I was reading about the new Yukon/Tahoe Hybrid. 50,000 Plus for one? No wonder automakers are struggling. With 10,000 down on a 5 year note payment is still nearly 800 a month. Sheesh, I got an idea. If I pay off my 2005 F350 and by a little commuter for cash, then my 500 a month payment can buy alot more gas or better yet most of it will go to savings. Wow, what a concept. I just wanna thank big oil for raping me at the pump. You guys have got me to realize that these overpriced gas guzzlers should be bought used, payed off asap and kept for 20 years. My grandpa still has his 1984 1ton F350 dually. 8MPG? who cares its paid for and his subaru gets nearly 35 mpg. Sorry guys, just needed to vent.
Most have a small car, just to take the edge off the prices. We are a Honda Family...wife, kids and myself all drive 'em. The savings makes the money swallowed by the RVs V-10 a little easier to take.....but just a little!
Filling my Civic for $40.....and then getting about 40mpg is so much nicer than putting 5 times that into the Winnie....and having to go to the station's cashier twice, so she can re-swip the credit card!!
But, the Winnie was bought used...with CASH, so it isn't killing me when it sits...other than for the fact that I want to get out and enjoy it ll the time!! If we had a loan on it....ouch!!!!
Guess I'm venting too!! LOL
DH Bill / DW Claudia / DD Jenn / DS Chris The Paps! Sophie, Abby, Brandy, Kahlie and Annie
2000 Winnebago "Minnie" 31C, Ford V-10
Purchased April Fools Day, 2008 The Pets
All of us are adjusting in different ways. The F 250(13mpg) that I love sits a lot more than it used too and I find myself cruising in the mini van (24mpg)
05 Super Duty XLT CC 5.4/3.73 5 sp auto Torqshift
06 Keystone Hornet 29 RLS/(The"Cracker Cabana")
Reese HP Dual Cam
The Mighty Super Duper Duty is sitting quietly and clean and shined up in the driveway as I hop in the Toyota Matrix for the commute to work. Many mornings I stand in the driveway and just stare at the beautiful beast, shrug my shoulders and get in the little commuter and shuffle off to work, 100 miles round trip each day. I will save my diesel dollars for fun with the wife and kids, enjoying the great outdoors. But some mornings I want soo bad to fire up that sweet 6.4 and putt into work at 55mph using the cruise, blasting out some Bob Seger on the great audiophile system. Maybe Friday.
Capt Skup
AD-1(AW)USN Ret.
Wonderful Wife, 3 beautiful Daughters
"Never get in a battle of wits with an unarmed man"
2. Never pay interest on anything that depreciates in value.
3. Never buy a new car/truck/boat/rv unless you expect it to be your last one. Instead, buy something one or two years old and let the previous owner take the hit.
Last fall (2007) I bought a 2006 Mercedes that was sold new in October 2005. I don't know what the original owner paid for the car but the factory (not dealer) sticker price was $74,515. It had just over 14K miles on it when I got it. There is a scratch inside the trunk area like someone maybe put a sheet of plywood in that didn't quite fit and one of the headrest mounted dvd players in back doesn't retract into the headrest properly. Other than that it is pristine. I bought it for $42,500 plus Florida sales tax and tag.
BTW, I don't mean to sound smug. I lived paycheck to paycheck for many years and spent thousands and thousands of dollars on interest and depreciation. But I wised up about age 40. Now I'm 49 and debt free except for a mortgage that is bugging me too.
* This post was
edited 06/18/08 05:31am by airduds *
isn't that the hybrid that the ads claim gets better rated gas mileage than a toyota corolla? if so, that would be a big attraction, IMHO.
I mean, $35,000 ++ is pretty much par for anything large/fancy, isn't it?
bumpy
We bought used. I had Dealerships trying everyday to get me to buy a new truck. I let someone else buy my $50,250.00 F-350. 2 years and 28,850 miles later I bought the truck for almost HALF price! Still have bumper to bumper warranty until the end of December and I have a 100,000 mile engine warranty.
Computer tells me 18.7mpg around town (I am hand calculating this week).
We made a good choice buying used in this upside down economy. Don't forget Insurance and registration went down in $$ too.
With these savings, Her and I can do something we love together more than anything else. Camping!
See ya on the road.
Jim & Rhonda Titus
Cash, The Brindled Boxer
Bruno, The Flashy Fawn Boxer
2004 Cedar Creek Silverback 28LRLFS 5er
2006 Ford F-350 Lariat FX4 CC 6.0 PSD
Reese 16K Kwik Slide
Tuxbury Pond RV Resort Site #96
Pretty much the same thing here, the 14 MPG explorer stays at home in the garage, sleeping except for when I NEED the capabilities of the explorer (towing, carrying people and luggage).
My daily driver is in the signature, The focus gets 25-35 MPG (depending on how I'm driving it) I too enjoy the audiophile sound system, popping open the moonroof and revving the hell out of the 4 cyl and rowing the 6 speed manual tranny. 13 gallon fuel tank, rarely takes on more than 10 gallons, and I can usually make it last two weeks before the next fill.
Sounds like Airduds follows Dave Ramsey's opinions on financial wisdom.
02' Ford Explorer 4.6 V8 4x4, prodigy and equalizer
07' Crossroads Sunset Trail ST19CK
03' Ford Focus SVT my daily driver
04' Volvo S40 wife's daily driver
2. Never pay interest on anything that depreciates in value.
3. Never buy a new car/truck/boat/rv unless you expect it to be your last one. Instead, buy something one or two years old and let the previous owner take the hit.
Like already said, that definitely sounds like Dave Ramsey teachings there. Not that such is bad, those are great rules, which I agree with. I like Dave Ramsey's teachings, for the most part.
Only thing I'd say is, #2 is a VERY tough rule to live by 100%. You got to have a reliable vehicle of some kind to survive in this day and age, and frequently it simply is not realistic to always pay cash for EVERY vehicle you buy.
Its a good rule to strive for, but I don't think its possible or realist to stick by it 100%. The other two rules, though, you can stick by 100% fairly easily. We have. (especially #1!)
Anyway, back to the subject: yes, we are all coping with rising fuel prices in various ways. Many are parking the big trucks, and using more fuel efficient vehicles as much as possible. For many people, there are several other places we can 'trim' our budget as well, to make up for gas expenses. No need to panic, and dump the truck and/or RV, really. Just need to find ways to spend less $$. Sometimes that means keeping the older rig that is paid for a bit longer.
Will & Angela
2 wonderful children that love camping, Stephen & Allison
2003 Ford Excursion V10 4x4
2003 Thor Citation 33M, Hensley Arrow hitch, Brakesmart Brake Control
(wanna see? Here is a picture of it )
Quote: With the Tahoe Hybrid, you don't have to. It delivers an impressive EPA estimated 21 MPG city and 22 MPG highway,
Still seriously under-whelming, since most hybrids are delivering 15-20% lower real mpg. I'll stick with my 26.83 mpg (4 years & 43,000 miles) Sprinter.
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