I can't justify buying a small car to gain a couple MPG. When I'm not on the road my office is 6.5 miles from home. The rest of the time I'm either flying or driving out of state, if I'm flying the nearest airport is Jacksonville Fl approx 90 miles away, if I'm driving I carry my tools (that won't fit in an econobox) sometimes I pull the trailer cuz living in hotels sucks after a while.
2005 Dodge 3500 Quad cab CTD Dually, Laramie, G56 sbc con-ofe, GPS-NAV, Sirius, intake and exhaust, Gauges, 100 gal aux fuel tank, Rokktech, Quad box, Pacbrake, 85,000mi
2000 Gulfstream Seahawk, Sat TV, Solar, 6.5kw gen, Washer/Dryer
ericsmith32 wrote: From one that's survived a 55mph head on driving a 93 Festiva into a side of Olds and rear ended at Dodge in a 86 Cavalier at 45mph with no injuries on either one all the comments I find rather amusing. I wasn't even that sore after.. the other drivers didn't say the same. Both cars crumbled as intended. I wouldn't want to have either wreck in a truck. I've had wrecks in trucks and I couldn't move the next day.
OK, I'm flat-out calling BS here. Head-on with ANYTHING more substantial than a motorcycle at 55 in a Festiva will not result in pain. It will result in a closed casket. The Festiva is a ROLLER SKATE. It is not much larger than a golf cart. I have driven one (today, in fact), and if the car isn't the smallest thing on the road, that's only because the Smart is now sold here.
I drove wreckers for years, and Liz does now...the roller skate cars folded up like cardboard. The occupants of the big cars and the trucks walked away. The company owner drives a Ford Excursion, and his wife has a Dodge Charger Daytona: after 35+ years of seeing wrecks, he will always drive something substantial. He has told me he cringes every time he sees Liz in her Festiva. Bigger is safer. period, end of story.
John
1984 Ford B-700 school bus conversion, Thomas body
A bunch of other vehicles
3 nutty cats (Maya, Vierna, Briza)
One lazy dog (Marmaduke)
One wife (Liz)
"A wasted youth is better by far than a wise and productive old age"
-Jim Steinman
You are so right Jarlaxle. I had posted this before and I will again because it's so darn important: My own younger brother was a Sheriff for 23 years and saw the same thing you have. Death after death after death in accidents. He said he's been to so many serious and worse vehicle crashes that he'd lost count. He made comments like: "Stupid people think they're saving money with these little tin foil jokes and all it cost them their was their lives". "Another splattered family in a tiny sardine can". His words, not mine! He knew what my line of work was and I knew what his was and we talked about it very often. Those that attend and see the death and destruction close up at vehicle wrecks know the difference! "Hannibal" had a perfect examples of what really happens when a mid sized/full sized/SUV/pickup vehicles hit a Civic or an Accord etc similar sized vehicle on his u-tube crash tests post. It's just exactly what happens! I've witnessed it several times myself.
PLEASE. all you doubters of the dangers of small light vehicles, go play those tapes 2 or 3 times and maybe it will sink in. Just really think about what you see! What is it you little car activists don't understand about simple Physics???? Fortunately, my family has enough smarts to always go with the winning odds in life's lottery of remaining alive when driving! Do you or yours?
2004 Chev 2500HD D/A crew cab LB 4X4 - Air Bags - Loaded
915 Lance Camper with 2'X 8' rear porch (my own design n build)
29 ft Carri-lite 5th wheel - 1 large slide - specially built
36 ft Carriage - 3 axle 5'er -NOW SOLD- Looking at some new 5'ers
d1h wrote: Anybody else thought of buying a little cheap used economy car to run around town in and run errands etc., and not drive your pickup truck around as much? Boy I sure have when it costs over $75 to fill up. And I still had a 1/4 of a tank!
After 6 pages of which vehicle is safer, which actually cost more money to operate. Some pics and references of crash tests, and a bit of, "your all incredibly stupid because I'm convinced none of you are as informed as I am" posts , I had to go back and read the original question. As I thought, it merely asked if others have thought of buying a cheap economy car to use in light of today's expensive fuel. A simple yes or no seems to be what the op was looking for. But then again,,,,,this is the Tow Vehicle war zone. Guess that's why I keep coming back here, it's quite entertaining. sometimes but seldom informative, but non the less, entertaining.
Oh and to answer the question, Yes I have. I bought a used 2006 Hyundai Sonata a year ago for the sole purpose of parking the diesel.
dshelley wrote: this is the Tow Vehicle war zone. Guess that's why I keep coming back here, it's quite entertaining.
Agree. . . this is the only forum on RV.net I regularly refresh. I'll swing through the others a couple of times per week while I recheck this one every couple of hours.
BTW: My dad can beat up your dad.
