Automobiles

I love cars. Not so much that they rule my life, and not so that I have a few spares, but I truly have enjoyed driving many different cars and keep looking forward to my next one.

Current Cars

Right now I primarily drive my Trooper, but for simplicity's sake, here are all the current vehicles in my family.

2004 Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel - Tia's workhorse.
1988 Porsche 911 - My Dream Car.
2007 Toyota Prius - The new family car that replaces the Caravan.
1974 Porsche 914 2.0 - First porsche and very cool. Fun to drive and soon to go to the oldest as his first car.

Past Cars

A list of the cars I've owned at some point in my life, or those I've driven as a daily driver (like the one my parents owned, but let me use at 16).

2004 Dodge Ram 2500 - Tia's hemi that couldn't handle the load.
2004 Honda Odessey EXL - The new family car.
2003 Dodge Durango SXT - Tia's main drive.
2001 Isuzu Trooper LS - This is my third Trooper and I still enjoy it. I miss the sunroof I had in the last one, but this one runs, so that's a plus.
1987 BMW 528e - My wife's car. She's had this for 10 years and loves it. Slowly over the years I've given her a few gifts to try and keep this one going. At present, we are debating getting rid of it, but I hate to since it's a cheap to own and nice to have 3rd car.
2001 Dodge Grand Caravan - We had to when Kendall was born. With 5 in the family and trips to take, the space is really needed and used.
2000 GMC Yukon XL - Nice truck, never drove it.
1993 Isuzu Trooper LS - This is my second Trooper and I really enjoy it. I've had it for 4 years and it's served me well, though in early 2002, it required quite a bit of work.
1970s Pontiac station wagon of some sort
1990 GMC Surburban - I love this. Totaled by an Expedition.
1987 Dodge Caravan - My beater, old, ran well, and pulled our 19' boat.
Acura Integra, 1992 I think.
1992 Mercedes 240D
1975 Pontiac Station Wagon - Not sure what year, but this was a huge v-8 beast, torn up interior, etc. But it cruised down the road, had space, and was a good fit for me for about 5-6 months.
1990 Suziki 500 Street motorcycle - My mom hated it, but I commuted in San Diego for almost a year on this bike. Over 1000 miles a month.
1990 Isuzu Trooper LS - This was my frist Trooper, actually my first new car as well.
1980ish Saab 900 - A sweet car out of college. Engine troubles doomed this car.
1982 Pontiac Bonneville - Tore up my shoulder and my parents gave me this when I couldn't shift anymore.
1977 Volkswagen Scirocco - The first car I bought. I loved this one, put in a sunroof, cruised the beach.
1980 Pontiac Bonneville - My Mom's old car and she gave it to me at 16.

Future Cars

Check out some of my dreams.

Latest Auto Blogs

I miss my SUV 9/30/2008 6:58:09 AM
Yesterday I was behind a Tribeca at Schlotzsky's and admiring that lines of that car. On my way to the rental and in a bit of a hurry, but I was thinking it would be nice to have one of those.

Over the last year I've also turned my head at every Trooper that goes by thinking I wouldn't mind having one of those.

Of course, I was in my 911, so it wasn't like I felt I was in a junker. I still enjoy that car and riding around, even just sitting in it for a few minutes in the garage. It is a cool car.

Most of the time I'm in the Prius, which is neat because of the gas savings, and it fits the family well. It's a good, practical car for us. It fits us and I'm glad we bought it.

However there's something about an SUV. I wanted a Trooper in high school, even since riding in a friend's, and over the years I've owned 3 of them. And enjoyed all of them, a little sad when each one moved on.

Now's not the time, especially when we need to buy another car for Kyle soon, but I've got the itch. I think someday I'll be able to have a Cayenne, and be a Porsche guy summer and winter, or maybe I'll get an old Jeep (always wanted one) or another Trooper to move through the snow when the 911's stored away in bad weather.

Ideally they'll be a conversion to an electric one some day. Now that I wouldn't mind, an old, old, early 80's Trooper II running on electric power. That would be cool.

56+ 8/6/2008 11:24:51 AM
I let the tank run down the other day, getting the "Add Fuel" warning as we started back from town. I think that's a 1 gal remaining warning, but since the Prius has a flexible fuel bladder, it's hard to say. I got home, worried slightly as we headed back to town Tue am, but since it's mostly downhill, I thought we would be fine.

We were, and I filled up with 9.89gal, still only $38!! Haven't crossed $40 in that car yet, which compares nicely with the $80 Porsche fillups and the $120 in Tia's truck.

So I wanted to track more carefully what a full tank gets us. I was watching the Avg and the fuel gauge this morning as I drove Kendall and headed to a home inspection. I started from the house with a 52.4mpg avg for 60some miles. As I fell to town, we got up to about 54-55, and then by carefully heading to the home inspection, I got up over 56.

On the way home, I fell a little low, but I kept near the speed limit and watched the acceleration and ended up at 56.1 right now for 103miles!! That's < 2 gal, and I still have full bars on the gauge, which means that it's definitely not close to linear. There are 10 bars, and they're all full. I've gone 20% of my mileage for the tank, 500 miles full, so it's interesting to watch.

A fun thread at Prius Chat on this.

Hypermiling 7/31/2008 12:42:07 PM
I haven't read a lot on hypermiling, but I've read a little and I try to watch my foot on the pedal, coasting, getting up to speed and driving steady, etc.

Today we were down to 1 bar on the fuel gauge, getting ready to head to the dentist, so a 30 mile or so trip. I thought we needed gas, but Tia said we'd be fine. Another 20-25 miles once the gauge blinks.

We're at 490miles on a tank, still no "Add Fuel" light. I bet we can get to 500+ today on a tank.

A Slow Ride 7/30/2008 4:45:53 PM
The ATV was overheating a bit today, and I've been meaning to get it up for service, so I decided not to wait. After a busy work day trying to get through things, and not getting enough done, I told Kendall we would drive it up there and Tia would pick us up.

I filled up the coolant, thinking that it was leaking or low and we headed up. About halfway there the overheating light flashed, and so we stopped and called for help. I'd forgotten to take water with me, so we sat and waited until Tia could come, about 15 minutes.

We filled it up and made it about 3/4 of the way there, and then the warning flashed, so I cut it off and pushed a bit. There was a downhill, so I rolled down there, hanging off the back as Kendall steered. I figured we were close enough then and turned it on and raced through about 20 sec of warning until we could coast to the gas station. I still had to push a bit through the parking lot and the guys at the ATV service saw us coming.

So they'll look at it. I could probably diagnose it, but honestly I think that's a pain, so I'll let them do it.

One Year Ago 6/22/2008 9:10:47 AM
We got rid of the old #honda. I still remember that day, thinking that I regretted that minivan for most of the time we had it. As much as it seemed like a good car to get, in practicality I didn't like it. We should have bought a Dodge.

On this day last year we woke up with 5 cars and today we have 3. The van was returned last year, I sold the 914 earlier this year, and soon we'll be back up to 4 cars. At least I think we will. Kyle still doesn't have a job and he's responsible for getting some money together. We'll match him, but in 4 or 5 weeks out of school he hasn't made much of an effort to find a job.