Wish List: A car

[elSicomoro]

(Yes, another new series in the Manifestos.)

I want a new car. Hell, I don't even want a brand new car...just a car for myself. Putt-putt is nice and all, but it's not really mine...it's Rho's.

I haven't owned a car since the week before I moved to DC. My beloved Lolita (my 1988 Chevrolet Caprice) was finished...it needed over $1000 worth of work to pass state inspections. It wasn't worth the risk in driving it from St. Louis to DC, so I sold it to someone in my neighborhood for $300. I miss that car so much though.

Given the amount of driving that we seem to do, and given the nature of driving and parking in Philadelphia, I want a small car. Another Geo Metro would be nice...maybe a later model. Perhaps a Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla. Nothing bigger than maybe a Dodge Stratus.

If I could buy a new car, it would be the VW Passat W8. Unfortunately, it is $40,000, so that is not happening unless I win the lottery. So, more realistically, my new car choices would be:

--VW Jetta
--Toyota Corolla
--Honda Civic
--VW Beetle (Shut up...all of you! You can just shut the fuck up right now, b/c I like the new Beetle...so nyah! )
--Suzuki Aerio
--Chevrolet Cavalier/Pontiac Sunfire
--Oldsmobile Alero

As far as a used car...hmmm...

--Any of the cars mentioned above
--Geo Metro/Suzuki Swift
--an older model Volvo or Mercedes-Benz (say, 1980-1990 models)
--Suzuki Esteem
--Oldsmobile Achieva

It doesn't have to look good...it can be a bit rusted and beat up. I just need a good reliable car that will get me from point a to point b and not give me a lot of shit.

One of these days...

Lastly, a salute to my beloved Lolita:

[juju]

That is definitely a pimp-mobile.

Why don't you just use public transit?

'Cause that ain't real fuckin' useful when you need to get a table home.

Or when you need to get some place in any reasonable amount of time.

[Griff]

I'm liking the new VW Golf. I think they claim its getting 49 mpg. http://www.vw.com/golf/ Depending on how long the old Escort wagon holds on we may go this way next time. One thing on used vw's parts are very expensive so you need a competent and frugal mechanic. New is the way to go on volkswagon.

[Undertoad]

That 49 MPH has to refer to the diesel model, though, dunnit?

All the gas Golfs I've seen get about 25-30 MPH.

[elSicomoro]

Originally posted by juju
Why don't you just use public transit?

An example of why you should have a car, even in a big city: I went out Wednesday night to buy that new desk. It was big and bulky and heavy.

I would have had to lug that bastard onto the 14 bus at Neshaminy Mall, then hop off at Southampton Rd. and the Boulevard, then cross the Boulevard (which is 12 lanes, and that would have taken at least 2 lights), then catch the 84 bus, which would let me off at Red Lion and Waldemire, then I would have to lug that bad boy a block up the street and into the court that houses my apartment building. Rho is not able to lift heavy objects, and my closest friend with a car lives in Roxborough--15 miles from my house. And of course, Target does not make deliveries.

Does that make sense? Oh sure, maybe if I had one of those grandma grocery carts, I might have been able to pull it off, but let's be real here.

Don't get me wrong...I actually like public transit, but there are times when a car makes your life 500% easier.

Oh, and the other problem with public transit...depending on where you live, it's not always necessarily practical. For example:

I used to work in King of Prussia. From my house, it's about 35 miles. Now, it is super simple to get to if you drive the Pennsylvania Turnpike--one straight shot from Rt. 1 to the Schuylkill Expressway. $1.45.

Now, let's say that I had to use SEPTA to get out there. There is NO straight shot to King of Prussia from NE Philadelphia or Bucks County. In order to get to KOP from my house, I would have to take either the 84 and R7 or the 20 and the El to 30th Street station. Then, I would have to catch the 124 bus, which travels to King of Prussia via the Schuylkill Expwy. The Schuylkill is only 4 lanes past City Avenue, and given all the construction out in KOP right now, it is a long ass ride. Some of my employees at Signal used to take that bus every morning...and they would consistently arrive to work 15-30 minutes late. That bus should have gotten them to work at 7:40 (20 minutes before their shift), but instead, they weren't arriving until 8:15 or 8:30.

