Car Dealers Seeing More People Trading In SUVs

The Denver Channel ^

[Trust but Verify]

If you can afford it, get a smaller car to use for most of your driving and keep the SUV.

[TheForceOfOne]

Here, take your pick of the shoe box that fits you. lol

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/byMPG.htm

[Trust but Verify]

Once people decide that gas prices are too high to afford their low mileage cars, they will get higher mileage cars

You are right. It will be the end of American automakers.

[politicket]

HAHHAHAHAH You're funny... Most american's in their adult lives haver never had a paid off car... foolish, but true.

Unfortunately, you're absolutely correct.

However, we own a 1995 Olds Silhouette and a 2000 Ford F-350. It would be foolish for us to plunk down $20,000 for a "cheaper" vehicle when that same money could buy gas for quite a few more years (the Olds has a recently rebuilt engine and transmission - so it should hold up for quite a while longer).

[Trust but Verify]

My sister has a 2001 Odyssey and says it gets terrible mileage. Almost all her mileage is city driving. Her husband has a Dodge Ram diesel. They're screwed.

[HamiltonJay]

Well I agree, my vehicles are free and clear, and when they die I will trade them in for slightly used vehicles with better gas mileage.... but I pay the same for my Bus Pass whether gas is $1 a gallon or $4 a gallon... SO I think I can handle the $35-$50 fill up once a month or so, and be far better off than buying a new car...

But then again, I have no car payments....

[VeniVidiVici]

I also think anyone who is willing to wait 12 months or more for a hybrid is a damned fool.

Depending on the hybrid, you may not have to wait at all.

Spent the past two weeks looking for an Accord Hybrid with Navigation. All the dealers were like, "BUY! BUY NOW!! GAS IS SOARING!!THE CARS ARE FLYING OFF THE LOT!!".

But you know, the same damn cars were there day-after-day.

Found one we liked, and under invoice, and drove it off the lot today.

Next few weeks I'm going to hunt for a cheap Cherokee 4x4.

[Fresh Wind]

Fortunately, we are getting past the point where they have to build hybrid cars to appeal only to environmentalist hippies. The notion that "if it's ugly, it must be efficient" doesn't work for most people.

[VRWCmember]

I love my SUV, but to be honest I've been thinking about trading it in. It only gets approx. 16 mpg and is getting pretty expensive to drive.

Before you do that, take this little test:

1. Calculate the number of miles you drive per year/month.
2. Based on this number, determine the number of gallons you will consume per year/month at your 16mpg rate AND determine the number of gallons you will consume per year/month at rates of 20 mpg, 24 mpg, and 30 mpg.
3. Calculate how much money you will LOSE by trading out of your SUV.
4. Calculate the amount of money you will spend getting a new vehicle.
5. Calulate how long it will take you based on the monthly reduction in gallons of gas consumed for your gas savings to offset the financial bath you take by trading out of your SUV.

[VeniVidiVici]

Some calculations:
16 mpg, $2.00 gas, 12,000 miles per year = $750 fuel cost

At $3, the yearly fuel cost is $1125

At $4, the yearly fuel cost is $1500

Here. This is better:
16mpg, $2.00 gas, 24,000 miles per year = $3000 fuel cost

At $3, the yearly fuel cost is $4500

At $4, the yearly fuel cost is $6000

There. *Now* it makes sense to dump it.

:-)

[TheForceOfOne]

I currently have 4 completely paid for vehicles in great condition. I have no plans at all to buy a new vehicle. Now if I can just afford the gas! lol

[Alberta's Child]

Dealers have always discounted from MSRP so amortizing your "savings" against fuel cost/mileage is a bit unrealistic.

You're right about that, but the "discounted" price on this vehicle last spring was still about $5,000 more than it is now. This full-sized truck is now selling for about $2,000 more than I paid for a mid-sized truck 11 years ago!

It's also unrealistic to estimate fuel costs over the 10-year life of a vehicle (that's at least how long I keep a new vehicle) based on fuel prices when they are at a historic high.

[Constantine XIII]

The only thing that will kill SUV's would be long-term fuel rationing. Otherwise, people with money will keep on paying.

[razorback-bert]

Well I just bought a RAV4 "L" 4wd a month ago, because I wanted the higher ground clearance plus the four wheel drive. I got the SUV I wanted at a price I could live with.

[Constantine XIII]

Fugliness is the only thing keeping hybrids from taking off in my humble opinion. People have shown that they'll pay lots of money to look trendy, but fugly does-not-equal trendy.

[doug from upland]

Whoops. I guess I can't listen to two talk shows while FReeping, field a business call, and try to do math at the same time. Doh. The original calculation should have been 750 gallons.

(12,000 miles, 16 mpg)
$2.00 per gallon = $1500 in fuel
$4.00 per gallon = $3000 in fuel

[VRWCmember]

Let's adjust your estimates for 20,000 miles per year and a 16 mpg vehicle:
16mpg, $2.00 gas, 20,000 miles per year = $2500 fuel cost
At $3, the yearly fuel cost is $3750
At $4, the yearly fuel cost is $5000

Now, let's see what the 20,000 mile driver will accomplish by trading out of the 16 mpg vehicle and getting one that gets 24 mpg.

24mpg, $2.00 gas, 20,000 miles per year = $1667 fuel cost ($833 ANNUAL savings)
At $3, the yearly fuel cost is $2500 ($1250 ANNUAL savings)
At $4, the yearly fuel cost is $3333 ($1667 ANNUAL savings)

So, at $3.00 per gallon, someone who drives 20,000 miles per year and trades out of a 16 mph SUV into a mid-size sedan that gets 24 mpg will save $1250 per year or a little over $100 per month. If that driver is still making payments on the SUV, you can rest assured trading out will result in a loss on the trade. Is that worth $100 per month savings in gasoline? Only if the cost of trading out is LESS than $100 per month.

[Fresh Wind]

fugly does-not-equal trendy

Actually, in some places it does. Places like Ithaca, Ann Arbor, Berkeley, and many other centers of hardcore academia. In the Real World, you are absolutely right!

[uglybiker]

Her husband has a Dodge Ram diesel. They're screwed.

Odds are, the Dodge gets better mileage than the Honda.

My '99 Dodge averages 19-20 mpg. Not bad for a full-size vehicle.

And that should go up considerably once I get my new toy put on.

[RightWhale]

SUVs have been around for a while now. That alone would tend to increase the numbers of SUVs being traded in. I did look at hybrids last year at trade-in or buy time, but decided to keep the old SUV, probably forever, the cost of fuel still not being as big a deal as the cost of the vehicle.