No I'm not kidding. I spent the better part of a year thinking about what I needed verses what I wanted, and the entire time looking around, to see what was available. I could have had several diesels at better prices, but, I needed something with room, and since I'm not that mechanically inclined, I needed something that was in a better than average shape.
One thing I was ( and still am ) determined about, is that this vehicle is going to last me for a long time. I have been in the " pay $2500-$3000 every three to five years or so for a vehicle, and drive it into the ground " rut, and in the end it would always wind up costing more. Fuel mileage alone was about the same as I'm getting with my, Land Cruiser now, and after the first year ( or less ), the repairs each year were running $300-$500, the vehicles were not confidence inspiring, no way would I take them any further a few miles out of town. I saved long and hard, to " drop $7000 " as you put it, and while I did pay that much, I saw several diesels that were in the $3000 - $4000 range, that ran, but, needed work, that I could not put into them, or were not what I was looking for. I have been unemployed for 2 1/2 years, so I very well know the value of $7000, and financially would be better off if I had got something cheaper. At the same time, if I'm ever going to get good employment I needed a vehicle that I knew that I could count on, and so that is part of what the $7000 bought me, reliability. I guess what I should have said, was I fail to see how others could not afford that amount of effort I put into it, be it money, trade, or sweat equity. Other options are out there besides buying a vehicle that started life as a diesel, like I did, like pulling the gasoline engine, and putting a diesel engine in, that would be lower in cost, you would have to swap the transmition as well, but, I bet it would still be in the range than many / most people can afford. Greg H ----- Original Message ----- From: "Quinn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <biofuel@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Monday, September 01, 2003 19:23 Subject: Re: [biofuel] Gas Prices Causing Alarm > Greg, > > You're kidding right?? > > You fail to see how someone couldn't go out and drop $7000 on a vehicle if > they wanted to? In my 40+ years I have never spent more than $3500 on a > vehicle-- and only because that was all I could ever afford. While that > $7000 may be 'cheap' compared to new car prices, think of all the people all > over the country who ride busses. You don't think they all prefer to ride > the bus, do you? (And certainly they aren't all environmentalists or you > wouldn't see them tossing their Wendy's wrappers on the grass at the bus > stop as they board.) > > We should try to remember here that we are a privileged few with ready > access to computers, to the Internet, and with, it seems, a great deal of > education between us and a great amount of personal time for discourse. It > also seems that there are quite a few with disposable income, which they are > admirably using towards greener goals. > > While there are a lot of arrogant conspicuous consumers in this country (as > has been noted) there are also vast scores of people for whom any portion of > the above luxuries are inaccessible. Not everyone in this country can even > afford to go out and spend the time and money to make a $1500-$3000 > biodiesel setup, with the necessary time hunting for scrap goods, and > tinkering and brazing. And not everyone even has a backyard to do it in. > > If we are going to open people's eyes to alternative methods --even > alternative methods that will be cheaper for them in the long run, such as > the discussion on the solar arrays-- we should try to do it without being > arrogant ourselves. > > Quinn > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Greg and April > > > I went out and got a hold of a '85 Toyota LandCruiser, Diesel and it cost > about $7,000. I fail to see how others could not afford that amount of > money. > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Biofuels list archives: > http://archive.nnytech.net/ > > Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. > To unsubscribe, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for Your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at Myinks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/l.m7sD/LIdGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
