Is the Gen US Public Ready to Make Their Next Vehicle Significantly Smaller/Fuel Eff? - Page 2 - GreenHybrid

fernando_g · #11 (**permalink**) 09-06-2005, 10:38 AM

Unfortunately no.

When I was about to purchase my HCH, both my wife and kids argued with me endlessly, that for the economic position I have, I could not be SEEN driving such a tiny thing. My son's expression: "that thing is a high-schooler car, get yourself a Silverado QuadCab."

Of course, now with the high gas prices, everyone asks me for the keys. And my wife says that when her vehicle trade-in is due next year, the next one will definitively be a hybrid.

Delta Flyer · #12 (**permalink**) 09-06-2005, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fernando_g

....My son's expression: "that thing is a high-schooler car, get yourself a Silverado QuadCab."

Last month in Colorado Springs, I talked with a woman that regreted letting her son talk her into buying an SUV. She is seriously considering selling it and getting a Prius.

JeffHart · #13 (**permalink**) 09-11-2005, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fernando_g

Unfortunately no.

When I was about to purchase my HCH, both my wife and kids argued with me endlessly, that for the economic position I have, I could not be SEEN driving such a tiny thing. My son's expression: "that thing is a high-schooler car, get yourself a Silverado QuadCab."

Of course, now with the high gas prices, everyone asks me for the keys. And my wife says that when her vehicle trade-in is due next year, the next one will definitively be a hybrid.

That's a big part of the problem - the status of a luxury car. If Toyota made a Lexus version of the Prius, I probably would've bought that instead. I don't want an SUV and for me driving the Lexus SUV and getting 60% of the mpg I'm getting now is still environmentally unsound.

For those that need an SUV than the Lexus is environmentally sound, for the rest of us, it's not.

Cheers,
Jeff

Delta Flyer · #14 (**permalink**) 09-11-2005, 11:18 AM

....not necessarily Cowboy owner Jerry Jones.

What follows is a large except of people that are trying to live live the richest 1% of the US population and borrowing heavily to do it. Note the woman that moved from Sacramento to Plano, then the men she sees make her feel "poor" for driving a Honda Accord.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dallas Morning News

Stacy Lynch says the pressure is subtle, yet powerful.
Soon after moving from Sacramento, Calif., to Collin County, she first noticed it: As the proud owner of a 1996 Honda Civic, she said, she often heard remarks from the men she dated about her car's "humble" nature.
"I felt kind of poor when I moved out here, and I wasn't," she said.
Her list of must-have items grew.
"I'd go to work, and somebody would come in and talk about a new purse. I thought, 'I deserve a new purse,' and I'd go buy one," she said.
Her credit card debt shot to $12,000.
Ms. Lynch's move to Plano put her in the richest county in Texas and among the wealthiest 1 percent nationwide. The county's high median household income – about $71,500 annually – has provided entrée into the country club status long enjoyed by the moneyed suburbs of Chicago, Northern California, New York and Washington, D.C. But Collin County's dollar signs can be deceptive.
DallasNews.com/extra

Tell us: How do you think bankruptcy courts should treat people who've overspent?
Multimedia: Images, audio impressions of the Collin County lifestyle
Collin comparisons: Map, quiz
Special Report: The Price of Prosperity
• On average, Collin County residents have more credit card debt – $4,200 – and a lower net worth – $125,000 – than residents of other high-income counties throughout the country, according to a Dallas Morning News analysis of various economic indicators, including Claritas Market Audit.
• The average amount due on an auto loan or lease service for Collin residents is about $19,300, highest among a dozen comparison counties