Who am I and what have I done with my pick-up?
Jayleigh has been wanting me to write a post about what I have been able to haul with my little appliance car. You see when I was thinking about replacing my old 95 Corsica, I tried to talk myself into getting an SUV or mini-van. When I thought about utility I figured that a mini-van would be the best for hauling people or stuff around, but than I had to admit that I would not really have that much use for it most of the time.
When I also considered factors like gas mileage, the cost of the vehicle, and the cost of insurance I decided I wanted a 5-door hatch back. I looked around and did not see too many choices to pick from. GM had the Vibe or Aveo and Ford has the Focus. I liked the dependablity of the KIA Optima that we bought used in 2002. I checked out the Spectra and Elantra and decided I liked the size, styling, features, and safety ratings of the Elantra best.
I have had my Elantra since November of 2004 and so far it has been a great little car. It is not great for road trips over 100 miles each way. The suspension and seats and road noise are just not that comforting and cushioning.
On the other hand with the wide opening hatch and the rear seat that folds down and reclining front seats, I have been able to haul some pretty respectable loads:
A 5 foot long by 30" high by 20" deep 3-door cupboard unit
A disassembled twin bed including under bed drawer dresser
Twelve 1 x 6 x 8 foot boards
Five 2 x 4 x 8 foot boards
Five pieces of 8 foot drywall corner bead
4 rolls of 100 square foot laminate floor underlayment
The loads of boards are not maximum amounts, it was just all I needed or bought and brought home on the specified trips.
With some of this stuff I have even still had room for one passenger as long as they sat behind me in the driver's side rear seat. Sure an extended mini-van would still be pretty cool for hauling those 4 x 8 foot sheets of drywall or isoboard underflooring, but come on how often are you going to do that?
Another fun thing about having a hatchback these days is that kids think it is very novel when I open the hatch. Kids under the age of fifteen do not really remember the days of hatch back Chevette's, Citation's, Omni's, and Escort's. They think that it is pretty cool to have a hatch instead of a trunk.
I greatly appreciate my little appliance car, especially when I have to fill it up with gas, which is not nearly as often as it would be with a van or truck.
When I also considered factors like gas mileage, the cost of the vehicle, and the cost of insurance I decided I wanted a 5-door hatch back. I looked around and did not see too many choices to pick from. GM had the Vibe or Aveo and Ford has the Focus. I liked the dependablity of the KIA Optima that we bought used in 2002. I checked out the Spectra and Elantra and decided I liked the size, styling, features, and safety ratings of the Elantra best.
I have had my Elantra since November of 2004 and so far it has been a great little car. It is not great for road trips over 100 miles each way. The suspension and seats and road noise are just not that comforting and cushioning.
On the other hand with the wide opening hatch and the rear seat that folds down and reclining front seats, I have been able to haul some pretty respectable loads:
A 5 foot long by 30" high by 20" deep 3-door cupboard unit
A disassembled twin bed including under bed drawer dresser
Twelve 1 x 6 x 8 foot boards
Five 2 x 4 x 8 foot boards
Five pieces of 8 foot drywall corner bead
4 rolls of 100 square foot laminate floor underlayment
The loads of boards are not maximum amounts, it was just all I needed or bought and brought home on the specified trips.
With some of this stuff I have even still had room for one passenger as long as they sat behind me in the driver's side rear seat. Sure an extended mini-van would still be pretty cool for hauling those 4 x 8 foot sheets of drywall or isoboard underflooring, but come on how often are you going to do that?
Another fun thing about having a hatchback these days is that kids think it is very novel when I open the hatch. Kids under the age of fifteen do not really remember the days of hatch back Chevette's, Citation's, Omni's, and Escort's. They think that it is pretty cool to have a hatch instead of a trunk.
I greatly appreciate my little appliance car, especially when I have to fill it up with gas, which is not nearly as often as it would be with a van or truck.
posted by Robert C. Howell at
2:38 PM
