Gas Is Cheap: What Will Happen To Economy Cars?

[bronsin]

Do you think people will start buying gas guzzlers again or have they learned their lesson (the price of gas always goes up) and will they stick with economy cars?

[CTScott]

People have very short term memories and most Americans prefer big cars, so I predict that economy car sales drop until gas prices skyrocket again.

[bronsin]

Hmmm that upward swing would seem to be limited. If oil goes above ~$70 a barrel the frackers go back to fracking.

In a way Im surprised Obama and the environmentalists aren't trying to tax gas up to $4 a gallon. After all cheap gas leads to more driving, more pollution, and faster depletion of a valuable resource.

I guess it will take a while before their lights go on...

[roxy1]

Originally Posted by bronsin

I guess it will take a while before their lights go on...

Hopefully, their light are on. Some of the money people are saving at the pump is going into extra purchases, which is good for the economy. Even though they should, many folks aren't putting that extra money in their savings.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by bronsin

In a way Im surprised Obama and the environmentalists aren't trying to tax gas up to $4 a gallon.

I doubt this is the case, but perhaps they sense their hypocrisy is getting harder to hide and they think there might be a backlash. During a speech in South Africa in 2013, Obama said "the planet will boil over" if everyone has access to air conditioning, automobiles, and big houses. If he truly believes this and cares about that belief...then why did he buy a 6,000+ square foot air conditioned house in Chicago? (..and just because he's the president, doesn't mean that he has to keep the house). Ditto for radical environmentalist billionaire Tom Steyer...he may take a train instead of a private jet, but he still has multiple homes...and a good chuck of his money was made on coal investments...something he didn't state until someone 'called him on it'. On the face of it, there is nothing wrong with spending money you've made on such purchases....It is just the political and policy beliefs they hold that make such ownership hypocritical. And no, buying carbon offsets (if they were to do that) doesn't make their stances any less hypocritical.

[fnkngrv]

I already have friends that are talking about trading in for bigger gas guzzling machines. Hell, have a lot that are already scoping out snowmobiles, UTVs, dirtbikes, and motorcycles because of the steep dip in prices.

[matti]

I'm always amazed about how shortsighted Americans can be. (Perhaps this is true in other parts of the world?) If you look at car sales, you can see very quick changes in consumer-buying behaviors once gas prices drop or go up for a short period of time.

[Ben_]

I hope it isn't just in the states that people have such a huge case of ADD. I am a strong believer in climate change induced my humans

[Ranger SVO]

Originally Posted by CTScott

People have very short term memories and most Americans prefer big cars, so I predict that economy car sales drop until gas prices skyrocket again.

Originally Posted by matti

I'm always amazed about how shortsighted Americans can be. (Perhaps this is true in other parts of the world?) If you look at car sales, you can see very quick changes in consumer-buying behaviors once gas prices drop or go up for a short period of time.

I think you are right. People are very short sighted and typically not smart enough to realize that the prices will go up again.

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by Ben_

I hope it isn't just in the states that people have such a huge case of ADD. I am a strong believer in climate change induced my humans

Hmm do you also "believe" in Santa Claus, The Tooth Fairy, and The Easter Bunny?

Heres what I think. The earth is getting warmer but no one can say why. Theres nothing linking it to human activity. (it may be so...)

If GW IS in fact caused by humans nothing is going to stop it. The third world including China and India have absolutely no intention of reducing green house gasses. Europe and the US could go to 0 emissions tomorrow (unlikely) and GW would still be driven by the third world.

What we need to do is plan for when the oceans rise however many feet they are going to rise, however many category 100 hurricanes there are going to be a year, and the dessertification of most of the world.

Unfortunately no one can say what those numbers will be either. And NOTHING will be done about it in any case...

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by bronsin

Hmm do you also "believe" in Santa Claus, The Tooth Fairy, and The Easter Bunny?

Heres what I think. The earth is getting warmer but no one can say why. Theres nothing linking it to human activity. (it may be so...)

If GW IS in fact caused by humans nothing is going to stop it. The third world including China and India have absolutely no intention of reducing green house gasses. Europe and the US could go to 0 emissions tomorrow (unlikely) and GW would still be driven by the third world.

What we need to do is plan for when the oceans rise however many feet they are going to rise, however many category 100 hurricanes there are going to be a year, and the dessertification of most of the world.

Unfortunately no one can say what those numbers will be either. And NOTHING will be done about it in any case...

