I find HOPE in my 12 Year Old Truck

U.S.A. Greenhouse Gas Emissions are at their lowest in 30 years. We are driving less given Covid.  I know that is true from my own experience.  And so the question is: How wise is it to drive my 12 year old truck into the ground, waiting for a new, affordable mid-size electric truck to emerge?

I have a great mechanic who has kept my 2007 Honda Ridgeline running for 220,000 miles. Each of the last two summers I've done some bodywork on the running boards and that has helped to keep it looking new.  Inside is clean and still looks new, except for the crushed leather seats where I get in and out all the time.  It is an AWD truck, which really helps during the winter, especially when it comes to getting away to our cabin up north.  I love the utility of having something that I can drive safely to Chicago to visit the grandkids, or out to Cape Cod where my family yet remains.  A mid-size truck really comes in handy, especially given that it seats five.

However, the mileage I get, which was just fine in 2007, is pretty low by today's standards. Can I really get 300,000 miles out of it? My guess is that it will take another 4 years to get there.  And on those long trips out to the East Coast, will I run into mechanical problems? Tires are new, and they are rated for 60,000 miles.  If I sold it, someone else would buy it and run it into the ground, but they wouldn't take care of it as I have, or would over its lifetime. And then, there isn't a comparable electric truck on the market yet.  My hope is that there will be by 2016 and I can afford one.

Cost/Benefit Analysis.  We all have to do it.  Repair, or Replace?

What is the best way to LOVE MOTHER EARTH?  The more spiritually evolved we are, the more we struggle with such questions, and that's okay.  Struggle on.