freaking out about having to buy a car.

[Mr. Bloom]

Oh I was about to comment on the Cash for Clunkers program. If your old car got 18mpg or less you could get up to $4500 back on the new car.
http://www.reuters.com/article/earth...28605420090619

A new stimulus/environmental measure...but you already bought the Prius. Happy trails!

Well, don't hold your breath:
- I looked up SilverDaughters Jeep Grand Cherokee on the fueleconomy.gov site...rated at 21mpgyeah righttry about 14mpg!
- we discussed it yesterday with a deal (assuming it gets signed by the prez "as is"...) but this whole view of a "scrap value" vs. a "trade in value" is going to create some confusion... This will be the biggest benefit to folks who always drive beaters...but probably still can't afford to take on the responsibility of a new car

SC: congrats on the decision! Good choice! I think I'm resolving to an '06 Civic EX for SilverDaughter. I could see the FIT/Vibe/Matrix as good "short trip" cars...but struggled to see it being comfortable on her long drives home from school

[tulip]

FINALLY! VW will be selling the Golf TDI in the US in the fall (2010 model). Estimated mileage is 48mpg combined. VW stopped selling the Golf TDI in the US in 2006. I looked and looked for one to no avail when I bought my 2007 gas Rabbit. Love the Rabbit, but the mileage is not great (low 30s combined).

Whoo-hoo!

[Tri Girl]

FINALLY! VW will be selling the Golf TDI in the US in the fall (2010 model). Estimated mileage is 48mpg combined. VW stopped selling the Golf TDI in the US in 2006. I looked and looked for one to no avail when I bought my 2007 gas Rabbit. Love the Rabbit, but the mileage is not great (low 30s combined).

Whoo-hoo!

That's GREAT!

[smilingcat]

pop this back to the top. The continuing saga of my car.

Still have my Audi wagon. The other day, I spied several white patches on my rear tire. Cords were showing through

First thing after we returned from shopping and un-loading, I took it to a tire place to have all four tires replaced. In the process, I ended having to have the front end torn down, rebuilt... $$$

Well geeze, decided to replace the serpentine belt, water pump and thermostat... and replace the transmission oil. (After 200k miles it needs it regardless of what the manufacturer says). Then I can drive several more years without worry. What I wasn't expecting were all the other things that needs replacing. Well might as well do the whole 9 yards.

So at the end of this exercise, my car underneath is almost new, new tires, new rotors and brake pads, new transmission fluid, new front end new fog lights, lots of new parts on the engine... new driver side window had it replaced about 6 month ago... the whole thing has cost me $$$ as much as the blue book of the car.

I still like the ride of the car. The seat is still really good and the handling is much better now that front end is totally new, well almost. Sooo I guess I'll commute with it for a while then sell it. The difference will be worth the additional milage and time of ownership. And for the buyer, they'll have a good deal too now that all the major work on the car is completed.

ugghhh!!! I hate spending money. Now have to transfer $$$ from my "stock fund". Had to do it anyway since I been furloghed for last 2 weeks. And I'm off this week with bum back. grrr!!! I'm Shtuppiddd. My partner keeps telling me that "I'm really shtttuuppid".

And she's right.

[tulip]

I thought you already bought the Prius. Why put money into the old car if you have a brand spankin new one?

but perhaps I misunderstood.

[smilingcat]

I did buy the Prius.

I was going to drive the Audi until it fell apart but the tire went bald so I had to fix it. but the front end was all bad so I had to fix that too or else the car would eat up the new set of tires not to mention bad on MPG. Yes it now sports 4 brand new control arms on the top. And the front end has been realigned.

Well since I did all that, I mind as well fix the timing belt before it broke. And so the chain reaction to fixing everything took hold, took a life of its own and against my better judgement.

Besides, I'll spare the Prius from logging all those crazy commute miles.

Surface street driving in Audi is pretty bad at 16MPG whereas the Prius gets me 48MPG. On freeway, I get nearly 30MPG (more than EPA rating) on my Audi while Prius gets just over 50MPG. commute in my Audi. local driving Prius.

Amount of depreciation caused by the high milage isn't worth it on Prius, even though I spent over $4000 fixing the audi. the cost of fixing the audi is still less than the depreciation on Prius for one year of driving. Besides, if I can get $2000 on my Audi next year, effective cost to me for fixing the Audi is $2000. Far less than the depreciation caused by all the miles on my Prius. And to whoever buys my Audi, they'll be getting a pretty good deal. new rotor, new pad, new timing/serpentine belt, water pump, thermostat, new front end, relatively new set of tires (it will have have about 30-40k miles of life left on it), transmission that's been checked, new platinum spark plugs and down the list it goes. I figure the car will have minimum of 40-50k miles of life left on it. And for $2000, that's not a bad deal. COME NEXT YEAR.

Kelly blue book on the car as of now is around $4400?? or there abouts. Had a motorhead at my office check for me.

I don't know why, but I just want to baby my new car and save it. Should I name her??

[tulip]

Wow, that's some thought-out reasoning. If it works for you, that's all that matters. Name the Audi Hilda.