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| Author |
Message |
ball
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Ballmobile
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Jun 14 17:29 UTC 2004 |
My wife has been trying to persuade me for a while that I
should buy a "truck". I was resistant to the idea, but
driving (or rather wading) home through floodwater the other
day made me think that perhaps she's right.
She has a "pick-up" in mind, but I'm more inclined toward
something like a Landrover Defender, Toyota Land Cruiser or
perhaps some kind of Jeep. I want a (Biodiesel compatible)
Diesel engine (perhaps a newfangled turbo-diesel or common-
rail) and a manual gearbox.
Constructive comments, observations and suggestions are
invited.
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| 66 responses total. |
scott
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response 1 of 66:
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Jun 14 18:48 UTC 2004 |
How often would you really need a truck?
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rcurl
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response 2 of 66:
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Jun 15 05:30 UTC 2004 |
Might be cheaper to move.
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ball
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response 3 of 66:
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Jun 15 16:43 UTC 2004 |
Re #1: Every year during the winter. I could also have done
with it earlier this month because of flooding. We hope to
buy a house this year, and I'm sure my wife will have me
carting furniture around for some time afterwards. It'll
also be handy for carting computers around.
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rcurl
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response 4 of 66:
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Jun 15 18:15 UTC 2004 |
Get laptops.
The increase in truck use is another example of the Tragedy of the Commons.
They offer increased utility of "1" to the buyer and each one makes
only a near "0" addition to global warming, oil depletion, pollution,
etc. But so many people think this way, the net effect is increasingly
serious in all regards.
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keesan
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response 5 of 66:
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Jun 16 02:33 UTC 2004 |
You can rent a delivery truck for $20 if you return it to the same place.
I have never seen a personal computer that would not fit in Jim's milk crate
that he uses as a bike basket. This implies that they ought to fit into any
car big enough to hold a person. There are probably some monitors that would
not fit his milk crate easily.
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ball
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response 6 of 66:
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Jun 17 07:16 UTC 2004 |
I had to borrow Mrs. Ball's car today, as mine refused to
start. The new vehicle decision grows closer with every
passing day.
Re #4: Environmental impact was one of the things that put
me off for a long time. :-/
Re #5: Renting a delivery truck isn't an option for the kind
of applications that Mrs. Ball is likely to come up with.
You're right that (low volumes of) PCs will fit in a car.
I'll have to check whether there's a cycling conference
here on Grex. I've an idea that I used to read one here.
I would love to buy a bicycle, but my requirements are
probably atypical (I'll write more in the cycling conf.)
There is no significant hope of finding another job that
is within bicycle range, and for leisure cycling I'll
need a motorised vehicle to get to suitable locations. :-(
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keesan
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response 7 of 66:
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Jun 17 17:13 UTC 2004 |
You can buy an electric bicycle for much less than a car. We saw one for
about $500. The range of one that we asked about was 15 miles between
recharges, more if you pedal part of the way. It could go a lot faster than
I like to bike. It makes me unhappy when people use cars MORE because they
want to bicycle.
What kind of options cannot be done with a delivery truck but can with a
personally owned truck?
You can start a bike item in the transport conference. They crop up
occasionally in the middle of agora items and then go away. Jim would have
fun suggesting how to modify a bike to fit your needs.
If something is too large to fit onto a bike, it can usually be made to go
into the back of a small 2-door hatchback car. This includes stoves and
refrigerators and building materials. Hatchbacks hold more than 4-doors and
sometimes also more than station wagons because you can sit things upright
in them with the back door/window open.
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gull
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response 8 of 66:
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Jun 18 19:15 UTC 2004 |
If your main need is to haul around large amounts of stuff, consider a
station wagon. They get better fuel economy and handle better.
If you must get a truck, keep in mind that four wheel drive models get
considerably lower fuel economy and have higher maintenance costs than
two wheel drives. Ask yourself how often you would *really* need four
wheel drive. You don't mention where you live, but in most parts of
southeast Michigan you just aren't going to need it often enough to
justify the expense. My Volvo 240 has little to recommend it as a
winter car (rear wheel drive, open differential) but the previous owner,
who lived on a rural dirt road, successfully used it year 'round.
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ball
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response 9 of 66:
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Jun 19 07:10 UTC 2004 |
Re #8: A 'station wagon' is probably not a bad match for
our needs, but doesn't offer better ground clearance
(useful in winter, on roads that are flooded, being dug up
or are just plain crap). My Civic has been great fun to
drive, but it's way too easy to bottom out, or just clip
debris.
Your observation about 4WD makes sense, there's more there
to go wrong. In cars and other things I tend to prefer
simplicity.
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ball
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response 10 of 66:
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Jun 19 07:25 UTC 2004 |
Re #7: 15 miles doesn't get me anywhere useful, but an
electric bike is an interesting idea. Out of interest, do
they charge the battery when you're coasting downhill or
braking?
My next pushbike (pedal bicycle) will be leg-powered. I'll
just have to ride it locally until I (hopefully) become
fit enough to extend my range a bit.
A rented truck wouldn't satisfy my wife's expectation of
instant, on-demand cargo space. When we buy a house, it's
likely to be a "fixer upper" and I daresay she'll have me
driving furniture, building materials and other large (or
just odd-shaped) stuff around.
I actually quite like hatchbacks and really enjoyed
driving a rented Vauxhall Corsa with an interesting
3-cylinder 1 litre engine when I was getting ready to
return to the U.S. in 1999. I think it's a distant cousin
of the Geo Metro over here, but with more elegant design.
My wife's inevitable veto aside, that was probably better
suited to British driving anyway.
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rcurl
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response 11 of 66:
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Jun 19 17:27 UTC 2004 |
An Outback station wagon offers better ground clearance - plus AWD.
(The 2005 model has even been raised more - but mainly to be a cop-out
from "car" to "light truck" in order to bypass CAFE.) I drive a
Legacy wagon myself, for most of the benefits of a station wagon,
better clearance than US wagons, and AWD.
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