[Specop_007]

I re-checked to make sure.

Yes, your a liar.

First dealership, 2 Prius's in stock. Second had a hokey webpage, couldnt search. Third dealership has 1 in stock. 4th dealership has none

Thats 3 in as many dealerships sitting on the lot, in my area alone.

1 year wait? I'm skeptical.

[lardlad]

A GROUNDSWELL AGAINST SUVS
Author(s): Bella English, Boston Globe Staff

[selected extracted sentences follow]

"It's status. If you drive one of them, you actually get an adrenaline rush. You really feel like you can climb walls."

.....
The typical SUV, he adds, is occupied by only 1.3 passengers.
....
To Boch, it's simply a matter of personal choice: "If it's available in the US and it's for sale, you should be able to drive it. It's the American way."
....
According to The Detroit Project, the opposite is actually true: SUVs are four times as likely as passenger cars to roll over in an accident, and three times as likely to kill an occupant in a rollover.
.....
The Sierra Club has jumped aboard, too, saying that those who switch from a car to an SUV for a year waste more energy than "leaving a refrigerator door open for six years, a bathroom light burning for 30 years, or a color TV turned on for 28 years." Even some religious groups are preaching against SUVs with a campaign called, "What Would Jesus Drive?"

Gordon Wilcox, a Boston restaurateur, can see both sides now. He drives a Cadillac Escalade, one of the biggest SUVs, but he plans to trade it in for a sedan. "It's brutal on gas," he says, "and they give you this sense that you're safer in this tough tank. You're not. It's like a piece of plastic."

The only solace Kristin Parker gets, she says, is watching SUV drivers fill up their tanks. "They're paying a fortune," she says.

[lardlad]

If you own a SUV, sell it NOW while you still can!!

Tip from the wise.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Washington Post', '
')Truck and SUV Sales Plunge as Gas Prices Rise
GM, Ford Hit Hardest

By Sholnn Freeman
Washington Post Staff Writer

Sales of Detroit trucks stalled as spiking gas prices sped up a consumer shift toward more fuel-efficient vehicles.

[lardlad]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Business Day Jan 6 2006', 'P')osted to the web on: 06 January 2006
Detroit’s ‘big three’ struggle with changing consumer trend
Poornima Gupta

Reuters

DETROIT — US vehicle makers posted lower December sales, capping a tumultuous year in which Detroit’s “big three” struggled to come to terms with changing consumer tastes prompted by high petrol prices.

....

General Motors (GM) and Ford, each facing a deepening financial crisis, said December sales were down 10,2% and 8,7% respectively, with steep declines in sport utility vehicle (SUV) sales. Demand at the two vehicle makers was down for the year, too.

[Madpaddy]

Well, they have Priuses available to drive out the gate at my local dealership but that is normal. Dealers usually get extra cars of a particlar model that have not been ordered by a specific customer. This means that people who are not fussy about colour or finish can see a car they like and drive away the same day.

Anyway, I've been to bed for the last 7 hours or so and Spec and lardlad, you guys are up way too late. I think we actually all sing off the same hymn sheet just to a slightly different tune.

To summarise,

Cars are the major part of the problem and in particular, non necessary journeys, lack of car pooling and cars that are not manufactured to an imposed standard allowing maximum fuel efficiency.

My comment about the drywall in the trunk of the Jetta was an attempt at humour !!!

I have no problem with people driving SUVs as long as they are;

a.) Working on 500 acre farms in the middle of nowhere.
b.) Building contractors or tradesmen who use the commercial versions of SUVs to carry tools, materials etc.
c.) Driving diesel versions of SUVs.
d.) Stuck with an SUV they bought years ago, can't resell and use sparingly.

IMO, SUVs and other behemoth vehicles should either be banned or sold only to people who show a genuine need for owning one. Imposing huge taxes is not enough because some rich bastard will always be able to afford it no matter the price. People should not be able to waste wantonly any resource just because they can afford to.

PS: Happy New Year

[Specop_007]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('lardlad', '[')size=134]If you own a SUV, sell it NOW while you still can!![/size]

Tip from the wise.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Washington Post', '
')Truck and SUV Sales Plunge as Gas Prices Rise
GM, Ford Hit Hardest

By Sholnn Freeman
Washington Post Staff Writer

Sales of Detroit trucks stalled as spiking gas prices sped up a consumer shift toward more fuel-efficient vehicles.

[Specop_007]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Madpaddy', 'W')ell, they have Priuses available to drive out the gate at my local dealership but that is normal. Dealers usually get extra cars of a particlar model that have not been ordered by a specific customer. This means that people who are not fussy about colour or finish can see a car they like and drive away the same day.

Anyway, I've been to bed for the last 7 hours or so and Spec and lardlad, you guys are up way too late. I think we actually all sing off the same hymn sheet just to a slightly different tune.

To summarise,

Cars are the major part of the problem and in particular, non necessary journeys, lack of car pooling and cars that are not manufactured to an imposed standard allowing maximum fuel efficiency.

My comment about the drywall in the trunk of the Jetta was an attempt at humour !!!

I have no problem with people driving SUVs as long as they are;

a.) Working on 500 acre farms in the middle of nowhere.
b.) Building contractors or tradesmen who use the commercial versions of SUVs to carry tools, materials etc.
c.) Driving diesel versions of SUVs.
d.) Stuck with an SUV they bought years ago, can't resell and use sparingly.

