Americans Don't Love Trucks Anymore

I believe more thought ought to be put into this.

Vehicle Category Value Comment

Assumption: Gas cost/gallon $4.10

PRIUS MSRP "$28,000.00" MPG 50 " 46 MPG Claimed, Actual test results as high as 50 MPG" Gas Cost/100K Miles "$8,200.00" Battery Repl Cost "$4,000.00" Est Maint "$1,500.00" " Warranty Powertrain 60,000" Total Cost of Ownership "$30,500.00" Minus Residual Value After 5 Years (40%)

Hyundi Elantra MSRP "$16,900.00" MPG 33 Gas Cost/100K Miles "$12,424.24" Battery Repl Cost 0 No battery Warranty $0.00 " Warranty Powertrain 100,000" Total Cost of Ownership "$22,564.24" Minus Residual Value After 5 Years (40%)

F-150 MSRP "$20,000.00" MPG 20 Gas Cost/100K Miles "$20,500.00" Battery Repl Cost 0 Maintenance "$1,500.00" " Warranty Powertrain 60,000" Total Cost of Ownership "$34,000.00" Minus Residual Value After 5 Years (40%)

Wow, no battery! Do they have a crank up front? Must be a bitch to crank a big V8:)

Al

That's part of the problem; municipalities charge extra for things that should be separated out and recycled/composted. In my area, recycling is free at least although yard waste is an extra cost. I see most of my neighbors setting out separate recycling bins on trash day, so if you remove the incentive to sneak it in with the trash, it doesn't get trashed.

My own yard waste is so significant that I don't bother to pay the 75 cents a bag to leave it at the curb; I just save it up until I have a truckload and run it to the dump for $10 a load or so. Less of a PITA than to buy the special bags, stickers, etc. and then trim everything so it fits in the bags... I have my own composter so kitchen waste gets dealt with appropriately although I wouldn't be surprised to hear that a lot of it is still getting mixed in with the regular trash - simply because there is no convenient mechanism for apartment dwellers or people who haven't bothered to get their own composters etc.

Of course I still end up making semi-regular trash runs to the dump as well, because the previous owners of my house thought that burying construction waste around the garage was a good idea, and I keep uncovering it as I attempt to grade and neaten my yard...

nate

We have a large landfill where I live that reached capacity and is now closed.

I mulch my grass, so that is a non-issue. Tree limbs get hauled to the landfill where they get chopped up into mulch for use around the city and some of it gets put into large compost piles where it turns into dirt after not too long. It does not cost extra to drop off tree limbs, and the mulch and dirt is free if you want some. All you have to do is show a current city utility bill and you are let into the landfill.