New Wheels

I actually traded in the 10-yr-old Ford this week. It was time. At 87,000 miles it needed a new thermostat, some front-end work, gas pedal was acting funny sometimes, dash lights were starting to go and paint was cracking on the doors and peeling off in holes across the roof. Plus power was lousy and gas mileage was worse.

I was wanting to get a hybrid civic like Mom, but locally they've been vanishing because the tax rebate drops Dec. 31st -- only one was silver, and I've kind of had enough silver cars. Besides the more I thought about it the more it was still hard to get comfortable with laying down over $20k for a car.

I looked at a few leftover 2007 Mazda 6's - reasonably cheap and efficient for what you get -- one had a V6 engine but when Kris brought up mileage, Mirs started giving me grief about global warming... I've taught the child too well. But she was absolutely right. I mean, as a card-carrying member of the Union of Concerned Scientists it would be an unseemly hypocrisy to go gunning for such horsepower.

So I picked up this blue Mazda 6 hatchback, 4-cylinder engine version, and test-driving it convinced me that the V6 engines are a total waste of money. Last bright blue 2007 on the lot, stickers for $21.5k, with rebates and discounts got it for about $17k. Which is still by far the most we have ever spent on a vehicle.

But it'll be a nice family-trip car. High crash ratings, airbags up the wazoo, lots of cargo room, and with an 18-gallon gas tank and 4-cylinder engine the cruising range between fillups will be just huge. Plus it's a manual shift which I've been wanting for years which gives you a lot more opportunity to manipulate your fuel economy. The 4-cylinder version has ultra-clean emissions, qualifying as a PZEV (Partial-Zero-Emission-Vehicle) in some states. Plus, it's built in the USA (my old Ford was made in Mexico or Brazil).