Want to buy car with low emissions

cambsman

get something old, apparently the emmissions created building a car are greater than those emitted over its lifetime.

Stonk

tr3mor wrote: »

Add to that the amount of energy required to make the batteries and motors, and the extra disposal costs. Then it's a shockingly non green car!

Indeed. My father works in automative engineering, and he assures me that - over the total lifetime of the vehicle - a lot of the supposedly "green" cars are worse to the environment than modern petrol cars. Sure, they are greener during day-to-day running by the consumer, but the manufacturing and disposal are worse. And ultimately, that is what is important.

It's like hydrogen powered cars. The only emission is water, great! But you've got to think, how did all that hydrogen get manufactured?

tr3mor wrote: »

God knows why anyone would want to spend £40k on a car though. I'd spend £10k on a nearly new Mondeo diesel and think of something much better to spend the other £30k on.

Why attack this choice? Everyone has their price point, and it was not put up for discussion. There are probably equally many people who would say "God knows why anyone would want to spend £10K on a car - I'd spend £1K and find something much better to spend the other £9K on"! For all you know, £40K could be a drop in the ocean for the OP, in which case why on earth shouldn't they spend it on a car.

teabelly

A US company tested all the models and came to the conclusion that a simple motor such as a jeep with a long lifespan was much more environmentally friendly than some modern hybrid. http://cnwmr.com/nss-folder/automotiveenergy/ has a copy of the report.

In your shoes I'd probably get something japanese. The aussies use toyota landcruisers instead of landrovers. Or get an older range rover/landcruiser and convert it to run on bio-ethanol or biodiesel. Decent ones are 10k and you can save the rest for maintenance and repair for the next 20 years :-) With the size of family and dogs etc you'll need something reasonably large. Alternatively a citroen berlingo with a fully maintained lease might also do the job. They are just glorified vans but they have loads of room and the tailgate folds out flat so you can sit on it. They're dirt cheap at about 10k so you can always lease a spare! They'd wear out on pot holes but with full maintenance it wouldn't matter.

thescouselander

I would be careful about assuming diesel cars are better for the environment. Although diesels usually give out less CO2 they also chuck out lots of particulates which can be damaging to peoples health. I belive particulates from diesel fumes have been linked to cancer and other diseases of the lungs.

If you drive round in built up areas a lot it petrol might be a better option from the point of view of other peoples health.

BillScarab

Buy the Petrol Land Rover you wanted and convert it to run on LPG. LPG is a far cleaner fuel and is much cheaper than petrol. Also Land Rovers tend to last for a very long time so over the whole life of the vehicle they're pretty green.

For a sensible, roomy car with low emissions get a diesel Skoda Octavia. Low emissions and good fuel economy with plenty of room and a big boot. They even do 4x4 modelswhich should cope well with your drive/track. the only problem is they are cheap so you'll have to get two to meet your budget!

The Lexus may have low emissions compared to other large 4x4s but compared to a normal car they are still pretty awful.

cambsman

BillScarab wrote: »

Buy the Petrol Land Rover you wanted and convert it to run on LPG. LPG is a far cleaner fuel and is much cheaper than petrol. Also Land Rovers tend to last for a very long time so over the whole life of the vehicle they're pretty green.

Thats a very good idea.

Dont get a lexus, theyre driven by turds (sorry lexus drivers), and alan partridge.

Plus it isnt really an offroad vehicle, its based on the toyota camry, which is the best selling car in america, which means its crap.

gibby

well if you really want to reduce your emmissions get your new car coveretd for veg oil http://www.dieselveg.com/
you can get the veg oil for about 40p a litre or if you use waste oil it can be delivered for 20p a litre filtered

Ive got a skoda octavia diesel which does over 50 mpg and runs fine without a conversion but I would suggest it

you could go for tha landrover & get it converetd and then there is no need to feel guilty

I hear rumours that the C&E are to remove the additional tax on running veg oil for the normal use of just running you car

Hope that helps

Gibby

MortgageMamma

HI All and thanks for your help

I'm terribly sorry but due to a massive amount of work I have only just had the chance to read through and digest this properly

I've still not bought anything but I do have some questions

1. Veg oil - I am assuming here that this will reduce the power of my engine? I like to have something with a bit of power so I can overtake caravans and lorries and get myself out of scrapes easily!

2. LPG - I've only ever seen this once at a petrol station. HOw much do conversions generally cost and why is this better for the enviroment

3. Hybrid engines - can someone tell me more about them?

4. Jeeps - yes I do like these but why are they good for the enviroment?