N.A. Consumer Vehicle Choices

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I’m not a greenie but creating the above spreadsheet has been a bit of an eye opener. I posted a similar, but far less detailed, spreadsheet a week ago to little fanfare. No biggie, I’m not big on kudos but I thought it important enough to delve further given the disparity.

Here’s some questions. They’re not meant to be condescending so try not to get too defensive:

Do we need to change the attitude of N.A. consumers’ vehicle choices?

How much HP, or power to weight ratio, do we really need? The rest of the world seems fine with less.

Why does performance with 0 to 60 times well below 10 seconds matter so much? I’m quite capable of getting up to speed and passing comfortably without any issues in my car. I’m in the 10-11 second 0-60 range and rarely do I fully use it. Are you tailgating and not using run up speed to pass?

The F150 seems inelastic as the top seller for the last umpteen years but if you look at the sales by vehicle type in 2008 only 28.1% of total vehicle sales were LT/SUV’s. Were people more concerned with cost certainty and/or other socioeconomic reasons? This was the year of the market crash.

How many large vehicle owners do you think load or tow more than 1000lbs regularly? How many do you think tow/load nothing of significance? How many do you think take their vehicle off road? Example: a 14 ft. aluminum fishing boat can be outfitted for less than 600 lbs tow weight. Many vehicles, other than large LT/SUV’s, can handle this.

Why are aluminum rims on most pickup trucks when steel rims are much more capable for its intended purpose? Why are not front ends of pickup trucks more aerodynamic like OTR tractors, re. Volvo? Why has ground clearance and box reach over heights increased? Wouldn’t this make them less practical than pickups from yesteryear?

What do you think about GHG? Should we also start thinking more about conserving the planets resources? Think of the extra 1000 lb. material content of US vehicles compared to Europe, and possibly China.

At what gas price point would you consider going to a more affordable vehicle? What’s your forecast on gas prices in the next 6 years that’s commensurate with the average term for most new car loans? Are you confident they won’t rise significantly enough in that time frame? If they do, does your annual pay rise cover more than CPI to provide that buffer?

Should the financial industry put a cap on term? Some lenders offer 96 mon. loans. That’s lunacy given the rate of vehicle depreciation! Wants and needs require more prudency if your loan payment workability exceeds 5 years.

Do you think CAFE is working? Should current FE standards be different than passenger vehicles for LT/SUV’s and 4wd CUV’S? Should CAFE scrap this and the confusing system of footprint and go by vehicle weight? Would a vehicle max weight graduated down to say, 3500 lbs, over a set time frame for passenger vehicles be reasonable allowing the economy and industry to adjust? In conjunction, would introducing a new category like “Recreational Vehicle” for those over that don’t meet a certain criteria, i.e. urban/rural, no. of family members, farmer, contractor, and work necessity be fair?

I'm going to let this simmer a bit since I'm visiting family today.

Thanks
 
Thanks for sharing.
thumbsup2.gif
 
Very interesting, I like large/fast cars... On the rare occasion I drive my Escape or something else other than my Crown Vic or a truck with a v8 I get annoyed. Oddly enough most of Europe's cars have smaller engines than my Escape...
 
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Answer: Taxes

The tax scheme with regards to purchasing & operating vehicle in Europe is vastly different from the US.

For example imagine if vehicles in the US paid a tax which was calculated off engine displacement?


Of course there are infrastructure and climate differences which determine demand as well.
 
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My vehicles are in the 9-10 second range 0-60 and yes they're slow. They get me by but I can't imagine using something slower. Majority of time it's fine, majority of the time I do not need WOT. There are some intersections in Mass though that do require full out acceleration (495 to I93 north being a big one).

Just noticed the kei trucks and if I had land I might get one. Actually if NH modified their rules I might really like them: right now they are limited to 25 miles of home, and only on roads 35mph and less. Let me go 50mph (not sure I want to in such a small thing!) and suddenly most of my truck "needs" would be covered.

Raise gas prices and I might switch to smaller vehicles. But with pricing (both vehicles and gas) the way it is, not much of an incentive. [And I did use to motor around in a TDI but in the end it really didn't save me much over a 30mpg econobox.] Right now my two cars tick over 30mpg and TBH what is the incentive to spend money to buy higher mpg cars when these aren't worn out yet?
 
Originally Posted By: Ducked
If you aren't busy, you might try a correlation analysis with some of the obesity/BMI data here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_body_mass_index

Don't want to pre-judge the sums, but the Japanese, for example, aren't very overweight, and they have a lot of very small Kei cars...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kei_car



Weird, something we're not number 1 in. I thought we were worse than that, but I must have been watching too much TV.

I wonder if North Americans run tall and obese? I mean, when I was obese by the BMI chart I was driving my Jetta which ranked as a sub-compact and was quite fine with it. But at below median height for a male that doesn't make me very wide.
 
Originally Posted By: Ducked
If you aren't busy, you might try a correlation analysis with some of the obesity/BMI data here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_body_mass_index

Don't want to pre-judge the sums, but the Japanese, for example, aren't very overweight, and they have a lot of very small Kei cars...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kei_car



Japan also has 126 million people in a space smaller than the state of California, which has a population of 39.5 million.

Population density varies wildly between North America and other parts of the world. France has twice the population of Canada but is smaller than the province of Manitoba.
 
Wish I had spare time to create a spreadsheet like this.

Second, if you want real feedback, don't ask 20 questions in one post. Ask a question or two and you will get more focused response and conversation.

Lastly, vastly different taxation schemes make for vastly different choices in the respective markets. Between fuel taxes, and how registration taxes are computed, guides significant differences, not to mention the roadway networks, particularly in urban areas, are much more constrained in much of Europe (ie: narrower, along with parking etc...).

From my perpective, I could care less what the rest of the world drives, much less my neighbor or fellow board member. Buy what works for you.
 
Originally Posted By: spasm3
Ditch café, let the market drive manufacturing. Let people buy what they want, no categories.


Best answer.
 
Originally Posted By: spasm3
Ditch café, let the market drive manufacturing. Let people buy what they want, no categories.
That is so unsocialist.
 
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
I love these
lol.gif





I am 65 and I don't drink alcohol or do drugs. There are times I wonder if I should.
 
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