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OMG, we had a Ford Windster Minivan that SEEMED... notice I say "seemed"... really neat when we bought it. Yeah, we bought it used. Had it a little over a year. Probably spent 6 months of that year sitting because there was ALWAYS something wrong with it. We paid just under $2,000 for it and over the ensuing year spent another $2,500 in repairs, and a year later it STILL didn't work right (we'd fix one thing, something else would go, but it did go through 3 belts that year & five mechanics could not figure out why it kept snapping belts). One year to the day after we purchased said POS minivan, it was parked in front of our house sitting, where it had been sitting for about four weeks with yet another snapped belt. It needed another $800 in repairs, which SUPPOSEDLY would fix the belt snapping issue (I'd heard that song a few times before). We finally got the money together and dedided ya know, we've REALLY put enough money into this beast. It costs me $70-85 every two weeks to fill it up (more when the gas prices zoom up as they occasionally do), and I don't even work outside the house--that's just for running around & doing stupid errands! My gas mileage in that beast was about 10-12 in the city and maybe MAYBE 15-18 mpg on the highway. Everytime we had something done, we were told, "Oh, yeah, this will definitely fix it.
Got SICK TO DEATH of that Windstar. Instead of dumping another $800 into it, I took my $800 and a couple hundred extra and bought this with it instead, and now this is what I drive:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/59404_bella_rosa_returns02.jpeg
I run those same errands in it every two weeks, and it costs me less than $8/month in gas... less than $5/month if I don't have a lot of errands. Hubby and I both got one. Both scoots, including tax, license, and DMV fees was about $1,900, and insurance for BOTH of us on both bikes, full coverage, is $170/year. Since we got the scoots, we only use the car (we have a '99 Dodge Neon) when it's raining, or if we have to go somewhere on the freeway, if it's cold out, or late at night. Other than that, the car just sits in the driveway and collects dust. We scoot EVERYWHERE and have saved an armload of money since we got the scoots. As of this month, my scoot has officially paid for itself just in what I have saved on gas alone, not to mention car repairs... very' POS Windstar...
This is the last Windstar I will ever buy and may possible be the last Ford I ever buy. I have to say I was very disappointed in how often something goes wrong with it and I'd love to scrap it and get something newer, but alas we can't right now.
Cute scooter! Doubt it would work for me since I live in VA and the weather isn't nearly as nice as CA and we have 3, soon-to-be 4, kids to cart around, but that's awesome that you did so much to reduce your gas usage!
Darn American cars. [decides not to kick it because I don't want to walk all the way out to the driveway]
