The Classic Opel Forums - Logbooks - sawdust http://www.opelgt.com/forums/blogs/sawdust/ Home of the Classic Opel Community for the Opel GT, Manta, Ascona, and Kadett. Site includes Opel Community Forums, Opel Photo Gallery, and Opel Classified Ad Board. Home of the New England Opel Club en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:28:24 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.opelgt.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg The Classic Opel Forums - Logbooks - sawdust http://www.opelgt.com/forums/blogs/sawdust/ Hybrid car http://www.opelgt.com/forums/blogs/sawdust/32-hybrid-car.html Wed, 06 May 2009 00:39:51 GMT I went to a car show this weekend and when I got home I spied a NEW car in the drive way. It seems that my wife went car shopping. For quite a few years I have been thinking about going electric and was just waiting for the technology to get better. I got an Opel GT that would be a good... I went to a car show this weekend and when I got home I spied a NEW car in the drive way. It seems that my wife went car shopping. For quite a few years I have been thinking about going electric and was just waiting for the technology to get better. I got an Opel GT that would be a good candidate for going all electric and I was researching a few websites on how to go about it. Well, I took our Ford Escape in for an oil change at my local Ford dealer and, while waiting, I walked around the showroom and spotted the Ford Fusion Hybrid. Well, I just had to test drive it. And I did. I got my wife and we drove it around town in city traffic. We put on about 30 miles of stop and go traffic and we got the gas mileage average to go from the initial 19.0 mpg to 32.8 mpg when we got it back to the dealership. I thought that was alright. I fought off the salesman and escaped with the Escape. The dealer would not give any discounts and the trade in value for our Escape was not in my favor. However, both my wife and I like the car. My wife went bananas over the leather heated seats, outside temperature monitor and the on board compass. She had all but signed the papers. We left that dealership and went to another dealership in the next town. They had a Fusion Hybrid also, but not as loaded as the previous one. We took this one for a short test drive and got a little better trade in value for the Escape, but the car did not have leather heated seats, outside temperature monitor and the on board compass. I then got on the internet to see what Escapes were going for so we would have some ammunition to contend with dealership #1. Well, while I was at the car show, my wife went back loaded for bear and got the dealership #1 to agree to our terms. I am sure they made a nice profit but they did put on a good crying show. I thought I would start this BLOG for those interested in hybrid cars. We got the car on May 3rd, 2009. In three days we put on about 50 miles on it and got the overall gas mileage up to 38.1 mpg. We still haven't read the owners operating manual so we have not found all the neat features that this car has. I will keep everyone posted on the mileage that this car gets and any bugaboos that might pop up. ]]> sawdust http://www.opelgt.com/forums/blogs/sawdust/32-hybrid-car.html To Sell or not to Sell http://www.opelgt.com/forums/blogs/sawdust/14-sell-not-sell.html Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:08:08 GMT I go to a lot of Cruise nights to show off my GT's. A few weeks ago one of the spectators and his son asked quite a few questions about Opels and GT's in particular. He originally came from Portugal where he use to race Opels and he had a keen interest in getting back into Opels and his son, not quite 16 yet was overly enthused about any car. Anyway, they kept coming back to the various cruise nights around the area and would spend hours talking to me.

When he found out that I had two (2) GT's and only could show one at a time he asked if it would be OK for him to drive one of them to the local shows. Of course I said yes.

He really fell for the 71 because it has a manual 4 speed and is quite peppy.

He started asking what I thought the car was worth and I kept changing the subject.

After about 3 shows he said he wanted to buy it and wanted to know what I wanted for it. I gave him my price and he did not pass out. He said he would think about it.

He volunteered to drive to another show where I let his son wipe down both cars. When the show was over, he wanted to stop by his house and show the car to his wife.

She would be a very tough nut to crack.

Now for my thoughts....

After seeing his domicile I began to have second thoughts about selling the car.
For One thing, he has a two car garage and he has a car and his wife has a car. I don't think the Opel would kick one of their cars out in the weather.
For the second thing, I believe the Opel would be come a daily driver for the son when he gets into high school. I feel the car is an antique and should have minimum mileage put on it.


After or during the next show I will have to tell them that I am not comfortable selling the car to them.

Let's see what the next show brings.
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