Can Keeping Your Clunker Be More Eco-Friendly than Buying a Prius?

[IsaiaIsme]

I had my Toyota Tercel 25 years then I got a Prius and because of watching this video I regret buying it........

[12coconutman]

ten people own a prius

[tuttt99]

Thank you for pointing this out, Rachel.

People forget that cost of manufacture can account for more than half of an object's lifetime energy consumption.

This is even more true for fuel efficient cars.

[GlueSniffer4Life]

This is, of course, not an excuse to buy fuel inefficient cars. It simply means that we should squeeze as much juice as we can from what we buy before replacing it. We are far from doing this in Europe and USA. When was the last time you saw someone replacing his computer parts or DVD drive because it died rather than because a newer, more attractive product became available?

[jmelkis]

Yes. But also, we do not need to destroy cars that don't get good gas mileage because as the price goes up, people will drive them less. There is no need to waste them by destroying them prematurely.

[HugoMF]

Doesn't get any uglier than the prius...

[zrcattle]

See the gentleman sitting beside her rolling his eyes...

[ezze902]

The prius is not sexy! what the heck... lol... Its ugly as sin.

[crazygeek777]

last time i checked orgy's one night stands and eating shrimp are all sins and i don't know about you but shrimp is sexy as hell and don't say hell isn't sexy demon girl flavored shrimp anyone??

[blackiron60]

Allow me to politely say: what the fuck was that all about? Evidently some meaningless bullshit about treating full-blooded human beings as one-dimensional consumers and implicitly arguing that we can "save the world" by shopping (or not shopping). It is very sad that people fall for this kind of stuff.

[GlueSniffer4Life]

I'm just as outraged as you are. When polls and clinical trials are run people are reduced to numbers and statistics as well! What an evil immoral practice!

(moron)

[c9rm3n]

exactly.

[anthonzi]

Why do these people still call themselves Jewish? They aren't taking about anything that is exclusive to the Jewish culture. I don't get it at all.

[th3dig1tal0n3]

Can Keeping Your Clunker Be More Eco-Friendly than Buying a Prius?

1. Yes it it is not a car with "American small volume engine" car (they can never be fuel efficient because they are too heavy )

2. Yes if they are not SUV ( too heavy )

3. Yes if car is used in an fuel efficient manner.

4. Yes if car can last for long time ( some '80. cars are extremely fuel efficient and cheap too )

5. old cars can be upgraded ( EFI, exhaust heat to power converter etc )

[praline2x]

Old cars are more environmentally responsible, support family owned independent business's through repair and servicing costs. Rather than corporate ecological maniacs that are gigantic inefficient and unresponsive e.g. GM.

[italianchappy]

In the first 90s I was among the first going in eastern europe (for work, but for the girls too). You could see how well it works for the family owned businesses. ALL CARS there were the old ones held together by small business.

Stop buying new cars and new items and you're there, the the Soviet decline. I'm staunch supporter of the USA, hence I don't want them to decline. People has to buy new cars and US companies compete to make the better ones. This competition made the USA great.

[italianchappy]

Better products, competitiion in making them, and people buying them. This is prosperity.

All the rest means losing.

[JasonMelancon]

You mean to tell me you can't imagine a more productive and fulfilling life than manufacturing superfluous products that people don't actually need? What about filling actual unfilled needs instead? Isn't that a better use of our time and resources?

[italianchappy]

Yes, I love the superflous. You can live as Diogenes of Sinope, if you like.

Leave to me all the superflous things. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, Palaces with wonderflul frescos, arts, 1,000 USD/bottle wines, truffles.

In the future we have the possibility to create superflous things that are less harmful to the environment. We can build the economy on this thing. If you build it on the basic needs, then you'll get the grey wretchedness of the basic needs.

[italianchappy]

No one can stop the lively will to choose for oneself superflous things. Be it clothes or drinks, cars or elctronic gadgets.

Progress is to make them in new ways, with less harm to the environment and create a competition about this thing. A good environment too is a good product.

Instead, renouncing to the superflous things will bring forth misery only.

[italianchappy]

Alas, mala tempora currunt. The old Americans, after having seen the Prius and having purchased it, would have built a car even more eco-friendly, waging the healthy war of competition in green technology.

Today's americans have not to be lured by these people who want them to produce less and less. This is the way a winner becomes a loser.

It's Theodore Kaczynski's revenge against you.

