SUV owners "staying the course"

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/06/06/SUV.owners/index.html?eref=rss_latest

Oh yeah, I'm sure the price of gas will "level off"...

I don't know how they do it. My samurai goes through just over $35 a week and it's killing me. I'm knocking weight off it anywhere I can (especially with bigger tires in the works)...the front bumper's gonna come off soon.

I just put $2.50 of gas in the AE92 every now and then and it's enough for weekend drives and low-seat-time track events (usually hovers around a quarter tank). I made the mistake of putting $20 in it last weekend and now I'll have to siphon it out or it's just gonna sit in there forever and varnish-ize.

Well, buying a newer more fuel efficient car is a terrible way to save money and certainly not a net gain financially unless your only goal is to spend less money on gas while ignoring everything else.

Like the article said, if you need a bigger vehicle you, um, need a bigger vehicle. Everyone can't just go out and buy a prius just because gas prices are going up.

it'll cut down on those that buy one for the heck of it, but there's always going to be a market for those that can use a larger vehicle. I mean, the full size SUV has ben around since the '60s fulfilling its role as a large station wagon for those that can use the extra space. it'll really only be the fad buyers that will be moving away from them.

Which will also drive the price of used ones down for those of us that still want a large vehciel to tow with, for example.

And yeah, I don't drive my '95 Range Rover a whole lot (though with a 14 mile round trip commute, it still takes a long time to go through a tank of fuel if I choose to use it for that), but it still has it's uses (like towing my camp trailer), and was cheap to purchase (it's 13 years old now).

depends.. lots of folks "NEED" a suv for their one child

The big mistake they made was waiting this long to sell, now their SUVs are worth nothing...they could still buy used cars for cheap and save money, like one of the guys in the article.

An interesting "unintended consequence" here is the fact that the same thing that is hurting gas mileage in small cars is hurting those will larger families: safety requirements.

Small cars are heavier for it, and larger vehicles are required for more than two small children since small children are not allowed in the front seats. Not to mention car seat requirements etc. The old days of pilling the kids in a car are gone.

I suspect there may be a growing market for renting SUV's for family trips etc.

What are the options for large families? - Suck it up. - Don't travel around - Don't have a large family. One wonders if a long term side effect will be smaller families. Slowing population growth is certainly a good thing in my eyes, I think the economy depends on it though, fiat money and all that jazz...

aircooled wrote: What are the options for large families? - Suck it up. - Don't travel around - Don't have a large family.

Well, not having a large family is really not an option when you have a large family, unless you plan on getting rid of some family members...

And not tavelling around is going to be normal for pretty much everyone, regardless of size of car.

I know that the fairly regular trips we take to CT from Baltimore to take care of my 80 year old in-laws and let my stepson visit his dad will by necessity get cut down.

aircooled wrote: What are the options for large families?

A honda odyssey's estimated annual fuel cost is $1000 less than a suburban FWIW.

aircooled wrote: What are the options for large families? - Suck it up. - Don't travel around - Don't have a large family. One wonders if a long term side effect will be smaller families. Slowing population growth is certainly a good thing in my eyes, I think the economy depends on it though, fiat money and all that jazz...

I already have my answer: stationwagon!

My Passat GLX VR6 gets gets high 20s around town, and I can squeeze 32mpg on the highway. I can fit 4 adults and their luggage quite nicely in it for trips. I think America forgot about the cars that lugged families around for years. Look at an SUV and look at a car based stationwagon, only difference I see is a truck frame thrown under the same body. I think it's time for the stationwagon to come back around.

MCarp22 wrote:

aircooled wrote: What are the options for large families?

A honda odyssey's estimated annual fuel cost is $1000 less than a suburban FWIW.

Wrong, if fuel prices have doubled since the report (example) then the Oddity will save $2000.00 over the Siphonburban

Chris_V wrote:

aircooled wrote: What are the options for large families? - Suck it up. - Don't travel around - Don't have a large family.

Well, not having a large family is really not an option when you have a large family, unless you plan on getting rid of some family members...

Which is why we should support the draft.

(I saw a black helicopter so I figured I might just say something that Dick Cheney would)

slefain wrote: Look at an SUV and look at a car based stationwagon, only difference I see is a truck frame thrown under the same body. I think it's time for the stationwagon to come back around.

Hell, a lot of the SUVs are car based now. The main difference between a car based SUV and a station wagon is taller suspension and tires, and the car based SUV bodies seem to be taller and not as long as most station wagons.

As Dave Ramsey would say you have an income issue not a price of gas issue if $35 a week is killing you. Before I started biking to work I was spending at least $50 a week and it wasn't that big of a deal.

i used to see groups of 5+ fit into a civic hatch back in highschool. How can a family of 5 not fit in a prius or similar sized vehicle.

They must be affraid of touching the person they are sitting next to.....eeeeewwwwww

John Brown wrote:

Chris_V wrote:

aircooled wrote: What are the options for large families? - Suck it up. - Don't travel around - Don't have a large family.

Well, not having a large family is really not an option when you have a large family, unless you plan on getting rid of some family members...

Which is why we should support the draft.

I would vote for a draft. I lived thru the draft era and I've seen what has happened since then.

