SUV trade-in values, sales are tanking

[Roland99]

As gas costs rise, buyers shun behemoths, used vehicles head to auction
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/042705dnbustrucks.4e43c448.html

While used-car prices in general are stronger than they have been in five years, the average trade-in values of full-size SUVs are $700 to $1,500 lower than a year ago – and it's the weakest segment in the industry.

High fuel prices and a well-earned reputation as gas guzzlers have cut deeply into big SUVs' stature. The segment has also been hurt by the age of many full-size SUV models and the fact that consumers today have more choices of SUV-like vehicles than ever.

Sales of new full-size SUVs nationally, for example, fell 15.1 percent in the first quarter of this year. Some of the segment's former giants suffered huge drops, with sales of the Chevrolet Suburban falling 29.2 percent, the Chevy Tahoe down 22.5 percent and the Ford Expedition plummeting 26.8 percent.

<...>

Today, when the dealership gets one as a trade-in, it often sends it to a wholesale auction – the destination for cars and trucks a dealer doesn't want.

I'm just :cry: for the SUV owners. No, really. I am.

[slor]

1. What can I say...LOL!

I remember a few months ago, buying some smokes after filling up our WRX and paying $26 and feeling angry. I was behind a guy with an H2 and he was spending over $100, and I said "ouch, that has got to hurt". He said he was putting it up for sale that day.

[XemaSab]

18. The dude across the street from me

said he was at a gas station and there was a dude filling up a luxury RV and he said he spent 600 bucks at the gas station every 2 days!!!!!!!

[Straight Shooter]

25. Whoa, I forgot about the retirees and their RV dreams of cross-country.

I guess they won't be able to see the "Homeland" as much as they wanted to, after all.

Nothing like a bunch of ticked off Grandmas and Grandpas who can't afford to do the traveling they thought they were going to do. And think of what it's going to do to tourist destinations. Nothing but fatcats getting out and getting about, the rest of us can look at travel brochures and hope for better days.

[tabasco]

33. They just need to scale back a bit.

I know a couple who tow a small Casita travel-trailer with their Prius. They are extremely happy with both of those products. I bet the little Casita trailers really start selling. I'd like to get one too.

[Greyskye]

43. Don't try this at home

The Prius is not designed to tow anything! The smallest Casita trailer has a dry weight of 1465 lbs. Add to this a couple of adults in the Prius, and both vehicles full of camping supplies, and you're asking for Trouble (yes, Trouble with a capital T). Lousy mileage at the best, and premature Prius problems (say that 3 times fast!) at the worst.

And I say this as a rabid Prius fanatic/owner. IMHO.

[tabasco]

46. The people towed it from PA to Wyoming and back.

Had a great time. YMMV.

First model year Prius and it still works.

[SlowDownFast]

44. good point! -nt-

[okieinpain]

51. well now they will get to spend more time reading their bibles and

getting closer to jesus.

[RPM]

70. they can take amtrak

if ** doesnt kill that too....

[CoffeeCat]

71. Loved this post..

It's so true that the travel/tourism industry will be affected, as well as those with RVs.

I guess this explains why Bush is scrambling to talk about his "energy policy". His attempts at feigning interest in alternative energies, is a big yawner.

Someone needs to get out the old tapes of Cheney/Bush saying that conservation would not be part of their energy policy. Remember those ludicious lines? I distinctly remember them saying that educating consumers on energy conservation and encouraging people to drive fuel-efficient cars was pretty mucn not on the agenda.

That absurd policy is fine when gas prices are in check, but now those words seem highly irresponsibly and moronic.

We gotta find video of those statements!

Anyway....loved your post. :)

[calimary]

89. Yep - gotta have an energy policy that "encourages consumption."

That's what they were about.

I just, for the life of me, do NOT understand why ANYONE can think bush suddenly got religion about longterm solutions to our energy problems. What he talks up as a good idea is usually couched in red tape, strings attached, and nice-sounding language that misleads and distorts the truth about whatever idea it is. "Privatizing Social Security" for one thing. "The Clear Skies Initiative" for another. "Operation Iraqi Freedom" for another. Besides he's an oil man, from a family of oil men. Why on EARTH would he be eager to see people able to exercise options other than oil-related consumption? What does he want to do, cut into his own profits?

