I agree with the comment. The Merkur's were very interesting cars and fun to drive. But parts are not cheap and their reliability is not good.
You might think about non-obvious choices that are out of favor, such as older mini-vans, or even full size vans. I suspect that if you actually "ran the numbers" of a $1000 mini-van that gets ~18mpg vs. a smaller $1000 vehicle that gets ~30mpg, the actual difference in fuel costs would be very small. that's why I'm driving a 12 year old mini-van that gets ~19mpg vs. something smaller. To be able to dump 5 or 6 fencing bags of gear in the back (which I do 3 times a week to teach) without stressing, or to haul 2 or 3 students and their gear to a tournament...
There have already been a great many occasions when I've wished for a minivan (but precious few when I've wished for a full-size van -- yeah, those occasions do occur, but I'm mostly looking at minivan-sized loads or smaller). I wouldn't rule out a minivan outright ... but I haven't seen any advertised for anywhere near my price range. (There is a small chance that I'll wind up with my mother's old one, but we don't know what it'd take to fix it up to run reliably again.)
But the things is, gas mileage does matter, however much I'd like for it not to. Last year I was already thinking about the fact that going to each rehearsal cost me $6 - $8 in gasoline alone (26-28 MPG at last year's prices, one location of HCB rehearsal varying from week to week) and how often I needed a gig to justify on a purely financial level attending rehearsals. And my financial situation is tight enough that I had to really think about that, about how many rehearsals I could afford gas for and how many gallons I can buy at a time, regardless of all the non-economic reasons I have for playing in the bands I'm in.
Taking a small hit on fuel economy (as I expect to) will hurt but probably won't kill me. Dropping gas mileage by a third would be disasterous unless the money is made up elsewhere (lower insurance premiums, finally getting some state assistance with my bills, whatever -- maybe just many more gigs). Ideally, of course, I'd like something that gets better gas mileage than my 1990 Accord, but I'm not going to have the luxury of a lot of options to choose from when I've only got $1,400 to spend.
I'll say this about minivans: when I've borrowed them, I've really, really enjoyed how easy it was to get my gear into and out of them. And that's even when I wasn't carrying any more than fit comfortably in a sedan; just the ease of loading and unloading without the ability to carry more being a factor was significant.
(I've been saying for ... eep! about twenty years, I think! ... that what I really want is two vehicles: one just barely big enough for me and my guitars, sporty, fuel-efficient, easy to park; and one large enough to haul guitars and amps and PA and drums and bass and bandmates. Then I could just drive whichever made the most sense on a given day. I'll settle for one I can get the double bass into and mutter under my breath when fitting drums in at the same time winds up being a challenge, and continue to daydream about having off-street parking and two vehicles, unless by some miracle I do wind up with a wagon or minivan that I can afford to fuel.)
And thanks (to you and whc) for the heads-up re: the Merkur, BTW.
(no subject)
You might think about non-obvious choices that are out of favor, such as older mini-vans, or even full size vans. I suspect that if you actually "ran the numbers" of a $1000 mini-van that gets ~18mpg vs. a smaller $1000 vehicle that gets ~30mpg, the actual difference in fuel costs would be very small. that's why I'm driving a 12 year old mini-van that gets ~19mpg vs. something smaller. To be able to dump 5 or 6 fencing bags of gear in the back (which I do 3 times a week to teach) without stressing, or to haul 2 or 3 students and their gear to a tournament...
Janice
(no subject)
But the things is, gas mileage does matter, however much I'd like for it not to. Last year I was already thinking about the fact that going to each rehearsal cost me $6 - $8 in gasoline alone (26-28 MPG at last year's prices, one location of HCB rehearsal varying from week to week) and how often I needed a gig to justify on a purely financial level attending rehearsals. And my financial situation is tight enough that I had to really think about that, about how many rehearsals I could afford gas for and how many gallons I can buy at a time, regardless of all the non-economic reasons I have for playing in the bands I'm in.
Taking a small hit on fuel economy (as I expect to) will hurt but probably won't kill me. Dropping gas mileage by a third would be disasterous unless the money is made up elsewhere (lower insurance premiums, finally getting some state assistance with my bills, whatever -- maybe just many more gigs). Ideally, of course, I'd like something that gets better gas mileage than my 1990 Accord, but I'm not going to have the luxury of a lot of options to choose from when I've only got $1,400 to spend.
I'll say this about minivans: when I've borrowed them, I've really, really enjoyed how easy it was to get my gear into and out of them. And that's even when I wasn't carrying any more than fit comfortably in a sedan; just the ease of loading and unloading without the ability to carry more being a factor was significant.
(I've been saying for ... eep! about twenty years, I think! ... that what I really want is two vehicles: one just barely big enough for me and my guitars, sporty, fuel-efficient, easy to park; and one large enough to haul guitars and amps and PA and drums and bass and bandmates. Then I could just drive whichever made the most sense on a given day. I'll settle for one I can get the double bass into and mutter under my breath when fitting drums in at the same time winds up being a challenge, and continue to daydream about having off-street parking and two vehicles, unless by some miracle I do wind up with a wagon or minivan that I can afford to fuel.)
And thanks (to you and