When it comes to environmentally friendly automobiles, we usually think about the newer hybrid and electric vehicles. While these newer cars certainly use less gas, and produce fewer emissions, you shouldn’t discount the advantage of a good pre-owned vehicle. Many older cars can still be eco-friendly. The Saab family of automobiles is a great example of eco-friendly older cars.

Saab started as a Swedish airplane manufacturer in 1938, creating fighter jets for World War II. In 1945, when the war ended, they expanded to motorcycles and automobiles. Saab has even been named the official vehicle for Swedish royalty. Since their introduction, Saab has been an innovator in the car industry and is well established as a brand of safe vehicles.

For decades, Saab has been labeling plastic parts for recycling. Because of this campaign and Sweden’s law to protect the environment from abandoned vehicles, Saabs are manufactured in a way to help reduce waste and keep them out of landfills.

Saab has also been utilizing an eco-friendly engine since 1995. The Ecopower system was created for their turbo-charged engines. It allows the vehicle to consume less fuel while reducing exhaust emissions.

Hybrid and electric cars are still fairly expensive. Also, when it comes to electric cars, the U.S. is still catching up on things like having charging stations available. A used vehicle is much cheaper to buy and Saab parts are readily available from authentic stores like eEuroParts.

Contrary to popular belief, there are also environmental issues with hybrid and electric vehicles. Scientific American published an article comparing the environmental impact of a new eco-friendly car vs. a well-maintained older car. One of the things they discovered was that there are significant environmental costs to building new hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles.

Hybrid cars actually have a much larger environmental impact during their manufacture vs. non-hybrids – the batteries that drive the vehicles are not necessarily environmentally friendly, and the double engine design increases the manufacturing emissions.

While electric vehicles can be considered emission-free – as long as they are charged by a renewable energy source – many are charged using coal-generated electricity, which has a much higher environmental impact.

Owning a hybrid or electric car can reduce your emissions and your carbon footprint while you own the car. However, the manufacturing process could end up giving these cars a much higher footprint out of the gate than their non-hybrid and non-electric counterparts. The environmental costs associated with disposing of old vehicles could be greater than simply keeping the vehicle.

Saab vehicles have a history of excellent gas mileage, and innovative eco-friendly design. These older Saabs are still available to the public. Buying an older Saab may reduce the environmental impact of storing it in a landfill.

Earthgarage – Greener Car. Fatter Wallet.