Be Green and Buy Used... You're doing a favor to the environment!

Thanks for checking out our Mark's Auto Sales blog. I have a topic to share today that I hope will be of interest to car shoppers around the country, and that is, "to be green, buy used."

I lived in Boulder Colorado, about 25 miles North of our dealership in Lakewood Colorado. Boulder is known to be a very progressive, environmentally friendly town. With the university and many tech companies calling Boulder and its surrounding communities home, Boulder also has one of the highest income levels in the state. With the introduction of the Toyota Prius, Boulder drivers took storm. I remember one day seeing 45 Toyota Prius' in one day. If its called the "Repulic of Boulder" then move over Volkswagon, this is the new "People's Car."

While the vehicle's gas economy is certainly popular with fluctuating fuel prices, I kept hearing negative reviews about the production of a hybrid vehicles, most especially their batteries. Because battery technology has lagged behind other innovations, the battery rs inefficient in its production and may have to be replaced in as few as a few short years of driving the vehicle.

In an article on wired.com, the author writes that despite the great gas mileage, "it takes 113 million BTUs of energy to make a Toyota Prius. Because there are about 113,000 BTUs of energy in a gallon of gasoline, the Prius has consumed the equivalent of 1,000 gallons of gasoline before it reaches the showroom. Think of it as a carbon debt — one you won’t pay off until the Prius has turned over 46,000 miles or so."

However, when you purchase a used vehicle as opposed to a hybrid, somebody else has already cleared the gap between the carbon debt. From the same article, he states that "a 1998 Toyota Tercel that gets 27 mpg city / 35 mpg highway miles. The Prius will have to go 100,000 miles to achieve the same carbon savings as the 10-year-old Tercel." And there are great vehicles out there, if you are still concerned about gas mileage efficiency. These include, as listed from the aforementioned article:
1994 Geo Metro XFi
Ford Festiva
Ford Aspire
Dodge Colts
Honda CRX HF
1985 Chevrolet Chevette
87 Chevrolet Sprint
With modern equivalents in the:
Toyota Echo
Honda Civic
Chevrolet Prizm
Mini Cooper
Most Volkswagon diesel models.
From advertisements, I know that BMW diesels would compare amongst this list.

While it looks green to pull out of the dealership with the new hybrid, but don't be fooled, you're green to drive a gas efficient vehicle that has already saved more carbon emissions than it took to build the vehicle. About seven years ago I had a 1993 Plymouth Colt coupe which got me gas mileage in the mid thirties to mid forties. Of course when the A/C was on, it would be in the lower of that range. And there was one time, when driving with mostly a tailwind on the highway I calculated 52 mpg. Boy, what would I do to have that car back right now?!