day with long, perfectly parted straight hair, in his 70's van with those round bubble windows in the back... h34r:
HOLY CRAP! I wasn't sure who Gil from the Simpsons is, so I looked him up... ...uncanny ...simply uncanny... h34r:
Is there another kind of porn? :huh: :lol: :lol: :lol: Poor Gil. Now I just feel bad really bad for the guy.
Wow, you had to go and show everyone that you weren't quite as brash and young as you put on! Very nice story, BTW, I really enjoyed reading it. It was refreshing to see you being authentic about the reasons you really wanted the expeditition. It is ironic how the Prius does mess with our acceptable level of mpg. I used to get around 30-35 in my other cars, now when I go below 50, I am freaking out. I am really hoping that a hybrid Sienna comes out before we need it for the kiddies, I really don't want to go back to 20-22 mpg in town.
Being an owner of a Sienna...I'd say you'd be lucky to get 20-22 in town. We got 13 on our last tank.