Thursday, June 19, 2008

Car Trouble

About three weeks ago my son totaled our green Ford Fiesta ZX5. We loved that car and it was the car my daughter planned to take to college next year. We drive a Dodge mini-van and a giant V8 Dodge conversion van, which is on its last legs. Neither are great on gas. We got a decent insurance settlement for the Ford Fiesta and gave a down payment to a guy to get us a decent used car at an auction in our area. No luck yet.

It seems like the four dollar plus price of gas is taking its toll on the used car market. You can buy all kinds of trucks, SUVs, and the like for not a lot of money, but small used fuel efficient cars are as scarce as hens teeth. So we are waiting and shopping and praying for the right vehicle.

I am wondering if Canada is far ahead of us with a plan to move their population toward energy efficiency. I read on the Canadian Finance Guy's, Investing My Way to Financial Freedom, about his purchase of a green automobile and the incentives the Canadian Government offers in his post entitled Eco Auto Rebate.

To bad NJ or the Federal government doesn't have something similar. About two thousand bucks more than the settlement would do the trick for us.

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