I don't agree with your paragraph #4. However, I AM IN 100% AGREEMENT WITH YOU re Paragraphs #1, #2, #3, and #5.

[bronsin]

[QUOTE=nookandcrannycar;754764]

I don't agree with your paragraph #4. QUOTE]

If the earth keeps getting warmer OR GW by man is real something like those things will happen. Boston, NY, Philly (and all South Jersey), Baltimore, Washington, Norfolk, and a whole lot of places between there and Jacksonville FL are going to become uninhabitable long before they join Atlantis at the bottom of the ocean.

I don't know if GW is real or not. It doesn't have to be either. The earth might be warming all by itself and the same bad things happen.

Ive read in Siberia the indoor temperature of the average house in winter is 20 degrees F and the people wear all their clothes to bed at might. Global Warming....? Siberians want to know what can they do to make it happen!

What we CAN do is decide ahead of time what to do IF the oceans rise.

But no, I don't think we're capable of that either.

Most likely we'll start things off by blaming each other for what happens and killing billions of us until the population is 1/5 of what it is today.

You rock, humanity!

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

I don't agree with your paragraph #4.

Originally Posted by bronsin

What we CAN do is decide ahead of time what to do IF the oceans rise.

Same subject as paragraph #4, but this I agree with .

But no, I don't think we're capable of that either.

Sadly, I agree.

[Flammable]

Where I live the majority drive huge pickup trucks and SUVs. Even when gas was over 4 bucks a gallon a few years ago they drove these. Not only do they drive these things but they drive them like they stole them. Some even drive big diesel pickups with the mods that allow them to "roll coal" on us Yaris and Prius drivers as well as others they feel needs this treatment. Diesel is around 4 bucks a gallon right now. The funny thing is most of these drivers don't look like they have two nickels to rub together yet they drive these expensive vehicles and can "afford" the gas and maintenance.

[Jcp123]

Were already seeing upticks in sales of larger vehicles. If fuel prices remain this low we might see the plug pulled on slow selling small cars but only when their planned cycle in the US is up. Mazda2 might be the first casualty: it's one of the older current designs on the market and supposedly sold only 11 units across the US for the entire month of February.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by Flammable

Not only do they drive these things but they drive them like they stole them.

I've spent a fair amount of time in Florida, all over the state, and I absolutely agree with this. Florida is also the only state, IMO, that is worse than Texas when it comes to tailgating (on the road tailgating, not football tailgating ).

[Flammable]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

I've spent a fair amount of time in Florida, all over the state, and I absolutely agree with this. Florida is also the only state, IMO, that is worse than Texas when it comes to tailgating (on the road tailgating, not football tailgating ).

Oh man you are so right. Everyone tailgates around here, well I would say at least 80-90% anyway. And the funny thing is it matters not how slow or fast you go, you still have some scum bum on your butt and I mean ON IT so close you don't see their grill. Another thing these numb nutz love to do is pass you like you are hitched only to cut in front of you and slam on the brakes to make a turn, usually left. Florida has the worse drivers anywhere I think. To make matters worse the cops will only pull people if they have a speed trap set up or a check point. Otherwise they don't bother. It didn't used to be that way say 40 years ago, but sadly it is now.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by Flammable

And the funny thing is it matters not how slow or fast you go, you still have some scum bum on your butt

IMO, this is one of the reasons Florida is worse than Texas. From what I've seen in Texas, usually if a driver goes at least 10MPH over the limit in one of the two right lanes on the freeway, they won't get tailgated, rather than the truth (as I've witnessed it) as you describe in Florida

Another thing these numb nutz love to do is pass you like you are hitched only to cut in front of you and slam on the brakes to make a turn, usually left.

. Same thing in Texas, except in my experience, the turn is usually right rather than left . Often people will do this when their right turn is a block or less than a block away . It is as if the only reason they do it is to show you that they think you weren't going fast enough . What a waste of gas and brake pad or shoe surface! Somewhere among my YW posts I describe two different situations where I avoided any accident at all...in either case an accident would likely have been fatal. One was on I-75 South (South of Bradenton, but before Naples), and the other was on Highway 17 that sort of parallels I-75 and goes between 'just south of I-4' and Fort Myers.

To make matters worse the cops will only pull people if they have a speed trap set up or a check point. Otherwise they don't bother. It didn't used to be that way say 40 years ago, but sadly it is now.

I imagine this must be the case, or else there wouldn't be so many drivers who feel free to do what they do.