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wildcat · 05-19-2005, 10:55 AM

Trying to step it up a bit for BUM

OK I was watching the 'Today Show' the other day and the panel was discussing gas prices. A viewer wrote in via email and said their family was cutting other expenses just to be able to afford or maintain their typical gas consumption which was quite high.

The show is also doing the 'Gas Challenge' where 3 different vehicles are driving across the US and measuring the gas bill and driver's opinion. The family driving the big Lincoln SUV has dropped $450 on gas vs Hybrid's $150 on gas. The SUV driver's response was the ride was great and worth the $450 on gas despite the fact that it ate up the family's allowance for other expenditures.

Does this make sense to other people b/c it doesn't to me? That type of mentality doesn't seem to solve any problems.

azanon · 05-19-2005, 11:06 AM

i cant make sense out of the folks driving hybrids either, to be honest. Paying an extra 8-15K dollar premium for a hybrid car to save a few dollars at a pump (as compared to other small cars with the base engine)?

Cars that make sense to me are base-model corollas, civics, or echos; cars that burn regular fuel, but just do so miserly and almost as well as the hybrids do without the premium initial price.

cute fuzzy bunny · 05-19-2005, 11:11 AM

Take a cross country drive in a small buckety car and then take one in a larger, softer riding, more luxurious one with big wide seats.

See if that week or two spent in the latter doesnt justify a few hundred bucks.

Bear in mind people will drop that much to sit in a slightly larger seat in the front of an airplane for a couple of hours.

laurence · 05-19-2005, 11:21 AM

There is a happy medium, Honda Accord gets great gas mileage (0ver 30) and rides wonderfully. I won't pay a premium for a hybrid, let the early adopters average down the unit cost.

wildcat · 05-19-2005, 11:55 AM

L-dubya
I am with you on that one. OK TH, good point (long distance just happened to be the theme of the show) but what about the people driving the tanks or SUVS around town, i.e. short distances. Can't we be more efficient with our use of fuel, i.e. change our attitudes towards fuel (despite living in a 'now' or short-term thinking society)? Can't the auto companies make them more fuel efficient yet just as comfortable?

wildcat · 05-19-2005, 11:57 AM

L-dubya outranks me by 410 or postings

cute fuzzy bunny · 05-19-2005, 12:05 PM

Sure...I've seen stuff like the toyota highlander hybrid and other less exotic experiments that show you can make a nice comfortable sized vehicle with good gas mileage.

For what its worth, my around-town hobbler is a toyota rav4; my wifes former car. I say 'former' because somehow she's pedalling my Expedition around now and I and the dogs have been relegated to the wee mobile. "Its for the baby!". Hmm.

Try shoving two big dogs, three people and a baby into that rav, anything hybrid, or anything smaller, and hiking them 2-4 hours away for an afternoon...

Its all irrelevant though. The same mindset that stops people making six figure incomes from retiring early is at work in the car business. "I have to have the biggest, most expensive thing, so the neighbors I hardly know and all the people I drive by know exactly what a big guy I actually am!" :

Actually the original expedition purchase reason is as follows, and I am not making this up. When I bought it, I was kayaking almost every day. I was tying it to the roof of my old small SUV. I had to take it off to go to work or any shopping. Huge pain in the butt and it was cutting into my willingness to go out and strap it on and go to the lake. I was flush with cash, still working, not even a winking idea of retiring early. The kayak fit INSIDE the expedition with all the doors and windows closed, so it could become a nearly full-time fixture. I only had to take it out when carrying more than 1-2 passengers, and no strapping required. And I got a heck of a deal on it as someone had bought it, but their check had bounced, which technically made it a used car that hadnt ever actually been used. Would have looked for one with the diesel engine, but thats a $4K option and damned if I was going to pay more for the option than it would have saved me in gas over the vehicles lifetime.

So yes, I am a large SUV owner because of a kayak.

laurence · 05-19-2005, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildcat

L-dubya outranks me by 410 or postings

All that means is I talk too much!

TH, both my vehicle purchases had less thought behind them than yours, believe me. Totally just fell in love, irrational, walk onto the lot and bought new from a salesman. Some mitigating factors on the Grand Cherokee, as it was the "one at this price" vehicle (you know, raised on the platform for prominent viewing). When the salesperson tried to "upsell" us we remained firm, and at least we got a 100k bumper to bumper that really does cover everything. The Passat, totally irrational. Pathetic really. I went on the lot and said, "I want a dark blue with grey interior, turbo, tiptronic, sunroof, cd-changer" He said, "Here you go, sign here" and away we went. Less than 2 hours including paperwork. He saw me coming.

