Buying a Car When You’re an Animal Person and Environmentalist

Talk about a conundrum. I’m an Animal Person who’s also an environmentalist (a Green Animal Person, maybe? That needs a hyphen somewhere.) and I need a new car. Easy, right? Prius. Done.

Oh wait, remember those two 80-pound Greyhounds I adopted? Ixnay on the riusPay.

So now we’re in station wagon or SUV territory. Most of the wagons don’t have the height I need (the dogs are more than 3-feet tall, and most wagons are barely 3-feet high in the cargo area, so that leaves SUVs. And no environmentalist is going to buy an SUV that’s not a hybrid, right?

When I deconstruct my options, I come to some very interesting–and surprising–conclusions.

• The obvious choice is the Toyota Highlander Hybrid (2X4, with the better mileage). It doesn’t have leather interior, it’s fuel efficient, and it seats up to 7. It’s about $35,000, which isn’t great because I am NOT a car person, and the thing will be filthy inside and out in no time, and I don’t care (I’ll clean it, but only after my husband reminds me how dirty it is).
• The Ford Escape Hybrid is also a possibility, although it doesn’t have as much room. And it’s got slightly better mileage and is at least $5,000 less expensive. Now we’re talking. I’d have to wait a bit for a nonleather one, but I’m willing to wait.
• Now here’s the kink. A friend, who at one time had a wolf and three dogs, drives a Honda Element and swears by it. Hmmmmm. The mileage is similar to my current Saab 9-3 (which isn’t nearly as good as the hybrids), and it doesn’t have leather (plus you can hose it off inside!). Oh, and it’s nearly $15,000 less than the Toyota. BINGO!

Why, you ask, would a Green-Animal Person/Green Animal-Person buy/lease what could possibly be the ugliest rig on the market, which isn’t even a hybrid and doesn’t get fabulous mileage?

• No leather? Check.
• Easy to clean? Check.
• You can change the configuration of the seats? Check. And a major bonus.
• Higher than 3 feet on the inside? Check. I can practically stand in it.
• Very reasonably priced? Check.
  • Each of the hybrid options are $8,000-$15,000 more expensive.
  • I don’t drive much: between 7,000 and 8,000 miles per year.
  • How long would I have to have the Highlander or the Escape to make up, in mileage (i.e., money spent on gas) for the $8,000-$15,000 savings? (Answer: well over a decade, and I will have a different car by then because there will be better options.)

Clearly, hybrids don’t necessarily solve all your problems. The problem remaining for me, is that I’ll be driving a rig that’s contributing more to global warming than necessary.

Easy solution. Buy a TerraPass to undue the impact of the vehicle’s CO2 emissions. For the Element and the amount I drive, I’d be emitting 6,515 lbs. of CO2 per year, and my Efficient TerraPass (on a scale of  Hybrid, Efficient, Standard, and Utility, so it’s not that bad) would cost $39.95 for one year to neutralize my damage to the planet. (Note that my Saab sedan, which is a manual transmission, combined with my mileage, qualifies me as Hybrid, and only costs $29.95 for a year. Sweet.)

Net message? When buying a car, insist on cloth interior (or "leatherette") as an initial priority (the skin of 4-12 cows is in your average car). That alone will eliminate many options. Then move to your other priorities.

And don’t forget to consider the planet. It’s the only one we’ve got.