Mad dash to sell off their gas guzzlers

[AZViking]

http://www.boston.com/news/loc...age=1

[VforVIBE]

the funny part is some dealers are refusing to buy SUVs from people cause they know they won't be able to sell them...aren't you glad you own a vibe?

[jake75]

Everything has a price. Trying to sell a used 2007 SUV that was $32,000 new for $27,000 is just not realistic. I'd bet he'd quickly find a buyer at $20,000.

[kunkstyle]

Argh. Typed out a massive post to this thread and lost it when my net connection timed out, so I'll try to recap. While I bought the Vibe over an Escape or other full size SUV for mileage and 'rationality's sake, I find this article rediculous for a number of reasons. First of all, publishing price per fill is just poor journalism. Sure, it's $80 (which is almost what I pay to fill the Vibe up here ). But the Dodge Ram has a gas tank over double the size of the Vibe. Don't publish total price per fill, because that's completely relative to each vehicle. Talk price per KM, mpg, anything that's standardized. It ran my buddy over $200 to fill his truck. Should I compare that to what it costs me for a total fill? No. His $200 filled 2 tanks and a slip tank in the box. My $50 filled up 12 gallons.Quote, originally posted by Boston Globe »Frustrated and unable to afford prices at the pump, Nizami last month turned over the Toyota to a dealer who only sells vehicles from private owners. Nizami is still paying the $450 loan but now is bumming rides to work with a cousin and worrying about making enough from the sale to cover the car loan.So unable to afford gas prices, buddy gives his car up, keeps paying for it and hitches a ride to work. Makes sense. Quote, originally posted by Boston Globe »"It's an irrational vehicle. It'll never come back."That's a bold statement. They were irrational (to some extent - for a single or two person household, yes - for a family of 5 they're no more irrational than a minivan) when they became popular, yet they still became popular in spite of that fact. Muscle cars were irrational, yet we still see strong sales of the Vette and Viper, and new releases of the Challenger and Camaro. To say that a fad will never return is extremely short sighted.I noticed this trend in the city the summer I was shopping for my vibe. People trading in 2-3 year old trucks and SUV's for Aveos, Vibes, Camrys and the like. Great. Good for the environment. Is that why they were trading them? No. It was to avoid being gouged at the pumps, which I fail to see the savings here. When I bought my vibe, gas mileage and rationality came into play, which is why I opted for it over an Escape or other SUV instead of a crossover. However, I needed a new car, I wasn't just trading in for better mileage. Let's say these guys are selling a truck for $15,000 (depreciation is going to hit hard and fast on these). Then they buy a vibe or other fuel consious car for $25,000 (just estimating numbers here). That $10,000 that they lost is going to buy A LOT of gas, even at 1.33 a litre.

[Mavrik]

Yeah its that time of year again... pickups are flooding the used car lots and their value has gone down because of the difficulty to resell them.

[VforVIBE]

Quote, originally posted by kunkstyle »They were irrational (to some extent - for a single or two person household, yes - for a family of 5 they're no more irrational than a minivan) when they became popular, yet they still became popular in spite of that fact. Muscle cars were irrational, yet we still see strong sales of the Vette and Viper, and new releases of the Challenger and Camaro. To say that a fad will never return is extremely short sighted.Don't know about the Viper, but my dad's Vette use to get 20-21 mpg... not too bad... As for the Camaro, did you know they are making a 4 cylinder version for better mpg? Don't even get me started with the Challenger... Challenger=pig

[AKLGT]

it's all relative. sure I could have bought another vibe gt when I wanted to get back into a hatch, however it doesn't come with symetrical AWD, 6MT, and 305 hp/300 ft-lbs. I want function, performance, reliability, etc, not just fuel economy. and happy to say that I'm seeing 21-22 mpg city and 24-26 mpg hwy. I got 26 mpg city and 28-30 mpg hwy in my 03 Vibe GT. both had to use Premium and both were hatches. and amazingly enough, my insurance is just about the same as it was on the VGT 5 yrs ago, though my payment is higher. *shrug* that's fine by me.Now, I'm just waiting for them to bring their turbo diesel Legacy model to the US and I'll have my commuter car. 40+ mpg and still have a turbo.... in a nice comfy sedan (not microscopic Prius).

[jake75]

Unless things change and diesel prices return to parity with gasoline there is not much economical advantage to a 40 mpg diesel vs. a 33 mpg gasoline fueled vehicle.

[kunkstyle]

There's a $0.01 discrepancy between gas and diesel here. What is it in your area?

[Mavrik]

$4.40 per gal here in the AK

[AKLGT]

yep. but again, I'm happy getting 22 mpg city in my awd turbo'd car vs 30 mpg city in a crappy gutless wonder. It's a trade off, but since I'm in my car so much, why not enjoy it?

[ToolGuy]

I hope the price keeps going up so it will force the auto companies to make more fuel efficient and alternative fueled vehicles. That is the only way things will change and stay that way. My Vibe is reliable, functional and fuel efficient (got 30.7 MPG the last tank, all city). The performance is what it should be for a 1.8L engine. I could not ask for more in it and it is paid for. And my Vette in 6th gear will get 30's cruising on the highway. My Jeep get 25-26 city and 28-29 highway. I am sitting pretty here with all my vehicles!

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by kunkstyle »There's a $0.01 discrepancy between gas and diesel here. What is it in your area?Last I saw diesel was running about 50-60 cents more than 87. The refining margin on diesel must be huge at this point as I think the yield per gal of oil os better than for gasoline.

[Joli]

Glad I got rid of my 2002 Pathfinder and bought a 05 Silver Vibe Avg 30 mpg on Vibe vs 13 mpg on the Pathfinder, at 100+ miles per day I'm lovin it

[kunkstyle]

Quote, originally posted by jake75 »The refining margin on diesel must be huge at this point as I think the yield per gal of oil os better than for gasoline.Diesel is easier to refine. That's a crazy price difference. We don't see that here as we don't use it for heating, just driving.

[jimincalif]

I paid almost $5/gal for diesel to fill up my boat last week at the marina.Fortunately it is a sailboat, it only took 16 gallons and the last time I bought fuel was last August! This tank should hold me until July or Aug.

[Renthorin]

Vibe gets 37mpgMy Blazer gets 19ish mpgDriving to work, store, errands = vibePulling my trailer, camping, riding off-road = BlazerThey both serve a purpose that is not filled by the other so even though my blazer might guzzle gas....it does stuff the vibe will not do.I will keep them both and am glad I have the Blazer :-)People seem to think that just because a vehicle gets poop for gas economy it is worthless. They often only look at those vehicles from their own perspective and fail to put themselves into the shoes of the person who actually has a need for a powerful vehicle like a full-size truck or SUV.Then again, you have ID10Ts like my co-worker who traded in is Saturn last fall for a 2500 Silverado with the 6 liter engine for his daily driver because "I have always wanted one..." and he drives an hour each way to work.He complains about the cost of filling up the HUGE tank but he still loves his truck and won't consider trading it in.Then again, the last two times I needed to haul lumber or 36 bags of mulch....neither my vibe nor SUV would do the trick so I called upon him

[scott_h]

I average about 21 mpg with my Murano. The current tank is actually running at about 24 - it seems to like the warmer weather. I'd love better mileage, but it's still better than a lot of minivans, which wouldn't be classified as 'gas guzzlers' like and SUV with similar mileage would. And the Maxima I traded for it only got about 2 mpg better, and that would definitely not be considered a guzzler.