Well, income levels knows no color. As I wrote that, I was thinking of
folks who work, but whose income has been eroded by inflation and
stagnant wages, small farmers, often farmers with medium and large
farms, people with manufacturing jobs, warehousing jobs, housing
maintenance and the like. People with small businesses whose income is
eroded by gummit taxes and regulations. Main street USA, outside of the
big cities and the bankers, lawyers, medicos, Ins agents, gummit
employees, (school employees) etc who have higher income levels. The
ppl I am talking about earn 20-50k a year and have no money for car
payments. Around here, most of those folks are pale, but they come in
all shapes and colors.
Specifically, I know of a boiler operating engineer who has a small farm
on a gravel road. They never had anything but a big old boat. Great
people, volunteer for a lot of community events, but not on a high
income level. He probably makes 40-50k a year, the goobermnt takes half
or more in taxes, so they are left with a couple thou a month to live on
and the home/land with its payment, tax and ins cost take most of
that. Most of the small farmers I know work in town and drive a big
old boat to work as long as they could find one. Now it is more often
a frod or shovey car as those are pretty cheap when they are old.
For most people in this country that don't buy new cars, the price of
the car is a bigger matter than the MPG..
For those of us who drive/drove higher than average miles per year, MPG
is a big factor. When you can go from 17 to 45-50, with lotsa miles,
MPG is a big factor.
Floyd Thursby via Mercedes <mailto:mercedes@okiebenz.com>
September 8, 2016 at 5:15 PM
I have an old black friend who was an agitator back in the 60s and
still is somewhat. In one discussion he was going on about why black
people drive old CVs and Cadillacs and such -- because they're
cheepcheep -- but then have to pay a lot for gas (not so much these
days, but relatively) since they generally get lower gas mileage than
newer cars. So he viewed this as another way that black people cannot
take part in societal progress, and are penalized for being poor and
driving cheepcheep old cars.
I tend not to argue with him about things, but just kinda take in his
views on issues, some of which are quite perspicacious given his
history. He is a Korean War veteran, got shot over there at
Christmas, which always affects his enjoyment of the holiday. He came
back home after getting shot and recovering, was trying to get home
from Columbia SC, wearing his uniform, and a bunch of dumbass crackers
told him he couldn't ride the bus. At that time he could not talk
back to them or they probably would have finished what he almost got
in Korea. He waited a couple hours for a later bus and managed to get
on that after the crackers left on the other one. This sort of thing,
among others, informs his views.
--FT
Curley McLain <mailto:126die...@gmail.com>
September 8, 2016 at 3:09 PM
That is exactly why po' folks who seldom leave the county or say a 30
mile radius, drove the big ol boats of the 70s and 80s for decades.
the cheapness of buying the car offset the loss in fuel consumption.
When we were driving over 60 miles a day, 6-7 days a week, the wabbit
dissel, and later the Quantum, and Escort Dissels made sense. I could
justify the cost of a new escort on fuel savings alone over the 17 MPG
Plymie Valiant.
A $500 boat nobody wants vs a $5000 car buys a lot of fuel on a modest
number of miles/year. The trick is to find a boat in good shape for
$500.
Merkun ppl have figgered this out, as most new vehicles sold are
pickups and SUVs that are NOT miserly. Back in 1975, you could not
give away a peecup or a suburban, or even the big
bronco/rumchugger/whatever the GM versions were called. Caddys were
cheap, as were linkuns and the big crypslers.
Donald Snook via Mercedes <mailto:mercedes@okiebenz.com>
September 8, 2016 at 12:39 PM
I have liked the Jeep Grand Wagoneer ever since I was kid. Maybe it
was because we could never afford one or it could just be because I
like the looks of them. I was thinking about trying to find one to
buy. The prices on them are outrageous - but that is another subject.
One thing I was considering was how bad the gas mileage is for them.
They get about 11-12 mpg. With cars routinely getting 20-35 mpg (or
more) anything that gets 11 or 12 sounds truly awful. Of course, when
gas was $1.25 a gallon people didn't care that much. And gas is still
relatively cheap when compared to the price increases in other things
(food, housing, medical costs, etc). I started thinking about whether
we (as Americans) are really concerned about gas mileage. I have seen
lots of anecdotal evidence (and a few actual studies) that show
selling a car or trading in a car to get a newer car only to increase
gas mileage doesn't really make economic sense when you consider all
the factors. Of course, if your primary concern is fuel mileage than
it does make sense.
I did the math and my current car (2001 BMW 740iL) costs me
approximately $1900 a year in gas (premium unleaded). If I bought a
Grand Wagoneer, which would be widely regarded as a gas hog, the cost
for the same 15,000 miles of driving would be approximately $2500. So,
for about $50 extra a month I can drive a gas guzzler Grand Wagoneer.
Therefore, the question is does it really bother me to buy one extra
tank of gas per month? Probably not. This surprised me because when I
first considered a Wagoneer my immediate reaction was the gas mileage
would really hurt and I thought it would be a real burden. But, its
really one extra tank a month - who cares. And my own attitude has me
a little concerned. Shouldn't I care more?
I suppose if I was driving a car that averaged 30 mpg, then I would be
spending about $1000 a year and multiplying my fuel cost by 2.5 times
probably would be noticeable and painful.
I don't know if this is just food for thought or my own rambling
thoughts that may or may not be relevant.
Don Snook
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