Even if the 124 were running on time, it would take approximately 2 hours for me to get to KOP using SEPTA. And given that the amount you pay on SEPTA increases as you go into the suburbs (the suburbs are broken down into zones like regional rail), it would cost me about $4 or so to get there. Or, I'd have to buy a Zone 3 Trailpass every week--$34 or so. Driving, it takes about 40 minutes.


UT, did you mean 49 MPG? I would hope to God that it goes faster than 49 miles per hour.

[Undertoad]

MPG, most definitely. And I've confirmed it now; the 49 highway, 42 city vehicles are the Golf and Jetta diesel models. (Which means they probably do max out at 49 MPH too, unfortunately.)

[Griff]

Originally posted by Undertoad
That 49 MPH has to refer to the diesel model, though, dunnit?

All the gas Golfs I've seen get about 25-30 MPH.

must be the diesel, I'll have to look for specific info. My uncle had one of the little diesel vw pickups years ago and it was getting 50+ mpg

[elSicomoro]

Originally posted by Undertoad
MPG, most definitely. And I've confirmed it now; the 49 highway, 42 city vehicles are the Golf and Jetta diesel models. (Which means they probably do max out at 49 MPH too, unfortunately.)

You're probably right on the mph.

But I believe the numbers on a VW. GM embellished the numbers on the Metro just a tad, at least IMO. Why does Putt-putt only get 30 MPG on the highway? I don't think it's just because it's old and it has a 4-cylinder/auto tranny.

[MaggieL]

Originally posted by sycamore

It doesn't have to look good...it can be a bit rusted and beat up. I just need a good reliable car that will get me from point a to point b and not give me a lot of shit.

Saturns rock. The resale value may price a used Saturn out of your reach, though.

Out-of-towner's probably don't know that public transit suffers from a terrible problem in the Philly area: All the rail-based transit is based on the travel patterns of a bygone era, when workers lived in the suburbs and worked in the city; all travel was radial with the center of the city as a hub.

Only relatively recently have the rail and light rail lines that once belonged to The Reading, Pennsylvania and Pennylvania and Western Railroads and the Philadelphia Rapid Transit company been interconnected, even in the central hub.

Travel from any point in the Suburbs (a term I'll use to include the Northeast section of the city, which was annexed to the city fairly late in it's history) is problematic, and in many cases the only practical route it to travel into town, make a connection, and travel back out again, even though the miles covered are vastly increased.. Only busses are capable of servicing a trip that has *both* termini outside the city center.

There have been proposals to route commuter traffic over the Conrail tracks that pass east-and-west north of the city parallel to the Turnpike, but Conrail has no stomach for the liability exposure arising from commuter travel on what is now their frieght-only lines.

Living in NE Philly and working in KoP is a *lousy* combination. If you work out here, it's much easier to live out here too. Consider communities close in to (but not *in*) KoP....Phoenixville comes to mind. North of the river things are nice too, but until the US 202 construction is finished crossing the river at rush hour will be a hassle.

Holy shit. Diesel isn't that bad, and it's got a lot of pluses going for it.

a) about 800x less combustible than gasoline
b) not expensive
c) good mileage

what sucks about it?

a) it'll gel up in the winter
b) yeah, you can't go as fast as you can with gas

BFD.

[Undertoad]

Well the biggest disadvantage is still that you can't just roll up to any gas station.

And it's louder, and more rattle-prone.

And the exhaust smells bad.

But I've heard that the exhaust is actually more eco-friendly because diesel fuel will burn more completely. That may be old information though.

Where's tw?

[Xugumad]

sycamore
my new car choices would be:

Opt for the Jetta, it's objectively the best of the ones listed.

The Beetle may be an interesting-looking car, but as far as value-for-money goes, it's overpriced. The Jetta isn't cheap, but you get a lot for your money.

