Posted on 03/25/2008 11:28:11 AM PDT by chordmaster
LOS ANGELES, CA - SUV drivers, increasingly falling victim to the bursting market bubble of the popular vehicles, are finding themselves struggling to keep their means of transportation. Faced with rising fuel prices, lengthy loan agreements, and the skyrocketing costs of rim maintenance, many SUV owners are on the brink of downsizing to smaller vehicles...
(Excerpt) Read more at dailyredundancy.com ...
SUV’s are a minor issue. I hear truckers are planning a national strike due to fuel prices.
The number of carless people is skyrocketing.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I have noticed the price of Suburbans around here have dropped to the point you can’t seem to give one away. Since I work only 2 miles from home and don’t travel that much I have been eying another one for the wife.
“and the skyrocketing costs of rim maintenance” WTF? I wash my rims once a year whether they need it or not.
No I'm not calling for any laws (though yes they should be banned from the left lane like other trucks), I'm more than happy to let the marketplaces take them out.
I have to wash mine a littler more often, gravel road dust just builds up like crazy
Concerned lawmakers have promised to take action to stem the growing crisis. “It’s unconscionable that hard-working Americans can’t afford to drive a sweet SUV.” says California Senator Tim McMillan. “I will propose a bill that will require automakers to freeze their prices, give SUV buyers a voucher for $10,000 in accessories and free gas for life.”
Guess now we need legislation and money for an SUV bailout.
being the size of a lineman tends to limit your car choices.
“and the skyrocketing costs of rim maintenance WTF? I wash my rims once a year whether they need it or not.”
Must be all those folks with 24 inch spinners out there. I still have mud in crannies from an off-road weekend in 2004! Although mileage on the expy isn’t great, tire inflation, a K&N intake, and tire inflation keep it manageable. Could probably buy two for what I paid in 2002.
Hard to beat the room.
The number of people who are taking advanced schooling right now in Basic Laws of Economics 101 is skyrocketing.
this article is satire..
Rim maintenance? I haven’t spent a dime on my rims in the ten years I’ve owned my SUV.
i am looking for a minivan for the wife and offspring
SUVs seem to be more trouble than they are worth
Congress could attach it as a rider to the next minimum wage bill.
All the while, gas in South America sells for $.12 a gallon. Why do we take this?
Stop. Please don’t give anyone in Gov’t any ideas. Seriously.
If that's how you perceive it in New Jersey, stay away from Maryland... trust me on this one. MD drivers make NJ drivers look like virtuosos behind the wheel.
Bingo!
You mean in the Peoples Republic of Venezuela? Perhaps, but where else is it selling this cheaply?
This article is FUNNY. There are less drivers on the freeways in LA...at certain times.
gas is 12 cents in Venezuela because it is subsidized by the socialist/marxist govt
high gas prices help get poor people off the roads reducing congestion - bring it on!
Let's not get started on this because it's an established fact that Miami drivers are the absolute worst, bar-none. I saw a guy in an Escalade on Sunday driving on the Dolphin Expressway while watching a DVD player and talking on his cellphone . . . .
Rim maintenance? Ping me when someone figures out what that is!
There’s a reason the South disowns Florida.
The funny part was that it was government/Congress that legislated the SUV into existance.
Combine the requirement for child seats,
and the CAFE standards applied to cars (station wagons) but not to “trucks” (SUVs),
and you have just created a market for a vehicle classified as a truck that can be used to haul children in their big protective car seats.

Deja vu? This happened back in the '70s. These people never learn.
Besides, if you can afford to buy a $50k SUV, gasoline cost should not be an issue. Furthermore, many of the people that buy 4x4s live in snow-free climates and don't need 4WD traction.
I think it's something Eliot Spitzer paid extra for...
Most people are so clueless about economics that whenever something VERY predictable happens due to some perverse incentive created by government,
they look for some boogieman to blame.
This plays right into the hands of the left.
It’s just a shot.
what tha?????
Doesn’t LA have more important things to worry about, like Brittney Spears.
Nothing to worry about. A car is a human right now. The government will take care of the problem. Gas stamps are coming to your local welfare office very soon.
You would be surprised at the interior space in a Porsche 911 Turbo...
I have a 6’ 3” 270 lb friend who loves his 911.
Funniest thing ever to watch him try to shoe horn himself in to a Ferrari!
‘How do you get mud IN the tires?”
Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinney. Funny show!
http://www.britannica.com/eb/art/print?id=71364&articleTypeId=0
These reflect gasoline prices from a couple of years ago:
Netherlands Amsterdam $6.48
Norway Oslo $6.27
Italy Milan $5.96
Denmark Copenhagen $5.93
Belgium Brussels $5.91
Sweden Stockholm $5.80
United Kingdom London $5.79
Germany Frankfurt $5.57
France Paris $5.54
Portugal Lisbon $5.35
Hungary Budapest $4.94
Luxembourg $4.82
Croatia Zagreb $4.81
Ireland Dublin $4.78
Switzerland Geneva $4.74
Spain Madrid $4.55
Japan Tokyo $4.24
Czech Republic Prague $4.19
Romania Bucharest $4.09
Andorra $4.08
Estonia Tallinn $3.62
Bulgaria Sofia $3.52
Brazil Brasilia $3.12
Cuba Havana $3.03
Taiwan Taipei $2.84
Lebanon Beirut $2.63
South Africa Johannesburg $2.62
Nicaragua Managua $2.61
Panama Panama City $2.19
Russia Moscow $2.10
Puerto Rico San Juan $1.74
Saudi Arabia Riyadh $0.91
Kuwait Kuwait City $0.78
Egypt Cairo $0.65
Nigeria Lagos $0.38
Venezuela Caracas $0.12
I do also.
I took care of that by buying a motorcycle that gets 50 MPG.
Drive the MC in good weather, drive the other vehicle in bad weather.
I hope the fellow was smart enough to fabricate the name "James Fenwick", but given the rest of the remark, I'm not so sure.
I was afraid you were going to say that....
I have a small SUV (Hyundai Santa Fe). Mostly I drive it to the store since I can take the bus to work, so I don’t put many miles on it. I even qualify for the low mileage discount from my insurer.
I love my car; I can carry what I want in it, but it isn’t huge. It doesn’t use much gas (or at least I don’t use much gas). I can see the road around me and feel pretty safe. The Santa Fe was rated as a very safe car, which was one reason I bought it.
If one is commuting many miles to work, maybe SUVs aren’t the way to go right now, but if you get one w/good mileage and if you are out here in the hinterlands, a small SUV seems the way to go.
You must be newly married. That line only works on a wife once.
It doesn't matter what gas costs, I'll still drive my tank instead of a tin can.
My SUV’s are doing just fine. And what the hell is rim maintenance?
The only rim maintenance I’ve ever needed was because of potholes in the government owned and maintained roads. I pay taxes to get them fixed, and I just see them get bigger and more numerous. I see union road repair crews standing around doing nothing watching cars trying to negotiate the crater fields. I see road repair projects go on for years at a time with no apparent progress.
I wish they’d raise my taxes again so they finally fix the roads right the first time. I know they will if they just have enough money.
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