The Stock Market today....

[moyer777]

We have a lot of larger vechicles in our area to.  We have a lot of big families in our church and the only way to transport all the little rug rats is to have a bigger vehicle.  I know we are trying to drive less and our car gets about 21 mpg.  My truck gets more, but my middle son is driving that, and I am walking... (and I lost another pound last week! :)  Sweet!)

So a lot of times we don't know why people are driving a big rig.  It could be that they do have a use for it, but don't own a smaller vechicle to putt around with.

[Rico]

Again, when there is a need it's fine.  I'd love you guys to get a look at what I see driving down to Detroit every day.  Talk about waste.  Hummer's, Escalades, etc. with one guy in them.   :dry

[moyer777]

yeah, when we are up towards Seattle we see a lot of that, but down where we are ... well I live in a very small community.  Our whole county only has about 60-65 thousand in it.

I mean the longest our commute can be is about 20 minutes. :)

[Blackride]

I am not sure what the connection people are making here. Are you saying people driving SUV's are cuasing the price of oil to go up or something or causing bad things in the economy.

I am nore concerned with people buying everything on credit than anything else.

[Rico]

I'm sorry for the slide over into car and fuel use talk.  Part of my point is many people have bought large vehicles with big engines for years partly because fuel was cheap.  Now it costs a lot more and they are complaining about gas prices but still are pulling up to the pump every few days to fill up.  Perhaps it might be time to save some money, save some fuel use, and trade that Escalade in.

[billybob476]

No but overall the high oil prices overall are affecting the choices people make in car choices. I know there are a few auto plants around here that are in a lot of trouble and the government is stepping in to convince the auto companies to retool them from building SUVs to more efficient cars instead of closing them and moving to Mexico.

My father in law has always mentioned that the state of the auto industry tends to be an indication of the general direction of the market in the near future.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Been seeing a lot of motorcycles in the area.  I think more-so than usual.  Or I have a bad memory.  Who knows.  We do have a gas-guzzling truck, but we use it primarily to help our "operations" on the farm.  And even that is limited.  Otherwise you'll see us mostly in small 20-30 MPG cars.  Honda ftw.  

King

[Bryancd]

I am not sure what the connection people are making here. Are you saying people driving SUV's are causing the price of oil to go up or something or causing bad things in the economy.

I am more concerned with people buying everything on credit than anything else.

Yes, our car buying habits haven't created the current high oil prices, instead our car buying habits were encouraged by our traditionally low fuel prices vs. the rest of the world. That has certainly been changing as of late. Ford and GM have been shifting resources away from SUV/Truck production back to economical car production. The problem is that Toyota and Honda have a huge leg up on them in those area and Detroit is playing catchup.

[Blackride]

Here are my thoughts.

- Not all cars are good on MPG. People assume that because a car is small that it will get good MPG.

- If you want the American car manufactures to do well then you should support larger cars like trucks since that's what they excel in. Just a different way of looking at the problem.

- The free market system will drive our change in energy policy. When I say this I mean that as the prices of fuel go up consumers will buy less efficent cars and pressure companies to produce different types of cars. Companies like GM has already said that there is going to be a fundemental shift in their cars to accomodate the new gas prcices. In short, where there is money to be made a company is going to step in and take advantage of it ( good for consumers).

***

To me all the options on the table currently are short-term and I would love to see more incentives for universities and companies to research new energy sources now.

[Rico]

My car is pretty good on gas compared to some - about 25 mpg.  You are making some big assumptions on your second point.  I have been in several US auto plants.  I know many people who work for the big three.  What money they make varies greatly from vehicle to vehicle.  And actually right now since larger vehicles are not selling well at all they are taking some big hits on getting rid of them.

And I don't understand your last section at all.  Especially this part....

"When I say this I mean that as the prices of fuel go up consumers will buy less efficent cars and pressure companies to produce different types of cars."

Buy less efficient??  Huh???

[Blackride]

I meant buy more efficent. Basically Free Market system rules!

Typing on my blackberry now :)

[Blackride]

Rico - I did not mean that they are not hurting at the big plants. I meant that people should support buying bigger cars if that's what America does well. They just need more hybrid trucks. I agree that for America to compete within Honda and Toyota on compact cars is going to be hard. I guess my statement does not make sense in practicality.

[Rico]

Buying anything from them will support them.  And like I said, they make variable amounts depending on the vehicle you get.  For example, my G6 convertible gave GM much more money in their pocket than if I had gotten a Chevy truck or van.

[sheldor]

Again, when there is a need it's fine.  I'd love you guys to get a look at what I see driving down to Detroit every day.  Talk about waste.  Hummer's, Escalades, etc. with one guy in them.   :dry

Yup.  Oakland County has one of the highest % of single drivers.  Make the left lane car pool only from 7-9 and 4-6 M-F.  Minimum 3 people.  Only problem is that no one will do that and the other lanes will be jammed.  This is one of the worst cities to drive.  Yeah, yeah Rico -- service drives, service drives. :)

Here we are with $4/gallon and GM announces the Corvette VR1.  They're in their own little world.  Toyota/Honda are going to dominate the auto industry if they don't wise up.

Making the speed limit 55 - I tried that for a month.  I saved maybe 2 gallons.

[PepperDude]

Making the speed limit 55 - I tried that for a month.  I saved maybe 2 gallons.

I suppose you stopped now right? Actually, that's not too bad if you started with a 10-gallon tank. That's 20% savings. If I travel between 60-65 mph instead of 65-75 mph I get an extra 5 to 6 mpg or about 19% -23% more mpg. That's over $9 in savings for me for every tank.