Sally and I bought a car the other day. Yup, that’s it on the left — a mid-sized, four-wheel drive SUV — what every guy who writes for an environmental website should own. As much as we make of buying “green” and polluting less with our vehicles, we’re sometimes left with few options.
What I learned from this transaction, is that the process of buying a used car is changing with the infusion of hybrid-electric vehicles (HEV) into the marketplace. Let me explain.
Oh, the building in the background? I have a link at the end of the article.
As you know, we’re older. (Well, I’m much older, Sally’s just older.) We have limited income and some physical considerations, so we had to settle for something less than I would like from the standpoint of our carbon footprint. Purchasing a used HEV was out of the question, as much as I would like to have one, but I’ll cover that later.
I did all the “guy” things, you know, kick the tires, check the engine, look at fluid levels and general physical condition. Sally did her part. She looked it over inside and out, got in the passenger seat for the test ride and exclaimed, “I like it, let’s buy it,” and we did.
Later, I got to thinking, what used car will you buy in the next few years? This will undoubtedly be my last car purchase, and it was done in the traditional manner with all the traditional considerations as outlined above. You, on the other hand, may have to think about more than the tires, drive train, engine, brakes and the like.
