I am Soul-less and no longer Civic minded.
My Soul was nearing the end of its expected life. It had achieved the expected mileage, 136000+. But the engine was burning oil, rattling, and losing power. I couldn’t really expect much more from a ten year old car.
My Civic was my Sunday car and loaner. The plastic bits on the interior were breaking. The AC needed work every year. Its mileage had seen better days. But it was a fifteen year old Honda with 175000+ miles on it.
My Kia was my everyday car, my work vehicle, my hauler. But I hadn’t used it for more than a commuter in the last five years. And the most it hauled was the weekly groceries.
My Honda was my trip car. But the last trip I drove it started running rough and wound up needing the engine worked on. Over the last five years, I was probably paying more in insurance than gas.
Less is more.
I need to get a new car. One that has a good life expectancy and good mileage. Trading in both my old cars won’t get me much but it will reduce my insurance cost.
I can’t justify an EV. The range just isn’t there. My expected trip range is more than 500 miles. (That’s what in-laws in Albuquerque do for us.) EV range is only half that. Simple math on charging says that it would add at least an hour to long trips just to ‘fill the tank’. And that’s if everything is optimal. Turning an eight hour trip into nine+ with the prospect of desperately searching for an available rapid-charge station is daunting.
I can’t justify a plug-in hybrid. It gets me past the range issues. But it adds $10K to the price of the non-hybrid model. And the fully EV range is very small. It’s the equivalent of a gallon of gas. So if gas is at $3 a gallon, it would take 3,333 battery cycles to make up the added value. That would be about ten years of driving. And it’d only be a savings if electricity were free.
I can justify a mild hybrid; an engine-assisted hybrid. It’s the same type that my Honda Civic is right now.
So my new car options are:
Honda Civic Hybrid
Hyundai Sonata Hybrid
Toyota Camry Hybrid
Interesting enough, there are three choices from Toyota that are all similar. For under 30K I can get a Corolla Hybrid with a 1.8L engine, a Prius with a 1.4L engine or a Camry Hybrid with a 2.5L engine. All other specs being equal or equivalent, the choices from Honda and Hyundai are smaller engines with the same mpg’s. I’m sure there are other differences. But if I focus on mileage, engine size, and insurance costs …
I’m going with the Camry.