2005 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD Crew Cab SB LS 6.0L 4x4 4.10
DW, DD (May, 2007), DS (October, 2008), and me
Yup, that's the actual FARS chart. By year 2005, total sales of popular SUV's and Pickups had accounted for nearly 1/2 of the total yearly new vehicle sales as per Automotive News Digest. Still, as the chart shows, the occupant deaths occurring in both of the SUV's and Pickups combined was well less than half that occurring in cars. Others on this thread have sought to mis-lead readers with bogus information. Vehicle death is not a laughable subject!!! Pulling out mangled, twisted, or dismembered bodies of children from crushed vehicles made my sheriff brother sick for days and the memories have never left him. Is it worth it????
Bigger is only 'safer', if you hit something smaller than you. In almost any other circumstance, many characteristics of that big truck actually work AGAINST you, not for you.
What are you gonna do when EVERYONE else starts fighting back with the 'bigger is better' nonsense, and they all go out and buy old F450 pickup trucks, so THEY can have the bigger truck, and inflict more damage on you to make themselves safer? Uh oh, now you're not the biggest out there, so you're not safe anymore. Better go trade your 250 or 350 for a MDT.
Then, everyone else doesnt like not being the biggest, so they go out and 'trump' your MDT, by purchasing a class 8 HDT truck for everyday driving.
Where does that vehicular arms race end, folks? When we're all driving 40,000 lb railroad locomotives converted for street use? Oh, wait, if we all bought those, we'd STILL not be safe by the 'bigger is better' mentality, unless someone finds something even BIGGER than those 40,000 lb locomotives!
Once we take off the 'ME ME ME blinders', and look at things with the 'big picture' in mind of making things most safe for everyone involved (not just you and your selfish, egotistical self)...You will see that a much better approach to safety is if *most* everyone drove vehicles that were fairly close to the same size, with good safety features designed into them (crumple zones, airbags, etc).
Not trying to suggest by any means that such should be forced on people as is done in socialist countries, don't get me wrong. I'm just trying to suggest that there HAS to be a better way to make everyone safe on the road, than declaring a vehicular arms race.
This is why I refuse to buy into this B.S. about pickups or SUV being 'safer'. Its a very narrow minded and selfish 'safety', and in reality is NOT safer, when all factors are considered. If you chose to drive your pickup as an everyday driver even when not towing, thats your business, knock yourself (and your gas expenses) out. Just don't try and hide behind 'safety' as the reason, because it really does not hold water.
Okay. I did not read all of this post but had to chime in with my experience.
I really do not believe I took the time to figure this all out.
I have an 06 chevy 2500HD ext cab 6.0L, two years ago after I bought the truck I fell into a good deal of a 96 VW jetta for $750. Yes I got a deal but the car had about 170,000 miles on it. But it has run like a champ for the past two years. Now I have about 195,000 miles on my Jetta. That is 25,000 miles that are NOT on my truck...
It takes on avg. 12 gallons to fill my Jetta and it gives me on avg. 300 miles per tank. 25000miles / 300 miles per tank = 84 fill ups * 12 gallons per fill up @ 3.00 per gallon avg. 12*3=$36*84=$3024 to drive the Jetta.
Now for the same miles in my truck. I get 12 to 15 MPG in my truck. I will use 15 (the high end) 25000/15=1667 gallons of gas @ the same $3.00 per gallon = $5001 to drive my truck. The difference is 5001-3024=a savings of $1977. Now I had to insure the car but when I did I dropped the amount of miles I was driving my truck and added the car. Which my ins. still went up about 110 per year or 220 for the two year period.
$1977 (Gas savings) -$220 (ins)= $1777 real world savings. Yes I had to have it inspected which is like $15 and the tags which is like $50 per year. So that is $130 for the two years $1777-130=$1648!
Now lets add in the savings for the current value of my truck with its current 11,500 miles vs the adjusted 36,500 miles if I would have driven my truck. According to KBB there is a difference of $1648 in the value. So add that to the $1648 and it is $3248 SAVINGS for the last two years.
Now I will admit, I got a good deal on the car. I have also been lucky I had no problems with the car. But even if I would have purchased a better car say like in the $4000 range it would have only taken me 2 years to see the savings.
In closing I would like to say that I miss driving my truck... But I look forward to when it snows or in the summer when we go camping. And in ten years when my truck only has like 60,000 miles on it and I am still driving it I will have a big smile on my face when I hit the pumps to fill up the truck only a few times a year. I do use the truck every now and again just to run it, and everytime I do drive it it is like getting into a New truck for the first time.
Now this may not be for everyone but it really worked for me and my family, and We even go camping more often this summer because we got a seasonal site I will enjoy it even more because I will be able to see my boys play in the creek, sit by the fire, ride their bikes, play in the woods, etc! And yes for now we still take the truck to our seasonal site. It is so much easier to go camping with three boys (6 years old, 5 years old, and 6 month old) when the camper is already set up!
Happy Camping to all!
2006 CHEVY 2500HD 6.0L 4.10 Ext Cab
Wife, 3 kids (boys... 6 month old, 5 year old, and 6 year old), and our dog RIGZ.
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