IMO, SUVs and other behemoth vehicles should either be banned or sold only to people who show a genuine need for owning one. Imposing huge taxes is not enough because some rich bastard will always be able to afford it no matter the price. People should not be able to waste wantonly any resource just because they can afford to.

PS: Happy New Year

[lardlad]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MSN Money Sept 2005', 'S')ales of the perennial best-selling SUV, the Ford Explorer, dropped by 58% compared with September 2004. Its larger kin, the Ford Expedition, which gets 14 mpg in city driving, saw sales drop 61%. Ford stopped producing its even larger SUV, the Excursion, last month.

GM’s full-size SUVs, due to be replaced with more fuel-efficient models next year, fell 56%. Sales of its Hummer H2 – so heavy it doesn’t fall under the EPA’s fuel-mileage ratings system -- were off by 31%

[Madpaddy]

Well, they have Priuses available to drive out the gate at my local dealership but that is normal. Dealers usually get extra cars of a particlar model that have not been ordered by a specific customer. This means that people who are not fussy about colour or finish can see a car they like and drive away the same day.

Anyway, I've been to bed for the last 7 hours or so and Spec and lardlad, you guys are up way too late. I think we actually all sing off the same hymn sheet just to a slightly different tune.

To summarise,

Cars are the major part of the problem and in particular, non necessary journeys, lack of car pooling and cars that are not manufactured to an imposed standard allowing maximum fuel efficiency.

My comment about the drywall in the trunk of the Jetta was an attempt at humour !!!

I have no problem with people driving SUVs as long as they are;

a.) Working on 500 acre farms in the middle of nowhere.
b.) Building contractors or tradesmen who use the commercial versions of SUVs to carry tools, materials etc.
c.) Driving diesel versions of SUVs.
d.) Stuck with an SUV they bought years ago, can't resell and use sparingly.

IMO, SUVs and other behemoth vehicles should either be banned or sold only to people who show a genuine need for owning one. Imposing huge taxes is not enough because some rich bastard will always be able to afford it no matter the price. People should not be able to waste wantonly any resource just because they can afford to.

PS: Happy New Year

[lardlad]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Madpaddy', 'I') have no problem with people driving SUVs as long as they are;

a.) Working on 500 acre farms in the middle of nowhere.
b.) Building contractors or tradesmen who use the commercial versions of SUVs to carry tools, materials etc.
c.) Driving diesel versions of SUVs.
d.) Stuck with an SUV they bought years ago, can't resell and use sparingly.

[Specop_007]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('lardlad', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MSN Money Sept 2005', 'S')ales of the perennial best-selling SUV, the Ford Explorer, dropped by 58% compared with September 2004. Its larger kin, the Ford Expedition, which gets 14 mpg in city driving, saw sales drop 61%. Ford stopped producing its even larger SUV, the Excursion, last month.

GM’s full-size SUVs, due to be replaced with more fuel-efficient models next year, fell 56%. Sales of its Hummer H2 – so heavy it doesn’t fall under the EPA’s fuel-mileage ratings system -- were off by 31%

[lardlad]

[Madpaddy]

Sorry,

I don't know how my last post got reposted. Maybe the moderators thought it was so good they had to post it again.

Spec, every single SUV is available in Europe in a diesel version. They are however about 3-5 thousand more expensive than the equivalent petrol version.

I think I will move to the US and open a dealership selling my favourite car;

http://fiat-multipla.webpark.pl/multipla.htm

[lardlad]

[lardlad]

@MadPaddy re Fiat -- SWEET, as a SUV alternative, and if you need to carry a lot of people, and good enough at least until public transport lets us trash the private motor vehicle.

[Madpaddy]

It does 40-50mpg and you can take out all those back seat and hey presto you have a van.

Even Spec would love it !!!

[lardlad]

Good transition vehicle for those who really need that capacity.

[Madpaddy]

We have only 2 kids but when they are in their baby chairs it takes up a lot of room . This car allows us to put them apart in the back and they can't lean over and beat lumps out of each other as brothers are inclined to do. The extra height means you don't slip a disc putting the kid in and out of the chairs. An adult can pop from front seat to back if there is an emergency/ fight in the back. Sometimes if we are going on a long trip we take out the middle back seat for extra storage. And if all comes to all, you could live in the thing. As I keep saying - it does 40-50 mpg which is as good as the PRIUS (I don't believe those official figures about 60 mpg). According to user road test here the real figure is about 47 mpg (still good and my next car will be a PRIUS or similar when the kids are out of the baby seats).

[lardlad]

Sounds unbelievable. I guess Detroit has kept it out of Murka while they cash in on the duped consumer zombies who see the fulfilment of their lives in buying a tin and tire monster they've been brainwashed into thinking they need.

As I said before: sad.

CONSUMER ZOMBIES

[Madpaddy]

Well FIAT traditionally had a bad rep with quality. FIAT used to mean Fix It Again Tomorrow. There are a lot of people carriers on the road here in Ireland including the Opel Zafira, Renault Grand Scenic and Peugeot 307 Spacewagon. The diesel versions of these all get in the 35-50 mpg bracket.

My old petrol FIAT multipla only got 22 mpg.

Really, I think it is criminal that US cars are so inefficient. We pay the equivalnet of $6 a gallon (imperial = 4.54 litres) in Ireland. If US consumers paid that then peoples mindset would change. I think that the US market would react well to these new diesel people carriers.

BTW, Peugeot are bringing out a diesel hybred in the next 3 years. Hope society is around to see it.