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mygif

I think this may be due less to low gas prices and more due to the fact that – thanks to the short-sightedness of the executives at the Big 3 – the American automakers have increased production of SUVs to the exclusion of damn near anything else.

Between that and the American tendency to rally behind a patriotic campaign, no matter how illogical (witness all the people who shop at Wal-Mart and buy merchandise with “American-Made” labels that was put together in Chinese sweatshops) and the desire of some to try and buy an American-Made vehicle to save American jobs… I think there’s a lot of Americans who need a new car and are opting to buy an American SUV in-spite of the numerous problems inherit in doing so.

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mygif

Actually, I think the article does a pretty good job summing up why SUV sales are on the rise – not only is gas cheap again, but between the winter weather and the ridiculously low prices on the vehicles, they seem like a good buy. I’ll agree that it’s not good long-term planning, but people always jump at a cheaper car, and I can tell you as someone who lives in a rural area that gets a lot of snow, 4-wheel drive is a really compelling argument at certain times of year.

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Nora Bombay said on December 30th, 2008 at 11:23 pm

If I were in the market for a new car- say mine had a tragic accident and needed replacing-

I would look at the SUVs. Mainly because I don’t drive much. I take the train to work. I get itchy and rarely take trips of more than 4 hours in the car.

But in Chicago winter, a 4 wheel drive would be nice. And for goign to the grocery store, doctors’ appointments, and the random trip to the burbs? I use one tank of gas about every three weeks. four depending on where I go.

So if I could get a really good deal on a very nice suv, it would serve me well as my about town cargo car. And even at $4 or $5 a gallon, I wouldn’t be spending so much in gas versus the cost of something else.

I’m a rarity however- most people drive a lot more than I do.

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mygif

Its because most Americans from the USA can not fucking learn from previous mistakes.

I would have thought this to be obvious when we reelected that nimrod George W in 2004.

Its not that we don’t have a choice – we can buy from foreign car makers with some sense of rationality.

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RobotKeaton said on December 31st, 2008 at 12:39 am

Americans from the USA? Super Americans?

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mygif

Gaah, so stupid.

I live in a city and don’t own a car. The high gas prices have been a blessing because they’ve called attention to our inadequate public transit. End result, public transit gets the funding it needs, happy urban rangers.

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mygif

Do these people actually use SUVs? For their original purpose, i.e. not sitting in gridlock on the freeway. I don’t want a car that handles like a boat and tips over when I go around a corner. Even if it can fit five people … like a passenger car.

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mygif

Smurf I am with you. I left my car a year ago and haven’t looked back.
Funny thing is that the same day you posted this, I heard on the radio, with all the tensions in the middle east, prices are going to go up, because they won’t let their workers go to the oil fields.
Great excuse, every other conflict that never happened, or at least never made news. But since the oil producers have been trying to find ways to cut production, it makes sense

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mygif

As someone who isn’t directly effected when prices go up, I tend to think of them as a good thing. They SHOULD be reminding people oil is not a renewable resource. Spice does not, in fact, flow. (Fun fact: in Dune, the spice is a renewable resource!) So while it’s a dick move to cut production right now, high prices keep idiots from buying gas guzzlers.

We’re all indirectly affected by oil prices. Food gets expensive, as does everything else, but I’m not pouring $50 into a car every couple days. So my perspective is that of an urban environmentalist who thinks people need to move back to the cities and preserve farmland and forests.

We’re going to have to create a new paradigm if we want the future to not suck. That whole two car family living on a cul-du-sac with their own huge-ass yard and a giant McMansion with big windows that costs a fortune to heat… yeah, it’s going to have to go.

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mygif

Smurf, I wish Saint Louis was like your city. Unless it is, and I just haven’t been paying attention.

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lawnmower boy said on December 31st, 2008 at 3:59 pm

I live in one of the most heavily populated parts of Vancouver, and right now I wished I owned a car-a-pult. I’d take it down to the intersection in front of my apartment, and as cars came a-fishtailin’ in through the rutted, rock hard, very, very, very heavy snow, I would set them up in my car-a-pult, and zow! on their way to the next intersection, for a modest fee.
So, yeah, SUVs. The weather makes a pretty strong argument some times of the year. It’s worth paying more for gas if you get more in return. Like the ability to drive between December 21 and 31 (and counting, more snow predicted tonight.)

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mygif

I think a big chunk of why they’re selling is buried in the article: The car companies are dumping their stock. Sure, gas might go up to $4 a gallon, but $12,000 buys 3,000 gallons of gas. If they’re knocking twelve grand off the price, it makes it a pretty attractive deal.

I don’t think this will be a permanent trend, though.

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mygif

RobotKeaton: I say “Americans from the USA” because, quite honestly, everyone in North, South and Latin America are all Americans.

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mygif

You mean, because they’re from continents that have “America” in their names?

And, by Latin America do you by any chance mean Central America?

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