WHY do I want one so bad?

[YarisOwnersDad]

Ever since going with my son, Wes, to help him negotiate a deal on a new Yaris on Monday, March 16, 2009, I have not been able to get the Yaris off of my mind.

I had never paid any attention the the Yaris before, but after helping Wes get his, I have been wanting to get one for myself. The Yaris is such a cool little car!

I have a nice 2008 Cobalt sedan that I bought new less than ten months ago, and I was perfectly happy with that car until I was introduced to the Yaris.

The Cobalt has more interior room and more trunk room, has a 50% bigger engine (2.2L vs. the Yaris 1.5L) with almost 50% more horsepower (Approx 150 vs 106), has very good ride and handling qualities, and gets decent gas mileage (about 27 MPG for my overall driving mix).

So, why do I want a Yaris so bad? I would definitely trade for one, if I had not just bought that Cobalt ten months ago. I would do so knowing that the gas savings would not come close to justifying the trade.

Let's say that my overall 27 MPG would become 35 MPG with the Yaris. I drive about 18K miles per year, so I would buy 514 gallons of gas per year with the Yaris vs. 667 gallons with the Cobalt. This savings of 153 gallons of gas at two dollars per gallon is only an annual savings of $306. That is certainly not economic justification for trading cars.

It would definitely feel good to think that I had spared the environment the consequences of burning 153 gallons of gas, and I would know that I had made that small contribution toward lessening our dependence on foreign oil. Also, as I understand it, for every gallon of gas the Yaris burns, it emits less harmful substance than would be the case for almost any other car. So, the Yaris would not only consume fewer gallons of gas, but would also burn the gas that it does consume more efficiently and do less polluting.

That's it! I MUST convince my wife that it is my duty as a responsible inhabitant of this planet to trade my new Cobalt for a new Yaris!

Tom