Why did the small car die back in the early '90s?

[deebrown]

Interesting article on the MSN site talking about how fuel economy actually has gotten worse in the last 15 years as the cars have gotten bigger:

http://autos.msn.com/advice/article....tentid=4024682

The question I ask is - why did these cars get bigger in the first place?

My own hypothesis would be that the smallest of cars HAD to get bigger otherwise they were quite literally death traps on the highway if hit by a monster SUV (another reason how the SUV helped ruin the American car industry/environment)

Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

[ChinoCharles]

Many older SUV's are no safer than the Yaris. They're too roll-happy.

You see SUV's on the roads en masse for the same reason Bush is in office. 52% of America is literally mentally insane.

I can understand having one in the garage for the family trip, but past that they're dumb. I can fit the groceries in the Yaris just fine... and a friend.

[BailOut]

It basically comes down to one thing: gullibility/sheepability.

In America the auto manufacturers spent billions marketing to us that a bigger car meant better performance, more safety on the roads and in accidents, were more cool and desirable, etc. and we bought not only that ideology but the vehicles it represents.

In "Who Killed the Electric Car?" there's a lady that says something along the lines of, "If you feed people that for long enough they'll begin to think it's the diet.". That sure does work easily in America.

On the other side of the pond Europeans were telling the auto manufacturers that they needed smaller, more efficient cars due to the cost of fuel, and that's what they got.

During the 90's and early 2000's we fought not one but two wars in the middle east to ensure the flow of oil through exactly the channels we want in order to keep it cheap and available. Think about that... 2 wars in less than 2 decades over the same resource in the same place for the same reasons... so that metanational corporations could get rich and by proxy make their pocket politicians rich, and so that people would keep driving Hummers and Excursions, which feeds right back in to the need to keep the oil flowing.

It's the biggest racket the world has ever seen and each time we visit the pumps we pay and play right into it.

Vote the big car/small car issue with your wallet. It's the only thing metanational corporations listen to.

[Astroman]

I guess we all know how I voted

[Black Yaris]

I owned a 00 Blazer b4 I bought my Yaris

[foober]

Originally Posted by BailOut

It basically comes down to one thing: gullibility/sheepability.

In America the auto manufacturers spent billions marketing to us that a bigger car meant better performance, more safety on the roads and in accidents, were more cool and desirable, etc. and we bought not only that ideology but the vehicles it represents.

In "Who Killed the Electric Car?" there's a lady that says something along the lines of, "If you feed people that for long enough they'll begin to think it's the diet.". That sure does work easily in America.

On the other side of the pond Europeans were telling the auto manufacturers that they needed smaller, more efficient cars due to the cost of fuel, and that's what they got.

During the 90's and early 2000's we fought not one but two wars in the middle east to ensure the flow of oil through exactly the channels we want in order to keep it cheap and available. Think about that... 2 wars in less than 2 decades over the same resource in the same place for the same reasons... so that metanational corporations could get rich and by proxy make their pocket politicians rich, and so that people would keep driving Hummers and Excursions, which feeds right back in to the need to keep the oil flowing.

It's the biggest racket the world has ever seen and each time we visit the pumps we pay and play right into it.

Vote the big car/small car issue with your wallet. It's the only thing metanational corporations listen to.

Well said. If americans had a brain they'd realize they're being taken to the cleaners. I'm sure politicians and corporations are glad they most americans do whatever they're told.

[Black Yaris]

small cars sucked in the early 90's.... some of the most problimatic cars/trucks stem back to the late 80's early 90's, and they problems still persist today... I will not get into specifics, cause I will just cause a HUGH fight.... so I will leave it at that :)

[churp]

There were good Japanese cars in the 60's....Triumphs and MG's were good if you liked to maintain them (my brothers 67 Spitfire got 37mpg on a 500 mile trip I made,while totally overloaded with junk)...early 60's falcons and corvairs weren't 'too' bad but otherwise the US never made a good economy car (50's Studes and Ramblers were ahead of their time).

.....and several guys at work just about shit their pants when they find a 10 year old 4x4 pickup under 10 grand!?!?!?!? The majority of Americans (the US ones) are brain dead enough to think their Chrysler 'K' car was an economy car

Seems to me the emission problems were too much for the US automakers.

[Black Yaris]

True that churp

[Typer73]

Also, a whole generation out there that never had gas rationing or having to sit in line for 5 hours to get 5 gallons of high-test because they ran out of regular.

[MudBug]

Originally Posted by Black Yaris

I owned a 00 Blazer b4 I bought my Yaris

I still own my 00 Z71 4x4.

I just crossed 100k and finished paying it off and was just about to trade it in on a brand new one since I actually often need a big truck (Construction, Camping, Hunting, Quad, and just carrying a bunch of stuff), but at the last minute decided that one of these little things as a second car made more sense.

my Truck probably has another 80 - 100k, but if I traded it in on a new one I would have probably had to pay another $24k and I would have had just one vehicle. This way I'll still have a truck when I need one, but I also have a second vehicle that gets great gas mileage, and still can carry a lot of stuff.

If it came down to having just one vehicle, it would be a full sized, extra-cab, Chevy 4x4 with a big 8 cylinder engine, cuz I need one. In fact I believe everybody should own a truck, I'm tired of moving everyone else's shit.

