Yeah it is getting there. I must confess that my wife drives one of these guzzlers, a 2001 Navigator. At the time we bought it, I got it for about $8k under blue book and gas was not nearly as expensive as it is now. I am thinking of getting rid of it pretty soon. And even though it costs upwards of $100 to fill the tank now, we can still 'afford' it. Do I like paying that much for fuel? Heck no! But we can afford to do it. I am trying to talk her into getting an Accord sedan or something like that and probably triple the FE over what she drives now. :o

Good luck with getting the distaff side into a more efficient vehicle.. :)

$100 plus fillups are changing a lot of people's minds about what and how to drive. I know the price of gas has my attention and I don't see things changing back to cheap fuel any time soon now.

The problem as I see it is that those who need the efficient vehicle the most are those with the least ability to go and purchase another car right now.

the gas prices aren't as bad as the oil crunch in the 70s right? And remember how cheap gas got in the 90s. So while it has a ways to go up yet. It may very well become very cheap again down the line. But hopefully the big squeeze will come on such that the automakers really have to close down the SUV factories.

I have a friend in this situation. I think he's driving around an old Pontiac Grand Prix.

I think a lot could be done right now, but whats the use, the majority are still satisfied with what they have. The economy is a strange place, it will change when we as a majority want it to change.

and congress(and local govt reps) is scared their pockets will not be filled.

this is THE argument for moving to lower fuel prices. many cannot afford it which will have economic consequences the more nothing is done.

but, i applaud you for looking to make a change tho it's not necessary!

i feel not for those that bought new trucks and SUVs NOT out of necessity. something must be done, as said previously for those that bought older used cars that fit their budget.

fuel prices presently could cost more for fuel PER YEAR than the purchase price of a vehicle. my typical purchase is $3k price range, for example. even an economy car could apply to said example.

If you get 20 mpg and drive 20K/year then you are very close to $4,000/year fuel cost right now..

20,000/250 commuting days per year = 80 miles per day commute.

Up until a fairly recent job change my wife was doing close to that kind of mileage for commuting, it's not all that unusual around where we live.. But Atlanta is very spread out and has no real natural barriers to sprawl.

Right now the states put there taxes on a gallon of gas. When the mpg goes higher they are set to tax us on miles driven, instead of a gallon of gas or some plan blending the two. They never stop trying to come up with ways to extract more money from the public.

The link touched on a number of reasons but the single sentence about the consumer is the trump card.

Most consumers do not want a small car unless it is cheap enough that they can have a small commuter car AND something big enough to meet other missions.

Most consumers (foolishly IMO) want an automatic transmission so they can jabber on the cell phone while they drive.

Most consumers want a decent level of soundproofing so they can jabber on their cell phone. Old 60s cars have no soundproofing and it is like riding in a drum.

Safety regulations militate against lightweight cars. Volvos are safe but gas hogs. You can make lightweight, safe cars but only Bill Gates can afford them. Given the state of air pollution regs, making a carbon fiber car body in mass quantities would have to be done outside the US. The layup process emits a lot of volatile organic compounds.

Most consumers feel helpless in a vehicle that won?t do better than 12 seconds in the 0-60 unless it is a large pickup or SUV.

I wish the electric car guys all the luck in the world. I hope the lithium-ion battery is the answer. But acceptable electric cars beg the question: Where are you gonna get all that electricity? The grid is stretched tight as a banjo string right now. Without Congressional intervention, just getting the permits for a new power plant takes over a decade. If electric cars become viable the US will need hundreds of them practically overnight.

None of these objections are insuperable, but will require a definite change in the minds of consumers, manufacturers, voters, elected officials, and bureaucrats.

Part of the problem is the pundits who write these articles. If you read the article, you see they are playing to the crowd who wouldn't buy a 50 mpg car on a bet. 50 mpg cars? We had them over 20 years ago! The Chevy Sprint/Geo Metro did that in the '80s. (But of course, anybody who's on here KNEW that already!) Ditto (I think) with the Honda CRX. Go back a little further? The King Midget claimed about 50 mpg. Consumers don't want them? Well, Chevy sold more Metros/Sprints than they did Corvairs, 'course the Sprint/Metro is about 10 times the car a Corvair ever was. Having been pretty intimate with both, I should know! Unfortunately, I've only gotten intimate in a Corvair, but that's another story...