How many cars in your driveway?

[Mama]

There are two of us and we have three vehicles. A 2003 Malibu, 2005 Impala and a '68 chevy pickup which never leaves the yard(my DH's hobby). My hubby drives the Malibu to and from work (30 miles each way and there is no public transportation near where he works) and I work from home so only drive the Impala to the grocery store or to run errands or visit one of my kids.

 

[Maverick2272]

Yea I totally forgot the 78 Caddy in the garage, another project never finished, LOL. Soon to be rid of it I hope. I think mileage is a very important consideration, for those of us living in cities using public transportation as much as possible can help minimize mileage. The wife puts about 7,800 miles average on her vehicle each year, but then she drives all over the burbs for clients so no surprise there. The family vehicle gets about 3,500 to 4,000 miles put on it each year, depending on whether or not we got to take a family vacation that year.
We have owned the Caddy for about 14 years and are the second owner. We bought it with 106,000 miles on it and it now has 122,000 miles on it. The wife has higher mileage on her van!

 

[Claire]

How funny. Two drivers, one truck.

 

[pot clanger]

When my beloved '67 Cutlass was totaled (rear-ended! TOTALED, no joke) I bought a used '91 Celica to buzz around in for $3000 while I decided if I was going to restore (for the second time!) the Olds or buy a new car with the settlement $$. I still own it (the Celica) and it was the best $3K I have ever spent. It has 250,000 miles on it, and my BF uses it when it rains and she doesn't want to ride her motorcycle to work.

My love affair with old cars was waned, and I'm no longer actively restoring anything. I have a Murano - first "new" car I've ever owned - (6cyl), lug my 3 dogs and/or nephew around quite a bit, and head into the backcountry for herding, camping, etc. I am slated for a course in motorcycle school, and might buy a bike...much to my mother's horror.

 

[cara]

two drivers, five cars.
Franks Company car (VW Passat), my old Ford Fiesta - who waits for the junkyard - my MB W124 230 Coupe, and our two old ones, Hartmut (MB W114 250/8 '68) and Lucy (MB W111 230S Fintail '65).

Frank needs his car as his dealers are all over Germany, mostly in small towns, no chance for public transport.
I could go with the train, but that takes my almost twice as long as with the car, I very rarely do.
When the weather ist allright I go by bike, it's just around 2miles

 

[GotGarlic]

Two drivers, two small SUVs (Ford Escape), and mine is a gas/electric hybrid (not a plug-in). Before buying the hybrid, I used to fill up every week - now it's every 2-3 weeks.

At this point, we can't get rid of one, because DH works in the town where we live and has to drive around to different locations most days, and I work in a different town. Public transportation is very bad in our area. If home prices improve, we may move to the town where I work, but not right now. Then, public transportation might be possible, but it would depend on where we could afford to move to.

Some other ways I've been conserving are using canvas bags when shopping, bringing my own takeout container so I don't end up throwing away Styrofoam containers, and we replaced all of our bulbs with CFLs. We have ceiling fans in all the bedrooms and all downstairs rooms except the foyer and bathroom - this helps keep the AC usage down.

There are all kinds of innovative ways organizations are developing to help us eliminate the need for burning fossil fuels. Here's one: Zakaria: Craig Venter's Planet-Saving Bacterium | Newsweek Future Of Energy | Newsweek.com

Here are a bunch more: Ten Eco-Friendly Companies | Newsweek Technology | Newsweek.com

There will be new jobs based on new technologies - that's already happening. Just as the buggy and buggy-whip makers went out of business when cars replace buggies, so companies built around carbon-based fuel use will be replaced by those selling the alternatives.

 

[VeraBlue]

Thanks GGarlic, great thoughts and links.

 

[Adillo303]

Tf we are gonna branch out to other ways to save fossil fuels, which is a very worthy idea, then, these are from another site, but, they are helpful. Many thanks to one of my TDR brothers who has been doing this kind of work for years.

Shave off a good chunk of cash monthly

So one of the biggest energy munchers is cooling the home. This is a ahem ... hot issue if you will but I am going to sit here and spill the same ol' diatribe that your neighbor, and good ol Uncle Smythe (Twice removed) has said. O.K Central systems, window units, and room units (The last one is just insane) are pretty much the norm. How you manage them can save a ton.

O.K we have routines right? Of course we are human! We get up, shower eat (Or not) hop in the truck and go to work. Whoever is the last one out kills the air right? ERRRT don't. When we let the house cook in the mid day heat everything in the home is brought up to the same , hot temp. Walls, countertops, floors, ceilings, toilets, tubs, tile and the list goes on.

We come home walk in the door and .... ugh Man this sucks it's hot blah whine blah. This can be avoided just by doing a few things to help "seal" the heat OUT.

