Recently I had to purchase a new car (new to me, at least) due to an accident back in September. I had been driving a 2006 Impala with combined 30 mpg, and I knew that this unfortunate event had the silver lining of allowing me to talk with my money about environmental issues that matter to me.

Needless to say, I have ZERO interest or use for an SUV.  Truly, most people who have an SUV have no excuse to have one except they think it looks big and cool.

Hybrids, frankly, were no option.  I had $13K to work with, and I refuse to have a car payment.  I’m lucky that I don’t have to make monthly payments to that, and I refuse to start by choice.  Cash, up-front, and done.  It’s mine.

With hybrids being not affordable (including pre-owned 2004 models, which were still fetching $15K), I looked into the Smart Cars.  Affordable, but as stated in a previous post, I also refuse to drive a small, fragile vehicle that cannot ultimately protect Marc, myself, and our passengers in the event of an accident.  We got incredibly lucky with the first in that the driver at fault was not driving an SUV when she t-boned us.

This week, I saw a flurry of articles online supporting my fears.  Had I gotten a smaller hybrid or such, I would have been paying out the wazoo for insuring it!  Turns out these cars do not stand up well in accidents, resulting in insurance premiums to cover the high personal-injury claims that such accidents cause.

Other costs leading to high insurance, as sited in the article, are maintenance and repair costs of alternative-fuel vehicles, street racing incidences, and theft rates of compact cars.

Cost is not the end-all-be-all for me, and I believe that efficient vehicles are the long-term cost-effective solution.  We all still inhabit a world, however, where we can only do what our wallets allow.  Still yet, the biggest point for me is safety.  I actually feel like I NEED a mid-sized car just to have a CHANCE in surviving a serious impact.

Thankfully, driving smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles is becoming cool and will eventually become more affordable.  Unfortunately, driving demolition monster-trucks and SUVs is also still “cool” in our culture.  And in an odd world where people think it is OK to text, talk, email, and jam while driving (totally ignoring our culture’s tendency to drink and drive), we each have a lot of considerations when choosing a vehicle.

In case you hadn’t heard, I chose an almost exact replacement.  Gina is salvaging other Impalas, and Lelee, a 2007 Impala, is taking care of me now.

Safe driving and sustainably yours,  Ashley Sue Allen

So, here I am driving a rental Chevrolet Cobalt (who told me to call her Tina…) for another couple days until I get a check for Gina and find another car.  This accident has me not only looking for another car-friend in my life, but has me asking questions regarding how eco-friendly I can get in my search.

I can feel decent that Gina, being the organ donor she is, will be reused in various other vehicles needing parts and body work.  But what will my new purchase be made of?  What workers will be paid for the manufacturing of my vehicle?  How will my car be with gas efficiency?

These are a few of the many questions I have to ask as I explore a new car.

My options aren’t unlimited, however.  I do have a budget to work within.  I am choosing to pay cash for whatever vehicle I buy, so a new hybrid or alternative fuel vehicle will not likely be an option, even if it were the greenest option.

According to The Daily Green, I could afford the 2008 Smart, but I have to be honest in that I like the size and space offered in my previous 2006 Impala.  Frankly, I am also not sure the Smart would have much to offer in terms of protection when t-boned.  I already shudder at how lucky we were the Impala wasn’t hit by an SUV or mega-truck.

A simple Google search on “eco car” lands me all kinds of sites on hybrids, primarily ~ and particularly sites in the UK (and here too).  The more research I do on hybrids and AFV, the more I realize I will certainly have to stick to more conventional transportation.

Really, though, my Impala had quality mpg.  I know firsthand how well she held up on gasoline, and unfortunately, for my job, I put quite a few miles on her.  And she had ethanol/biodiesel/diesel potential I just hadn’t tapped into.

So, I Google “green” “used” “car” and find a few useful websites.  I even found a Wired article declaring that buying a used car can be greener than buying the uber-efficient hybrids.

As Matt Power notes in this month’s issue of Wired,

hybrids get great gas mileage but it takes 113 million BTUs of energy to make a Toyota Prius. Because there are about 113,000 BTUs of energy in a gallon of gasoline, the Prius has consumed the equivalent of 1,000 gallons of gasoline before it reaches the showroom. Think of it as a carbon debt — one you won’t pay off until the Prius has turned over 46,000 miles or so.

That’s good, I feel.  I don’t have to feel like a shlub for buying a conventional car.  In fact, Power chronicles several car models from the ’90s and even the mid-’80s that beat the Prius on mpg efficiency!  That, I would have never guessed!

Of course, it can be tough finding a car that old that hasn’t been beaten like a drum, and Robyn Eckard of Kelley Blue Book tells us most used car buyers prefer something no more than 5 to 7 years old and with fewer than 100K on the odometer. No problem.  [Several models are mentioned specifically here]

We’ve undoubtedly left some off the list. But the point is, you don’t need to buy a Prius — or any other hybrid, for that matter — to get great fuel economy and minimize your carbon footprint. You might feel better driving a hybrid, but you won’t necessarily be greener.

On that note, judge me if you wish, but I am focusing my new car hunt on replacing my 2006 Impala with a used 2007 or 2008 Impala.

Until I have more news on the car-front~

Safe driving.

Sustainably yours ~ Ashley Sue