Remember when I said that I was going to get rid of my truck (which is currently in terrible condition) and get a new hatchback? Actually, you might not remember it because I’m fairly sure that I forgot to blog about this plan. Well, it’s a good thing that I didn’t tell you all about this truck -> hatchback wheelie dealie. Because then I would have to take it all back.
Because, you see, I bought a new truck.
Make that a “new” truck.
It’s new to me and it’s newer than Kristian’s car (his is an ’06, my truck is an ’07), but we definitely went the used direction. I bought a 2007 Toyota Tacoma with AWD, a regular cab (no jump seats in the back like in my S-10), a manual transmission and pretty much no frills. The only add-on is air conditioning. It has manual seats and crank windows. It’s black with a grey interior. Totally utilitarian, just what I needed. And, after driving my former truck for a year, it’s pretty much a dream to drive. Kristian put it through its paces, gave me a touch of car sickness in the process and it handled great.
Of course, a go-kart handles great compared to my truck. But we sure as hell didn’t tell the dealer that.
What made me decide to get another truck? Well, the big gaping holes all over our house would seem to indicate that the work is far from done. We’re going to be continuing to haul drywall for the foreseeable future. And I drive so infrequently that we don’t really need the smooth ride of a passenger car. Or the ability to have more than one passenger.
As far as the ecological aspect goes, this thing actually gets the same MPG as a Subaru, which was the main contender in the hatchback compartment. It’s the smallest truck they make, it only has a 4 cylinder engine and it has the best fuel economy of pretty much any pickup out there. So, I don’t feel like like I’m punching Mother Nature in the face by buying this car. In terms of my greener nature, this is actually a step in a better direction (when compared to what I’m driving now). With the same bed size but only a regular cab, this truck is actually slightly smaller.
I’ll be sure to put up pictures once I take delivery of it (hopefully, tomorrow!).
Congrats on the new ride! About 2 1/2 years ago I went from a 1998 Outback to a new Civic coupe, but I find that I miss the hatchback and AWD so much (and the Civic’s seating position is aggravating my knee problems and has poor visibility to the rear sides) that I’m probably going to go back to a Subaru early next year.
Currently trying to figure out which model I should get — all of the 4 cylinder ones get about the same mileage anyway, it seems. I feel a little guilty going from a max of 40 highway to a max of maybe 28 highway on a good day, but I guess that’s still better than most SUVs and about average for most family cars.
Too bad they don’t sell diesel Subarus here. 🙁