My posts from day 110 and yesterday got me thinking about a combination of the basis of those two subjects., oversized homes and unnecessary cars. What about unnecessarily large cars.
How many people own cars far greater in size than their everyday needs. When we lived in America we owned a V8 Mustang and a seven seater van. We loved both these cars, the Mustang because, well it was a V8 Mustang convertable, who wouldn’t and the Van because whenever we had visitors from Australia this vehicle had enough room to fit everyone in and it was roomy and comfortable and handy to have when we needed to haul large items.
Not very good reasons for owning such terrible gas guzzlers. Instead of owning the big van we could easily have hired a similar vehicle when we had visitors or needed to haul stuff which only happened maybe once a year if that. The little Chevy Cavalier we owned before the Mustang was far cheaper to run, more reliable and had one extra passenger space and didn’t bottom out on speed bumps.
Ah, the crazy things we do for vanity and convenience.
Now we own two motorbikes one is my husband’s one is my son’s and a small Ford Fiesta. That has not doubt reduced our cardon footprint to a much smaller size not to mention the savings in running costs.
ITEM 115 OF 365 LESS THINGS
The modern cars today have inbuilt security systems rendering the car useless when you don’t have a key to start them so this little item is of no use to me.
terri says
Hi Colleen.
I hear what you’re saying, but I’m still keeping my Mustang convertible! (We only use it in the summer–our primary vehicle is a very fuel efficient Scion.)
terri
Colleen says
I terri,
Thanks for your comment.
I must admit we would probably still have the mustang too if we had stayed in America. It was the move back to Australia that has changed our perspective on things. My husband was in San Diego a couple of weeks ago and when he walked into frys (the electrical store) he said he just stood there a looked around at all that stuff and thought now I remember how easy it was to spend money over here.
Katie says
I absolutely love this post! 🙂
I have a 2000 Jetta and still feel like it’s too big for my needs. I was actually looking at the Ford Fiesta’s for when I purchase a new car in a couple years (mine is still running beautifully). How do you like yours? I’m so excited to have a smaller car that uses less gas and that doesn’t have wasted space (even if I have a family one day, who says that we have to have a large car? When my brother and I were born, my parents owned a small Nissan Stanza and we actually loved how small it was – and we’re a tall family!).
I keep wishing that smaller cars (sports cars included) were more “in style” than SUV’s.
Colleen says
Hi Katie,
firstly let my extend to you a warm welcome to 365 Less Things. I see you are digging in the archives and finding some stuff of interest. Good for you.
I suppose it is a catch 22 when it comes to trading down in car size when you already have a perfectly good car. What is worse using a little extra gas or buying a new car which adds to the supply and demand for new vehicles. I do like my little Fiesta though and would never go bigger, it more than meets our needs. I love a hatchback too because they are so versatile. We are often folding the seats down for one thing or another. I had a boyfriend with a Nissan Stanza so I know what that is, I actually learned to drive in it. Australia has a real love of SUVs and I would hazard a guess that 9 or of 10 of them never leave the road. I don’t give a hoot what is “in style” I only care what is good for the environment and my bank account. Although I probably read that wrong you are wishing that more people would do the right thing and stop driving gas guzzling cars just because they are stylish. I couldn’t agree more with that.
Katie says
I didn’t realize SUV’s were so popular in Australia. Oh yes, I meant that statement as to wishing more people would do the right thing with the smaller cars. 🙂 I agree with you though, I don’t give a hoot about what’s “in style” either. 🙂
Love your blog!
Colleen says
Yes Katie, we call them four wheel drives though and they are everywhere. Only about 10% of our landmass is habitable so there is plenty of space to get off-road. But I would suggest that only 10% of the 4WDs ever get taken off-road. Instead they just guzzle gas.