Green, Greener, Greenest

Check out this car I spotted a few weeks ago in Oak Bluffs! Being a Prius owner, I always thought I had a "green" car. But this vintage, ivy-encrusted Volkswagen Beetle is even greener.

Speaking of my Prius . . . John and I have decided the time has come for a new car. I must say, I have thoroughly enjoyed my Prius for the past seven years. But our new home is located in a rather hilly part of town — good if you want to avoid flooding from hurricanes — bad if you want to go anywhere on a snowy day.

Last winter, we had lots of trouble navigating the rolling hills around our lovely cottage. After going to the gym one snowy morning, we couldn't even make it home. We had to leave the Prius at the bottom of a hill and walk back. And that wasn't even my Prius! John drives a company car and it is a Prius, too! Therefore, after last year's super harsh winter, we vowed to get a new car that would get through most anything.

Having been spoiled with the Prius' gas mileage, we began our new car search by looking at Hybrids. The criteria? They had to have All Wheel Drive, be affordable and fit in our smallish garage. Unfortunately, they are few and far between.

Next we focused on fuel efficient AWD vehicles. Want to know my favorite? The Mini Countryman. What a crazy fun car! But it is also crazy small and we deemed it unpractical. Time for a Subaru . . .

We finally settled on a Crosstrek, their zippy, smaller AWD. It even comes in a hybrid version. However, that model costs several thousand dollars more and only gets an additional five miles more to the gallon. So the standard Crosstrek, a Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle (PZEV), would do just fine.

In a few short weeks, we'll be going from being a two-Prius to a one-Prius family. I'm sure it is for the best as then we will be ready for the winter to come. Bring on the snow!

Susan

Comments

[Joan]

I saw that car last Oct.. guess it hasn't moved since :)

[Fox and Finch]

Funny...because just this morning I was thinking I should have a Prius let go of my beloved 4-Wheel drive Explorer. I was wondering if one could pull a small trailer. I didn't realize they weren't too great in snow so thank you for the information. I can fit a lot of vintage/antique stuff into the back and on the top of my gas hog SUV and in the winter here in Illinois I can get a parking spot anywhere because I can move through 2 feet of snow without any problem.
Love that picture of the VW!
Ginene

[Elsie]

Cute bug Susan, you can't get greener than that. LOL! Down South we have 4 wheel drive trucks for mud and occasionally ice. Hubby has 4 wheel drive suburban and I have 2 wheel drive suburban. I love mine because I can cram a whole lot of flea market stuff in it and that's always so much fun. 😀 Also I pull my camper to the Canton Trade Days flea market in Texas and that's really a fun filled 4 days.