Yeah, suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrre.

[nedbal]

83. that's impossible

>>filling up a luxury RV and he said he spent 600 bucks at the gas station every 2 days!!!!!!!<<<

the math doesn't work , think about it even at $3 or $4 / gal

[Roland99]

86. 5-6mph (10mpg if it's diesel) and several hundred miles per day

It adds up quickly.

Be cheaper to fly and stay in a hotel!

[XemaSab]

92. It's 3/gal here

and if he's getting a mile per gallon, then he'd only have to go 300 miles a day to spend that much.

[Arugula Latte]

84. Typical lack of foresight.

These people never look down the road to consequences. It's true of SUVs and it's true of their support for the Iraq invasion.

[hatrack]

2. Crying here. Really. I'm just crying and crying!!

:evilgrin:

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

4. I could see 12 car legnths ahead this morning..I knew something was wrong

[hatrack]

8. ROFLMAO!

It's a strange world - increased visibility = economic slump? You be the judge! :hi:

[tridim]

11. I love that!

Anyone who tells you you have no right to complain about SUV's doesn't drive a normal car. SUV's (even SUV's with safe drivers) are dangerous to every driver on the road.

I hate the left turn lane when a big honkin SUV is right in front of me, blocking my view. It's so dangerous.

[MountainLaurel]

15. Me too

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[tridim]

3. A friend just told me yesterday that he wants a new Land Cruiser

I responed, "Are you insane?" He then said if gas gets too expensive he can just sell it. I stood by my original comment. Buying a new mega-SUV right now is just about the stupidest thing anyone could do.. Next to voting Republican that is.

[Javaman]

73. Someone I work with just bought a H2...

Costs a small fortune to fill it up. She told me that they will sell it if it gets to much. I just laughed at her.
She couldn't understand my amusement. I told her, just wait for it, you'll know soon enough.

[Robert Oak]

5. oh don't cry for them

After all, small businesses got a 100k tax write off for buying a Hummer company car and of course they destroyed the EV's and are cancelled
the hybird tax credits.

[Kber]

6. Every time someone posts a SUV related thread

someone inevitably says something like "Hey, I live in Montana, am the Soccer coach so I have to haul lots of equipment, and have 4 kids, all of whom participate in skiing, hockey, football and boyscouts. Plus when we go camping, we always take all three dogs with us, so I NEED an SUV!!"

And you know what? They do.

The rest of us "Soccer Moms" can usually do just fine with, say, a station wagon or similarly less sexy but more fuel efficient car.

Just saying.

[leesa]

9. So they shouldn't whine. I grew up in a family of 12 and somehow

we managed without an SUV. Rationalization is a beautiful thing!

[Jimbo S]

13. Rationalization is the second strongest human drive. eom

[DS1]

19. No kidding, we managed fine without them beforehand

I sometimes call them Family Assault Vehicles, but that often doesn't apply because around here it's typically a college student driving around in her HS graduation gift, alone.

[Roland99]

23. SAVs

Suburban
Assault
Vehicles

[AndyTiedye]

30. In All Fairness, Those Old Station Wagons Were HUGE

and some of them probably burned more gas than a Hummer.

And seatbelts? What were seatbelts? Just pack the kids in anywhere
they'll fit, they love to play on the floor behind the back seat anyway
(we really did, though it would have been a bad place to be if there
was an accident).

You do that today and you'll get arrested.

I would not want to be the one to call for all of those safety regs
to be repealed. They were passed for the best of reasons -- a lot of
people, especially children, were getting maimed or killed in car
accidents.

What would you need to transport a family of 12, legally, today?

[trogdor]

38. A passenger van.

Our fundy whacko neighbors have one.

[Mr Rabble]

56. my neighbor has one too...

parked in from of my house.

My wife is ready to set fire to the thing.

[Massacure]

72. Aren't there city ordinances about that?

[RPM]

76. for which

burning someone elses car or parking in front of anothers' house?