05-19-2005, 02:11 PM

When it comes to gas prices, people are totally irrational. *They don't think things through.

1. Here's an example, of something I overheard in a restaurant:

"A month ago I spent $20 to fill up my truck, and yesterday I spent $36!!!"

Now I know that the prices did not go up by 80% -- the guy just ignored the fact that he had more gas in the tank when he filled up a month ago.

2. People will drive long distances to get cheaper gas (as in "to the next town"). *Sometimes they don't realize that they are saving only 40 cents or so.

3. A lot of people don't even know what their gas mileage is. *I was talking to some guy putting gas in his huge motor home. *"What kind of mileage do you get in that?" *"I don't know" he said, and it was obvious he'd never even thought of figuring it out.

4. Hybrids are good for the environment, and I'm glad people are buying them, but I don't think most of them think through the economics when they buy them.

-----------------------

How we doing -- is this thread non-lousy?

cute fuzzy bunny · 05-19-2005, 02:59 PM

I want *more* lousy threads. The lousier the better!

wildcat · 05-19-2005, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Sometimes they don't realize that they are saving only 40 cents or so.

Below T-boneAl's cheap threshold

OK I have a friend and he tells me he has to have a big full-size truck with the V-8. I ask him why and he tells me in case he hauls some stuff around or when he goes deer hunting a few times a year. I was walking out of gym and I noticed a friend pulling in. Single girl, no dogs, no kids and she drives a tank. Irrational and impractical if you ask me. As TH said "hey look at me and what I drive" mentality.

Lousy part of the thread

cute fuzzy bunny · 05-19-2005, 03:22 PM

Hmmm...almost as bad as a single large SUV driver...a fat doofus who tries to make himself feel better by assasinating important peoples character.

Not to say what he's filmed is wrong, half of it is spot-on. But he's still an ass.

unclemick · 05-19-2005, 05:52 PM

I can only repeat what I was told by the en-ga-neers in the 70's(the first oil shock) - big cheap used Detroit Iron buys a lot of $5/gal gas. In 1973, my $150 1961 big V8 Pontiac did just fine.

Today 1994 GMC Sonoma (free) - 25mpg, 1992 GEO Storm (free, not running yet) - 33 mpg. And the SO's 1999 Chevy Silverado - V6 only a so so 18 mph in town.

Get me a car that costs maybe $ 1000 new and gets 50 mpg and doesn't depreciate - then maybe I'm interested.

The great American junkyard has a lot of good used parts - and for me is a really fun place to visit.

BUM · 05-19-2005, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildcat

Trying to step it up a bit for BUM

OK I was watching the 'Today Show' the other day and the panel was discussing gas prices. A viewer wrote in via email and said their family was cutting other expenses just to be able to afford or maintain their typical gas consumption which was quite high.

The show is also doing the 'Gas Challenge' where 3 different vehicles are driving across the US and measuring the gas bill and driver's opinion. The family driving the big Lincoln SUV has dropped $450 on gas vs Hybrid's $150 on gas. The SUV driver's response was the ride was great and worth the $450 on gas despite the fact that it ate up the family's allowance for other expenditures.

Does this make sense to other people b/c it doesn't to me? That type of mentality doesn't seem to solve any problems.

Thanks wildcat. Very interesting. Thats a 5 on the BUM-O-METER! I feel better already.

sailor · 05-19-2005, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unclemick2

Get me a car that costs maybe $ 1000 new and gets 50 mpg and doesn't depreciate - then maybe I'm interested.

Unclemick,
I'm very happy to report that you just described my car.
It's '89 Honda CRX HF and it does get 51 mpg on the highway.
Nowadays doesn't depreciate anymore (stable value around $600 probably)
and it's practically new with only 140k miles :-)

unclemick · 05-20-2005, 07:53 AM

sailor

Sounds good to me! Now that's the kind of car I'm talking about.

wildcat · 05-22-2005, 07:33 AM

From article "Best Cars For The Bucks" in Forbes
http://www.aol.com/autos/article/9.adp

"SUVs may have peaked five years ago, but they have recently commenced what may be an unrecoverable nosedive. Just look at Ford Motor (nyse: F - news - people ) as an example. The company makes, year after year, the best-selling pickup (F-Series) and SUV (Explorer) in this country, but in the first four months of this year, its SUV sales went in the tank. In comparison to the first four months of 2004, Explorer sales declined by 23%, Expedition by 25% and Excursion by 29%."

I may stand corrected. Could people really be learning to cut back on the SUV purchases. Come on, only gonna stay that way if gas prices are high.