Are You Driving A Suv Gas Hog ( You May Be In Trouble )

DETROIT, Oct. 3 - The heyday of the giant sport utility vehicle keeps moving farther away as gasoline prices loom larger.
NyTimes.com

I am the last one of us that wants to bring this up. The fact is the time is here. If you are driving one of these you had better act fast. The values on S.U.V.S are begining to fall and will get worse. I have always enjoyed the extra space and luxury of the four wheel drive especially here in the mountains of East Tennessee.

In September, industrywide sales of large S.U.V.'s were down 43 percent from a year earlier, according to Ward's AutoInfoBank. That is particularly bad news for General Motors and the Ford Motor Company, which are dependent on truck-based S.U.V.'s.

I owned my own car dealership around 1980 and remember very well what happened. You remember the gas scare then ? We thought there was going to be gas rationing when in fact every tank in the Country was full. We loved our S.U.V.S then also. My dealership full of these almost put me in bankruptcy. This is bad now but will only get worse as gas prices continue to rise.
Just read the story I found and more to come.
Big S.U.V.'s Lag in Sales, Hindered by Gas Cost

More of a BTS post first of all.

Unless gas prices truly do stay, or continue to get worse then maybe SUV type vehicles will die.

But SUV's are not the only vehicles that use quite a bit of gas. How many trucks are out there? Big cars?

I own a small car. It sucks. I can barely drive it in winter and I cant haul anything around (which I do all the time).

I actually live on a gravel road (something most suv's will never see).

If only the vehicles were driven where they are needed or intended. What do you need an SUV in the city for anyways? A family car can accomodate you most of the time.

Even worse when you see one person in them.

I heard on the news that Ford's sales of SUV's were down 56% last month. I do believe some trucks and SUV's will stay around. Some people do need a big vehicle to haul loads of material around. I'm glad I don't own a gas guzzling SUV or big car anymore. I actually thought gas prices were going to go up a couple of years ago so I'm ahead of the curve.

Yes I know what you mean Dulcimer, That is not right. Its the way of life today, is it not. I feel the time coming that we are going to see changes in our old way of living.
Not long ago I was riding across the Smokies on my way to Harrahs Casino in Cherokee, North Carolina on the other side of the Mtn in a new Hummer my friend owns and I noticed the gas computer flash average per gallon 8 miles per gallon. I quickly responded why would they put a computer on your car that would keep you posted of this. At the time it was a joke, but today it should wake us up and realize those days are gone for the one who can not afford this anymore.
The thing I am worried about are those of us that may have a large debt on our S.U.V. and then forced to trade for something better on mileage because of gas price and can not.

off topic but I always thought a good gas gauge would tell you how far you could go at current rate of consumption.

Do they have that? I havnt driven anything modern

It's kinda strange, really... I've always had a hankering to get a pickup... but I've always wanted a S-10 with a 4-cyl. My plan was to get one of the newer (and more gas efficient) EcoTec's and turbocharge it. Here in Wyoming, almost every family has at least one pickup... with our winters, a car just don't cut it. Last couple of years our winters have been getting milder and milder, though. But, one thing is that our gas prices are still fairly low compared to the national average... you can check out our gas prices at Wyoming Gas Prices dot Com

Talking about rising gas prices in the US, and the clampdown on gas guzzling SUV´s etc, I just wondered what Americans thought about using Diesel (Heavy Oil) in their everyday cars?

Over here in Europe, almost every car can be purchased with a Diesel engine as an alternative to regular gas and they are extremely popular. Prices are roughly the same, but an oil burner will do a whole lot more mpg. For an average 2 litre common rail diesel engine, you would get 60-65 mpg on a highway run, and around 40-45mpg around town, which could give you around 600 miles on a tank.
Today´s Diesel engines are quiet, smooth and refined and you can get larger engines to suit the US market. For example, Audi have a 4.0 V8 version in the A8 which, almost unbelieveably, completed an 800 mile round trip from London to Edinburgh on a single tank (on a BBC motoring show)! This car is no slouch either - I think it´s restricted to 155mph.

Are Diesels a real alternative to Gas for Americans in the current climate?

the thing about diesle is right on the mark for north america. several years ago my parrents inquired about the possibility of getting a japanese disle car. they were told by toyota, suzuki, nissan ect, that very few japanese vehicles were even manufactured with even the option of diesle. well they went to the philipeans for a year, and guess what. over there diesle is almost more common than gas, even on the same models that are sold here. this points to the fact that the manufacturors/controlling gov. boddies, and fuel producers may have some sort of deal in place about it. if that is the case then i have to then wonder about whether there IS better fuel tech out there that could be used today but that is held under raps.

this thing about some options only being available in certain areas has previously frustrated me before. i once had a 1986 safari van that we bought with (new) a standard transmission. when it came time to replace it they tried to get another standard and were told at every gm dealer that they "never made/sold ANY with a standard transmission, and never would. 2 years ago i wrote gm an e-mail and was told that they do indeed manufacture them standard BUT only for export to europe. that rigt there is one way to save at least a little bit of gas, but we are not allowed to purchase one. goes to show how much that they actualy care about makeing vehicles more efficiant doesn't it. not to mention that i happen to prefer driveing a standard anyway.

I never understood why people who live in or near cities need a SUV in the first place. I get really frustrated parking next to one, then trying to pull out later, and can't see a thing.

I think it is more of a status symbol than a necessity in the city to have a SUV. So, I feel no sympathy for them.

Or the soccer mom's in their Caravans either.

