[skytrekker]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

OK - my apologies for the disagreement. Moving on Sky. So, how are you saving gas?

Drive less- and downsize your vehicles-

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by skytrekker

kidyankee

you have challenged me and Jay- lets move on ok-
your agenda is very pro California- and yet we have Californians who cannot wait to leave that state.
I might suggest you move to California- and see that the grass is not so greener.

Skytrekker -

I do not have an agenda. I understand CA is very expensive and after visiting and considering a job out there, I do not have any desire to live there.

Yes we have Californians who can't wait to leave - but we also have many Californians who would never leave. Same as CT, and any other state.

I simply stated the facts with this thread. Sorry anyone feels the need to accuse me of an agenda.

[pmeek2309]

Skytrekker it looks to me as if you are the one with the agenda. I don't frequent this board but it seems as if you are anti-ca instead of others being pro.

Thank you kid yankee for helping my husband and I prepare a little for the price of our utilities. It seems only slightly higher than the Seattle area though.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by skytrekker

Drive less- and downsize your vehicles-

My dad recently sold his Tacoma, and he practically had to give it away. Many who are downsizing are taking a serious financial hit, as noted earlier in the thread. This probably hurts our already lagging economy but what are you going to do - spend $100 on a fill-up for a few more years or get rid of that gas guzzler? That's the decision many are dealing with right now.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by pmeek2309

Skytrekker it looks to me as if you are the one with the agenda. I don't frequent this board but it seems as if you are anti-ca instead of others being pro.

Thank you kid yankee for helping my husband and I prepare a little for the price of our utilities. It seems only slightly higher than the Seattle area though.

Your welcome for the thread but lets not get it closed since it's a great place for people to discuss ways to save on fuel. It is a huge part of all of our lives.

[glxyman21]

Originally Posted by Rich Lee

I totally agree. To this day, you will hear the arguments that they won't make any money and that consumers don't want small cars.



Be careful. Some of the worst-quality cars are European.



The tipping point has already arrived. Toyota's Scion division is doing very well. Nissan and Toyota both introduced sub-compacts (Versa and Yaris) which are also doing well. The Domestic 3 are noticeably absent in this segment with the exception of the Chevrolet Aveo (a Korean re-badged product). Conversely, Buick has introduced the "Super" sub-line to La Crosse and Lucerne which offers a V-8 option?!

I know some of the worst quality cars are European, but the driving experience can be so rewarding . I really like the Audi A4, as well as the Infiniti G35 (which is Japanese). In general, all car companies have made strides in quality over the last 20 years, some more so than others. Hyundai has made big leaps in this category.

You are right about the Yaris and Versa, you can also throw in the Honda Fit. As most car companies saw declines in sales, these three vehicles post increases in sales month after month. In general, small cars have slim profit margins, where as SUV's have very high profit margins. You can see why the big three really try to push these out the door. The big three also don't have the technology and R&D to develop small cars. This can be seen by GM's rebadged Daewoo as the Chevy Aveo, and the recent agreement for Nissan to build Chrysler a sub-compact. The Chevorlets they sell in Europe are all rebadged Daewoos as well.

Jaguar launched the new XF in the U.S. with only a V8 engine. Though luxury buyers don't feel the pinch as much, the XF in almost every other country is offered with V6 and Diesel varients. Lets see how long Jaguar waits to offer the V6 model after the intial hype of the car declines (along with sales).

[uconn99]

What European cars are you considering bad quality?

I know Audi's are built like crap (my cousin owns a auto body repair shop and says they are made horrible) but they are also basically a Volkswagen!

I would much rather own a Merecedes or BMW over any American. The build quality inside and out is much higher than anything American (Cadillac is an exception).

Have you seen how GM has destroyed the newer Saabs? The inside of the new Saab's looks identical to my fathers Chevy truck!

I own a BMW 540, not good at all on gas but it is a damn good car and wouldn't trade anything for it. You need to maintain BMW's but if they are maintained well there is nothing like them.

BMW is going away from their larger V8's in favor of turbo for the first time in their history.

Asian cars are for the most part very reliable and built well, but I would much rather drive a BMW or Mercedes if within my budget.

