Let's put 100 bucks on it.

Topher wrote:

IBteachhertodrivemanual

Teach her. It's not hard.

Basing vehicle choices around women who won't drive stick. 

Topher wrote:

So today was national pet day and apparently it was celebrated at the NY auto show. 


Here's a Volt with some rats.

Fixed.

Seriously though, I love all doggies.  Even the little ones that just shiver and piss all over the place.

Yep that is a dog.

Topher wrote:

I'm not concerned about it. I've taught her. She doesn't feel comfortable driving it.

Chris, saw the photo on facebook, congrats! 

I consider you part of the Zack Morris cell phone ideology.  If he never carried that huge clonker around back in the day, we wouldn't have had the momentum to have the smartphones we all enjoy today.  Much like that, you buying a Volt helps to get that movement going.

Yeah, I compared you to a Saved By the Bell character. 

As far as the wife and driving a stick, yeah, I taught my wife too, but she doesn't enjoy it.  Plus I taught her in my Legacy, where a 3k rpm clutch drop doesn't do much harm.  Do that in my current car, and it's called a burnout. 

Nice car.   

Topher wrote:

There's a 7500 rebate. And most dealers are also giving additional money on top of that.

So here's my question, the $7500 rebate through government, is that a true $7500 you're getting back on your 2012 taxes or is it a $7500 tax credit they scratch of your total income?

I leased this car. I've never leased before, but spent a really long time digging into it. And it seemed to be the smarter route.

I pay $365/mo all in; 2,500 down; 12k miles a year. The $7,500 credit is figured into that price along with the ~$2,500 that the dealer had off the price.

And I still love the car. I've got about 600mi on it now and I've used just under 1 gallon of gas.

Scot, the great thing is I'm well exceeding the mileage that's advertised. They advertise and claim 35mi on battery. I'm getting well over that always 40mi. Sometimes even 45mi.

scot_douglas wrote:

Topher wrote:

I've got about 600mi on it now and I've used just under 1 gallon of gas.

Damn, yeah, that's good.

My dad is trading in his 2010 Prius with 95,000 miles for a new Prius.

I asked him about the Volt, of course he brought up politics. 

I have now seen two Volts on the road. They look good! Actually saw one parked last night right in my neighborhood.

Hold on, so you're leasing it and you have to buy a charging station?  What happens when the lease is over?  Is it junk, or can it be reused for your next hippiemobile?

To be clear, it comes with a charging station. Included in the price. It's just a 110V standard outlet charger.

I was debating buying the upgraded charger (cost is like $300) but the install is about $1,500. It nets you a full charge in 4hrs vs 10hrs.

But the charging hasn't been an issue yet, so I've decided NOT to pay for the upgraded charger.

One friend swears by the upgraded charger. But Michigan is running a test to see how it effects the grid, so the power company bought and covered installation of these. He was charged nothing. My other friend told me it's not worth it unless you drive a ton and take a lot of back to back trips. I pretty much drive it to work then drive it home and charge it. If I need to run errands, they are usually short distance. I've always woke up to a full charge the next day.


And an update, I was way off on my mileage.

I've driven 702 miles; of which 664 were on electric only. I've used right around one gallon of gas to cover the cumulative 702mi.

I have. Even called the power company.

I'm on mobile right now. I'll give a detailed response when I get back to desktop.