Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 11 to 14 of 14

Thread: Hi everyone

  1. #11
    Senior Member Wallythacker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    Niagara region
    Country
    Canada
    Posts
    2,450
    Thanks
    52
    Thanked 540 Times in 432 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Space Wolf View Post
    It works different at your side of the ocean. I just checked, the ownership of a 2011 Subaru Forester would cost me €852 a year for roadtax only. €1644 when it's a diesel. Mandatory insurance would be €267. (Liability only). If I didn't have >15 years of damage-free driving, that could be up to €650.

    Just too much to only own a car. I can better hire one when I need something bigger than my Space Star.
    I can't fathom the road tax you have over there. Nearly $2k for the diesel? To save the environment, right? In Ontario our annual plate costs $120 (up from $8x a couple years back) and as a second car my Saturn Vue costs me $6/week for liability only. Renting anything the size of my Vue is likely $75-100/day so it's economical for me to keep my Saturn. I use it a fair bit in the spring moving junk to my boat and plane and back again in the fall. Not to mention whatever junk I need to dispose of via my small trailer or bring home like topsoil, etc.

    But ya, over here we do have a lifestyle that seems excess to the remainder of the world.

    Time to rant: I'm sick of hearing that we are in a climate emergency and have only a few years to correct things by massively reducing our carbon footprint. Look, it wasn't my choice to be born where I was, in a province that gets colder than h*ll in the winter and requires me to gobble carbon fuel to stay warm, also our population density for our size is pretty low, meaning the only way I can realistically get to things is to drive there. Sit on public transit for 4 hours to see a concert in Toronto, an hour away by car? Not a chance.

    If we're really on the downslope and it's not recoverable then gov. should have the stones to tell us. Then we can party like it's 1999 until the end comes. If it's really as bad as they say but still fixable, invoke Marshall law, crush every Hummer, Escalade, Navigator, F150, RAM et al. and be done with it. Mandate no one person can have more than 500 sq. ft. of residence (or whatever pencils in sensibly) unless they can prove they have the carbon footprint equivalence said size.

    Stop screwing around with useless carbon credits which do nothing to reduce the effect on the environment. No more preaching from me.


    Last edited by Wallythacker; 10-19-2019 at 02:11 PM.
    Zero, 2014 ES Plus 5MT, written off but not forgotten.
    Zero II, 2014 SE, 5MT, climate She's HOME now!
    Shelby AKA "Cute", 2017 ES 5MT, A/C.

    Mirage owners look at the world differently than everyone else, but in a better way
    We're driving the Beetle of the 21st century, the greatest small car now available!

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2017 Mirage ES PLus 1.2 manual: 39.0 mpg (US) ... 16.6 km/L ... 6.0 L/100 km ... 46.8 mpg (Imp)


  2. #12
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    the Netherlands
    Country
    Netherlands
    Posts
    340
    Thanks
    16
    Thanked 158 Times in 109 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Wallythacker View Post
    I can't fathom the road tax you have over there. Nearly $2k for the diesel? To save the environment, right?
    Partly. It's a way to discourage people from driving a diesel in town. As our towns are compact, a dirt vomiting car is quickly a problem. At the moment we have a 'nitrogen crisis' here, as the air quality in some part of the country fall short of the European norms, which is blocking economical activities. And diesel cars have a bigger exhaust of NOx than petrol cars. Particulates is also an ongoing problem here.

    But there is another rationale. Due to the way car and fuel prices are build up diesel cars are mainly used by people who make a lot of kilometers. And so they just use the roads more. It's reasonable to pay more road tax, in that case.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2013 Space Star Cleartec Intense 1.0 manual: 55.7 mpg (US) ... 23.7 km/L ... 4.2 L/100 km ... 66.9 mpg (Imp)


  3. #13
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Location
    SW, WI
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    7,401
    Thanks
    594
    Thanked 2,688 Times in 2,106 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Space Wolf View Post
    It works different at your side of the ocean. I just checked, the ownership of a 2011 Subaru Forester would cost me €852 a year for roadtax only. €1644 when it's a diesel. Mandatory insurance would be €267. (Liability only). If I didn't have >15 years of damage-free driving, that could be up to €650.

