not at all. the ONLY downside to diesels is that diesel gas costs more than regular unleaded. BUT for the purposes of comparing ultimate ownership costs, they are significantly cheaper than hybrids. Pagan posted a great example in the other thread, but you have to compare purchase price, maintenance costs, and longevity of the car/engine when you are budgeting. Priuses and Civic hybrids will have to have their batteries replaced in 5-7 years.... the dealers/salespeople never tell you about that... but that can cost upwards of $5-7 grand. Diesel engines? run forever with proper maintenance... frequently getting well over 300k miles. Price? Hybrids are all the rage right now, and they command a serious price premium for purchases.... granted most of this is based on consumer demand than actual value. Diesels have a *slight* premium over regular, but nothing like hybrids. Hybrids also tend to have very little power and are somewhat anemic on the highway whe you are in passing situations (or accelerating on the onramp), whereas diesels have more torque than most gasoline cars. there's 100 reasons why diesels are more practical than hybrids.... but you get the idea.
Pefectly stated. I can't imagine making payments on something like a vehicle. OT: I won't drive a ***** car. I'd keep my 14 year old sedan over pretty much any of today's hybrid designs. I can't stand them. Maybe one day they'll get a heterosexual male to design these things. Especially the pizza getters under $20K.
Agreed. Although the brakes seem very tiny. I drive a Durango and swear that thing needs new brakes every 10,000 miles
I agree...it gets some getting used to (at first)..although the charger doesn't have this problem. One fix is for when you go for your service, make sure they include the brake inspection in their inspection of the car. If pads are below 50%, they are supposed to replace it as per the Manufacturer warranty.
This is actually the fifth Dodge I have owned. Not much of a car guy, but I seem to gear more towards their stuff I guess. I have had zero problems with my Dodger Caliber. The other part of this equation is that my 07 Durango is my work vehicle, which means I am hauling a ton o stuff everyday so that doesn't help. It doesn't matter, my work pays for all my cars, oil changes, tire replacements, gas and maintenance on the thing anyway.
UPDATE: As of 10PM tonight I'm still driving a Nitro! The Prius and the Corolla are pretty much out of the picture now, for separate reasons. It's about a 50-50 shot at me keeping the Dodge right now. I'm leaning more towards a midsized car that will get me around 31-32 MPG.
congrats on keeping the Nitro! (or at least forgetting the damn prius). you can keep your man card.... for now. make sure you clear with us whatever it is you are thinking about, before you get it.
Good decision. The best thing you can do financially is drive your car until it doesn't go anymore. Having no car payments gets you one step closer to being financially independent.
if driving an AWD twin-turbo, 400+ hp station wagon with airbag suspension on 20's is wrong, i don't wanna be right! yeah my car gets like 15 mpg mixed-loop..... and you know what? i deal with it. its the price for admission to owning a "supercar"