[Massacure]

97. Parking on the street.

[RPM]

102. probably less of those than for burning... n/t

[happyslug]

48. My parents had Ten children

And the main vehicle was a 1970 Datsun pickup. We loved that thing, Five in front, seven in the rear. My Father had a top installed to protect us but we kids loved sitting in the back, we could be as loud as we wanted to be for there was TWO panes of glass between us and the Driver. Now the front was a squeeze, two adults, one teenager in between with two preschoolers on the laps of non-drivers (All this in a Vehicle with a floor mounted five speed Standard Transmission). As a middle kid I NEVER rode up front (except when no one else was in the Truck). Great fuel mileage, but to small as my siblings moved from pre-teens to teenagers (and my older siblings moved away).

My father purchased his first Suburban in 1977, he loved it. We could all fit in it (With several in the portion BEHIND the second seats (It did not have a third seat). Now I should say that my father was taking public transportation to work and back at that time, so the Suburban was NOT a commuter. It fitted my father's family's need at that time. He ended up replacing it with a used 1982 Bronco II in 1985 as his kids moved away and he did not need that big a vehicle (and I had purchased a 1982 Pickup for heavy hauling and moved back in with him while I went to Law School). The Bronco II was a very good vehicle, good four cylinder standard transmission. My Father replaced it by a 1990 Suburban (As I had traded in my Truck for Renault Alliance four banger) which my sister discovered on sale.

I still have that Suburban, again my family used Public Transit for transportation (Except my one brother who drives a Dodge Neon and I who rides a bicycle). The Suburban was only used on long trips with four or more people (My Family had a habit of using it in shares, i.e. when we needed it we used, other wise better fuel efficient vehicles are used). Even today I still have that Suburban, sitting while I bike to and from work. When I go on long Trips I use my Four Cylinder vehicle. As to the Suburban I use it when I need to haul heavy items that I can not haul in anything smaller OR when I am going on trips with four or more people.

The reason I went through the above is show you that the problem is NOT SUVs in themselves, but who and how SUVs are used. Seven people going in a Suburban is more fuel efficient than three cars doing the same trip. On the other hand to use a Suburban on your daily commute to work makes no sense. Lets keep our eye focused on the right problem, people using Suburbans as Status symbols for commuting purposes as opposed to those people who use them as their are intended, heavy hauling vehicles.

[SammyWinstonJack]

95. Oh don't take all the fun out of the SUV bashing crowd with talk

about gas guzzlers of past generations . Party pooper! :evilgrin: Funny thing, my husband works at a dealership and buy cars at the auction and he says just the opposite of this. And I see no decrease of SUVs or huge chevy/ford trucks in my neck of the woods. I was at the car wash last week and I thought it was SUV day. :woohoo:

[Zhade]

59. Yep. The rationalization rings hollow.

Deep down, they probably know that driving an SUV is a selfish choice.

Ah well, here's hoping their next purchase is a bit more economically and environmentally sound.

[gristy]

69. I grew up in a family of 7 and when we went on vacation

we loaded up the back of the station wagon and the roof rack, and off we went. Three on the bench seat in front, three in the back seat, and me way in the back by the tailgate. One time we were stylin' when we borrowed a tent trailer. We were movin' on up...

Oh, and I walked 5 miles to school too (each way!). :)

[Arugula Latte]

98. It WAS a lot easier before car seats

and seat belts for that matter. Until something happened ...

My husband's family crammed a family of 9 into a station wagon, PLUS luggage for everyone (on the roof, I think).

[Lorien]

10. Any of us who were kids in the '70s

know that the "I need an SUV " argument is pure bullshit. Station wagons and vans did just fine for us (hell, my dad took us camping in his Supra)!

[Javaman]

74. 6 in a station wagon every summer on a 11 hour trip to Canada...

Now that is some family time.

Edit: each way!

[One_of_8]

94. Agreed!

There were 8 kids in my family growing up. We had a Dodge van, or our "bus" as we called it. On the rare times we would take a road trip, like down to Los Angeles for Christmas, we'd leave in the middle of the night to avoid most of the traffic and my dad would put a plank of plywood on top of the bench seats. The three younger kids would sleep on that, two on the floor boards between the seats, two on the bench seats, and the baby would ride in a bassinet on the engine that sat between the two front seats.

