JCTownsley.com

It’s been a while since I have blogged. As much as I would like to be blogging regularly, I just haven’t had the time. I’ve recently added a nice plugin for iphone support, perhaps that will allow me to access the page more often and update my few readers left.
Tonight though- I’ve got a dilemma on my mind. As many of you know, I have owned a multitude of cars in the 9 years I have been driving. In fact, today is my birthday, so I have been driving for exactly 9 years legally. ( i won’t count all the times I went driving pre-legal-age while the parents weren’t home.)
Just for kicks- here’s a list of cars I have owned over the years as I can remember them (chances are I have forgotten one or two):

1. 1973 VW Camper Bus
2. 1986 Lincoln Continental
3. 1970’s? Surburban
4. 1989 Honda Hatchback
5. 198X Motorhome
6. 197X Jeep CJ5
7. 1981 Fiat Spider
8. 1979 Fiat Spider (Parts Car)
9. 1985 Yamaha Virago (motorcycle)
10. 197X Chevy 3/4 ton pickup
11. 1982 Yamaha Maxim (motorcycle)
12. 1997 Ford Aspire
13. 1980 Ford Pickup
14. 197X Fiat Spider
15. 198X Chevy Diesel Pickup
16. 2000 BMW M Roadster
17. 1979 Buick LeSabre
18. 2007 Dodge Dakota Pickup

This list does not account for all the cars I have driven regularly over the years. Whether it was a friends car in high school for a month or two, or the cars here and there that were used regularly. If you included those I would be over twenty and counting. And granted, 2 or 3 of the cars listed were project cars that may or may not have ever been used much.
With that said, of all these cars, the Honda Hatchback and Ford Aspire were the least damaging to the environment. They also lacked said qualities of air conditioning, stain-free seats, etc. I drove the Aspire for over 50k miles, hating every single moment of it. When my driver window shattered to pieces simply by closing the door, I finally gave up and rejected my simplicity- hence the BMW convertible.
As dogs and boat projects took over my life, I realized the BMW was not cutting it. Taking a dog to the vet, transporting somebody home from the airport, or picking up lumber necessitated borrowing a car from a friend. So in December I broke down and traded in my baby for a brand new pickup truck.
While the truck has been great the last few months- especially for the mid-winter trips to Montana and Lake Tahoe, it has lacked in one important quality- fuel mileage. On good days I can squeak out 20 mpg, but its nowhere near the 40 mpg I got in the Aspire. With fuel prices over $3.50, and our world’s dependence on fossil fuels, can I really keep driving it?
When I was car shopping in December, eventually deciding on the Dodge Dakota, I created a spreadsheet that rates numerous cars on several qualities, then calculating each quality by its value to me- finally coming up with a final number for each car. I cheated in December, the Jeep Rubicon actually won in the final points over the Dodge, but I couldn’t afford one.
Tonight I revisited that document and added a few new cars: mainly the Toyota Prius, and the Toyota Highlander Hybrid. While I cannot afford the latter anyway, the Prius of course knocked all the other cars off the chart. While “Fun to Drive” and “Sexiness” were on my list, “Fuel Economy” is valued such that the Prius won hands down.
So that leaves me in my current dilemma. I’m sure to lose a few thousand by selling my truck so soon. I’m sure to save 2-3k in fuel costs if I do it anyway and buy the Prius. However, Hybrid technology is definitely going to improve in the next 2 years, (including the Prius. Rumor has it that the next generation one in 2009 will be both a better car, and considerably cheaper.)
So what say you fine readers? Do I make the socially conscience move now and reduce my carbon foot print? Do i sit on the truck another year and hope the blue book value doesn’t drop too much? Or should I sell it all and just ride my bicycle an average of 350 miles a week? (I’m hoping you recognize this one isn’t feasible at this time!)