KSG_Standard Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 With all of the reorganization in the American big 3 car companies, one of the plans put forward by the Gov't and the automakers is to build more small cars and fewer trucks and SUVs. I hear people complaining about the fact that the big 3 continued to build gas guzzling trucks and SUVs even as oil prices climbed through the roof and people are blaming this for the demise of the US auto industry. It seems to me that the automakers were responding to consumer demand by building trucks and SUVs, nobody forced anybody to buy full size vehicles, that's what we want. I'm 6'3" 230lbs, and I have a family of four. I don't want a small car. I pull a boat and a utility trailer, and I hunt, so I need something to throw dead animals in. I also like to have my family in a full size automobile for safety reasons. So I bought a full size, big block Chevy Avalanche and a full size car and a mini-van. I live in the HUGE state of Texas and I drive hundreds of mile per week. There is no public transportation out here in the west. I want a choice! I want to buy and drive whatever I can afford. What say you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homz Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Drive what ever works for ya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SG_Mike Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Full-size truck for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXE® Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 I'm 6'3" 230lbs' date=' [/quote'] Try walking. Lard ***... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grampa Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Big trucks are fine as long as you don't complain about the price of gas or lack of space in parking lots. I don't want to hear it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mick Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Eye have an '85 Ford E-150 Van with a 351W that is now actually a 357W after Eye rebuilt it a few years ago. It has taken me and my bands all over the country for many many years. She is at 350,000 miles +/- right now. And is now pulling our travel trailer. Eye will rebuild and replace every thing on it for *** long as Eye can. Eye've rebuilt the carb on it 3 times and replaced it once. My other is a '96 Jeep Cherokee newest car Eye've ever owned. Got it after my '89 was stolen. Eye wish Eye could get a car that was better on gas but one Eye can't afford a new car and Eye need a truck. Plain and simple. Eye do my best to stay on top of them and make sure they are as god on gas as they can be. My emissions are always low for what they are. But can only do so much. Eye now the day is coming that it just won't be financially sound anymore. Hell Eye don't know if Eye'll be able to get parts on day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichCI Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 I like small to mid sized cars with taunt suspension. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSG_Standard Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 Try walking. Lard ***... [/quote'] When you get to be my size, gravity is a *****... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homz Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 My preference would be a 4 door Jeep Wrangler, but I'll wait for a more efficient version. With about 60 miles in commute a day I do consider fuel costs. Until then I'll stick with the 300M I have. It's paid for. That's very efficient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXE® Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 I have 300 also. And my Bruiser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djroge1 Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 We traded our 300 in for another Grand Caravan - with 5 in the family the car just didn't cut it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heymisterk Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 I practice what I preach: I drive a Toyota Prius. If you drive a big gas-guzzler for no other reason than your vanity, then you are doing something that is un-American: helping the countries of dictators and tyrants. Why is Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and other dubious countries riding so high? Because - partly - of our thirst for oil. KSG says the automakers are giving the public what it wants. Really? Then why did I have to wait six months for my Prius while I could have gotten a Grand Cherokee at a huge discount? This statement ought to make me even more popular: Unless you use your truck or SUV legitimately for work, they should laden each of these ridiculous hogs with gas guzzler taxes similar to what some super-performance cars have to pay. You want to drive a Hummer? Then pony up, big boy. Don't like that idea, tax-and-spend haters? Awesome: $3,000 tax credit for buying a car that averages 35 miles per gallon or above. And this doesn't even begin to address the environmental costs of driving a fat-*** truck, but to people like KSG and others, global warming is a fairy tale cooked up by environmental nuts who want to...uh...sustain the planet? Outrageous! How un-American! I'm not advocating everyone drive a Prius; that's not realistic. But I do think America needs to smarten up in a big way here. Wake up, America. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homz Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Damn, I hate to go against heymisterk on anything, but I must. It is at the very heart of America to do our own thing. Many times it is to our own determent, but that too is all too American. I do think the U.S. and U.S. Built trans automakers give the public what they want. The most gas gusseling auto on the road is a Toyota Tundra something like 8 MPG. Why would they build it. Because we buy them. That's what we want. As for fuel efficiency GM has offered a full line of fuel minded cars for years. Same for Ford. Perhaps the best of both worlds is to have your monster truck and get 50 MPG. For now you'll just have to deal with that monster only getting 30 MPG. Yes there are American SUV's that get 30 MPG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXE® Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 I can't put nine guitars a half stack cable boxes and mic stands in a Prius. And haul my camper or chopper. Or have wild impromptu sex in the parking lot of the club. Comfortably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hans Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 I'm with heymisterk, here! and the environmental problems are global, so the rest of us actually also would like you to down-size your cars - but maybe you are compensating? ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homz Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Comfortably. Who is going to argue with that? I dare you to oppose the AXE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXE® Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 I have one of these in midnight blue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heymisterk Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 I hear ya, Homz, and I'm not really disagreeing. I'm actually a big car guy: had a replica of a 427 Cobra for some time, and grew up reading Car and Driver. My last car was a bad-*** Prelude. I think there has to be a happy medium: Need to drive your truck to haul gear or a trailer? No problem. Need to drive your Lexus SUV to pick up your kid from school because he's too chicken-**** to take the bus? Problem. (I teach; I see it every day.) One of the reasons that American automakers are falling is because - among MANY things - their line-ups have not been successful. Only now is Ford and GM building a car like the Camry or Accord. They still don't have anything even close to a Prius, though the Chevy Volt looks very promising. I guarantee that as gas prices continue to rise - and as the economy rises, they will - demand for fuel efficiency will continue to grow. I do think that Americans should be able to buy what they want. But I also think there should be some sort of incentive - either positive or negative - for consumers to Do the Right Thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homz Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 I have one of these in midnight blue. Where did you get a picture of my car. Did Wicked1 sneak over when I wasn't looking. No kidding that's mine. Dead on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homz Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Actually, I have the better rims. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LPC Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 automakers give the public what they want. I thought advertisements gave the public what they 'want'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXE® Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Actually' date=' I have the better rims. LOL[/quote'] I doubt it. That's not my car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heymisterk Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Oh, sh*t...I see KSG is now on this thread...I have a feeling he's coming after me with a spoon and the Castor Oil.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSG_Standard Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 This was one of the best looking and better built cars to come out of Detroit in the last 20 years, IMHO...It sucks that Chrysler and GM seemed to be really just hitting their stride when the wheels came off of the economy...The Charger, Challenger, Camaro, Cadillac CTS, Tahoe/Yukon hybrids etc, would probably have sold very well in better times... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homz Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Heymistak I know it's a common belief that only American companies are having financial problems at the moment, and that the reason Toyota and others are safe is because of their incredible ability to forecast the American needs. The truth is that every Toyota plant in the country is idled too. They are down to one shift and have been for as long as we have been in turmoil. They have even halted construction on plants in the U.S.. The only difference is that they lack the legacy costs that come with retirees. They haven't been here long enough to gain these expenses. Perhaps with the current state in America they never will and we can expect that all those Toyota, Honda etc. workers will be working until they are 75 or dead. The actual line up is not significantly different than that of GM or Ford. Toyota actually looses money on every Prius it sells. That's not a very good business model. They make up the difference in Tundra's and other less efficient autos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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