[joeltrout]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('joeltrout', '
')
4WD is never needed in snow.

[patience]

Joeltrout,
Yeah, I'm working on it, of necessity. My GM pension is screwed, Social Security is iffy (age 61), and my wife's savings fund at the Census Bureau is in US treasuries that we can't get until she retires. See why I don't trust paper? We barely got money out of a Janus Money Market Fund (2 weeks of delays on what should have been an overnight withdrawal), and one from Putnam Investments, who wrote us a check on CITIBANK, that took 2 weeks to clear. I'll have to work as long as I live, and have a very dim view of paper "securities".

On the fuel economy front, we never drove anything bigger than an S-10 Chevy 4 cyl. (26 mpg) since they started making them, and now have an old VW Rabbit as well (32-35 mpg). As others say here, it is overall lifetime cost that makes a vehicle cheap. My Rabbit cost me a $600 truck and $1000 boot. I can get 60,000 to 100,000 more miles out of it, and may not do that in my lifetime, at under 5,000 miles/year.

edit: Per the WSJ, buying food now pays a better return than most CD's, etc., so we're doing that, too.

[gnm]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cashmere', 'M')ost people I've met who say they "need" an SUV or a 4WD (oh my, the snow) are simply talking themselves into a bad decision.

It's much easier to say, "my wife needs a 4WD for winter" than, "I am going to allow my wife to piss away thousands of dollars in a 4WD SUV she doesn't need."

I love it. The guy's sitting there telling me she needs it, and I'm standing next to my FWD, studded snow tire compact, which is great in the snow.

Anyway, you don't need a 4WD, whether you think you do or not.
.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('patience', 'J')oeltrout,
Yeah, I'm working on it, of necessity. My GM pension is screwed, Social Security is iffy (age 61), and my wife's savings fund at the Census Bureau is in US treasuries that we can't get until she retires. See why I don't trust paper? We barely got money out of a Janus Money Market Fund (2 weeks of delays on what should have been an overnight withdrawal), and one from Putnam Investments, who wrote us a check on CITIBANK, that took 2 weeks to clear. I'll have to work as long as I live, and have a very dim view of paper "securities".

On the fuel economy front, we never drove anything bigger than an S-10 Chevy 4 cyl. (26 mpg) since they started making them, and now have an old VW Rabbit as well (32-35 mpg). As others say here, it is overall lifetime cost that makes a vehicle cheap. My Rabbit cost me a $600 truck and $1000 boot. I can get 60,000 to 100,000 more miles out of it, and may not do that in my lifetime, at under 5,000 miles/year.

edit: Per the WSJ, buying food now pays a better return than most CD's, etc., so we're doing that, too.

[patience]

Will do, vision-master! Thanks.

[joeltrout]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '
')
One Month before you turn 62, file for Social Security. It will be there for ya. Don't wait for higher Monthy payments. I'm sure anyone 55 and older will collect. If not, our entire monetary system will have collapsed. Period.

[BigTex]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('joeltrout', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '
')
One Month before you turn 62, file for Social Security. It will be there for ya. Don't wait for higher Monthy payments. I'm sure anyone 55 and older will collect. If not, our entire monetary system will have collapsed. Period.

[mos6507]

Thought I'd bump this thread again. This vehicle, if it were to come to the US, would probably be ideal for BigTex, assuming he needs the extra seating positions for his family but generally doesn't need the hauling capacity of a SUV like the highlander. Not sure if you could really cram 3 people in the rear seat:


http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/05/31 ... -in-japan/

[newbonic]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cashmere', '
')By 2015?

Where the Fark are the high MPG cars TODAY?

How hard would it be for some dickwad company like ford to take their shitbox Focus frame and put something less guzzling than a 140hp 2.0 liter in it?

You figure they could put in a nice 1.3 liter, 70 horse, efficient motor in it and improve mileage from the crappy 23-25 it gets now to 35 ish.

Ug. How friggin hard is it to see that high MPG compacts are going to outsell all other models in just a few years?