But then, I'm for workfare, not welfare.

A huge percentage of young men entered the service learned some manners, learned a career, learned they mattered, and didn't live off the dole.

We could use a big dose of that about now.

Service men don't just have to fight wars, there are many worthwhile projects they could be doing and learning from. Plus we'd all profit.

GlennS wrote: i used to see groups of 5+ fit into a civic hatch back in highschool. How can a family of 5 not fit in a prius or similar sized vehicle. They must be affraid of touching the person they are sitting next to.....eeeeewwwwww

Part of it is a safety issue. I've seen 10 people in a car back in high school too. Hell, I had 4 in my MG midget. But 5 don't fit as well in a Civic if you have to have carseats and carry a stroller and other toddler accoutrements.

Or if the kids are older, many of them in high school don't fit in the back of a Civic. My stepson, at 15, is over 6 ft tall and doesn't fit well in the back of a lot of smaller cars. Add another couple kids and I can see it being a problem.

I mean, you can put a family of 15 in a one bedroom house. They do it in Africa all the time. I'll follow your lead if you lead the way back to those living arrangements...

John Brown wrote:

Chris_V wrote:

aircooled wrote: What are the options for large families? - Suck it up. - Don't travel around - Don't have a large family.

Well, not having a large family is really not an option when you have a large family, unless you plan on getting rid of some family members...

Which is why we should support the draft.

Yeah, lets draft the 10- 12 year olds. I'm sure that would work out well.

carguy123 wrote:

John Brown wrote:

Chris_V wrote:

aircooled wrote: What are the options for large families? - Suck it up. - Don't travel around - Don't have a large family.

Well, not having a large family is really not an option when you have a large family, unless you plan on getting rid of some family members...

Which is why we should support the draft.

I would vote for a draft. I lived thru the draft era and I've seen what has happened since then. But then, I'm for workfare, not welfare. A huge percentage of young men entered the service learned some manners, learned a career, learned they mattered, and didn't live off the dole. We could use a big dose of that about now. Service men don't just have to fight wars, there are many worthwhile projects they could be doing and learning from. Plus we'd all profit.

Yeah, but I'm not allowed to smack them anymore, and some of the volunteers need it, I can only imagine the snot that doesn't want to be here.

MCarp22 wrote:

aircooled wrote: What are the options for large families?

A honda odyssey's estimated annual fuel cost is $1000 less than a suburban FWIW.

but they dont want the stigma...BOO BERKLYING WHO,whiney lil E36 M3s.

If these people have to cut this and that to afford to fill up their SUVs, I will gladly spend the money I save in gas driving a fuel effiecient car on other things...like car repairs(keeping fuel in the tank of a neon is easy, keeping one on the road is a pain)

Most of these people claiming snow as a reason 4X4 is mandatory is a load of E36 M3. 4wd is simply a crutch, an attemt to make up for a lack of skill and proper tires.

And as for those who "need" a suburban for an insano long solo commute to work, I hope their gas bill drives them to suicide, and Darwinisim can run it's course.

end of rant

"Yeah, but I'm not allowed to smack them anymore, and some of the volunteers need it, I can only imagine the snot that doesn't want to be here."

A lot of them should have been smacked at home prior to getting to you, but that's not PC.

neon4891 wrote: Most of these people claiming snow as a reason 4X4 is mandatory is a load of E36 M3. 4wd is simply a crutch, an attemt to make up for a lack of skill and proper tires.

No kidding. I'll bet a lot of people here have stories that'll top the time I drove a Corvette home in a surprise snowstorm. Didn't even have proper tires; I was on summer tires worn nearly to the cords. The key is just plain being cautious with your driving - something a lot of people with four wheel drive fail to do, it seems.

neon4891 wrote: but they dont want the stigma...BOO BERKLYING WHO,whiney lil E36 M3s.

I don't get the Mini-van stigma. To me, mini vans have no stigma. They are just a car. SUV's are the one's with the Soccar mom stigma.

From a financial standpoint: if someone buys an $18,000 smart car, they would probably have to finance it over 4 or 5 years. 5 years would be ~$400/month, or a total of payments of `$24,000.00. Then the insurance and taxes will go up, add approximately another $5000 for that on top of what someone is already paying, now you are at $29,000.00 over 5 years. If they drive 12,000 miles a year and get 40 MPG, that's roughly $1200 a year for gas, or $6000.00 over 5 years, now we are at $35,000.00.

The ol' Trooper is paid for and runs great. It takes about $65 a week of 87 octane, times 52 is $3380 a year, times 5 is $16,900. Net savings to my bottom line, $18,100 over 5 years, I can pay for a lot of routine maintenance and repairs with that. I think I'll keep it.

Having said that, if I can score a $4000 Accord or similar for a DD I'll probably do that and keep the Trooper to pull the race car. Over that same 5 year period, the car would ccost me $800 a year for the purchase, $200 a year for insurance (multi car discount), $60 a year taxes, figure it gets double the Trooper's mileage cutting my fuel cost in half is $1690, or $2750 a year, times 5 is $13,750 or a fuel cost savings of $3150.00. That makes some sense.

horray for math! good job jensenman