By today's standards, grossly unsafe. But I loved sleeping on that top plank, looking out the back window at the cars on the freeway, hearing my mom and dad talk quietly up front while their "old fogey" music was playing on the radio.

We also had a station wagon for around town use. I'm sure neither vehicle got great gas mileage, but I also doubt they were the guzzlers that these Hummers and huge SUVs are.

[Jimbo S]

12. As much as I hate SUV's as the next person on this board

they were initially designed for a purpose. I wouldn't want to attempt driving my Saturn on some of the side roads in WY or MT. I don't have a problem using them for that purpose.

It's when people own them for vanity reasons that gets me riled up.

[DS1]

21. Actually, they're quite useless off-road

There's no way a suburban can do a better job than any Subaru.

They're way too heavy for mudding, their ground clearance is just as bad as any other car, and they're far too top heavy for any kind of steep angle.

[XemaSab]

22. There's always an example

that supposedly "justifies" the SUV, but I'd be truly surprised if 1/20th of SUV owners NEED their SUV.

Most people I see with SUV's are yuppie trophy wives going to the grocery store.

[tabasco]

35. Hell yeah. Most of the ones I see are glossy and clean.

Never been off the pavement.

[Terran]

42. More like 1 in 100

How often do you see an SUV with more than two people riding in it? Around here it's the car you take to work; I swear, half the people in this little town have one. I'll be soooo glad to see their demise. Try making a right turn out of a parking lot when some damn behemoth is blocking your view of traffic to the left (oh wait, we've all been there, I'm sure!).

[XemaSab]

47. My car got hit by one last week

I pulled into a parking lot and opened the driver's door, and some asshole pulled into the next space and almost took off my door.

He was pulling in and he couldn't even see that my door was open. Glad I wasn't between him and the door.

[KansDem]

49. "How often do you see an SUV with...two people..."

I see two people at least all the time. One person driving and the second person at the other end of the phone call...

edited for clarity...

[LetsGoMurphys]

64. nothing wrong with

trophy wives haha

[physioex]

99. LMAO.....

Yuppie trophy wife.....Hilarious.

[jpak]

27. And in that Impoverished Age before the advent of the SUV

Kids could never play soccer, or join the ski/hockey/football team, or have their equipment transported from home to school etc.

It was indeed a dark and brutish period in human history ...

[shanti]

31. single "basketball mom" here

and i DO need my minivan for hauling my tall son and his tall friends and doing remodeling. it's a 4 cylinder too!

[warrens]

52. A small minority actually need the pieces of crap

My daughter used to go to a fancy private school here, and in the afternoon there would be a LONG line of trophy-wife-driven Land Rovers and Lexus SUVs waiting to pick up little Courtney or Marshall. Strictly status symbols.

Even though they pay for it, that's OUR gasoline they're wasting. And their wasting has driven the price up, to the point where the airlines are suffering, the truck industry is suffering, and even public transportation is suffering.

I found an article today about dead cows being dumped on public roads at night in New Mexico and Texas, and was really puzzled, since dead cows can be rendered into pet food or tallow or whatever, so they have some value. Turns out that the guys who used to pick them up for free and sell them to a rendering plant had to start charging $25 a pop because the cost of gasoline has tripled.

There's a huge ripple effect and while it may not be ALL the SUV's fault, it sure hasn't helped.

[AlCzervik]

7. At the auto mall in my city they have 100's of them on their lots

most with signs---"5,000 off!" and those are the new ones.

[fertilizeonarbusto]

14. aw

:rofl:

[Inland]

16. And now, any teen can buy 4000 lbs of used SUV and run your ass over.

Great news.

[meganmonkey]

17. Oh god - the joy was there for a second...

but you are absolutely right!

:hide:

[ribrepin]

34. Too true

But I had to laugh anyway. You pointed out what should have been obvious. I remember in the 70's that the only ones driving big old V-8's were teenagers.

[onehandle]

20. Ha ha ha!

My Honda gets 34 mpg in the city, baby! 40+ on the highway.

And it's Paid For. Ha ha ha!

[AndyTiedye]

53. 38-40 With Lots of Mountain Driving in my Civic Del Sol

WHY Did Honda stop making the Civic Del Sol?
Where else can you find that much fun in such a fuel-sipping package?

