Posted on 05/09/2005 6:52:14 AM PDT by MississippiMasterpiece
It's a Saturday morning on San Leandro's Marina Boulevard auto row, and the big SUVs have been sitting on the lots, waiting for someone to come in and start that dealer dollar dance that ends up with the customer slightly bewildered but paying a lot less for that vehicle than he thought he was going to.
Once in a while, there are takers, although the dealer has to discount the SUV heavily just to get it moving.
Salvador Sotello, for example, recently paid F.H. Dailey Chevrolet in San Leandro $41,000 for a new Chevy Tahoe LT (yes, with leather) SUV that had a sticker price of $58,000. The sale was an anomaly in what is otherwise a pretty dismal selling season. "It's been pretty quiet," saleswoman Crystal Gonzalez said the other day. "Been pretty slow."
At Broadway Ford in Oakland, the grilles of the Mustangs, SUVs and the lone Thunderbird smile at the passing traffic, but the showroom is empty, it appears, of customers; several salesmen are in sight. Up at Albany Ford-Subaru, salesman Myers Howard, sitting a few feet away from a big Ford pickup truck, says things on the Ford side of the showroom "are slow." That might be the understatement of the day.
Just this past week, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. underwent the humiliation of seeing their credit ratings reduced by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services to the status of junk. The reasons are becoming clear -- the two big companies can't sell much of what they produce.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
I doubt liberals would take credit, considering the source, but this falls under Ronald Reagan's maxim: "If it moves, tax it; if it keeps moving, regulate it; if it stops moving, subsidize it."
"Wouldn't the 4 adult males be more comfortable if they were sitting in the front and rear seats? I mean, you've got a heck of a lotta trunk space, but you have to draw the line somewhere... :)"
Naw, I like to ride alone. Let 'em squeeze in the trunk! :P
This almost happened to me on my motorcycle while I was following a minivan with tinted windows.
Following too closely. Always someone is going to get shat upon because there is always somebody smaller than you on the road.
Most of the tin foil cans on the road aren't either.
I have a bad back. I need a 4WD that I can get into comfortably, which is easily enough chosen. I like the GMC Envoy.
But I need a vehicle that won't break the bank gas wise..I got rid of my beloved 1990 Jeep Grand Cherokee for just that reason.
I have read the article you mentioned in your post, actually did that a couple of months ago, but diesel is MORE expensive here than regular motor fuel. At least 5-7 cents a gallon more.
So I have a family of 6. If I had a mid-size car (at 25 mpg) that only holds5, as they all do, I would have to take 2 trips to get my family to point B, as opposed to my SUV (at 17 mpg) which fits my family, the dog and my mother-in-law. I would end up losing, and further contributing to world demise as you put it.
BTW, you seem to like the government holding a lot of power over the people. Your world vision sounds a hell of a lot like Russia in the 1970's, wherein the government, not the buyer can control the market. Are you sure you are on the right board, or do you really belong at DU?
I own both a large truck (F-250 extended cab) and a small one (Nissan P.U. that sits as close to the ground as most cars).
I have NEVER felt that I had a harder time seeing everything that I need to see to drive safely when driving the Nissan then when I drive the F-250.
People who claim they have a hard time with SUVs must really come apart when an 18 wheeler pulls up near them.
The real problem with people crying about not being able to see around SUVs is that they are following to damn closely.
Diesel often is more expensive, I've heard this is due to demand for home heating oil (essentially the same without road tax).
However, other factors apply, such as engine longevity and increased safety in a bad collision.
All you suv hating guys out there just don't get it. People who own an SUV get it. It's just pure suv love. Can't I have what I want? NASCAR wastes gas, yet I don't see any rants about getting rid of car racing. And I really hate all of these posters that assume all of us SUV drivers are short, poor drivers, lazy, cell phone talkers.
I used to own a Chevy Vega many years ago. That was made out of recycled, compacted rust.
according to this websight,
http://carpoint.ninemsn.com.au/portal/alias__carpointau/tabID__6491/ArticleID__5487/DesktopDefault.aspx
Owners of 'environmentally friendly' hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight may be hit with a bill for up to $7000 when their car's battery dies less than eight years after purchase. The battery unit, which has a lifespan of 8-10 years -- shorter in hotter climates like Australia -- cannot be reconditioned. It must be thrown out and replaced with a new one, at considerable cost to the owner.
"A replacement battery on the Insight retails for $6840," said Honda spokesman Mark Higgins...
My SUV seats seven passengers,comfortably. I think that makes it a passenger car.
My job requires that I drive the streets of Tulsa everyday.
I have never found that the drivers of large vehicles are any more or less likely to drive like a@@holes than drivers of small cars.
My vote for the ugliest car ever would have to be the 1970's era Cadillac notchback sedan de ville. You know, the one with the full size front and the shortened trunk in the back, boy that was a quick fix. But Scion XB looks like all the designers had to work with was a T square.
B.S.
Why is this so offensive ? You have a problem with people trying to protect themselves and using their dollars to buy equipment that will let them protect themselves ?
"I would like to read comments about how using fuel imperils our country's security. "
We do disagree, but it's a pleasure to disagree with someone who is thoughtful. If disagreements were kept on a thoughtful, logical basis, middle ground would be much easier to find.
Anyway, on to my thoughts about security issues. It's two fold as I see it. First, the money we spend is going into the pockets, (generally), of the people who would most like to see us dead. Saudis in particular, Muslims in general. Secondly, I wonder how well our military could perform if the Middle East turned off the flow of oil.
Have a good one.
In Los Angeles, people use their SUVs as battering rams and tanks. No need to signal that you want to come over, just barge into a lane of traffic.
The problem is that people who CHOOSE to drive SUVs use more gas, which in turn drives up the cost of fuel for everyone else. It's not like your choice only affects you.
There is a limited amount of refinery capacity (thanks envirowhackos), therefore a limited amount of gasoline. When gasoline demand hits the limits of refinery capacity, pricing goes haywire.
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