[Vwdiesel] Diesel vs hybrid battle heats up

Wed Dec 3 08:28:18 PST 2008

That probably does compare well, but consider if you had bought a 3-4
yr old car and kept it for the same 10+ years...

Just getting in the car and driving it off the lot loses thousands in
depreciation, as it's now a 'used' car, not 'new.'

I'm not calling you stupid, but it does seem a little crazy - the
thought of being the only owner of the car is not nearly worth that
much to me. (It helps that I'm back in school again and can't afford
much, too though...)

I, too, think that being called a consumer is degrading. What ever
happened to *customers* here? That was a fine term, and put a
healthier outlook on the process for all involved, in my opinion.

Erik

On Wed, Dec 3, 2008 at 7:27 AM, brian gochnauer <brian at gochnauer.net> wrote:
> In the last 25+ years I've bought three new cars, I've keep them all 10+
> years and I don't think that's stupid.
> The depreciation over 10+ yrs is minimal when compared to buying a 3-4 yr.
> old used car and keeping it 2-3 yrs.
>
> Brian G (Iowa)
>
>
> On 12/2/08, peter blake <pila47 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>> Brian,
>>   Right on target, I rarely if ever buy new, it just seems so
>> stupid to buy a huge chunk of depreciation. I think being
>> called a consumer is an insult.
>> Peter
>>
>>
>> --- On Tue, 12/2/08, decker at toledotel.com <decker at toledotel.com> wrote:
>>
>> > From: decker at toledotel.com <decker at toledotel.com>
>> > Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] Diesel vs hybrid battle heats up
>> > To: vwdiesel at vwfans.com
>> > Date: Tuesday, December 2, 2008, 1:14 PM
>> > Hi Folks;
>> >     This debate pitting the new TDI diesel vs the Pruis
>> > Hybrid seems  to me
>> > to be for people who wouldn't mind using new 100 dollar
>> > bills to start their
>> > bar-be-que fire. I do think the consensus is that  it is
>> > probably a push for
>> > fuel cost between the two but it seems to me to be a stupid
>> > move cost wise.
>> > If one believes they must have a brand new car instead of a
>> > used one they
>> > should perhaps consider say the Toyota Yaris. Either your
>> > Prius or the VW
>> > TDI will cost 10 grand more than the Yaris. If you were to
>> > drive each
>> > 100,000 miles you will save about 2000 dollars in fuel
>> > costs at today's
>> > prices and even if you figure fuel will double soon that is
>> > still 6 grand
>> > you burned for the privilege of driving a new TDI diesel or
>> > a Prius. There
>> > are other added costs to the TDI/Prius options but I
>> > haven't bothered to
>> > figure them out . I'm sure there are other conventional
>> > gas engine new cars
>> > out there that will get 30+ miles per gallon and cost even
>> > less than a
>> > Toyota Yaris.
>> >     In the present day economy and taxation climate a
>> > dollar not spent is
>> > much more than a dollar earned. For this reason I will keep
>> > driving my 1981
>> > Dasher diesel station wagon with it's 1.6 N/A diesel
>> > and a 5 speed. It is
>> > I'm absolutely positively certain more reliable than
>> > either a new TDI or
>> > Prius. It will get 45 miles per gallon if I drive it at 70
>> > mph and 50 mpg if
>> > I drive it at 60 mph. I have about 2000 dollars in it
>> > including completely
>> > rebuilding the engine. I have driven it about 50,000 miles
>> > now and figure It
>> > will run another 100,000 miles without spending more than a
>> > grand or so even
>> > if I have to rebuild much of the running gear. I don't
>> > keep collision
>> > insurance on it , only liability, uninsured motorist and
>> > hospitalization.
>> >     Being as much as possible a  non-consumer or at least a
>> > consumer of used
>> > merchandise seems to me to be the best way to keep
>> > one's head above water in
>> > these trying times.
>> > Brian Decker
>> > Western Washington
>> > ----- Original Message -----
>> > From: "William J Toensing"
>> > <toensing at wildblue.net>
>> > To: <vwdiesel at vwfans.com>
>> > Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2008 2:06 AM
>> > Subject: [Vwdiesel] Diesel vs hybrid battle heats up
>> >
>> >
>> > > 1) Thanks for the link to the auto section of the
>> > Toronto newspaper.
>> > Locally here in the Sacramento area you can buy a Prius for
>> > $1,000 off of
>> > MSRP & get immediate delivery. However the nearest VW
>> > dealer in Roseville,
>> > CA is getting a $4,000 pack above MSRP on a new TDI.
>> > Salesman at that VW
>> > dealer says most of the Mexican VW  TDI production is going
>> > to Europe as VW
>> > can get more money in the European market than in the US
>> > market. Don't know
>> > if this salesman is just pulling my leg or is serious. If
>> > he is serious, I
>> > then don't think VW is serious about the diesel market,
>> > at least in Calif.
>> > Can't afford a new car now, anyway, but if I could, I
>> > wouldn't pay over MSRP
>> > for any car! Although I prefer diesels (wouldn't be
>> > contributing to this
>> > discussion group if I wasn't) I think owning a Prius
>> > would be cheaper to own
>> > in the long run although a TDI would be more fun to drive.
>> > Here in the Grass
>> > Valley/Nevada City, CA the Prius appears the most common
>> > single model car on
>> > our local roads
>> > >  & the next most common are older Mercedes
>> > diesels. Many more of each than
>> > my Ford Focus ZX3. I haven't seen any other Quantums or
>> > Dashers around,
>> > other than my own.
>> > > I heard somewhere that Ford plans to bring the diesel
>> > Fiesta over here a
>> > year after they introduce the gas Fiesta & that a new
>> > Honda Insight hybrid
>> > will be here in a year that will sell for less than a
>> > Prius. Lets hope the
>> > gas/diesel prices will stay down long enough for this to
>> > happen. However, I
>> > don't think they will & suggest $5 a gallon
>> > gas/diesel be factored into any
>> > future automobile purchase.
>> > >
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Vwdiesel mailing list
>> > Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
>> > http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Vwdiesel mailing list
>> Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
>> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Vwdiesel mailing list
> Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
>