Richard Green is a professor in the Sol Price School of Public Policy and the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. This blog will feature commentary on the current state of housing, commercial real estate, mortgage finance, and urban development around the world. It may also at times have ruminations about graduate business education.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Looking for Auto Advice
When I move to California late this summer, I will need to drive to work (ugh--I have only had to do this for about four years out of my entire adult life). I do NOT want to drive my Odyssey minivan to work everyday; I think I have narrowed it down to buying a Cooper Mini or a Prius. I welcome any and all thoughts.
We R very happy with our Prius...
ReplyDeleteNissan Versa hatchback. more room than the mini, about the same mileage, cheaper, not as cool looking. For the Prius, make an honest evaluation of how much you'll drive and the difference in gas savings before shelling out all that extra cash.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm sure that, for a fee, someone in So Cal will trick any one of those out as a low rider.
Hey Richard,
ReplyDeleteI've driven both the Mini and the Prius a number of times (part of the fun of using Zipcar). Be sure to test-drive a Prius and pay close attention to whether the poor rear visibility bothers you -- it has very wide pillars and an annoying horizontal bar across the rear hatch window. Between the inability to see what's behind me and the constant temptation to check out the display and see how I'm doing on fuel efficiency, I feel much less safe driving a Prius.
The Mini is fun to drive, though it gets noisy on the highway. As an added bonus, you'll get friendly waves from other people driving Minis.
Along the same lines as the Versa, the Honda Fit is cheap, bigger than a Mini, gets high-30s gas mileage, drives very well, and is about as stylish as a 1980s Dodge Omni.
Best,
Cousin Ken
I predict that your views on traffic and public transportation will become more militant over the next year.
ReplyDeleteMy votes for vehiculos:
1) Smart Car. It's sassy, cost effective, aggressively demure, and the kicker is that if you get one, thousands would think it's cool enough to get one too (ala Ahnold and de Hummer).
2) Motorcycle or Scooter. Fantastic gas mileage and it would sex up the image of the typical economist.
Suggestion for custom license plate frame: The Green Machine
Austin: We haven't had lowriders here for quite some time. Maybe the potholes and speedbumps have killed that particular trend?
Uncle Billy, you're destroying all my dreams.
ReplyDeleteAustin: come to think of it, lowriders disappeared as refis and helocs took off. Those drivers are now seen in big suv's.
ReplyDelete