Originally posted by Norse's Clunker Farm:
I just love the new car/less pollution argument. :rolleyes:
Can somebody tell me where the raw materials come from for the construction of a new vehicle?
Yes those raw materials all come from parts suppliers. Clean plastics, shiny steel plates. New upholstry.
I saw a beautiful new Suburban at the local Chevy dealer last week. I stopped and asked. $52,000. I don't have that kind of cash, so I estimated at least $750 and maybe more than $1,000 each month in payments.
I have a 20 mile round trip commute. At 10 miles per gallon and 22 work days each month, I'm burning 44 gallons a month to commute. Gas would have to be more than $17/gallon before gas savings would justify buying a $50,000 car that didn't need gas.
More realistically, if I could go twice as far on each gallon, at the current $2.00/gallon I'd wouldn't save $50 a month on fuel.
If I rode a motorcyle that got 100 mpg, I'd only save $75 a month on fuel. Knowing me I'd spend a few hundred a month on accessories...
And while I'm not nearly as GREEN as many of my neighbors, it pleases me a great deal to be able to laugh at the false ecology of driving a new car that required refined petroleum and smelted steel to manufacture. And likely added far more contaniment to the atmosphere in that process than my 50 year old truck has in the past decade.
Aren't people funny!