[JasonMelancon]

Thing is, I think a lot of people would be delighted to finally have the "grey wretchedness" of basic needs. I intend to help them get that before I worry about Lamborghinis.

[italianchappy]

These are the paradoxes of Nature. Rich people spending their money IS THE BEST REDISTRIBUTION of wealth, because it creates jobs, skills and improves knowledge.

This does not mean you have not to help those who cannot work with unemployment benefits, free health care to those who have not the money, etc.

[italianchappy]

ok guys, if you buy Fred Flinstone footmobile you're even more environment-friendly.

These ecoterrorists will send you back to the stone age.

[c9rm3n]

it is nice to see someone say that out loud.

[burntonion05]

I got a better idea. Put a $1/gallon tax on gas to start with. Use that money to pay down our debt and you kill 2 birds with 1 stone. Easy

[willb128]

BORING

[TipoftheSlung]

Wow, the amazed look when supposedly clever people realise something that is actually totally intuitive.

[marsCubed]

Worth repeating a good idea,

Car manufacturers could solve a lot of problems for themselves, if they produced green engine upgrades which were fitted to existing models.

So for instance, an Audi TT owner could purchase a high performance low CO2 model as a repalcement in the future.

It would suit the market today and leads the way in terms of greenest solutions.

it also solves price problems

It would stimulate service economics while allowing car makers to develop models in this difficult period

[Atheistprimate]

To the twits bitching about what she is trying to say if you think buying a new car every couple years just to save a few MPG is better then keeping your current car you are a fucking idiot.

Producing a new car takes far more energy then what say a SUV will use due to its poor gas mileage compared to a compact size car over the life span of the vehicle.

That useless lump of bone and meat that sits on your shoulders is good for more then growing hair and holding up your sunglasses.

[marsCubed]

The greenest option may be to hold onto older low CO2 models for longer. cash in the gas guzzlers for a new green model, and keep that for longer too, car companies could better service existing green models, or upgrading for green economy and income also.

like being able to buy a replacement green engine !

so they need not lose out.

At the end of the day, if we cut down energy and new raw materials together, it will be cheaper and much more sustainable.

[jamiefhr]

environmentalist take their belief as a religion without rationale thought.

[c9rm3n]

@Jamiefhr

Not all of them

[marsCubed]

The prius has to be understood as a first of kind IMO. It is the launch of a new direction, epitomized in the work of art which is a car.

So what if it is not green.

Renault have a very green car soon, GM have new models too.

One has to speculate to make things happen.

it is called investing.

It's the future of motoring if we wish to tackle CO2 and energy security in the private transport sector.

Green, high tech solutions, the alternative is much more expensive and defines waste.

[bilpayne]

you would get your balls hung from back of truck if you had a prius here

[ndyt]

rambling idiot, you don't ding a product like the Prius just because people "could" make their home more green instead. What if their how is already green? What if they don't have a car. This lady has no brain.

[SoftwareEngineer3]

@ndyt: re-watch the video, I think you misunderstood.

She said that from a larger perspective, "green" technology might not be so ecological after, and that you need to do some calculations to be sure.

Buying a hybrid vs. keeping your old car.

Using solar panels (for your house) vs. making your home more efficient.

How did you manage to mix this two?

Or were you trying to be funny?..

[ndyt]

SoftwareEngineer3, maybe you should re-watch the video for you seem to have FAILED to realize that she is answering a direct question about the Prius and it greeness. He is not asking about this other crap.

[c9rm3n]

@ndyt

I think your failing to realize she is saying that keeping a car that gets reasonable gas mileage for an extra two years may be more eco-friendly than buying a brand new one that gets "good" gas mileage.

[ndyt]

c9rm3n, which has absolutely NOTHING to do with the Prius. That is a "what if" for which there are millions. What if he took the bus? What if he has a family of 8? What if he rode a bike? What if walked? That question is "Is the Prius green or not" That's it! Period!

[c9rm3n]

ndyt

I think you should take the advice of SoftwareEngineer3.

I cleaned up his stuttering but:

@27seconds:

How can we as consumers look at the solutions from the cradle to grave perspective? Just taking the prius as an example it gets great gas mileage in the owners hands but there is a lot of energy that goes into making batteries. Is the prius like kind of fiction that we are being more energy efficient cradle to grave?

Your "what if" questions are important but they were not the discussion.

[ndyt]

c9rm3n, the idea of keeping your existing car was also not part of the discussion, she injected that, and that is my point.  It was superfluous for her to bring it up.

