The car I drive is not new, in fact it's celebrating its 10th birthday this year. Sometime this weekend my car is going to hit a milestone, 100,000 miles. Not bad, considering its age - that's only 10k a year, less than the national average.
I pointed out the milestone mileage on the odometer to my son this morning as we were pulling out of the garage and it hit me that this car has consumed $12,000. worth of gas, based on historical and current gas price averages.
12,000. Dollars. Probably more -in gas. Gone. Nothing to "show" for it except the travel it provided.
Now, granted, I haven't put all those miles on this car - I am blessed and fortunate to be driving my late father's car - and I don't know if I will ever give it up. It's not a car I would pick for myself, a 99 Cadillac Seville - but for my dad it was his baby (next to me ~*smile*) He loved Cadillacs and this one has all the bells and whistles that were available at the time.
And basically it is an old fart's car (love ya Dad) and is perfect for going to the golf course, taking the little lady out to dinner, church or to visit the grandkids. For a soccer mom with kids in college to 2nd grade -this is not the ideal vehicle. But I love it because every time I get behind the wheel, I feel like I have a piece of my dad with me. I don't have many things in my possession that belonged to my dad - a replica of his WWII Uniform, medals and all, that he assembled and presented to me with honor - some rings that are more like bracelets - and his car.
But wow, thinking about the money spent on gas over the last 10 years to drive this car around - and that's less than the average person spends - its incredible to think how much money is actually spent fueling our vehicles. I am not going to start preaching about pollution and big oil and carbon footprints - or how silly electric cars seem to be (there is still fuel burnt to produce electricity -so they are not as "green" as some people think).
I just never really thought about gas prices and consumption in this way before. Fuel is a necessity - we go from here to there - it's sometimes a luxury and sometimes a requirement. I've just never stopped to consider how much all those $30 fill ups at the pump really add up to over the life of a car. Wow.
I pointed out the milestone mileage on the odometer to my son this morning as we were pulling out of the garage and it hit me that this car has consumed $12,000. worth of gas, based on historical and current gas price averages.
12,000. Dollars. Probably more -in gas. Gone. Nothing to "show" for it except the travel it provided.
Now, granted, I haven't put all those miles on this car - I am blessed and fortunate to be driving my late father's car - and I don't know if I will ever give it up. It's not a car I would pick for myself, a 99 Cadillac Seville - but for my dad it was his baby (next to me ~*smile*) He loved Cadillacs and this one has all the bells and whistles that were available at the time.
And basically it is an old fart's car (love ya Dad) and is perfect for going to the golf course, taking the little lady out to dinner, church or to visit the grandkids. For a soccer mom with kids in college to 2nd grade -this is not the ideal vehicle. But I love it because every time I get behind the wheel, I feel like I have a piece of my dad with me. I don't have many things in my possession that belonged to my dad - a replica of his WWII Uniform, medals and all, that he assembled and presented to me with honor - some rings that are more like bracelets - and his car.
But wow, thinking about the money spent on gas over the last 10 years to drive this car around - and that's less than the average person spends - its incredible to think how much money is actually spent fueling our vehicles. I am not going to start preaching about pollution and big oil and carbon footprints - or how silly electric cars seem to be (there is still fuel burnt to produce electricity -so they are not as "green" as some people think).
I just never really thought about gas prices and consumption in this way before. Fuel is a necessity - we go from here to there - it's sometimes a luxury and sometimes a requirement. I've just never stopped to consider how much all those $30 fill ups at the pump really add up to over the life of a car. Wow.
No comments:
Post a Comment