And Then There Was One
I've been somewhat distracted the past few weeks. My kids are out of school and offer both welcome and unwelcome distractions from writing. We’re also leaving for vacation today (more on that below) and my wife and I have been doing some last minute planning to fill out the details of our journey. But the biggest distraction has been our latest attempt to become a one-car family. I am happy to report that the operation was a success; our two cars have been magically transformed into one (cue Hallelujah chorus). On Friday, we traded in our Honda Accord and well-worn Jeep Grand Cherokee and took possession of a gently used Toyota Sienna minivan. The key to getting down to one car for my family was acquiring a minivan, since that one car would have to meet all of our needs, which include hauling three kids and a dog. Since SUVs were not an option, the minivan was the only way to go. While we are excited by the downsizing in our life, I found the process discomforting. I’ve spent a year downplaying the importance of cars, including the all of the unnecessary accessories that automakers use to lure unsuspecting buyers into acquiring more car than they need, and here I was this past week getting down and dirty myself. No matter how pleased you are with the purchase of your car, it’s hard to emerge not feeling a bit unclean yourself. Criticizing the particular form of torture known as car buying is too clichéd to waste 1000 words writing about it, but I will say this: among the vast evidence of the pernicious impact of the car on American life, the plotting and scheming used by car dealers to foist their product on consumers is as convincing as any.
I’m well aware that being a one car family is no big deal. In addition to the truly heroic few who live without a car, many families live quite comfortably with only one car. As our recent car use indicates, we have been essentially a one car family ourselves, rarely using either car and never using both cars simultaneously. Living with one car is far more of a personal statement for us than a hardship. Plus, owning and driving one of the worst gas-guzzling SUVs always felt hypocritical to me. Not that a minivan represents the height of fuel efficiency either. Minimizing the impact of our car driving is still about not using the car, and we intend to maintain our lifestyle despite the enticing presence of a new toy parked in front of our house. I also have to admit to a small amount of satisfaction in rewarding the first automaker to embrace hybrid technology and achieve substantial fuel efficiency gains through a fleet of cars heavier on compacts than SUVs.
So now we head off on our vacation – a 1,000 mile car camping trip through Southern Oregon and Northern California. On the surface, this trip may appear indefensible, but as I’ve written before, some places are nearly inaccessible without a car, especially with little kids. The trip includes many of the sights that we have longed to visit since moving to Oregon, like Crater Lake, Mt.Shasta and Redwood National Park. It could have been worse – my kids lobbied hard for us to drive to the Grand Canyon. At least with this trip, we’ll spend most of our time outside of the car, and have only a few hours of driving on the days that we do drive.
My posts will likely be even more irregular over the next few weeks than they have been lately. Who knows – maybe our extra time in the car will provide a few more insights into our car culture worth writing about. Stay tuned.
Comments
The car industry makes our world go. America, as well as most democracies depend on being business driven economies. I agree with hybrid technology but the politicians (both sides) should push for hydrogen vehicles. The technology is there, it just needs to be perfected. Before everyone blames the president, we should look at all politicians and their use of jets and the fuel to run them as they are telling us how and what to drive. The list goes on, RFK Jr., Pelosi, McCain; they all are out of touch with reality. I don't believe cars are evil, or the businesses that create them and push them. They only sell based on the market. If new technology vehicles are "pushed" out there by our leaders in Washington, the market will adjust. I personally would buy an alternative fuel vehicle if available in the car I need. We had a program in place here in Arizona years ago until a corrupt politician, Republican and now deceased screwed the whole thing up. Everyone is down on SUV's. They are "evil"? I went from one to a minivan and am getting the same if not slightly worse gas mileage. Why isn't the pickup truck classified as "evil"? After all, its a pickup frame that was used on SUV's. Why aren't the MANY pickup owners being hacked on when they "really don't need to drive them"? I think it is unfair to go after SUV's all the time. After all, this is America. We are free to drive what we want. I applaud you for taking a personal stand and going to one car. I however will saty with two. My way of not polluting the air is to hack on smokers and their offensive odors:)
Posted by: Ron | June 25, 2007 5:33 PM