Roadmaster may put sister in poorhouse

Dear Bob: My elderly sister and I drove across country in her 1993 Buick Century Roadmaster station wagon. My husband says that the Roadmaster station wagon must have a 440-cubic-inch motor in it and that we must have barely gotten 10 miles per gallon. My sister never changes oil or tunes the car unless it quits running.

On the trip we agreed to split expenses. The wagon seemed to require a complete fill-up at every other gas station, and I was soon out of cash.

Can you suggest a slightly newer station wagon — to pacify her sentimentality, as our dad used one for our large family — that would cost much less to run? Can I demonstrate how another model could actually help pay for itself with less money spent for fuel?

I’m fearful that the Roadmaster will put her in the poorhouse.

Your faithful reader,

— S.S., Fayetteville, N.C.

A: Why not scale down to a midsize station wagon, instead of the full-size Roadmaster she now has? The Roadmaster has a 5.7-liter, V-8 engine, while a midsize Century can be had with either a 2.2-liter, four-cylinder engine or a 3.1-liter V-6.

For instance, I’m now gazing at the Fuel Economy Guide for 1995 models, a “slightly newer” model year, as you requested. The smaller Buick Century station wagon, with a four-cylinder engine, is rated at 22 mpg in the city and 29 mpg on the highway. With the V-6 engine it is rated at 19 mpg in the city and 29 mpg on the highway. Either is a heck of a lot better than the mileage your sister is now getting on her Roadmaster!

There are also numerous small station wagons that give even better fuel economy. The Mercury Tracer wagon, for example, is rated at 30/38 mpg, while the Saturn is rated at between 24 mpg and 28 mpg in the city and at as much as 40 mpg on the highway. There are many more station wagons, both small and midsize, that should substantially reduce your sister’s gasoline bills.

It should be easy enough to convince her of the money she could save by driving one of these smaller and much more economical models. While you are at it, do her another favor and convince her that she can save even more money — as indeed she can — by having her car tuned and her oil changed according to the manufacturer’s suggested schedules.

Dear Bob: I recently read your answer to a party in Washington who asked about a problem he is having with vinyl fog on his vehicle’s windshield.

I had the same problem with my 1992 Chrysler, 1996 Mercury Villager and 2000 Mercury Villager. I am now having the same problem with my 2004 Toyota Sienna. So it appears that the problem is still around.

I guess vinyl is vinyl, be it 15 years ago or the present.

Love your column.

— B.McF., Hershey, Pa.

A: So-called vinyl fog — no relation to Mel Torme’s velvet fog — is a tough-to-remove film that attaches itself to the inside of the windshields and other glass surfaces of newer vehicles. It is caused by evaporating plasticizers, chemicals that are added to vehicle vinyls, especially dashboard tops, to keep them from deteriorating.

While the problem may still be around, it isn’t nearly as prevalent nor as difficult to deal with as it was, say, 10 years ago. These days you can buy cleaners that are made specifically to remove vinyl fog, which wasn’t possible 10 years ago.

All in all, then, vinyl fog may still make an occasional appearance in some new vehicles, but for the most part it’s a thing of the past.

AMERICAN DRIVERS FIGHT BACK

Here’s a tip that will help you get better gas mileage while fighting terrorism and cutting our nation’s dependence on Mideastern oil:

Buy your gas in the early morning whenever possible. In the cool of the morning — OK, all together now, “In the cool, cool, cool of the morning …” — gasoline is more dense, because the sun hasn’t had time to heat and expand it. Gasoline pumps measure volume and, although you receive only the amount the pump indicates, it is … well, for lack of a better word, more concentrated.

As the day wears on, the gas expands in your tank and you gain the extra expanded volume. If you bought the same amount of gas in the heat of the day, it would already have expanded and, while you would be receiving the identical amount of volume — a gallon is a gallon — it wouldn’t be as dense and thus would have very slightly less gas in it.

Try early-morning or late-evening fill-ups, and profit from the small amount of extra gas you receive at no additional cost.