What do you drive? I’m thinking of making “big” change!

Sure the average price of gas in the U.S. is down, but you know it’s going to go back up eventually? I know my friends in other countries have been paying much more for a long time, but here in Texas where we all have an oil derrick in our “back forty” and two F-350 crew cab pickups in the garage we have not had to deal with this yet.
Typical Texas Transportation

Typical Texas Transportation

I drive a relatively “green” Subaru and after 30+ years in Texas have never owned a pickup, but still… the price of gas is giving me pause. Do any of you ride a bike (pedal or motor) to work? I live close enough I might survive the trip if one of the aforementioned monster trucks that prowl our roads doesn’t pick me off?

Rusty old bike

Like my new ride?

What do you think… should I pump up the ol’ bike tires, dodge traffic and drive to work under my own power? It’d probably take about 45 minutes each way. Sadly there is very little public transportation in our area so I don’t think that’s an option. How long is your commute? Have you thought about getting new wheels?

The freedom of the open road's no longer free

The freedom of the open road’s no longer free

And what about your big all American roadtrip this summer? Still going? Maybe I should fit my bike with a child seat. OMG, pretty soon the price of gas will exceed the price of a small bottle of water, ounce for ounce. Hey, there’s an idea… a car that runs on water! Wait… don’t they already have one of those?

Can you run a car on Starbucks coffee? That would be cheaper, and think how perky your car would be! Anyway, you can read my post on the Best New Family Cars for 2012 to see some of the ones we are looking at. I’d love your advice on what I should do!

What do you drive?

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  1. We are a 1 car family & my husband rides his bike to work. It takes him about 20 leisurely minutes and it’s around 3.5 miles. He purchased a commuter bike with a bag that attaches to the bike to transport his laptop, work stuff etc. it works for us. Good luck with your decision!

    1. Thank you so much, Maggie. I just looked up commuter bikes on Amazon.com and they have a couple that look quite nice. How does he deal with weather extremes? We have quite a few days over 100F in the summer here… and this morning it was below freezing.


    • Making It Work Mom on at
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    We actually just traded in our Rav 4 for this very reason. We both drive a lot even though my husband works from home because my children participate in every sport under the sun.

    I actually drive a lot LOT for work all over Massachusetts so we decided to get a Corolla for my car and keep the minivan for my husband’s. We have only had it a couple of weeks, bit so far it has it my weekly gas bill in half.

    We are happy.

    Oh and the biking…I could never do that. I would be a nervous wreck on the road!

    Good luck!

    1. I had a Corolla many, many years ago and it was extremely reliable. Honestly I really loved it, but was single at the time and got lucky career wise and traded it for a BMW. Now I’m much more conservative in my car choices & spending. Are there any American cars that compare in cost of ownership (reliability, resale & fuel)? I’d certainly prefer to buy American if I can. As for biking, I agree, I’m a bit nervous about the Texas heat and the huge Texas SUVs & trucks running me over. 🙁


  2. We just sold our Trail Blazer and got a Toyota Camry hybrid… A smaller car but I save so much on Gas it’s unbelievable I went from almost $70 a week to $52 every 3 weeks 🙂

    1. Wow… Elly, that’s some kind of serious savings. The Camry may not be considered the most exciting car on the road, but I’ve noticed they look pretty nice these days. We walked around a Toyota Prius at the dealer (they were closed) on Sunday, but will need to also check out the Camry Hybrid. Thanks!

    2. We got a Camry Hybrid (09) a couple months back as well and LOVE it. Averaging 35MPG with my commute and 38-40 on the weekends. It costs less than $30 to fill up and that gets me around 500 miles. HUGE cost savings from the 99 Pathfinder we had before (18MPG).

      1. Okay, you two are selling me. I definitely need to take on for a test drive. 🙂

      2. Hey, Sean. You and I have talked (tweeted?) about this on Twitter before. Does the Camry Hybrid feel big? I went from a Jeep Grand Cherokee to a smaller Subaru years ago now. I love it, but it’s getting a bit long in the tooth so my eye is roaming. We just have one child (for now at least) so I wonder if a Camry is more car than we need? Would a Prius be a better choice? [looking for a tree to hug]

  3. I would love to bike to work. Sadly, we have chosen a place to live that won’t allow it. We are considering moving to a location closer to where my wife will be working in the fall and she would consider taking a moped to work since she would be only 5 minutes from her work.

    I would do it personally. What a great work out.

    1. It really does sound nice, Brandon, and would build some healthy activity into our day? I must confess though that when the 100 degree summer temps arrive here in Dallas it may seem ever so slightly less appealing.

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