Is Elio Worth It To Buy Vs Just Keeping A Paid-off Car?

[WilliamH]

I have to laugh at some of these safety discussions.
I have a good friend who wants to by a fun car.
Both his and mine are two seaters.
Both of us plan to have manual transmissions.
Both his and mine will have SMC bodies.
His costs about $100K more than the one I want.
I wonder which is safer?
And do I really care?

 

[Ian442]

I think all wheel drive needs are often over-rated in today's electronic traction control days. This obviously doesn't apply to everyone, but here's my direct experience with 4X4 trucks and the snow...
4 years at Great Falls, MT
1.5 years at Dayton, OH
4 years at Ogden, UT
4 years at Minot, ND

I've pulled people out of ditches for sure and I've always had my 4X4 truck. How many times have I actually really NEEDED 4 X 4 to get where I needed to go? Twice. Once coming down the hill from Showdown Ski Area and the second one during a blizzard in Minot, ND. I was coming home and a kid in a Silverado passed me pretty quick in the left lane before jumping into the median, crossing both our lanes again, going through the ditch to the right, pulling back out and then continuing on down the road at about the same speed. He didn't learn his lesson that time, I guess. Anyway, I'll never give up my 4X4 because "I need it in case the weather turns bad" but I've lived in some snowy places in the last 15 years and have watched many front wheel drive cars do just fine. The Elio will probably do just fine in most snowy conditions. I'll trust it fine enough. It doesn't hurt that it doesn't exactly pile up the snow here in Albuquerque...

Don't laugh but my Sunfire is absolutely awesome in the snow up to about 8 inches. I enjoyed throwing it through curves and parking lot donuts with ease

 

[Rickb]

Safety is no laughing matter. Some drivers refuse to utilize the safety features, required by law, they have in their current vehicles. A Father and his two young children killed this last week in an earlly am collision and nobody was wearing seat belts. WTH!

 

[Hotscoots]

Safety is no laughing matter. Some drivers refuse to utilize the safety features, required by law, they have in their current vehicles. A Father and his two young children killed this last week in an earlly am collision and nobody was wearing seat belts. WTH!

Darwin would laugh

 

[Sethodine]

I think the simplest calculation to find if the Elio is affordable vs. your paid off car is this:

"Official" Highway MPG of your paid off car, multiplied by 3. If that number is LESS than the Elio stated 84MPG, then you will be saving money or braking even until the Elio is paid off. The official numbers are never matched by reality, but they will compare similarly with each other when both used in your typical driving situations. (If you don't know already, the "3" comes from: Price of gas x 3 = Elio monthly payment, using their stated payment plan).

Elio will almost certainly be cheaper than any other car to insure; either it will count as standard motorcycle insurance (no injury coverage) and will thus be much cheaper, or it will count as full car insurance but will be lower because a brand new replacement only costs the insurance company $6800 or thereabouts.

Sorry if I'm retreading already tread paths

 

[Critter]

I am gestimating a savings of $123 a week in fuel. Even more when I can leave the truck parked on Saturday's. $6,300 a year in savings.

Posted this a while back. The Elio will not be my secondary vehicle, my truck will be my alternate vehicle. I can post the calculations easily, I drive a lot of miles.

 

[Ian442]

Safety is no laughing matter. Some drivers refuse to utilize the safety features, required by law, they have in their current vehicles. A Father and his two young children killed this last week in an earlly am collision and nobody was wearing seat belts. WTH!

Seatbelts are worn in my cars by everyone. Be it around the block or across the country. No Exceptions.

Even backseat riders.

 

[Sethodine]

Seatbelts are worn in my cars by everyone. Be it around the block or across the country. No Exceptions.

Even backseat riders.

I have the "bad" habit of buckling up every time I sit down, even when I'm just moving the car to another spot in the same driveway

 

[Jim H]

I have the "bad" habit of buckling up every time I sit down, even when I'm just moving the car to another spot in the same driveway

Ditto and have been that way since 1965

 

[wizard of ahs]

I'm at the point where I feel NAKED without a seat belt