I have a 13 year old car that has 335,000 miles on it. It's my third car. My second car lasted about 9 years and had around 175,000 miles on it. My first car stretches back to 1981, so there's another 5 years.
My point here is that I have an increasing trend of driving cars into the ground. Part of it is that I'm one of those rare people that, even though I am a guy and a Mechanical Engineer, I'm not really torqued about new cars. Don't get me wrong, I can get excited about automotive engineering, and I appreciate classic lines, but I am more impressed by longevity than flashiness.
I got it from my father, who also had a habit of driving cars into the grave, but also from the military. We had lots of Viet Nam era equipment in my unit in Panama during the late 80s. These were big complex, rare things like 20 ton cranes, asphalt laying equipment, and two quarry crushers. I learned that you can keep anything going indefinitely as long as you maintain it. I had a friend in the Army that liked to buy and restore 60s cars. He had a 1969 Grand Sport and later a couple of sweet Mustangs. These cars were really old and beat up, but if you spend enough money, you could make any car look and drive like new.
So don't get me wrong, it's not a matter of being cheap and not wanting to make a car payment, because older cars start costing more and more to keep up. It's a matter of familiarity and comfort and connection with your machine. And, I have to admit, it's a matter of loyalty. I know that the car can't feel anything, and wouldn't care if I sold it or took it to the junk yard, but it just feels disloyal to abandon it after all the adventures I've had in it and all the wonderful places it has taken me.
My current car is nearing the end of its useful life and needs to be replaced soon. So my first priority is to get another car that will last a long time. It has to be rugged and dependable. If I'm going to be driving this car 8 to 10 years from now, one thing I cannot imagine is driving something that gets 20 miles to the gallon. When gas is $6 a gallon and rationed because we are at war with Iran and the cold war with Russia is in full swing, and Venezuela refuses to sell to us anymore, and global demand has gone through the roof with a billion more cars in India and China, 20 miles to the gallon will not make any sense. Maybe 35 or 40, but I'd really like something that has a little more of a flex fuel capability and a plug-in hybrid possibility. Don't get me wrong, I believe in global warming, and that we are responsible for it, but that's not the primary reason to look for fuel efficiency. Reason #1 is the expense, and right behind that is not to continue to enrich Muslim fundamentalist that hate us.
My dilemma is that the idiots that run American car companies (and I am one of those buy American types) can't pull their heads out of their orifices long enough to see what's coming and plan for it. They say it's impossible to get better mileage, that there is just this physical limit. I say they can't engineer their way out of a wet paper bag and they don't deserve to share the title American Engineer with the geniuses and heroes that won WWII with unbelievable productivity and innovation, invented the atomic bomb (it's horrible, I know, but it's also a triumph of science, design, and engineering), and PUT MEN ON THE MOON. My message to US Automaker Engineers: You're pathetic. You don't deserve your diplomas. We should take away your licenses and give you the only thing you have earned, which is membership in the Diaper Club. I've listened to these lame excuses for 20 years about why we can't have a more fuel efficient automobile. It's a "can't do" attitude that is so against the grain of everything American stands for that I wish the government would take away your companies and give them to someone that deserves them, and give you a baby bonnet and a jail shaped like a big crib.
OK, that was fun. That said, my dilemma remains. So while I ponder this problem, this morning I see this article: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/02/13/gms-bob-lutz-global-warming-is-a-total-crock-of-sh-t/ where GM chairman Bob "No Can Do" Lutz says that global warming is a crock of sh*t. Bob, I know you're just saying that because for some reason a scientific fact, a global trend that can be proven and documented just happens to also be politicized. Nowadays, if you're a conservative Republican, you're not supposed to believe in global warming because it's a fairy tale concocted by crazy environmentalists that just want to bring rich and wealthy people down, and want to stop people from doing whatever they feel like whenever they feel like it.
Hey Mr. Rich bastard, you've got about 4 or 5 more years to sell your outdated crappy cars to your dinosaur friends before your whole empire comes crumbling down around your ears. Actually, if you're like most of your rich and narrow minded friends, you'll probably be sitting in your mansion with your 9 figure severance pay and your fat pension and your immense stock dividends - completely unconcerned that you drove your company and an American icon into the ground. So I don't understand why what people think about global warming is your problem or concern. You're so insulated by your wealth an priveledge that you can laugh all the way to the bank. Maybe you feel the cold hand of reality creeping in to destroy the system that annoints individuals like yourself without brains or talent to be the caretakers of our giant American corporations.
I think I'll by a Toyota Prius. Long live the Japanese.
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