    Just too much to only own a car. I can better hire one when I need something bigger than my Space Star.
    It's always good to hear how others have it in other parts of the world. My little corner of the world is much different. My 2011 Subaru Forester & 2017 Mitsubishi Mirage are both paid for. I do spend extra on insurance & license each year. Those extra costs probably wipe out most of the fuel savings I experience.

    If I only owned one vehicle (which I did until I bought my Mirage), it would be my Subaru Forester. Having AWD to climb winter ridge roads & pulling a trailer are not something I am willing to give up. I prefer pulling a trailer to owning a pickup truck. I just find it easier to load equipment like compact tractors, riding lawnmowers, ATV, & UTV vehicles.

    I shot a nice 8 point buck with my bow this past Tuesday after school. I really didn't have the time to cut it up myself. Taking it to the local meat locker with my rusty trailer is fine with me.

    In all honesty, I hadn't used my Subaru in a couple weeks before that day. My Forester received a new engine @ 90,000 miles compliments of Subaru (zero cost to me) last year. Since owning my Mirage (10-20-17), I've put nearly 30,000 miles on it. My Subaru has been about 1/10th of that. Since Subaru dropped manual transmissions in their Foresters, I have zero interest in ever replacing it. It's also why I own one. I liked my 1st generation Honda CRV better, but Honda lost me as a customer for that same reason.

    When my son-in-law & daughter (live in Helsinki) visit the States, they use my Mirage. Even in that situation, it would probably be cheaper to have them rent a car. Eventually, I will drop my Forester down to just liability insurance. When my Mirage gets older, I will do the same.

    For whatever reason, I found myself wanting a small economy car when my children were quite young. Now that they are grown and on their own, I find myself owning another one. If I had to pick one car to own, it wouldn't be my Mirage. Even though my Mirage is my favorite vehicle, it can't do everything I want it to do. I feel the same way about owning a full size pickup truck, too. It's not going to get 40-50 mpg.

    When I visited Helsinki in the fall of 2017, I don't remember seeing a pickup truck in the city. We take parking for granted here. My backyard is 72 acres of woods. That's quite different than the apartment building my daughter lives in with her husband in Helsinki. They own one car that is shared with his parents & his sister. That's the only vehicle they have for all of them. The rest is public transportation. Thus, I understand what you are sharing, too!

  4. #14
    Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Location
    Vancouver, WA
    Country
    United States
    Posts
    80
    Thanks
    4
    Thanked 38 Times in 22 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by aseverin64 View Post
    The more I drive this car, the more difficult it is to understand why so many don't see it's appeal. It handled well in last year's winter, and I genuinely can't find anything to complain about. Even hauled a 55 inch tv inside the car once, as well as utilizing the car for numerous trips to Hom Depot and Menards.

    I realize plenty of people don't see it this way, but from the perspective of reliable transportation where I can't lose an arm and a leg in value (due to low purchase price), there's nothing else I'd rather be driving for my commute. My wife has a 3rd row suv, so we have everything covered for the occasional tasks that are too hefty for the Mirage.
    I bought my G4 just over 2 months ago and I've put just over 6000 miles on it. The more I drive it, the more I enjoy driving it. I do delivery, and my car has seen all sorts of road conditions (steep hills, huge hole riddled unkept streets, twisty road, highways, etc) and has handled all with ease. I got super lucky with the last car I bought new, my 2013 FIAT 500 Abarth. $22.6k msrp (I think I paid $20). When I got rear ended in March, I received $10k for it from insurance. The car was worth about $3k-$5k in trade/retail, but also needed about the same in various things done around the car. That experience (plus watching lots of youtube videos of car flippers) really drove home how horrible *most* cars are as investments. People just don't give this car a fair chance, and that makes me sad because it's an amazing car!


        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2018 Mirage G4 ES 1.2 automatic: 32.5 mpg (US) ... 13.8 km/L ... 7.2 L/100 km ... 39.0 mpg (Imp)


Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •