GM SUV sales in freefall...........

I'm amazed they're even still that high. The hybrid trucks and SUVs that still only see 25-28 mpg on average aren't going to help much, I would think.
 
RetiredGypsy said:
I'm amazed they're even still that high. The hybrid trucks and SUVs that still only see 25-28 mpg on average aren't going to help much, I would think.
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Hey, if a 4WD Tahoe could get 28 mpg, the sales would be through the roof..........;)
 
Gotta be some great bargains right now
 
FinanceDude said:
Hey, if a 4WD Tahoe could get 28 mpg, the sales would be through the roof..........;)
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It would make soccer moms feel safe and let them think they were still being green to the environment. I'm scared now.
 
Big trucks and SUV's have become a rolling joke and the people driving them viewed as fools who never saw the writing on the wall until it was too late :D$4 a gallon baby,fill her up:D
 
jambo101 said:
Big trucks and SUV's have become a rolling joke and the people driving them viewed as fools who never saw the writing on the wall until it was too late :D$4 a gallon baby,fill her up:D
Click to expand...

I don't think we're doing much better.........DW drives a minivan. However, we average around 20mpg with mixed driving, and it is nice for family trips and when we are out with another couple and stuff like that.......
 
From this article in the Arizona Republic.

Debbie Gilmartin has a major dilemma with the huge Hummer H2 parked in her driveway.

She can't afford to drive it, with a lengthy commute from central Phoenix to Chandler every day, as well as shuttling people around in her sideline real-estate business.

But she can't afford the more-than $10,000 loss if she trades it in.

And nobody wants to buy a vehicle that averages less than 10 miles per gallon.

"I'm between a rock and a hard place," Gilmartin said. "Financially, it's killing me with gas prices and everything. I can't sell it. I can't trade it in. I don't know what I'm going to do with it."

She owes more than $40,000 on the 2-year-old vehicle, but dealers are only offering her $30,000 in trade.

"It would be like $10,000 negative equity," she said.
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Well, at least she understands the numbers.
 
I just bought a motorcycle to save money on gas.

Yeah, right....:rolleyes:...:D
 
Danny said:
Gotta be some great bargains right now
Click to expand...
Just like there are on gas-guzzling Boeing 707s, and other turbojet dinosaurs.

FinanceDude said:
Why not take the $10,000 loss and get out? $30,000 is a GIFT from that dealer
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You are so right! Waiting is only going to make the situation worse, as her monstrosity ages and gasoline costs continue to increase.
 
Heck... some people just don't care...

I bought an Explorer from my sister after my BIL died... it gets about 17 to 18 mpg.... but I get 17 mpg from my 95 Monte Carlo... so to me it is a wash.... and the Explorer has a lot more room with a third row and I am about to have a family....

SO, I would rather pay the extra $30 or so PER MONTH with the higher gas cost instead of trying to go to a small Corolla or the Hyundai that is that size....

When you do not drive that much.. the higher cost per gallon just does not make much difference...


NOW, saying that... the guy who lived next door has a brother who was paying $150 per week to fill up his F-150... went and bought a cheap Corolla and said the cost of the car and the gas is cheaper than just his gas was...
 
I'm with you Tex.

I look at the overall cost of operation and figure how painful it is, even at $4/gal a long trip driving in a full size truck isn't that painful, for me.

DW and I make a trip to see her mother every 8-10 months. It's exactly 1000 miles round trip. I did a little investigating into what the trip would cost if we took (just for grins) a Greyhound bus. Two senior fares and one of them at the -50% companion rate added up to $283 round trip. Regular fare without the senior discount is about $294 for two and a single fare round trip is $196.

If we drive DW's car, a 1992 Crown Victoria that gets a good honest 24+ mpg on the highway, total fuel cost for the trip is about $166. If we drive my 1998 F150 that will get 19 mpg on the highway total fuel costs are around $222. That boils down to about $8+/hour to drive the car and $11+/hour to drive the truck.

I've been making this trip for almost 36 years and I've done it in everything from a VW bug, that got 32 mpg to a '64 Caddy convertible that got 11 mpg :eek:. For my money, out on the open road, I'll take the smooth ride of the big car any day.

Around town we don't use enough gas to get too hyper about the price. I filled up my truck on May 7 and I still have 5/8 of a tank left. My last tank full lasted me 48 days (21 gal). :cool: DW's car will probably need a fill up in August or maybe September at the rate she uses it. :D
 
GM has announced the closing of 4 assembly plants, including the Morraine plant near me in Dayton. They make trucks/SUVs. A lot of folks are going to be out of work--very sad. Unreasonable labor leaders, unreasonable worker demands, unimaginative GM leadership and products, complacent engineers, crappy subcomponents, and "the-customer-is-an-idiot" attitude all contribute to the demise of the the US auto industry.

Meanwhile, in March 2008, Toyota announced their sales had increased 9.8% over the previous year's numbers, and net earnings rose 4.5%. . . and that was a "disappointment."
 
Darn. I dont want to replace my vehicle for at least 2 more years. Hmm maybe hybrid SUV's will be the craze then.. Ill need more room but get over 30 mpg .. :angel:
 
If you figure mpg as mpg/per person, two or more people in an SUV that gets 17 mpg is more energy-efficient than one person in a smaller car that gets 30. Don't know what the mpg/per person is for a jet--anyone?

Moms and dads with young children have to use carseats/boosters until the kids are big--hard to maneuver in a small car--and cart around stuff for them and their friends. Also more "green" and cheaper to use an existing vehicle up to a point than to manufacture and pay for a new one.

(Why yes I do have an SUV that I don't intend to get rid of :) --also a small old car that gets 30 mpg that we use when only one of us going somewhere.... )
 
Bestwifeever said:
If you figure mpg as mpg/per person, two or more people in an SUV that gets 17 mpg is more energy-efficient than one person in a smaller car that gets 30.
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By extension, two or more people in a smaller car is more efficient still. And, if you regularily load balance across vehicle choices based on passenger volume, then you are very much in the minority... although I do applaud the effort!
 
There has to be mid ground somewhere between the hauling capacity and comfort of an SUV (and the good ones are like magic carpets on the Interstates) and the fuel efficiency of a car. I can think of the old Highlander, some smaller minivans, and a bunch of station wagons such as the Mazda6 wagon when it was still available.
 
I have to pay close attention to the traffic around me on a daily basis. On my work commute, there is a total of about 6 miles I drive in town, the rest is divided between two interstates and a highway. In town, I notice there are a lot of vehicles with passengers. The number of people in a car always exceed the number of people in an SUV. Trucks are about 50/50. I have seen so few children strapped into a carseat in an SUV I can't even remember any. I have a tendency to look; if there's a young kid in the car they always look at me and I make it a point to look at them and wave. They get a huge kick out of it, the "cool motorcycle person" paid attention to them.

On the highways and interstates there is so rarely ever more than the driver in any given type of vehicle. On the way to work you rarely bring friends and family along with you, I guess.

I haven't seen anything that suggests someone picked an SUV for its usefulness. I haven't even seen anything that really suggests an SUV has any more usefulness than a car. Even at Home Depot I've seen more trucks, station wagons and old beaters with more stored in them than any given SUV.

They do have more leg room I guess, depending on which SUV you pick and which car you're comparing it to.
 
Marquette said:
By extension, two or more people in a smaller car is more efficient still. And, if you regularily load balance across vehicle choices based on passenger volume, then you are very much in the minority... although I do applaud the effort!
Click to expand...

And when we use our cars, we usually do have two people in our small old car--more than that is not particularly pleasant. The comfort level is terrible and probably three people would affect the mpg :) . But you rarely see more than one person in any car.

We're lucky that we can and do walk to everything (from hospital to library to schools to Starbucks) and a commuter train stops just three blocks from our home. Hmmm, bet those trains are real gas guzzlers too based only on mpg.
 
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