As for why small cars died in the 90's, have you ever heard of the Yugo?

[vodkalush]

lets start a 98-01 blazer club!!!!!

but really, you can thank the soccer mom for the death of the small car...
which in-turn mean you can blame any church (as they don't support abortion, birth control.. which contributes to the growth in the average American family.....don't quote me, but it sounds good )

[churp]

I understand the truck thing....have an 87 ford 4x4 cause I need it sometimes. The 10mpg just about killed me when my pre Yaris (Probe) died! My previous comment on trucks was aimed at one of the guys at work that has 3 full size trucks and no cars, and I have yet to see him haul anything.

[MudBug]

Originally Posted by BailOut

It basically comes down to one thing: gullibility/sheepability.

Sure


Post a picture of your small car with a quad in the back, pulling a boat 500 miles across the state to lake havasu or a trailer filled with camping gear 40 miles off the main roads into the middle of the desert, or filled with enough tile to do your kitchen and bathroom, or enough plywood, 2x4's, and roofing materials to build a shed.


Small cars good for people that live in huge cites, as a second car for commuting, or for kids. Anyone else is either stuck with it (Economy), batshit crazy (Eco freaks), or just plain crazy about small car tuning for performance. (probably the majority of the people here)

[vodkalush]

Originally Posted by MudBug

Sure


Post a picture of your small car with a quad in the back, pulling a boat 500 miles across the state to lake havasu or a trailer filled with camping gear 40 miles off the main roads into the middle of the desert, or filled with enough tile to do your kitchen and bathroom, or enough plywood, 2x4's, and roofing materials to build a shed.


Small cars good for people that live in huge cites, as a second car for commuting, or for kids. Anyone else is either stuck with it (Economy), batshit crazy (Eco freaks), or just plain crazy about small car tuning for performance. (probably the majority of the people here)

gahhhh hahaha

[BailOut]

MudBug,

You're not the only one whose second car is a truck. My '96 Tacoma Extended Cab 4x4 hauls a boat over Mt. Rose to Lake Tahoe or over the rolling hills to Pyramid, and has done so chock full of party/picnic/camping gear and with 4 passengers. It also carries dirt, rock, tile, recyclable metals, etc. like a champ.

However, it is used for just those things and those things don't happen very often and/or are seasonal. We can go so long between uses on it that I'll hook up a solar battery charger and check its tires. Despite being almost 12 years old it's not even close to 100k miles yet.

99.9% of our driving has always been done on our smaller car, which as of February is a Yaris.

Back to the issue at hand...

What I think you fail to realize is that better than 95% of all trucks and SUVs on the road today don't have 4WD, don't have trailer hitches or anything to tow with one, have never had dirt or sand under their wheels, have never been loaded with anything heavier than a morbidly obese human or been used as a truck in any other way, shape or form.

The world's largest fleet of over-sized vehicles rolls out of garages, driveways, car ports and lots every morning to perform their lowly roles of single-occupant commuters, errand runners, grocery getters and extracurricular conveyance platforms, getting 15 MPG on a good day and spewing large amounts of noxious emissions the whole time.

I've seen a pair of 10 year olds climb out of the back seat of an Excursion and dangle like circus performers because their feet can't reach the ground. I guess their parents just didn't think the car payment for a station wagon or minivan was big enough.

I've seen a Hummer 2 at the Post Office whose sole occupant was there to pick up 1 bin of mail that was about the size of two loaves of bread side by side. I guess his short stature and graying hair had more to do with his vehicle purchase than his transport requirements.

One of my coworkers commutes alone from Carson City to Lake Tahoe in a Chevy Z71 4x4 Extended Cab 5 days per week. The bed doesn't have a single scratch in it. When asked why he feels he needs such a truck he just shrugs.

I think you see my point.

[Nutzoids]

Owning a Work Truck or an SUV that you actually USE to go off-road is not where the problem lies… The problem lies in the Driveways of your Average American House Wife that own a Big Fucking SUV to haul her 2 kids to school/Soccer Practice…

And of course… The people who own Off-Roading Vehicles who are too afraid to even get them Dirty!

I can’t tell you the amount of pride I feel when I pull up next to a Jeep Covered in MUD!

Or a pickup truck full of Rocks or Manure… I take my hats off to those people…

And the amount of Shame I feel When I pull up next to a Hummer with 22” Dubs and all Chromed out! I can’t even describe in words! What the fuck man?

To the House Wives and the Grocery Getters… I hope that one day you flip that Gargantuan Piece of Shit you call a car!

[MudBug]

Originally Posted by BailOut

I think you see my point.

I do understand what you are saying, and agree to a point, but I think you might just be seeing the stupid and missing the necessary.

If you can only own one car, it needs to do everything for you. You saw the little kids dangling from the truck, but maybe you missed the cargo area filled with real estate signs, or the weds night when it's filled with cheerleaders going for pizza with coach after practice, or the saturdays when it's filled with camping gear for a boyscout day camp.

Like I said, if I wasn't lucky enough to be able to afford a second vehicle right now my only vehicle would be a full sized truck which would spend 70% of it's time as a commuter back and forth to school and work, but when I need a truck I need one and I aint renting or bugging one of my friends to help me.

This Yaris is the first car I've owned in 23 years, my last car was a little FIAT sedan.