Yes - BMWs usually have a needle gauge, while Lexus dashboards use a digital display. It's amazing how much mpg numbers can jump just by easing up a bit on the gas pedal, or coasting for a while. I'd recommend fitting a display unit if you don't have one... it's well worth the saving in gas costs.

BMW has digital MPG read outs on the dashboard and under the speedometer. My 540 has 2 different ones, I can reset as a choose fit.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by uconn99

What European cars are you considering bad quality?

I know Audi's are built like crap (my cousin owns a auto body repair shop and says they are made horrible) but they are also basically a Volkswagen!

I would much rather own a Merecedes or BMW over any American. The build quality inside and out is much higher than anything American (Cadillac is an exception).

Have you seen how GM has destroyed the newer Saabs? The inside of the new Saab's looks identical to my fathers Chevy truck!

I own a BMW 540, not good at all on gas but it is a damn good car and wouldn't trade anything for it. You need to maintain BMW's but if they are maintained well there is nothing like them.

BMW is going away from their larger V8's in favor of turbo for the first time in their history.

Asian cars are for the most part very reliable and built well, but I would much rather drive a BMW or Mercedes if within my budget.




BMW has digital MPG read outs on the dashboard and under the speedometer. My 540 has 2 different ones, I can reset as a choose fit.

BMWs are very expensive to maintain. My parents own one and if you have the money for maintenance then they are very good cars. If you don't, then they won't perform well.

Mercedes are another story. Their reliability is not up to par and they end up in the shop often. My mother had a 2003 E500 and it seemed to always be in the shop so she traded it in for the new Lexus IS. Mercedes are generally only good for folks with money.

I'm generally not a fan of American cars, but the 2008 models fared very well. The Fusion and Focus among others have some of the best reliability predictions but the Fusion lacks fuel efficiency in the AWD models. If I were going to buy American, I'd do so after much research. I would still rather stick with a Honda or Toyota simply for the resale value and fuel efficiency, but some American cars stray away from the general stereotype that they are built shoddy. The interiors though look pretty cheap.

[glxyman21]

Originally Posted by uconn99

What European cars are you considering bad quality?

I know Audi's are built like crap (my cousin owns a auto body repair shop and says they are made horrible) but they are also basically a Volkswagen!

I would much rather own a Merecedes or BMW over any American. The build quality inside and out is much higher than anything American (Cadillac is an exception).

Have you seen how GM has destroyed the newer Saabs? The inside of the new Saab's looks identical to my fathers Chevy truck!

I own a BMW 540, not good at all on gas but it is a damn good car and wouldn't trade anything for it. You need to maintain BMW's but if they are maintained well there is nothing like them.

BMW is going away from their larger V8's in favor of turbo for the first time in their history.

Asian cars are for the most part very reliable and built well, but I would much rather drive a BMW or Mercedes if within my budget.




BMW has digital MPG read outs on the dashboard and under the speedometer. My 540 has 2 different ones, I can reset as a choose fit.

Audi's are on par with Mercedes and BMW and have better ratings than Mercedes. It would be an unfair statement that Audi's are Volkswagens as Audi's are built on different platforms than Volkswagens. Porsche owns a controlling 30% stake in VW of which they work more with Audi as the two are closely tied together in the Luxury category (The Audi Q7 shares the same structure as the Porsche Cayanne). Audi has their own R&D and Design studios, which unlike Saab (now fully owned by GM) has been consolodated with other GM European operations (Opel and Vauxhall) in Germany.

[Lincolnian]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

My dad recently sold his Tacoma, and he practically had to give it away. Many who are downsizing are taking a serious financial hit, as noted earlier in the thread. This probably hurts our already lagging economy but what are you going to do - spend $100 on a fill-up for a few more years or get rid of that gas guzzler? That's the decision many are dealing with right now.

I'll take that Tacoma if you're giving it away. Really, the foreign cars are not all that better than the American cars in terms of MPG. There are more models in the US fleets, including trucks, which brings down the average mpg.

The Toyota V6 vs Chevy V6 pickup mpg is really no different.