Pop out the roof and put it in the trunk. It's a convertable without
the security or maintenance headaches of a softtop.

Honda should bring back the Del Sol as a hybrid!
It would probably get 70 mpg with state-of-the-art hybrid tech.

I wonder what it would take to do a hybrid retrofit.

[onehandle]

54. Mine's a CRX.

Your's is the replacement for mine. The same car under the body.

(a Civic, but a few hundred pounds less...Shh!)

[stevedeshazer]

24. HAAAAAA haaaaaa

[Coventina]

50. Darn! I KNEW someone would beat me to it!

:D

[stevedeshazer]

58. Cool

:thumbsup: :)

[Megahurtz]

26. That's it people........

keep getting rid of those ugly worthless hunks of shit, I'm tired of looking at them!:argh:

[Gregorian]

28. Me and my SUV

Bite me, Halliburton.

[Southpaw Bookworm]

32. Fantastic! n/t

[Inland]

39. There you go!

[petronius]

61. What are those pillars out in the field behind you?

Inquiring minds want to know...

[Gregorian]

78. Those are old fashioned SUV hitching posts.

Long ago, before parking brakes were invented....

Oh, ok, I'll tell you. They're fenceposts. It's a farm. Cows need fences. Although, it's now used for horses. I sold it to people. People who have an SUV! Damn them! But I have three pickup trucks. Damn me!

[petronius]

79. Fence posts, huh? I've heard of those

I guess it was the camera angle, or my dirty monitor, but I thought they looked much bigger. Unless you raise two-story cows out there...

[Roland99]

80. Bison?

:)

[Zhade]

62. Indeed!

:thumbsup:

[AuntiBush]

29. Been noticing SUV'S piling-sky wards at local Used Car Lots

Big time!

[AndyTiedye]

36. Except for THESE SUV's

http://www.fordvehicles.com/escapehybrid/

[Greyskye]

45. And these...

Toyota Highlander Hybrid:


www.toyota.com/highlander/minisite/

[Willy Lee]

91. Sounds like these poor SUV owners need another tax cut

for the purchase of these vile gas guzzling environment destroying weapons of mass destruction.

[tabasco]

37. Toyota needs to rethink its decision to stop selling Echos in US

Took my wife to airport. Got 50 mpg. Great little car.

Best mpg after the hybrids.

[Rambis]

40. We wanted one of those

I had no idea they aren't selling them anymore? Maybe that is why we couldn't test drive one.

[tabasco]

41. They weren't selling fast enough.

2005 was the last year for the US. They still sell them in Europe as the Yaris. Maybe they will change their mind due to the gas price situation. There are some good used ones out there!

[Rambis]

90. Thank you*

x

[Scout1071]

55. My name is Scout and I'm a recovering SUV owner. Sold it last Sept.

Admittedly, I drove one for far too long. I have to tell you, I really liked it. HOWEVER, I have seen the error of my ways and now I drive a much, much smaller car. Once that SUV tank started seeing $35 per tank - with a 45 min commute - I said HELL NO. I live in your average suburban metro community, in a red state no less, and I get so angry on my way home from work when I see nothing but one person in an SUV. It's amazing. I would not think it an exaggeration to say that 40% or more of the cars on the road here are large trucks or SUV's.

Yesterday I pulled up next to a large SUV with a woman driving it - alone. Next to her driver's side window she had a magnetic ribbon that said "God answers prayers." Both of our windows were down so I looked at her and suddenly found myself blurting out "I'm praying that you buy a smaller car and stop sucking up so much gas." As soon as I finished my sentence the light turned green and I sped off into the night. It felt great.

[LetsGoMurphys]

63. i have a

mazda 626 4 cyl. $34 a tank.....

[Zhade]

65. Good job on both!

:)

[Boomer]

67. My company parking lot...

...looks like an SUV car lot.

Over half the employees drive SUVs to work and then leave them parked there all day.

That is not "need", it's simply a desire for shiny toys.

[theHandpuppet]

75. Good one!

But too many fundies I know (including some in my own family) couldn't give a crap about the environment. They believe that God gave mankind dominion over the earth; ergo, man has a right to use the earth however he sees fit, whether that be its resources, animals, land, oceans or what have you. They don't worry about what will result from their selfishness because they believe the Rapture is near.

