I hung onto my old car, a 94 Dodge Spirit for 10 years. The last 3 years AC quit for a bad compressor & coroded lines. It broke down on the freeway once. It had been in a very bad wreck 5 years before and the whole rear suspension was replaced. The shop put in unmatched rear springs so the whole car sat crooked.
It was repainted twice and looked terrible.
I drive 92 miles round trip for work and this car was old at 160K miles.
The last 2 years of it I researched the HCH or a Dodge Neon.
Went to a Honda dealer to test drive an HCH but the salesman was a bit rude.
We left and looked at a Neon and I liked it.
All that year I watched HCH and found myself constantly reminded that it is really nice, nicer than the Neon....but more expensive too.
Really, I was torn between the two cars for almose a year.
Last February my Wife & I swung back into the Honda dealership. The new salesman was very nice. I was able to haggle about a grand off of the MSRP as long as I also got the best Honda Hybrid warranty. (Which I was going to buy anyway :ph34r: )
When he tossed in free oil changes and tires for as long as I own it I said "OK".
Right away I was suprised of the great MPG potential so I scoured the web for specialized, effective driving tips. When I came across Wayne (xcel) and other Insight drivers I applied their tips and have had wonderful results. I came across greenhybrid.com and did the article
Driving for Efficiency to get those tips in a centralized location.
My wife & I have 3 kids: 7, 9 and 11.
We had a 2001 Grand Caravan but at only 18K miles was "T-boned". Sliding door smashed, roof twisted, floor buckled among other things. Fully impressed with the safety quality of the vehicle we replaced it with a new 2002 GC.
This Grand Caravan is our other vehicle.
My wife uses the GC in the morning to take the kids to school. The HCH was meant for my commuter car but at almost 3 times the MPG as the GC it has become the main family vehicle.
Today the GC is a burden. ~6 Grand upside down in the loan we are anxious to get rid of it. Really, it's just a PIG.
My wife says she wants it replaced with a hybird in a few years.