A few years ago I bought a sailboat. It was a 1994 Macgregor 19 Powersailer, one part sailboat one part planing powerboat – it weighed just 1800lbs. Besides being both a powerboat and a sailboat, the Macgregor and I were able to dispel other boating impossibilities such as the best days of ownership being the first and the last. I topped off the list by selling the boat for a profit after two seasons of use (without a single repair bill) in the midst of a recession.
Yes, I pulled off the impossible with careful research and planning, and through necessity ( the budget was very tight). One other impossibility I pulled off was owning a trailer sailor, a boat that lives on it’s trailer, without owning an SUV or pick-up truck. Nope, I owned a Volvo wagon with a thousand pounds to spare in the towing capacity. Most mini vans are similarly rated to 3000lbs or more. The Volvo towed the Macgregor beautifully by the way and I live in the mountains. We often recorded mpgs in the 20’s towing the boat.
Truth be told though, once we began storing the boat at a small marina, we no longer needed the wagon for towing and we downsized to the 2007 VW Rabbit we currently own. Now I did theorize that the Rabbit could handle pulling the boat but with the trailer and any gear or another passenger, I would be over the towing capacity and that’s a safety risk and quite possibly a transmission killer. So when it came time to tow, we rented from Uhaul.
I mention Uhaul specifically because they were the only rental house I could find that allows for towing personal equipment… items they do not own. You might have other options in your area, but the decision to downsize the car hinged on that availability. We picked up roughly 10 mpgs with the Rabbit over the Volvo and the annual savings in cash left us a sizable budget for the occasional rental. And when we rented, we got a fine new truck with all the latest safety features and the wear and tear was not on our vehicle.
If we were too busy to use the boat in any given month or season we felt no stress over the maintenance and cost of a vehicle we were underusing. Of course the greatest benefit was that we no longer had to have a tow vehicle as our daily driver. The Rabbit is simply wonderful to drive, it has more performance than can be realized on the street.
Now I’m sure you don’t own a sailboat, most people do not. But I can’t be so certain you’re not driving a vehicle that is too big for your needs. What I do know is that most trips in the US are single occupancy – just one person in the car. Which means that with few exceptions, your vehicle is being underutilized and you are both polluting more than you need to and you are paying extra to do it. Take a look around the next time you are sitting at a busy intersection and you will see this is true.
Lighter vehicles are more fun to drive, often cost less money to own and operate and in most cases are safer than their heavy counterparts. Do yourself a favor and consider rental vehicles to meet your occasional utility and passenger carrying needs. This way you can spend less money on your daily driver and get something vastly more suited to carrying a single person around – even a family of 5.
So if you have 2.5 kids and you feel you need a mini van for those trips to go see Grandma, buy a sedan and rent a Van when you need it. I know you have a lot of stuff that must go with you Grandma’s. I’ll let you do your own math on the cost of fuel and the savings you’ll enjoy with a more efficient daily driver. If you own ATVs and a utility trailer, see if a compact light truck can haul the weight as opposed to the ¾ or 1 ton monster that really is only suitable for commercial duty. But give yourself the time to consider scrapping the hauler altogether and simply rent.
If I had 30k – 60k to spend on a brand new SUV here is a short list of cars I would drive and purchase in place of a SUV or truck. In no specific order / capacity
1.The VW Rabbit/Golf (seating for five, well made, seriously fun to drive )
2.The Mazda MX-5 ( the latest Miata is refined and admired by club racers and enthusiasts )
3.The BMW/Cooper Mini S ( If you don’t know what fun to drive is, drive this car)
4.The BMW 3 series / M3 (The 3 series is also refined and heralded as a drivers car)
5.The Mazda 3 series ( Practical 4 door Hatchback cars with a sporting bent )
6.5 Series BMW ( mid-size sedan for heavy 5 passenger use – very sporting )
7.Anything else that doesn’t weigh 3 tons.
