On 10/20/07, Nancy Sturm <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The huge vehicle thing is always a puzzle for us. We live 25 miles from the > closest town. We need a vehicle that will haul hay and a horse trailer. > Additionally, we have four teens who use wheelchairs, even in the car for > transport. We own a Dodge diesel truck (25 mpg) and a Ford van (15 mpg). >
We've ended up owning 4 cars for the 2 of us. The 2006 Prius at avg 55 mpg (even with our hills) is driven the most. Michael works 50 miles from home. If he doesn't drop me off at work on his way in, I drive the '94 Miata convertible that we bought used 8 yrs ago. If the weather is bad, I drive the 2001 F250 4WD or the '99 Toyota 4 Runner. My husband wanted to trade the 4 Runner in when we bought the Prius, but I didn't want to. I know that I can get home and up my steep .25 mile driveway no matter how much snow or ice with that. Turns out that the Prius sat for over a month this winter because the traction control (which can't be turned off) won't let the Prius get up our driveway when it is icy. The driveway goes thru the woods so takes forever to melt. Sometimes when it warms up during the day then freezes at night it just manages to melt the ice enough to make it smooth and even slipperier. Unless you put down a lot of salt (a lot of $), the same thing happens. I won't buy another vehicle until the other is paid for and Michael takes such good care of our vehicles that they all look like new. When you go to trade them, they give you so little of what they're worth, I'd rather just keep them. Sometimes you just have to drive the less fuel efficient vehicles if you want hay or be sure that you can get home. -- Anna
