Originally Posted By: PT1
Originally Posted By: lovcom
Originally Posted By: MrCritical
I'll stick by my story. The "bigger" makes no difference. Put the same amount of money in reducing weight that you put in multivalve engines, 6 speed auto transmissions, variable cylinder displacement, cleaner burning diesels, and hybrids. You'll beat CAFE regulations with ease.
Around southern California, one can often see 2006, and 2007 brand new Expeditions for sale NEW...Ford, Chrysler, and GM just cannot sale these gas guzzlers to save them. You can get an MSPR $32,000+ 2008 Expedition for $22,000+ new...and they still don't sale in the required numbers. The big three have been out of touch with reality for many years. And often their small car offerings are made off-shore, or in partnership with an Asian maker.
When will the big 3 domestic going to offer a US made, high quality small car providing high MPG? They have not done it yet.
But we cannot blame it all on the big 3. One has to blame the stupid idiot consumers that keep buying these huge beasts WITHOUT the ability to justify their utility and size. And most of these folks cannot even afford such cars, not to mention the near $100 bucks it will take to fill the tank.
So the problem is both on the maker's and consumer's side, blame to be spread across both.
How some middle class families afford to gas up these gas guzzlers is beyond my comprehension...then there's the question of their finances, their retirements, their financial futures...all this $$ wasted today at the expense of financial security tomorrow....oh but wait, then you have the idiots that lease cars....this is what Suzy Orman calls the number one stupid thing people do with their money....leasing is fine ONLY for those that can write it off, corporations, business, but not common folks...leasing has to be the stupidest type of car financing around that is often indicative of the person's lack of brains......
You are correct! I bought a 2006 GMC YukonXL Denali that stickered for $56,000 and paid $37,000. It gets 16mpg. But the Honda I was looking at gets 18mpg and doesn't fit my needs as this bus takes me to Florida every year with a family of 5 that saves me $3500 in airline & car rental costs. I'll keep it 6 years so we are talking $21,000 in savings for 2mpg which is meaningless with my 6 mile commute. Plus it qualifies for a business write off of $25,000 the first year which nets me a $10,000 tax credit on the spot the first year and $3,000 for two years after that which is another $16,000 savings. Add it up and I get $37,000 in savings on a $37,000 vehicle. You aren't getting those kind of numbers from a Prius.
True, but lets face it, you'll have to fudge your tax returns to get the write-offs given the fact that you're using the vehicle for personal reasons ;-) If you obeyed the tax laws to the letter your write off might not be there ;-) I've been there, and done that. With a 2003 Expedition; which by the way, had lots of problems.
But even if you can legally take advantage of the tax laws, most cannot.
