Experiments in Life

We began looking at cars last week, in preparation of replacing Ashley’s aging Nissan Sentra. So far, we have found one car that we both like, the Chevy HHR. It is referred to as a crossover vehicle, but to me it looks more like a PT Cruiser than an SUV. However, it is large enough that I can drive it and ride in it comfortably (which is very important, even though it is Ashley’s car). It has a large amount of hauling capacity like an SUV, but is as fuel efficient (supposably) as my Beetle.

I have to take a moment to talk about the Toyota Prius, though. That car is so cool! It is the ultimate geek toy — pushbutton starting, a large LCD touch-screen for controlling radio, environment, and statistics on the engine/battery, plus it has a goodish amount of get-up-and-go for a hybrid. In addition, it had a rather spacious back seating area and lots of room to haul things. There were only two problems with it. First, Ashley did not like it — it was too high-tech (which is why I loved it). Second, although I had enough headroom and leg room to drive, the steering wheel was not high enough (and did not go any higher). I had to drive it with the steering wheel between my knees, much like how I drove my Dad’s MGB back in high school. However, if Toyota fixes that in some later revision of the car, I will seriously consider it when I am looking for something new — at least 5–7 years in the future.

We still have a lot of looking to do for Ashley’s car, though. I want to look at another hybrid, the Honda Insight. I also want to go back and look at the Toyota Highlander, although I have a suspicion that it will cost more than I really want to spend. But, I have had an obsession lately with hybrids, although the current frontrunner, the Chevy HHR, is not one. The hybrid obsession is even making me want to look at the Ford Escape Hybrid (and I do not care for Ford — too many bad service experiences in the Columbus/Starkville area; however, Huntsville may be different). I do know, however, that I do not plan on getting anything that does not average at least in the upper twenties for MPG.

We have some time, though. Current thoughts have us getting the new vehicle sometime around the end of the year. That leaves us plenty of time to look for the perfect car.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 8th, 2005 at 9:52 am and is filed under Automotive. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.