If you'd bothered to actually read anything I wrote, you would have found that no where did I even approximatley suggest anyone drive anything less than full sized cars or corvettes.

The current cost of gasoline does not reflect it's cost on society. What about all those mid-east wars and conflicts we get involved in? Where should the money come from to fund those? What about the environmental costs? What about all the extra natural resources used up in manufacturing a 7,000lb vehicle? What about the societal costs of people in small and average sized cars dying in accidents when being hit by a full size SUV, whose main mission is "safety at other's expense". [Here's a thought - don't force me to buy a truck so that I can survive an accident with you. ] Just because they can pump gas out of the ground and ship it to the corner gas station for $1.45 doesn't mean the cost to society is covered. But that's okay, you'll fund those costs in other ways, you just won't know it.

 

As long as we're still burning gasoline, we're still going to have an interest in oil.. I guess we'd be using less of it, but I'd think the US gov would still be concern with it. i don't see it going away unless everything switches over to a different energy source.


So you want them to increase the gas tax, to make the cost of driving an SUV out of reach for those thinking about getting an SUV.


What about those people that drive your avg car, that think they spend enough already on gas? Wouldn't that also force them to probably take a step down to somthing smaller to save gas?


Then we'll be complaining how those full sized sedans and sports cars are too fast and dangerous..


I'm just not convinced that a gas tax would really be worth it... and giving the government more money is pretty low on the bottom of my list, since it has a pretty bad time managing it now..

 

Many of those oppressive tyrannical regimes in the Mideast need to be taken out or stopped regardless if they have oil or not. Unfortunately its easier to get the American people behind the removal of an oppresive/tyrannical regime if our national interest is involved (oil, terror, nukes and etc) and this is why many tyrannical leaders in Africa are still in power.

Nothing bugs me more then those who follow the Noam Chomsky form of thought who blame the USA for virtually all the world's ills (from environment, famine, war, and etc) and hold the USA to unrealistic ultra-high standards while they hold the rest of the world's leaders and people to the lowest standards possible.


Assumptions are a great time saver, since they allow a person to form an opinion before they have all the facts.

 

Us poor pitiful wretched americans. If only we would pull our finances and other support from the rest of the world

 

Does anyone know the exact figure of how many 7000LBs + plus SUV's and trucks (for NON-commercial use) were sold in the the USA? What is the actual percentage of these huge SUV's that were sold in comparison to all cars sold in the USA?

Is this "supposed" HUGE SUV environment-killing problem for real or is it fallacious?

 

Sales figure from the August 2003 Motor Trend magazine for the following cars between Jan-April 2003.

5 Small 4 cyl. cars:

Pontiac Vibe- 23,160
Toyota Matrix/Corolla - 23,000* (Toyota estimate)
Mini Cooper- 11,304
Suzuki Aerio- 8594
Saturn Ion- 34,026


3 Large truck-based V8 Suvs:

Hummer H2- 11,294
Escalade ESV- 3,497
Lexus GX 470- 9,341


5 Midsized Non-truck-based 4 cyl. and/or v6 SUV’s

Honda Pilot- (v6) 33,095
Nissan Murano (v6) 14,903
Saturn Vue (4 cyc. and v6) 27,349
Honda element (4 cyc) 21,949
Mitsu Outlander (4 cycl) 13,757


It looks like for every one Hummer H2 that gets sold there are three Saturns Ions to easily offset it.

It looks like the whole anti-SUV movement is just another excuse to raise taxes and limit ones freedom.

While I personally dont think truck/based SUV's are much fun to drive I think each person has the right to make that choice for themselves.

Note: Multiply the figures X4 to get a very optimistic estimate of yealy sales for each model

 

Your sample consists of mostly low volume or niche vehicles (Aerio?, Mini?, GX470? Where's the Civic? CRV? Tahoe? Escape? - you know, the big sellers?) and it doesn't come close to representing the market as a whole (>50% of vehicles sold are light trucks and SUVs). Then, you compare the poor selling Ion to the hot selling H2.

Sorry. This example has more holes in it than swiss cheese.

 

i didnt see la car in there from just married. hhahaha ugly cars though im never moving to france.

 

Werm,

Those were just a few examples provided by Motortrend that I posted since you obviously didnt post any examples. I wish they had more large SUV's listed to prove my case. For ever niche vehicle like the Hummer theres a niche vehicle like the Mini. For every Tahoe Im sure their are more Calvaliers sold to easily offset it as well.

If you can get a complete list of total sales of more vehicles then please do so. Do you have any facts or statistics to prove your case or do rely completely on an "emotional" argument.

I wouldn't want to confuse you with the facts since its apparent you have already made up your mind

 

SUV's and light trucks just recently surpassed 50% of total vehicle sales this year. It is an often cited number, and it has been published several times. If you read articles about the auto industry and SUV's, it comes up especially often. If you just read MotorRag, you might not get that kind of info.

Here is an EPA publication from earlier in the year - it lists SUV and light truck sales at 48% of vehicle sales.

www.epa.gov/otaq/cert/mpg/fetrends/s03004.pdf

BTW, if you want to bring numbers into the argument, they will come up more against SUV's than for. It's the non-quantitative arguments that are strongest in favor of SUVs.

But whatever - its pointless to continue this arguement, since neither one of us is going to change their position.

 

Out of the 50%+ of trucks and SUV's that were sold, how many of them had a 4 cyl, V6 or a V8?

How many of these SUV's were car-based or truck-based?

Were they FWD, AWD, or Rwd?

What was the average weight of each vehicle?

What was the gas milage of these vehicles?

Since some people have a larger SUV does this mean that more people car pool and thus fewer cars are being driven?

Is it better to have one large SUV on the road or 2 small cars to take its place?

Do we take into consideration how far a person drives and if its better for a larger SUV to drive fewer miles each day or have small cars drive more miles daily?

If you limit the size and weight of a vehicle should you also limit how far a person can drive as well?

I think it could be said that many Americans buy a car for more then just driving from point-A to point-B. Many buy a particular car for the freedom (real or perceived) it offers. Some buy fast sports cars and others buy offroading trucks or SUV's, and in most cases the person who bought a sports cars does not race it but instead drives it like a normal commuter car and the offroad Truck or SUV rarely ever sees the dirt.

Many people unfortunately feel trapped in their daily lives between the responsibilities at home and work and the car is their symbol of freedom and escape. While most people dont take their SUV's offroading its the idea that at any moment they can run off to the mountians in their SUV and be free from the pressures of society is what makes SUVs so attractive. The high ride height also gives a person a better view in traffic and since traffic in most cities is getting worse, the demand for high riding SUV's has also increased. The high ride height also makes getting children in and out of car seats much easier then a low riding sedan as well.