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Michael considered fate at 16:52   |   Permalink   |   Post a Comment

As I find myself in the potential market for a used vehicle I've found myself wondering about true cost. True cost as in how much does this car cost me to operate it, how much does this car cost in environmental impact, and how much difference will it make in the long run?

One assumption I have made recently is that the cost (both monetary and environmental) to produce a vehicle, being incurred only once, should become less and less significant the longer the vehicle is in use. That is to say, a car that lasts 100,000 miles costs twice as much to produce (per mile) as a car that costs the same real dollars to produce but lasts 200,000 miles. This, of course, does not take into account the extra cost of maintaining a vehicle for an extra 100,000 miles. This is assuming equal emissions footprints, too.

So it gets complicated quickly.

But I still have the idea that older used vehicles, provided they are maintained, offer a better environmental alternative to purchasing new cars all the time. Unfortunately, cars that last for 100,000 miles allow for more turnover and keep those speed freaks that need a new looking curve in their rear window or a fancy spoiler on top of their truck happy. If cars never changed their styling, nobody would see the necessity in leasing a new model ever few years. Someone who took care of their baby could drive it for decades without anyone being the wiser.

But that wouldn't appeal to the car manufacturers. Unfortunately, they aren't selling us vehicular transportation. They are selling us image. They are selling us lifestyle. They are selling us sex and rock'n'roll and all of these things that we need in our life to be able to drag ourselves out of bed every morning to our soul-sucking 9-to-5 where we overwork ourselves creating markets for, surprise surprise, more vehicles.

Luckily, someone has done the work for me. CNW Marketing has released a report called Dust to Dust, which gives lifetime cost per mile of various vehicles - from Aveos to Hummers. The surprise? Hybrids are pretty damn costly.

Prius $2.865
Industry Straight Average 2.946
Civic Hybrid $3.398
Accord Hybrid $3.421
Insight $3.453
Escape Hybrid $3.540
The bigger joke? They're more costly than a Hummer.

H3 $2.069
But the reality is that they are using a 300,000 mile life expectancy for the Hummer and a 100,000 mile life expectancy for the Prius. Earlier reports suggested that the batteries in hybrids - which are quite costly upfront, too - would not last. However, now that the Prius has been on the road for some time, some people have been seeing 200,000 miles or more. Furthermore, the kind of people I see buying the H3 are probably not the kind of people who put 300,000 miles on their vehicle.

Some searching on the innernector tubes brought up very little about CNW Marketing. Other than the fact that their website is less than impressive and almost amatuerish, the President "used to be a newspaper and magazine editor", and their CEO is "one of the founding partners who is currently learning to ride a motorcycle so she can get a Harley by the end of 2004". It appears to be a private firm out of Oregon and the President can be found quoted all over the interector speaking about the automotive industry, so, who knows. Prius owners say CNW is "a mouthpiece for the Detroit auto industry."

Even so, the cheapest vehicle on their list? The Toyota Scion xB at a miniscule 48 cents per mile.

Sadly, even if this report had (has?) merit, it looks to be a better statistical tool than it is an individual one. Should I drive my parents old beater that is sitting unused in the driveway for the next month while I shop for a car or should I rent a new, environmentally friendly low-emissions model?

Nevermind the money I am spending which I must earn at work (thereby burning fossil fuels to keep the lights on, and the computer running). Nevermind the fact that I need to keep commuting to work in order to make that money to pay for the car which I am renting to lower my environmental footprint.

What if the loss of a car in the rental fleet means the firm's in-house percentage rate drops just below the proper level causing the purchase of new vehicles to up inventory?

Everything we do causes a domino effect of environmental footprints. We are, in the 21st century, not bipedal or quadripedal when it comes to mother earth. We are omnipedal, stomping out life and crushing tiny flowers everywhere.

one small pegonia was destroyed in the making of this blog post. we will cry for her.