~C4Chaos

If there’s one positive impact of the recent
soar in gas prices, it’s that people are now becoming more conscious of
the impracticality of big gas guzzlers. The result: small cars market
gets bigger.

"DETROIT — Soaring gas prices have turned the steady migration by Americans to smaller cars into a stampede.

"In
what industry analysts are calling a first, about one in five vehicles
sold in the United States was a compact or subcompact car during April,
based on monthly sales data released Thursday. Almost a decade ago,
when sport utility vehicles were at their peak of popularity, only one
in every eight vehicles sold was a small car.

"The switch
to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles has been building in recent
years, but has accelerated recently with the advent of $3.50-a-gallon
gas. At the same time, sales of pickup trucks and large sport utility
vehicles have dropped sharply." [read more]

Granted,
small cars may not be practical for people with babies and children.
Car seats alone take up a lot of space. But for the majority of people
who mostly do their driving alone to and from work, smaller coupes with
less horsepower should suffice.

When I was in Ireland, the average size of cars I’ve seen is that of the Toyota Yaris.
I rarely saw SUVs. There’s a big difference between Europeans and
Americans when it comes to their attitude toward their cars. For people
in Europe, a car is a means to an end: to get from point A to point B.
For Americans, a car is an extension of their personality and an
integral part of culture. So it has to be fast, furious, big, powerful,
pimped out, or classy, or all of the above.

I used to subscribe
to the American attitude on cars. The first time I moved to the U.S.
was also my first time to own a car. So I wanted a car that would
reflect my taste, personality, and social status. I remember car
shopping for a 1997 Nissan Pathfinder.
My reasoning was that the winter in Chicago is harsh so I needed a
four-wheel drive to be safer on the road. But the price, the mileage
per gallon, and the insurance premiums discouraged me. My frugal upbringing won over my short love affair with SUVs. So I ended up buying a more fuel-efficient (up to 30 mpg on highway) and stylish 3-door sports coupe — a jet black 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse.

More
than ten years had passed already and I’m still loving my first car. I
call him, Mitsu. We’ve driven on snow and icy highways in Chicago, up
and down the rockies in Colorado, in and around the steep wet roads in
Seattle and Vancouver, BC, and he still look and feel good as new. I’ve
taken good care of him and he took good care of me. I’m now emotionally
attached to my car. We’ve been through a lot together, through thick
and thin, ups and downs, literally and metaphorically. He’s no longer
just a car to me. Mitsu is my road buddy.

Once in a while I
get tempted to look at other cool new cars and dream of owning them.
But in reality I have no plans of buying a new car, that is, until
Mitsu craps out on me. If I have my way my loyal black steed will stay
with me until plug-in hybrids and electric cars become affordable.
When that time comes, I think Mitsu would be ready to retire. But for
now he still has less than 100,000 miles on his odometer. So it looks
like we have a few more years of bliss on the road together.

Looking back, I’m happy that I made the right decision of shrinking my ride.