admin answers:

You won’t get much money for your car, and it would take an awfully long time to recoup what you spend on a new car, by getting better fuel mileage. You can hypermile that Sable and get even better mileage, and drive it forever.

Tom and Ray Magliozzi (Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers on NPR’s “Car Talk”) will tell you that the money-smartest thing to do is to buy a car and drive it until it disintegrates from old age. Then start over. So don’t buy a new car, just fix this one.

There are no “gas-saving” products that work. It’s all BOGUS – you’ll mess up sensors, or clog fuel filters, or something. So skip the vortex generators and the “engine re-plating” pills that go into the tank, all that junk. ‘Cause that’s all it is, junk. DO, however, run the occasional bottle of fuel injector cleaner through your tank. It helps, it works, and it can improve your mileage.

GAS-SAVING TIPS: keep up with the oil changes. Switch to full-synthetic Mobil 1 or Castrol Synthetic – it makes a difference.

Check and/or change the automatic transmission fluid in your tranny. Have this done AT THE DEALER – quickie joints may not have the right additives in their one-size-fits-all fluid for your tranny. That’d be bad. We want you to be happy with your car for a long, long time.

TIRES: pump them up to the maximum printed on the tire’s sidewall. Ignore the manufacturer’s recommendations that’re on that little plate inside the driver’s door – Ford recommended way too little for the Explorer and look where all those folks wound up – upside down! Top ’em up. Keep them topped.

INSIDE: crash diet. How much junk is riding around in your car that you don’t need? There should be the basics: quart of oil, spare tire, jack. Fire extinguisher and flares, first-aid kit. Everything else is optional. Every ounce you drag around that doesn’t need to go somewhere, you’re burning fuel to give it a free ride. How smart is that?

ROOF RACK: take it off. Just the crossbars. Unless you’re taking your mountain bike with you everywhere you go, that thing is inducing turbulence up for no reason. If you never rooftop anything, you’ll never miss it. If you ARE taking your bike places, get a hitch-mount carrier and put the drag-inducing bike in your slipstream.

SLOW DOWN: Leave for work fives minutes earlier and ease off the gas. 5mph on the road at highway speeds makes a huge difference. Astonishing, really. Have a tendency to creep back up? Use the cruise control. Then all you have to worry about is maintaining safe spacing and when to exit the freeway. Learn to ignore the frustrated people behind you. They should’ve left earlier, if they have to speed to get somewhere on time. No cruise control? Get one aftermarket and install it yourself. It isn’t hard: I’ve done two, both times for improved fuel economy.

ADJUST THE NUT BEHIND THE WHEEL: (hint: that’s you) Your driving habits make all the difference. The only thing I’ve changed on my truck is the tire pressure, but all my habits are completely different. The EPA says my truck should get 22mpg on average, I’m getting 34. You can do it too. It’s called hypermiling, and it’s easy. Go to Ecomodder.com, or CleanMPG.com for more ideas.

NOTE: early research suggests hypermilers get fewer accidents, and their cars tend to last longer, due to their increased habit of situational awareness and gentler driving practices.

admin answers:

I use to live near some Amish-man. I bought a 6 bedroom Amish house. There are many people who call themselves Plain People. I use to have a horse and wagon and no electricity so to speak. I did have and still do use a solar panel. Many Amish use solar. Some drive cars and some do not. It depends on what sect they are. The ones I lived by didn’t belong to any sect. They were too men living alone, father and son. The mother and daughter and brothers all moved to Indiana. These men made sorghum molasses, raised organic foods. Sold goats milk and honey. I too raised goats and made cheese. Riding along a flint covered road at night with the horses shoes causing sparks to fly in the full moon light is something I will never forget.
The Amish speak their own language. A mix of German and Pennsylvania Dutch.
They follow the Martin Luther doctrine.
The women and men dress modestly. Usually they each only have 3 sets of clothes. One for work, one for Sunday, and one extra. Married men have a beard and single men do not in most sects. The 2 Amishmen I lived by wore their beards long and they had mustaches.
There was a group of Amish named Swartz who owned a buggy shop. They sold kerosene, barn lamps and other useful items. They had a band saw attached to a treadle pedal. A bicycle was used to power a paint sprayer. They own wind generators. These people are self sufficient. And so was I. Compost toilets, water cisterns. Solar panels, green houses.
I could go on and on.