Embracing Practicality & being Eco-Friendly

On June 30, 2010 · In Los Angeles
Tags: Nature & Green

I’ve been driving my Ford Explorer, very first car my dad bought me a month after graduation of High School for the past 8 years. It was time for me to retire & get a new car. Plus, my sister is 16 now so I gave her my car.

I’ve always been in favor 100% for SUV’s. The bigger, the badder, the better! The feeling of being higher up than most vehicles on the road, a slight pretentious factor of intimidation to the smaller cars when cutting in. The feeling of being in a heavier car & safety. The feeling of being a bad-ass rapper, bumping my crazy music (!!).

I’ve loved my Explorer, despite the rumor with delinquents in Fords, my companion has given me no problems at all. The key problem though, of course, is the Mileage/Gas. It is completely ridiculous. On a 21 gallon tank, it costs $60 to fill up today, runs 10-15 mpg, which is approx. 350 miles every 4 days before I fill up again.

Naturally, I was looking into SUV’s for my next vehicle. My favorite being Range Rovers, Escalades and Tahoe. I did the calculation & in no right state of mind did it make sense for me to make that move, as much as I tried to justify it. (I’m usually pretty good at finding ways to justify my splurge-actions when it comes to shopping. Ie: “It’s good for business!”, “It’s a good investment”, “If I wear it 10 times, it will be worth it”, etc, etc.) $400-$600 car payment a month + $200 insurance + $400 gas?? That’s 1000$/month on a Car!!

I began to felt hypocritical of the times I swore to myself I wouldn’t drive a nice car (which only depreciates) before I afford to put myself in a nice house I own (only appreciates).

In the back of my mind the whole time, I knew I should be looking into a Prius. But goodness gracious that thing is hideous! After months of deliberation and convincing myself to practice this thing called “Practicality” I’ve been telling myself to do, I got back from my trip to the Middle-East which like every other vacation, had helped me clear my mind & bring me back to basics, I decided on the Prius.

I confidently walked into the Dealership the next day after I got back, and within an hour, was out of there with my brand new 2010 Prius. It’s taken some getting use to, for the first time in my life driving a small car. But my goodness has this humble little goddess grown on me! It’s become my baby, so drivable & oh-so lovely. In the past 2 weeks, I’ve only spent $40 on gas!!! With the car payment & gas, I will be paying approx. same as the gas amount for the SUV.

I’m hoping & confident that in 3-4 years, car makers will be brilliant enough to build SUV’s with functions capable of less gas & more environmental friendly. Yes they have hybrid SUV’s today, but they run 20-30 mpg and cost $10k more. So I will await patiently, while in the mean time, continually stride towards more Practicality in my life in every aspect possible.