Mrs. Peel

Bring pie!

Stop by the house on Sunday, we're having our annual picnic!

The Shining - Danny on the big wheel And then.... Man, the noise of the big wheel going from hard wood to carpet creeps me out even before he ever sees those damn twins. I don't think I'm all that scared while watching it, but I always have nightmares afterwards.

I just came home to the new edition of Consumer Reports. Cover story: "Save Energy, Save Money" Subheading: "Hybrids Make More Sense Than Ever" Inside: Comparing Hybrids to similar All Gas Models (Total 5 Year costs rounded to the nearest $250) Toyota Prius VS Toyota Corolla XLE Price: $24,170 VS $19,330 MPG: 44 VS 32 5 Year Fuel Cost: $5,500 VS $7,500 5 Year Fuel Savings: $2000 Total 5 Year Owner Cost: $28,250 VS $30,250 * Total 5 Year Cost Savings: $2000 Years Until Payback: 1 *"Fuel costs are only a relatively small part--25 percent--of the overall owner costs in the first 5 yea

Don't run anywhere near that place, you'll poke your eye out.

I suppose a case could be made for anything. I'm going to start a foundation to feed solar panels to the homeless.

I figured you obviously didn't read any of my previous posts or else you wouldn't have mentioned most of the things you did, so I was condensing them for you. And if you want to nitpick, I said I wasn't going to go into the calculations and reasons again, which I don't believe I did, since I had already gone over it all earlier. And I also said I was hoping for contradictory evidence so I could make an informed decision. Then I explained why your example had nothing to do with my situation and why. I'd hardly call that whining and not wanting to read anything contrary to my preformed opin

That's really cool! RE my comment about cutting all the trees down and parking in full sun I was being overly dramatic in an attempt to lighten things up a little. I think having solar panels is amazing. It's another case of not getting an immediate return on your money, but in the long run it's a responsible and noble thing to do.

I'm officially done with explaining the calculations and the reasons why I think it is a good choice. You can go back and read the rest of my posts for answers to most of the questions you posed, specifically relating to my decision making process. I don't want a fully loaded Prius Touring edition, which I'm assuming is what you saw for 31K. CarMax is crazy for charging that anyway. You can read the costs of the cars I have looked at, my reasoning beyond gas mileage for why I like the Prius, and the fact that I don't want to buy a used car, although I'm not necessarily averse to buying a 1

Instead, I've been watching Sixteen Candles and now I feel all fuzzy inside.

Why do you say that?

I will agree with you there. I thought my Corolla fabric interior felt a little cheap too. It has held up nicely so far though.

I just found an article that debunks the New Prius VS Used Car debate. http://www.slate.com/id/2194989/?y=1 I'm actually glad people have been bringing these things up because it has given me a chance to do even more research and find answers to the misconceptions many people seem to have, myself included. Isadorah, I suspect that if you were buying a car in February, you were hitting the period of "I'm freaking out because gas prices are rising and I need a hybrid now!". That caused dealers to be able to charge WAY over MSRP for hybrids. It has all settled down now and we're back to MS

Got another piece of info to add. This is from 2007, but it still applies in the "more expensive" argument. It's from a forum discussing the decision making process of people who bought hybrids.

I somehow skipped two lines when reading your post and thought you were saying you fit that car into your xB.

Just ask him to see the mileage screen in his car. It will show you his average mpg.

Then get 4 of them! One for each season!

I'm with Alison. I always do boxes of paperbacks, a quarter each, and boxes of hardcovers, a dollar each. CDs $1 each. Anything that seems to fall into the same category can be grouped together on a table with one price and one big sign. It's a nice time saver. However, I do like to have everything represented with either a price sticker or in those groups, because I know that if I'm at a tag sale and I don't see a price on something I generally assume they think it's worth more than it is and I don't even ask about it.

I'm just going to keep going on this topic for a minute. Excerpts from a Business Week Online article called "The Top Ten Hybrid Myths" (I'd post a link but it goes to a PDF doc): And there was an update to this article: This is exactly why I didn't post a thread asking "What do you think of hybrid cars?". I asked for opinions from those who already have the specific car I'm looking at. I figured those people would already understand the way they work and would have already weighed the pros and cons after doing their own research. I'm not sure how wanting a moderately pr

Is diesel better or worse than gas in terms of emissions? I've always thought it was worse, but I have no basis for that other than the horrible exhaust that comes out of big rigs. Very scientific, I know.

Kevin, I just priced out a Mini Cooper with the same features I'd be getting in the Prius (some standard, some in the options package I chose). $22,450. Prius Hybrid: $23,670. How will I ever get those extra bags of money to the dealership? I remember you got the Scion xB. You love it right? I know someone else with one and they're totally in love with it.

"Array of batteries"? You mean the standard battery and the electric battery? There's a 100K warranty on the electric battery, and most people that have well over that amount have never replaced one. If they need replacing, they don't cost $5-7K, they cost less than $2K, and much less than that on ebay or out of a junkyard. Not concerned at all about that. Here's one for $800 right now. I don't like Coopers. I've ridden in them, they're totally uncomfortable for me. 28/37 EPA rating versus 45/48? How is that more mileage? Especially when the many, many things I've read from happy Priu

Go for the F150, that should do it!

It's shocking that the ones from a later album are selling for so much. I love that record though, that's what I've been listening to a lot lately. That and Inquisition's "Revolution, I Think It's Called Inspiration". I listen to it in the car on the way to work and by the time I get here I want to smash things and start a riot. I've told people to come back at 8 when the sale starts. I won't sell to anyone before the time stated on the signs and ads.