Is the big SUV dying? There were 297 stories showed up tonight on Google News concerning S.U.V.S doing just this. This MSN STORY provided more facts concerning todays problems with cost of fuel.

A September survey by AARP found 47% of the members it surveyed cutting back on travel and 39 percent visiting family and friends less often. Thirteen percent of the respondents even said they were offsetting high gasoline prices by eating less, and a like number were cutting back on medical care and prescriptions.
"These are lifestyle-changing prices," said James Toedtman, editor of the AARP Bulletin, in a statement.
People see $100 fill-ups and wonder what the hell they are doing," Healy said. "Even the rich who can afford it realize that maybe these vehicles don't do much more than a sensible vehicle could."

This will get worse as time goes on with no hope in sight for lowering gas prices. I will just keep driving my Camary and leave my S.U.V. in the garage. I fear it is to late already to get rid of it. Good luck with yours.

I bought a 94 ford explorer for $4000. It runs great and look great . It gets about 14.5 mpg. I figured what it would cost to run it 100000 miles at $3.40 a gallon $23448. Total cost $27448

A new corrola gets 38mpg and cost $15000 it would cost $8947 to run it 100000 miles at $3.40 a gallon. Total cost $23947

A difference of $3501. I think it well worth $3501 to drive a big vehicle with plenty of power I can strech my legs in. I can run over small cars that pull out in front of me and not worry. I can tow. I don't have to carry collision insurance.


The numbers get even better as the gas price gets lower. At $1.87. The price gas was last year. The suv is cheaper to run 100000 miles.




[edit on 5-10-2005 by IXRAZORXI321]

Ok, around here you need two cars, a car and a truck, one for summer and one for winter. You can have your gas efficent car but in the winter when the snow gets deep you need a truck with clearance.

But in places out west where it is flat country with no snow ever for thousands of miles, why the hell do you have a SUV? I would love to have a car out there, miles upon miles of straight flat road to cruise on at 120mph, so much more fun then 50 with a SUV using twice the amount of fuel as your car going 120mph. Even better get the T-Tops off so the wind blows in your hair, but wear goggles! I wear my swimming goggles for that so I don't smack a bug going 100mph on I-75.

Originally posted by Full Metal
But in places out west where it is flat country with no snow ever for thousands of miles, why the hell do you have a SUV?

Which "West" are you talking about? I'm unfamiliar with anywhere in the "West" of North America where it is flat and without snow for "thousands of miles" *peaks out window at snow covered mountains* yep, October 5th and it's been snowing for three weeks... Or maybe I should relate my joy of being snowed on at Donner Pass during the third week of June.

Maybe you could explain this picture of my pickup being covered in 12" of snow on Easter Sunday, 2004 (middle of April) and I live 120 miles from the Mexico border.

external image

p.s. I get 20 mpg in that beast. It’s a diesel.

So much for a “carpenters dream.”

Originally posted by IXRAZORXI321
I bought a 94 ford explorer for $4000.
The numbers get even better as the gas price gets lower. At $1.87. The price gas was last year. The suv is cheaper to run 100000 miles.

LOL sorry my friend but odds are you wont make it to 100,000 without very costly repairs. I had a Ford Explorer 4 years ago and that thing was always in the shop. I paid more in repairs than I did for the suv. No wonder FORD stands for Found On Raod Dead or Fix Or Repair Daily.

Uh Southern Nevada/Arizona, not the central/northern west with the rockies. Sorry about the confuision, I meant the desert areas where there is nothing for miles and miles and miles and miles and...

Originally posted by Full Metal
Uh Southern Nevada/Arizona, not the central/northern west with the rockies. Sorry about the confuision, I meant the desert areas where there is nothing for miles and miles and miles and miles and...

Please note that I live 120 miles from the Mexico border, I do nothing but travel (57,000 miles this year, and I'm not done yet... In a Ford even ), and I've yet to find this "flat area" of which you speak... It just doesn't exist... In the Mid west, sure... I've been lulled to sleep by hours of straight line driving into the same horizon, it just isn't in the the area you speak of.

Just for fun:

Flagstaff, AZ weather.

Tonight's (5th of October, 2005) low temp is 32º

? How come in all the western movies they show desert for hundreds of miles, nothing but flat sand with a catus every now and then? TV LIES!

I know over here in Ireland the damn place is coming down in 4x4s (or SUVs as you call them).

Strictly speaking, I wouldn't call a pickup a SUV as its more a UV (without the sports bit! )

Anyway, 95% of the big behemoths over here never climb more than a kerb, half the people driving them aren't fit to drive them and they are a danger to other road users...

If I meet one in my car, they don't bother to give room on the roads meaning the normal motorist is usually skirting along the ditches and verges of the road.... Revenge is sweet when Im in the tractor or digger though


How deep is the snow over there? Would, say, an Audi Quattro with chains cut it?

The sad part is all the folks that could afford SUV's when gas was cheap are now going to dump them and when the poor people get those income tax checks for having 4 kids and no job, well, they are going to buy them at what they believe are bargain prices. Then they won't be able to buy the gas for them.

I'm also weary right now of all the vehicles that went under water in the gulf regions. If you see a 2005 model car going for 3,000 dollars you can bet its done some time as a submarine.

I think i'll just keep my little Cutless for a few more years.

Love and light,

Wupy

Originally posted by kilcoo316
How deep is the snow over there? Would, say, an Audi Quattro with chains cut it?

With the exception of the smaller mountain roads that aren't regularly maintained, that would be more than enough vehicle.