Car Wars IV; Some New Facts
I am still scratching my head at my Democratic friends who are still upset over the city purchasing 85 Toyota Hybrids for its Department of Public Safety as opposed to the Chevy Malibu. They complain about the city buying a “foreign” vehicle and the bidding process.
They assume that because the Chevy Malibu is cheaper, it’s automatically a better deal. They obviously didn’t do their homework. I did some more research on comparing the two hybrid vehicles and here’s what I found.
City mileage (where most of the cars will be driven)
- Toyota – 33 mpg.
- Chevy – 24 mpg.
Cost to drive 25 miles (based on gas at $2.79 per gallon)
- Toyota – $2.05.
- Chevy – $2.51.
Average miles per tank
- Toyota – 585.
- Chevy – 432.
Annual Fuel Costs
- Toyota – $1,230.
- Chevy – $1,548.
Emissions Output per year
- Toyota – 5.4 tons per year.
- Chevy- 6.8 tons per year.
So let’s see, the Toyota is more expensive, but it gets better mileage, has a bigger gas tank and puts out less pollution into the environment and Democrats are complaining? Instead of getting mad at the Mayor, they should be getting mad at Detroit and tell the Big 3 to go build a better vehicle. And someone should tell the UAW braintrust in this town that if you’re going to try to flood city hall with calls about 85 hybrids, make sure the calls come from Marion County because Kokomo shows up on caller ID.
The job of the government is to get the most use of the taxpayers’ money. And I can’t believe CCC Democrats would promote buying a car that gets less mileage and is a bigger polluter of the environment. With message management like this, it’s no wonder the party’s County spokesman is reportedly leaving his job.
But then again, none of these guys raised a peep about bidding or costs when Sheriff Frank Anderson spent millions buying cars from his former campaign treasurer Peyton Wells who is now out of business so I guess anything is possible.
Come to think of it, I could be wrong about this, but I think the Penske dealer that bid on the hybrids is in Carmel. Wow, CCC Democrats going to bat for a business that may be located in Carmel, anything really is possible!