• Set the A/c to 78* and let it stay there
  This takes a TON of load off your system as it does not need to cool down the surfaces in your home that are hot and radiating heat. 78 is ideal as it is the "Norm" or cusp of radiation
• Close all the blinds, shutters, closet doors
  Close off doors to un-climate controlled areas or that give off heat transfered from the attic area. This holds true ESPECIALLY for cape style homes and colonials!
• Window units, seal the gap between upper and lower sash, and even pad the "acordian" sides with some nicely trimmed out styrofoam.
  The seal deal is a big one as the fan is drawing air into the unit over the coil while the exhaust or "Hot" side of the unit is just inches away on the other side of that window. Transfer temps creep inbetween the two halves of the window thus making the unit work harder. Styrofoam can be trimmed out in panels and actually make the front of that AC look nicer too.
• close off a couple LOWER floor vents to send air upstairs so it works its way DOWN.
  Science class .... cold air is heavier ... blah blah makes sence move on.
• Filter, FILTER FILTER! keep em clean or changed!
  This is a huge performance booster. Cars , Trucks, A/C Clogged filters in an hvac system can cause freezing of the coil which blocks airflow which caused solid ice, floods when melting ... yuk
• Clean that AC coil ... Got pets????
  What does make it by the filter hits the next stop (Either the Hydronic heating coil if aplicable) the AC coil. Being they are cold and usually wet with condensation being pulled from the air, Pet hair and dust stick really easy!
• Clean the condensor unit outside (From inside out like a K&N filter)
  Pop the lid (Kill the power first!) and with a hose rince the unit out from th einside out. Scoop out the leaves and mulch and watch the difference!
• Shut down heat generating items during non use (Like a computer) night lights, even some stereo equipment.
  All eletronics to some extent (PC's Amps, TV's) give off alot of heat. Take away some of the source ans cash is two fold no power consumption and ac efficiency goes up too!
• close the flue ( A sealed home's air handler will try and draw make up air from the open flue)
  Cold air heavier, yeah We moved on from that one but drawing hot light air through cold is easy too.
• "Lock" windows to make a tight seal
  Many vinyl windows use the locks to make a tight seal.
• Clean windows (Or mirror tint if ya want some home bling)
  Clean glass reflects sunrays back out. Clean tinted ones do it better!
• clean the refrigerator coil!
  The fridge, our pal,buddy, keeper of the cold. When it's coil is dirty it cannot shed heat as easy and makes more heat to do the job it needs to do. More heat means just that .... MORE HEAT into your living space.

Now that all this is done.... You could just wind up saving a nice nut every month. Take that savings and save it twards future home energy upgrades.

 

[babetoo]

keep forgetting to post on this thread. no cars at all in my driveway. i do not own a car. i have a license but do not drive.

i never have since 1982 when i got my license. scares the hell out of me.

no, it is not all that inconvenient. one learns to deal with it. i grocery shop on line and it is delivered to my home. my pharmacy delivers as well. i do a lot of shopping on line.

if i really need to go some where in a hurry i call a cab.

otherwise i go with a friend or one of my grandkids.

i think not being able to just jump in the car and go somewhere out of boredom is why i learned many of the skills, i have. cooking and sewing and decorating and yard work.

i am rarely bored and always have something to do, reading is my passion.

not for everyone but it works for me and my imprint is not to large.

babe

 

[MexicoKaren]

i do not own a car. i have a license but do not drive.

I am really impressed - thanks for sharing this with us. Goes to show what someone can do when she uses her ingenuity. I'm sure you have cultivated many, many skills and talents because of the time you have at home.

I still drive, but very nominally. This is the first time since I was 16 that I have not owned my own car. We have the pickup I made reference to earlier, and I drive it occasionally, but let me tell you, driving in Mexico is not for the faint-hearted, and so I just don't do much driving. We put $200 pesos (about $20) in the tank every 2-3 weeks, so we just don't use it much.

 

[Cooper'sMom]

We have two in the driveway and two in the garage and 4 single engine airplanes in the hangar. In the driveway is a small Mitshubishi we call Betsy. She is our airport car. Then there is the Ford truck, with two gasoline tanks, very expensive to run now what with the price of petrol going up almost everyday. My car has no name yet as it is still brand new to me but it is one of those latest Acura with all the bells and whistles which my dog and I use. Of course I drive and my dog "protects" it. My husband's luxury car is beside mine called Silvergirl, a MB SLK350. My airplane is now undergoing an annual checkup. It is a single engine Luscombe 1946 called Silveraire. My husband's airplane is another 1946 vintage Swift he also calls Silvergirl, just like his MB. And two other airplanes are renters of space in our hangar. I am an aerial photographer. I use my airplane to take photos, hence I have it for work. It is not as fast as my DH but it is useful to me. Hubby is a vintage plane fanatic.

 

[StellaSquash]

We have two. I worked when we were married, and my husband has always sold cars. That means not only do we get a good deal, but he works 12 hour days. And with two children, I'm not driving out at 9pm at night to pick him up at work.

I do however try to plan my trips to be more efficient, and get more done in one outing.

My neighbors, however, have a flippin car lot in their driveway, the road in front of the house, the road in front of the neighbors house.