While out in California visiting Meg a few weeks ago I was told that car dealerships in the San Jose area had stopped accepting SUVs as trade-ins. I'm not sure the accuracy of that but I don't disbelieve it -- particularly given this article from Wired: http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/06/rising-gas-pric.html. My favorite part of the article (and there are lots of good parts) is:
General Motors is looking to unload Hummer, the epitome of gas-guzzling excess, after sales fell 60 percent in May. The number of Civics sold in one month exceed the number of Hummers GM expects to sell all year.
I recently heard on the news that for the first time in a while cars are outselling trucks, which just sounds like a slightly different angle on the stats in the Wired article. I don't remember if the period in the report was the first month or the first sales quarter, but either way, it's good news. I *do* recall remarking at the time that the statistic was for the entire U.S. -- I have a feeling that the state of Texas might still be buying more trucks and SUVs. bleh.
Colorado is fairly SUV/truck heavy too. I'm not sure how much of it is climate related and how much isn't. I do know I would have been a bit apprehensive driving the Fusion up into the mountains after some of the snow this past season but we had no problems whatsoever getting around town, snow or not.
It's a little more difficult to justify in Austin. I just had lunch at Triumph where an Expedition was hogging two spaces. argh. Gotta be ready for that treacherous landscape on Spicewood Springs Rd.
I'm still hanging on to my Subaru Outback! It's the best compromise for me. It has ok gas mileage (22/30), tows my boat, and AWD for those slick days at the launch ramp. But, I do miss my old Honda Civic (30/40 mpg... 50 if I do it right, maybe more if I hypermile). Though I wonder how a Subaru Outback is "seen"... is it a car, an SUV, or the EPA classification of "light truck"?
"San Marcos Auto Outlet's General Manager David Howard said if you buy a truck, he'll throw in a car lease for free.
"Come in and purchase a Durango or a Dodge Ram truck, and we'll put you in a Dodge Caliber at no additional cost," he said."
WHAT?!!?!?
I don't even know where to begin with that one. "But I don't want the truck, I just want the car."
The article goes on to say that many dealers in Texas have built their identities on trucks, but are scrambling now because no one is buying. So it is happening here too.
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