Used Jettas are also very good; the most recent Jetta models (<3 years) are a cut above the rest, however.

dave
it'll gel up in the winter [diesel]

The direct-injection VW diesel engines are remarkably good at avoiding that. It was certainly a problem with older diesel engines, but VW/Audi/BMW/MB have made incredible progress during the second half of the 90s. Diesel engine cars are usually lower-taxed, sometimes cheaper, and use cheaper fuel - in Europe. With non-diesel gas prices approaching $5/gallon, this is remarkably tempting.

yeah, you can't go as fast as you can with gas

The VW TDI engines are tuned to prefer low end torque over high max speeds. Considering you will use it for city/highway travel at US speed limits or slightly above, this will be ideal; no need to race a Porsche 911 biturbo down the Autobahn. 90hp is more than plenty for everything you'll probably ever need the car for.

Undertoad
And it's louder, and more rattle-prone

In average, possibly. In new cars of the makes listed above, only marginally, if they are <5 years old.

But I've heard that the exhaust is actually more eco-friendly because diesel fuel will burn more completely.

To a certain extent this is true. Diesel exhaust fumes are much more strongly carcinogenic than non-diesel exhaust fumes, however. (there are diverging studies on this subject). Even simple diesel fumes (from pumping gas) are more carcinogenic than gasoline fumes; since both are a considerable health risk, many gas stations in Europe have isolated nozzles which re-absorb any fumes expelled during the pumping process; in Germany, it's been a law since the early-mid 90s. I wouldn't worry about the carcinogenic nature of diesel fumes in the US, however; you've probably inhaled enough truck diesel fumes and gas station fumes in your lifetime to make it a moot point.

(To quote from Chevron's own material safety data sheet:
"POSSIBLE CANCER HAZARD - CONTAINS MATERIAL THAT MAY CAUSE CANCER BASED ON ANIMAL DATA")

X.

Links: http://www.whsc.on.ca/Publications/h...001/diesel.htm
http://www.gpmu.org.uk/hs/health/msg00014.html

[MaggieL]

Originally posted by dave
what sucks about it?
a) it'll gel up in the winter
b) yeah, you can't go as fast as you can with gas

I had a "normally aspirated" (carburated, not FI) VW Rabbit, which I loved to death. After it died, I replaced it with a Diesel engine Rabbit, hoping to cut fuel costs since I had a long commute during the middle of the Gas Crisis.

Needing to find a place that pumped Diesel was a minor hassle....partly offset by not needing to do so quite so often. Fuel gelling was never a problem, even during some fairly cold winetres; colder than we have here nowadays. Waiting for the preheat before starting was slightly annoying, but not a real big deal.

And while the top speed was comparable to the gas engine, it was the acceleration that was lacking...on-ramps could be more exciting than you might like them to be.

[elSicomoro]

Originally posted by MaggieL
Saturns rock. The resale value may price a used Saturn out of your reach, though.

Thanks for bringing them up Mags. I completely forgot about them! I always have liked them...I particularly like that new Ion...sharp.

Out-of-towner's probably don't know that public transit suffers from a terrible problem in the Philly area: All the rail-based transit is based on the travel patterns of a bygone era, when workers lived in the suburbs and worked in the city; all travel was radial with the center of the city as a hub.

Philadelphia is an interesting scenario. Center City is still the big hub, but those suburban hubs are incredibly important to the region (KOP, Cherry Hill, Langhorne, Wilmington, etc.).

Only relatively recently have the rail and light rail lines that once belonged to The Reading, Pennsylvania and Pennylvania and Western Railroads and the Philadelphia Rapid Transit company been interconnected, even in the central hub.

IIRC, the Daily News apologized a few months ago for saying that the connection between Market East and Suburban Stations would never work out.

With SEPTA expanding its coverage in Bucks County (like the Torresdale-Newtown bus), I'm surprised they haven't started a Bensalem-Norristown bus yet...I think it would be well-utilized. I'm glad to see that they're talking about expanding the 100 over to KOP/Valley Forge. That would be much better than those damned 124/125 buses.

Living in NE Philly and working in KoP is a *lousy* combination. If you work out here, it's much easier to live out here too. Consider communities close in to (but not *in*) KoP....Phoenixville comes to mind. North of the river things are nice too, but until the US 202 construction is finished crossing the river at rush hour will be a hassle.

Unless Rho and I get jobs of life in the area, we are definitely moving out of Torresdale. Where depends on the jobs though...I don't mind taking SEPTA to and from work, but I wouldn't mind living closer to work either.