[Zhade]

57. Woohoo! Take that, selfish SUV drivers!

And yes, I know some DUers, for some inexplicable reason, drive the overpolluting, resource-guzzling unncessary behemoths, and I really could give a fuck.

[drduffy]

60. It doesn't really matter....

In a few short years (perhaps as little as five), by all independent, scientific estimates none ....NONE of us will either have or be able afford gas for our SUVs or our ecologically 'friendly' cars.

I admit I have a PU that carries the stuff I need to restore my house (wood, 4x8 drywall, etc.). That's all I use it for. I even have an old XJ6 that simply sits. And will sit and sit.

I drive regularly an '87 Sentra that gets well over 30mpg.

But none of these will be working sooner than you think. And there will be little gas for semi trucks (that bring you your food or my drywall- sometimes from thousands of miles away), or firetrucks, or ambulances and so forth. You won't be flying. You won't have fertilizers. The suburbs will collapse. Living 5 miles out town will mean walking, hitching up the horses or forgetting about it. It will mean little or no natural gas for your furnace or stove or for most of the electricity generating plants across the country. It is a little too late for humans to begin to wake up to the crisis coming.

do a search on 'Peak Oi' and elsewhere noted on this list, 'Peak Oil' and Rollingstone. Then stop feeling so smug about not having an SUV. It won't matter.

[eridani]

66. No reason why SUVs shouldn't be able to get much better mileage

The design is useful for people hauling loads over miles of dirt roads. Why is that an excuse for lousy mileage?

[deadparrot]

68. My compact and I are very amused.

Though I do feel sorry for some good friends who have SUVs. They're good people.

[kineneb]

77. I really like my little car

I have the last model year (2000) of the Hyundai Elantra wagon. Very sturdy, holds more than an SUV and gets around 30 mpg, even with the AC running. Seats 5 medium-sized people with room for gear in the back. I transported most of the pieces to my chamber pipe organ in it; it was packed to the gunwales and there was only room for me in it. I live in the hills and laugh at all the top-heavy SUVs as I pass them at 70 on the curves. (Ok, the posted speed limit is 55, but that is taken as a "suggestion" rather than an order around here.)

I just filled it and it was $25, which will go for almost 300 mi. even with my "bat out of hell" driving.

[Imagevision]

81. no worries - Bush will never lower the speeds back to 55mph

They found that because so many people switched to economy cars that the US. actually did conserve oil and caused tankers to waiting weeks off US. coastlines to deliver their oil cargo because there simply was no place to store it.

Bush & Cheney? their oilmen, so far they think they know what their cau$ing.

[Imagevision]

82. Gas Prices? In europe it has been between $4.00 & $5.00 per

gallon since 2003 -- oh thats's right thats why you always see them tooling around in those little cars and biking all over the place.

The Prez & vice Prez are oilmen -- you would think that we should never have problems such as the supply of oil.

I don't believe Bush would have attacked Iraq if it had the largest peanut farms instead of the the second largest oil reserves in the world.

Bush will fall, he's screwing up to much lately.

[SideshowScott]

85. If im behind one more SUV with a Bush sticker on im gonna scream!

I say GOOD..I hope sales tank so much that they will have to nearly give them away..I cant stand those glorified pickup trucks with a non removable shell...Glad the fad is over

[msanthrope]

87. Good News. n/t

[wallwriter]

88. Serves these f***heads right

It would be a lot funnier if our givernment had not made tax breaks and regulation loopholes to convince people to buy these useless things. By the way, SUV safety is a myth. According to the New Yorker, the vehicle with the fewest fatalities per mile is a Toyota Avalon.

[goodhue]

93. cool

great news

[trogdor]

96. They should have reverse carpool lanes for SUV's.

Drive one alone, and you're stuck in the right-hand lane with the bread trucks and Grandpa. That'll learn you.

[frustrated_lefty]

100. ROFLMAO! (n/t)

[Roland99]

101. Hey...my 1st 100-post thread up here

:D

[katty]

103. Predicted this one - seeing For Sale in SUV windows

what will they do if they can't haul a latte around in their school bus?