[c9rm3n]

The key words were "Cradle to grave" of course if you are looking at buying a new car, when you have never owned one, buying a Prius will win out over a Towncar, however there is no point in asking either of his questions unless you are talking about trading in another car. He was just not very articulate.

It was not superfluous for her to bring it up, she was answering the question.

[c9rm3n]

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, as I pointed out below they are in that order for a reason however, if reusing saves more energy that reducing does it not make more since to reuse?

[ndyt]

c9rm3n, It makes much more sense to talk about the Prius when asked about the Prius. It is like someone asked about her father and she started rambling about her roommate.

[c9rm3n]

I must have been confused by the title.

[italianchappy]

> Buying a hybrid vs. keeping your old car.

the latter makes more jobless people.

[purplecharger88]

Yes, but the former create jobs through a phony incentive and as soon as that goes away and demand goes down the jobs will be gone anyway. Instead of trying to get Americans to spend money they don't have we should be looking to more fruitful and long term solutions to economic growth.

[italianchappy]

E.g. giving money to the people rather than to bankers.

We've always built and sold cars without incentives. The incentinves come in when people don't buy anymore and we don't want to fire workers, even though firing workers is the natural consequence of not buying the items they produce.

The only thing solving this is technological innovation. Better cars consuming less and money to the people to buy them. The alternative is recession, depression down till the Flinstone footmobile.

[VAR1UM]

They dont give your car to someone else. They seize the engine and junk it.

Would be nice if these people knew more about the subject matter. Especially the guy asking about the energy going into making the batteries for electric cars...

I dunno. Most people buy new cars just like how you might buy new clothes... Because they get old, worn out and look like crap.

Yeah, in conclusion... These people should never be deciding members of a jury.

[c9rm3n]

@Var1um

Actually not entirely true my dad is a car salesman and sold several on the cash for clunkers program, they do junk the cars but they had several months to part out them out before they had to be crushed. Most dealerships won't do that but; nobody was stopping the junkyards who crushed them from doing so.

[VAR1UM]

ok... but they never resold them for inspections to be driven on the road. True they may have been sold for scrap but to be driven. If they have they are in violation. It stipulates that perfectly and fully when he signed with the program.

[VAR1UM]

correction* sold for scrap but NOT to be driven.

[c9rm3n]

I think you should not be allowed to serve on a jury.

[VAR1UM]

youre a moron.

[c9rm3n]

If the entire drivetrain (engine, transmission, etc) is rolling down the highway is that not the car, what about body panels or suspension. They didn't seize the engines I know for a fact many of them are still out there, being used. Many too many were not stripped but it would be nice if these people knew more about the subject matter.

Many people, like several of my friends, love to fix cars so they frequent junkyards.

Reduce Reuse Recycle, I thought they were in that order for a reason.

[VAR1UM]

Im not sure what you may have heard... But i do know that they are under penalty of law NOT to resell those vehicles as they were given government rebates for breaking the motor block. They can resell parts like fenders and radiators but not the car in its entirety.... If it is true what you say about your friends... i would tell them to keep their mouths closed about it.

[VAR1UM]

cont.

They cannot sell the car as a running car. You know, sell it to another person and have it inspected and put tags on it. I believe that if they sold it for scraps that is perfectly legal. But there is a "concoction" that they must dump in the engine to insure the motor block ceases.

[c9rm3n]

but I kept reading on page 13 I found:

Although parts of the vehicle such as the engine block and drive train (((( if not sold as individual parts )))) are required to be disposed of, approximately 75 percent of a vehicle is reusable or recyclable which reduces environmental impact.

in conclusion if the the engine is sold separately it is legal.

[VAR1UM]

c9rm3n

What? You must have a reading handicap. I am confused at what you think i said. They can resell parts. Just not the car as a whole to be driven....

For example, resold and then put back on the road...

I dont know i could make it any clearer. Are you off your meds today or something?

[c9rm3n]

Bullshit

upon reading page 6 of the CARS act of 2009:

The entity crushing or shredding the vehicles in this manner will be allowed to retain some parts of the vehicle for sale prior to crushing or shredding it, but these parts cannot include the engine or the drive train (unless with respect to the drive train, the transmission, drive shaft, or rear end are sold as separate parts).

I thought the same thing, however I didn't believe that could be true.

what about transfer cases and axles

cont

[phfrankh]

Does that not make the energy market obsoulete!