OT. Crying about Gas $$$

They did it again! Intervieing a guy at the pumps, complaining about the price of gas...

As he's pumping $80 into his Excursion...

Man, get a Toyota if you're going to biotch! Either that, or STFU and pump the gas! We still have it easier than 75% of the world on fuel costs.

Reply to
Hachiroku
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Really? One not need to pay a premium price to buy a Toyota to get decent fuel mileage. Toyota has nine models that get 30 MPG or more, GM sells 14 that get 30 MPG or more. GM even has two V8 models, with and EPA rating of over 30 miles per gallon. You need not settle for an underpowered Toyota 4 cy or even a V6 to get good fuel mileage. ;)

mike hunt

Reply to
Mike Hunter

Well, I was assuming one would want to buy a vehicle that gets good fuel economy, and have a vehicle that didn't need a pile of repairs over the period of ownership, *AND* wanted to buy it from a company that was going to be around for a few more years.

Have you driven an HHR yet, and then compared it to a Highlander? They both get about the same economy, they both are very similar and have 4 cyl engines; the Highlander is AWD.

And can also get out of it's own way!

The underpowered foreign imports of yesterday now have what it takes to travel American roads, while the American vehicles are the underpowered vehicles (when comparing the same amount of liters displaced) that are laughable.

I will admit, I *DID* like the interior of the HHR. What stopped me from buying GM before was the cheap FEEL of everything in the passenger compartment. It was pretty well laid out and felt good.

Just had to flog the thing to get it to GO! (and even then it was slow).

Reply to
Hachiroku

Yeah get a Toyota Land Cruiser!!!

Reply to
Dan J.S.

This is exactly why GM is doing so great! and Toyota is almost bankrupt... oh wait....

Reply to
Dan J.S.

It really is ironic how far GM and Ford in particular are behind in engine development. GM has a good engine in their Cadillac. They should stick it in the rest of their vehicles while they improve the rest of their lot.

Reply to
Art

Where do you get the idea Ford engines are behind in engine development? Ford engines are state of the art and have been for ten years or more. GM and Chrysler are the only manufacture building multi-stage engines that can operate on half the cylinders when needed to save fuel.

mike hunt

Reply to
Mike Hunter

GM still sells more than twice as many vehicles in the US than does Toyota ;)

mike hunt

Reply to
Mike Hunter

Smart @ss! ;)

Reply to
Moonbat

You mean the ones developed with the engineers from Mazda?

Reply to
Moonbat

Really, are you on drugs? The TOP of the lime HHR FWD starts at $16,325 has a 2.2, 4cl @ 143 HP. A BOTTOM of the line Highlander FWD starts at $33, 030 has a 2.4, 4cl and only 12 more HP @ 155. Talk about over priced, Toyotas. $16,700 will buy all of ones fuel for the HHR for over ten years

The Escape is a better buy. TOP of the line FWD starts at $24,900 and has a

200 Hp V6 and automatic. Talk about over priced Toyotas. $10,500 will buy all of the gas for the V6 Escape for ten years as well The 2.3 153 Hp 4cy with an automatic is only $23, 400. LOL

mike hunt

Reply to
Mike Hunter

I guess you mean the Ford engineers that developed the Mazda engines. Very few Mazda engines can be found in Fords. Mazda engines like most Japanese engines rely on high RPMs to developed their HP.. Great for cars with manual trannys but piss poor for the automatics that Americans prefer. Ford engines develop their HP at lower RPMs, as much as 2500 RPMs lower.. That gets the HP and torque curve closer together and produces a must better performance combination. Just about every Ford V10, V8 and V6 came out of the modular program. The latest being the 3v V8 engines The 3v 4.5L V8 produces 300 HP and 300 FPT all within 1,000 RPMs and it runs on 87 octane and get 25 MPG. The newest engines that will hit the market were a collaboration with Ford US and the Ford engineers at Volvo. The new all aluminum 3.5 V6 and the 4.4 V8s are two that come to mind.

mike hunt

Reply to
Mike Hunter

You're closer than you usually are, but you're still wrong.

