Truck & SUV "solution" to Fuel Prices/Demand

[Dan4510]

[/QUOTE]The truly evil part is the $60,000 worth of resources and energy that it took to make that car in the first place. The fuel used directly by you to drive it pales in comparison!

[/QB][/QUOTE]

Ah, the dirty little secret of new vehicles finally comes out. Creating new vehicles costs much more in resources than driving an older vehicle...lol yet another reason to keep my old cars and keep rebuilding them.

Dan

 

[Kestas]

I'm staying out of this discussion becuase my 91 Mercury Grand Marquis gets 17 mpg -- less than many SUVs.

 

[JHZR2]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Dan4510:

quote:

---

The truly evil part is the $60,000 worth of resources and energy that it took to make that car in the first place. The fuel used directly by you to drive it pales in comparison!

---

Ah, the dirty little secret of new vehicles finally comes out. Creating new vehicles costs much more in resources than driving an older vehicle...lol yet another reason to keep my old cars and keep rebuilding them.

Dan

---

OK, so why dont we turn into the United States of Cuba and have lots of very old cars that we just rebuild and rebuild???

I could deal with that, do you think Ms. Joe Consumer could???

Older vs. newer vehicles isnt the issue athand either... heck, I have an 83 MB 300D that I am getting repaired (uninsured driver smashed it), with 228k miles on it and running like brand new. I get 29-30 MPG with it. Can I have your blessing that it is good use of resources???

Most cars are recyced in large quantities these days... Im sure the scrap metal industry isnt the most efficient, but if you drive smaller cars, there is less metal to recycle in the first place, less VOCs to spew out when painting, etc. I could say that if you use a tire larger than p155r13, thet youre using resources poorly because tires dont typically get recycled, and they are a pretty big problem. So, what size tire does your SUV use???

Anyway, if some are allowed 'exercise their freedoms' to do the socially irresponsible thing of using daily drivers that cant even get 15 MPG, than I can do the socially irresponsible thing of buying a new car. Last I checked, te price of a new car hasnt doubled in the last 2 years becuse of the demand in china and India for steel and other goods, yet fuel has doubled in the last two years. Something is unbalanced. Oh yeah, its not true pricng, but rather leverage on the mass of peoples' poor positions.

JMH

 

[1sttruck]

"I'm staying out of this discussion becuase my 91 Mercury Grand Marquis gets 17 mpg -- less than many SUVs."

We live on a smaller hill, but driving up and down takes it's toll on mileage as both Taurus sedans typically get around 20 mpg. Neighbors have been surprised at what I get in my diesel pickup as it's often better than what they get in their minivans, small suvs and small trucks.

 

[jmacmaster]

You guys who are arguing with the anti-SUV/truck people are wasting your time. Most of these people are true believers. They can't be reasoned with. They have the "I've made up my mind -- don't bother me with the facts" syndrome. I see this kind of thing all the time on the job. It infects people who have a large emotional investment in hot button issues, such as gun rights, gay rights, abortion, illegal immigration, etc. It affects conservatives and liberals alike. They become so emotionally involved in the issue that they lose the ability to reason, if they ever had any, and most of them probably didn't have much to begin with. Their arguments are so fallacious in so many ways its comical. Yet they think that they are making perfectly logical arguments.

They remind me of a neighbor. We live in the country 15 miles from town. She's always saying that she doesn't use pesticides or herbicides. She makes it quite clear that she's proud of her stand on the matter. Proud to be socially and environmentally correct. Yet (and I swear its true) she drives her full-size van to town, with just her in it, at least 2 or 3 times a day, every day. And she doesn't have a job, so its not work related. She can't possibly need to go to town that often. Think of the gas she's wasting. How can she be so politically incorrect, so environmentally wasteful? How can this gas wasting be reconciled with the refusal to use pesticides and herbicides? It can't of course. It has no basis in reason, because neither her anti pesticide and herbicide stand nor her compulsive repetitive driving to town behavior is based in reason.

 

[Kestas]

It sounds like she's bored and uses these trips to break the monotony. Many of us do that. I don't drive unless it's for a very good reason.

 

[jmacmaster]

If she does it out of boredom, that would further support my point. In view of her desire to be environmentally correct and socially conscious, its completely unreasonable to relieve her boredom in a manner that wastes so much gas, polluting the environment while doing so. Understand, I don't think its a waste of gas and I don't worry about the obviously minimal pollution, but from her ennvironment correctness/social consciousness point of view she ought to think so.

 

[joatmon]

quote:

---

Originally posted by JHZR2:
yep, I dont own any of the 'evil cars' on the list.

Id like to buy a corvette z06 someday as a weekend fun car to drive around... its at 18 (maybe less)... its evil... I might not be able to get it if the evil SUV bashers get their way and dont allow people their social freedom to buy cars under 30 MPG... Oh wait, Ill be using it on the weekends and will have another more economical car for daily driving... plus even the vette will equal 1sttruck's city economy number... phew, I guess Im OK...

One thing I will say is that many of these cars on this list arent exactly the type of cars that are daily drivers for people with one car and a 35+ mile commute everyday...

That said, there are a lot of 'reasonable' cars on there that are at the upper end of the poor range of fuel economy, and are very popular (A4 quattro for example).

1sttruck, you know that I like and appreciate your truck setup... but youre comparing your driving skill to the EPA test. I wonder if we putyour truck on the EPA test run, what it would qualify for... 18?!? 12?!? Just curious, as we will need to buy a CTD RAM for use on a horse farm in a few years.

Whats that??? JMH is buying a second pickup truck?!? but I thought he hated trucks and SUVs?!?

LOL

JMH

---

Most people do a much better job of being critical of their fellow man's purchases than they do of their own. JMR, this does NOT apply to you, of course.

LTM,

Jack

 

[Kestas]

Kinda like the vegetarian who shuns meat out of social (or animal) consciousness, yets thinks nothing of buying leather products.