# Proud owner of a new hoopty!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proud-owner-of-a-new-hoopty/450034>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [May 20, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proud-owner-of-a-new-hoopty/450034 "2008-05-20T23:10:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 13\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\
**Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proud-owner-of-a-new-hoopty/450034/1 "2008-05-20T23:10:16Z")

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For the last month or so, I’ve been seriously considering buying a 50cc scooter either new or used with which to commute to work. I have an arduous 3.8 miles each way. 😛 I figured I could drive a few less miles in my 2008 Saturn AURA V6 and save a little gas money. But then I thought that the weather around here in summer is unpredictable at best, and I would be riding home in the rain more times than I would desire. At 100 mpg, IF I drove it 6 months out of the year, and I paid $950 for it (there was one on Craigslist I came \>\< that close to getting for that price), it would take me 2 years to recoup my gas costs at a factor of $4.00 per gallon. So I put that shelf on the back burner of my brain.

Today, I was able to buy a 1999 Chevy Metro with 79K miles on it that gets 52 mpg for…wait for it…

wait for it…

$300!

:eek: :eek: :eek:

It runs great, looks like shit (how did they get the rhinocerous on the roof anyway?), AND my insurance premium will actually go _down_ because of the multi-car discount. And I don’t have to worry about the rain!

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**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proud-owner-of-a-new-hoopty/450034/2 "2008-05-21T00:58:56Z")

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[QUOTE=Hockey Monkey]  
(how did they get the rhinocerous on the roof anyway?)  
[/QUOTE]  
😕  
What, no photos? It’s not a full-sized rhino, is it? The only thing that could be better is a purple rhino with pink polka dots!

Congrats on the great gas mileage! What are you going to do with all the money you save?

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**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proud-owner-of-a-new-hoopty/450034/3 "2008-05-21T01:10:02Z")

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I’m jealous. My 80MPG scooter doesn’t have a rhino. ☹

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**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proud-owner-of-a-new-hoopty/450034/4 "2008-05-21T01:53:21Z")

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Somewhere along the way the rhino got off the car, but the dents it left are still there. 😛 I’ll see if I can post some pics tomorrow. It was storming all afternoon here, then it got dark.

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**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proud-owner-of-a-new-hoopty/450034/5 "2008-05-21T14:08:46Z")

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I’m envious also.

My 35 mpg Civic is laid up with a broken clutch pedal bracket. ☹

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**Author:** ![FourPaws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e0b2c6/32.png) [@FourPaws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FourPaws)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2008, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proud-owner-of-a-new-hoopty/450034/6 "2008-05-21T22:33:50Z")

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Up here in Maine, we just call them “beaters”. More specifically, “winter beaters”, where you buy them to drive through the winter season (Nov - May) so you don’t beat your normal vehicle.

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**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proud-owner-of-a-new-hoopty/450034/7 "2008-05-22T23:50:00Z")

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[Here are pics of the car.](http://s175.photobucket.com/albums/w122/pimaspinner/Penalty%20Box/)

I’ve dubbed it “The Penalty Box”, and have already had to promise a couple of friends that I would never make them ride in it. 😛

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**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proud-owner-of-a-new-hoopty/450034/8 "2008-05-22T23:59:52Z")

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Oh, that isn’t a hoopty. It has to be purple, say, to be a hoopty. Preferably painted with house paint.

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**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proud-owner-of-a-new-hoopty/450034/9 "2008-05-23T00:23:07Z")

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I rented one of those when my old Dodge Shadow was getting repaired…

the 85 MPH speedo is _optomistic_, top speed on the interstate (a scary experience that was) was 83 MPH with a tailwind

should be a great in-town commuter though, nice catch for $300 🙂

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**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proud-owner-of-a-new-hoopty/450034/10 "2008-05-23T00:27:05Z")

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[QUOTE=Zsofia]  
Oh, that isn’t a hoopty. It has to be purple, say, to be a hoopty. Preferably painted with house paint.  
[/QUOTE]

You have to smell it to take in it’s full hooptiness. I figure I can do one of two things with this car:

1. Clean it up, pull the dents, buff the paint and headlights, and make it a nice little car.

2. Never clean it up, slap some Hurricanes magnets all over it, and generally not worry about how it looks.  
I did order a personalized plate for it: 52MPG 😛

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**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proud-owner-of-a-new-hoopty/450034/11 "2008-05-23T00:29:28Z")

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[QUOTE=MacTech]  
I rented one of those when my old Dodge Shadow was getting repaired…

the 85 MPH speedo is _optomistic_, top speed on the interstate (a scary experience that was) was 83 MPH with a tailwind

should be a great in-town commuter though, nice catch for $300 🙂  
[/QUOTE]

I don’t have to get it up over 35 mph on the commute. I took it up to 55 mph yesterday. Scary! It’s a little like driving a snail. 🙂

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**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proud-owner-of-a-new-hoopty/450034/12 "2008-05-23T16:46:33Z")

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Did it come with a full tak of gas?

I mean, seriously- that would be 1/6 of the purchase price…

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**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proud-owner-of-a-new-hoopty/450034/13 "2008-05-27T02:23:45Z")

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Was it “hot”? Who in their right mind would give up such a find – Brick?