Highlanders start at about $24K, list. For that, you get a 2.4L engine that packs a surprising wallop on the low end. For $33K, you get a Highlander with an astonishingly powerful V6, seats for 7 or 8, AWD and all the options. So, for $24K, you can get the "economical" Highlander that will look good and run well for many years.

Yep, the HHR tops at $16K and change - before any options.

And, if you decide to change cars in a few years, you'll be able to find a buyer for the Highlander. With the HHR's "love it or hate it" retro look, you're going to have a tough time getting a good price for it.

Do I get the storied Ford reliability included in that price? Everybody thinks my Ford stories are the greatest. Painful, but funny if you didn't have to pay for it.

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Reply to
DH

Wrong, as usual. Mercedes also does this.

Reply to
dizzy

How many more times the vehicles does Toyota sell in the rest of the world, where GM does not have the "home field advantage"? LOL

Reply to
dizzy

What is STFU?

My stomach hurts when I read comparisons of this nature. Wages for some people have gone up 10 times what they were in 1974. (Why am I using 1974 as a baseline? Because I receipts that go back that far) A gallon of whole milk was 99 cents. A quart of soda was 39 cents. A loaf of bread was 39 cents. A pound of hamburger was 69 cents. A rack of pork ribs was 3 pounds for a dollar. A pack of smokes cost 35 cents. Gasoline was 36 - 39 cents a gallon. The median cost for a home was $21,000 (It started to sky rocket soon after June 1975)

My point though is we are on very shaky ground. If enough people are convinced gasoline is undervalued, then those who produce all the commodities I mention above will feel justified to rapidly raise their prices too. How does $10 for a gallon of milk sound to you? It could easily happen when you consider here in New England we've lost most of our family owned dairy farms.

Many people are employed in services and manufacturing categories that didn't exist in 1974. If there had been no subsides or streamlining or automation or vending work overseas then discretionary spending would have stayed stagnant. Are we to assume we have a new baseline in 2006? Hardly. Get the door, it's not Dominos. It's the bank to repossess the house.

Reply to
mark digital

The best argument against this being just an adjustment to bring gas prices to where someone thinks they should be are the record profits taken by some of the big oil companies.

They're about to break another record. At our expense.

Reply to
Gary L. Burnore

Yes, record NET profits. In the past when this happened the Feds would wait until things settled down and then slap the companies with a fine. This time I think it won't happen. Why? Because the companies have gotten smart. As long as out of commission refineries are kept that way it keeps the Feds away. No law says they have to fix them, repair them, whatever. Also, this time the Feds saw a window of opportunity to throw in some new clean air regulations figuring may as well do it and make it a cost of doing business, all because, well, gasoline is undervalued and their actions help prop the price up, keeps the banks happy, and inflates the dollar for those who have crushing mortgages. Are there people who are benefiting who are not involved with oil? Yep. Two wage earners who have gotten themselves in deep with a house they ill can afford at today's dollar value. It's the SOS when I bought my house. Yep, I'm a hypocrite. All I can say now is I hope if we have only 30 years worth of oil left it's best not to take out a 40 year loan for a house. Those last 10 years are gonna be a killer!! mark_

Reply to
mark digital

A girl at work had one (Escape) for about 6 weeks and got rid of it because she couldn't handle 16 MPG combined.

Reply to
Hachiroku

If you think the oil companies are not spending billions on R&D, you do not own any oil company stock. You might want to search the American Petroleum Institute for the facts

The federal government already makes more per gallon than the oil companies, with the 18.5c gas tax. The states make even more, around three times more per gallon, than the oil companies. At least the states spend the tax money on roads, the feds are sitting with billions of dollar in the National Highway Trust Fund that has gone unspent for twenty years while the intestates are in disrepair. ;)

mike hunt

Reply to
Mike Hunter

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