I don't think either society is superior to the other. They model one way and we model our life a different way. Even though a few US cities have attempted to model after EU cities. The city centers in Europe are major train hubs and usually highways do not enter directly into the City Center. In most US cities - highways are the major route and excluding the NE & Chicago (which can offload to public trans) - most US cities are plagued with severe traffic problems as there is no alternative. Most EU cities - have very old small cars and limited pollution restrictions so they have poor air quality even though they have less cars. Most EU highways - do NOT have the amount of traffic we do -as the number of cars encountered on the AutoStrade (Italy) or AutoBahn is VERY VERY low in comparison to any interstate in the US (80, 95, etc.) NY state is probably larger than most EU countries so there is NO comparison - but EU cities are heavily populated (unlike our spread out nation) so Paris with its 2.1 million locally and 10 million in the surrounding far exceeds the most of our metropolitan areas (exclude NYC, DC+surroundings, Houston, CHI, LA). We agree - there is NO comparison! I think as a nation we can regret that we didn't focus more resources on trains (criss-crossing the nation) instead of highways in the past 5 decades which might have reduced the number of cars on the road.

I bought a 1995 Acura Legend in 1998 with 32,000 miles on it. It was a 36-month lease turn-in and was literally in PERFECT condition. It sat unsold on the Acura dealerâs used lot because it was the least expensive model, the L 4-door, with cloth interior and 5-speed manual transmission. But it was exactly what I wanted, White with Taupe interior, Bose stereo, Power seats with memory and (the best part) the sweetest 200hp 3.2L V6 Iâve ever experienced! I paid $26,000 out-the-door, which felt like a fortune at the time (I was 23). I drove it 40-50k miles per year until I was t-boned by a commercial truck in August 2005. It had just turned 329,000 miles at the time and didnât burn a drop of oil (synthetic), the clutch had only been replaced once and the transmission shifted like new. Other than scheduled maintenance, the only thing I ever had to replace was the A/C compressor and two ABS sensors. The impact was so hard the passenger-side door panel ended up breaking my right hand and forearm (it was in the middle of the car). The rearview mirror broke loose during the crash and hit me in the head just above my right ear. It left most of the glass mirror fragments in my head and took 38 staples to close the wound! I also had damage to two discs in my cervical spine that required a 3-level c-spine fusion the following year. But I was able to recover from all of those injuries, which was pretty amazing considering how bad my poor Legend looked. I bought a 2006 Mazda3 Hatchback to replace it in December 2005. Eight years later, Iâm just past 190,000 miles and going strong!

Until recently, we drove older vehicles. I had a 95 Chrysler Cirrus (bought in 95) and a 02 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder (bought in 05). The Chrysler had 107,000 miles on it when sold to 16 year old as her first car. I traded the Spyder in for a 14 Chrysler 300C. Hubby drove his 99 van until the frame rusted out and we replaced with a 12 Ram 1500 PU. My family has always driven older cars. My brother has my dad's 96 Chrysler Sebring convertible and recently ventured into the 2000s by picking up a 03 Jeep Liberty. He drives multiple cars every day (utility purposes), switching between a work van, his personal 00 Dodge van and a 73 Plymouth Gran Fury. He's got a bout 7 cars (never less; you'd understand if you knew our family). My all time favorite car to drive is now in a museum. A 27 Dodge Cabriolet that was in the family for 30+ years. I loved driving it. The heavy duty truck transmission requiring double clutching, the "grabber" brakes that required an oh so gentle touch on the pedal. I miss that car.....Here's a picture of the car being loaded up to take to the museum. The guy's head that you see is the guy who's in charge of the car. We've kept in touch and they haven't modified the car at all. Still looks like this and is driven very frequently. I've been fortunate to have driven cars from every decade starting with the 1920s and I've enjoyed the heck out of each one.

I have been driving a Mercedes station wagon for years. Love it. It has all wheel drive and drives so smooth. However, the maintenance can be tough and expensive. We also just recently bought my son a Subaru. We absolutely love it. It has all wheels drive as well. All of them do. Also, if you compare, the gas consumption (and money saved) of a Subaru with the extra money you have to spend to get a hybrid, the Subaru will be a better deal. Yes, you still burn gas with a low gas car, however, you also have to charge a battery with a hybrid, which uses resources, etc..... Just my two cents