[pwthornton]

Zipcar and similar car clubs makes a lot more sense than car sharing. You essentially join Zipcar and share the liability and car ownership costs. $1 million is not enough coverage in the case of a catastrophic accident, and the law and insurance companies have not caught up to car sharing.

I would not rent my car out unless the liability issue was better taken care of. But then again, I don't get car sharing vs. car clubs.

If you need your car so little that you can rent it out, why not just join Zipcar or another car sharing club?

[gcb]

The main thing is: - she don't need the car often - buys expensive new car - buys a car that can't sit for a long time

If she researched a little more she would have not got a new hybrid but some old diesel. It's probably cleaner than agasoline hybrid doesn't generate all the upfront manufacturing garbage and batteries that are awful for the environment and reuse a car that is already made anyway.

[pwthornton]

Agreed. A Prius can be a great car, but for her particular situation, it doesn't make a lot of sense. The core market for Prius owners are people who drive their cars a lot.

While I'm not a fan of lung-clogging diesels, in this case, it may make a bit of sense. There are people in my area with 20-year-old or so diesel cars. They don't need need the same kind of driving maintenance that hybrids do.

I don't know if she has access to Zipcar or a similar service, but if she does, that would have probably been the best bet. Let someone else deal with the ownership, storage, maintenance and liability.

[SkyMarshal]

> If she researched a little more she would have not got a new hybrid but some old diesel. It's probably cleaner than agasoline hybrid

I was under the impression old diesels were dirtier than gasoline engines. New clean deisels like in Audi's no, but old ones? But you're saying they're cleaner?

[pwthornton]

Diesels are not cleaner, but it's a complicated story because you have to factor in the process to make a car (and batteries in the case of hybrids and electrics), the fuel efficiency, the emissions given off and the longevity.

Diesels are, however, very fuel efficient and can last a long time. But they give off small particulate matter that gets lodged into people's lungs, shaving days, months and years off people's lives. I don't know how clean clean diesel cars are, but every time I see black soot coming out of a truck, I want to punch someone. That's going straight into our lungs.

[gcb]

Not suggesting a 50s diesel. But anything up to the price of a prius would be better.

Point is, even a gasoline suv pollutes less than a prius overall if you don't use it that often.

Just arguing that as an engineer, you should look at other solutions instead of jumping the bandwagon. Let pointy hairy bosses and ruby on rails guys do it instead.

[SkyMarshal]

*>Just arguing that as an engineer, you should look at other solutions instead of jumping the bandwagon.

That's what I'm doing. I really want a diesel for my next car, but a clean diesel. Just wondering if there are any less expensive options than a new or relatively new Audi.

[gcb]

Previous diesels were awful because of the stuff we had in the diesel itself. The engines are still the same, mostly. any year car you get that still have good compression will give you a clean burn (if it's too lean, you get too much nitrogen oxide, to rich you get carbon and shoot).

if you want to go the extra mile you can either buy the hamburguer smelling vegetable conversion kits (too much hassle to refil imho) or you can spend extra and put a modern catalytic system in the old car and be done with it.

a 2000 VW, Audi, mbez will do wonders and cost from 6 to 12k.