Posted on 07/02/2008 1:27:36 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Seven women pile out of a massive white Chevrolet Suburban and unload the vacuums, mops and buckets of their trade. Gasoline may cost $4 a gallon, but the Chevy's driver and business owner Leesa Baldwin has no intention of downsizing to a smaller vehicle.
"I love my Suburban. I don't like paying for the gas, but it simplifies my life," said Baldwin, who bought the used 7,000-pound SUV two years ago for her cleaning business and hasn't looked back.
As many Americans abandon SUVs and light trucks for more fuel-efficient vehicles, analysts and automakers alike are scrambling to gauge how low ownership will go -- and just who will remain die-hard drivers of SUVs, pickups and minivans.
"There's always going to be a certain market for these vehicles -- large families, people towing boats or horses. They have a purpose, and only recently became a substitute for passenger vehicles," said Samantha Gross, an analyst at Cambridge Energy Research Associates.
Baldwin represents one core constituency of truck and SUV users -- business owners who cannot do without the cargo space, seating capacity or strength of a big vehicle.
The petite mother of three uses seven workers to clean homes and offices of some 70 clients. She's tried using two cars to transport workers and gear, but it didn't work. One carload might come later and do less work. The second driver had to be paid extra. Workers bickered more.
Plus, the big Chevy with its three rows of seating and wide barn doors at the back loads and unloads easily -- a feature that allows the workers, three vacuum cleaners and assorted gear to disperse with military precision at hourly intervals.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Can't do that in a "Smart" car.
prisoner6
I cant see dumping my Dodge Ram
It is a bit hard to swallow the gas prices, but most of my travel is to remote job sites (and I charge for mileage) with a pile of equipment in the back end. But still enough room for the family for camping or winter sports when the 4x4 is necessary.
This truck is paid for and is like new 20k mi. I cant see dumping it. I had it down to the river bottom last weekend and its just what you need for places like that.
I went through all that driving matchboxs back when carter was in office.
To heck with “K” cars and le car and yugos.
I dont ever want to go there again.
I feel for those people in this economy.
But if it is just to look macho, and the truck bed is always empty (but the "hey, everyone look at me" country music is blaring), I think it is just plain stupid.
Some of those people aren't the sharpest saws in the garage anyways. I know the type. When someone comes to take away the big screen they purchased but defaulted on, maybe they will think twice about their gas bill.
Hey, I don’t put things in the bed of my Silverado. It might get dirty. :)
I love my 2500HD Duramax but don’t drive it everyday. Just on the weekends to tow the boat.
My 6 cylinder Honda Pilot is my primary transportation. I just wish Honda would get their act together on a diesel version.
The article above must have been written by a reporter who was instructed to “write 500 words that will fit on page 3 about gas prices”
Do American politicians and media think that Europeans get their goods moved by scooters? MB, Volvo, Mann, and plenty of others build and actually sell heavy duty tractor trailer and straight trucks to the vaulted Europeans who everyone in the media is sure have all the answers possible on dealing with high fuel prices.
The woman in the article had a business that was more efficient (likely fuel, insurance, and repair efficient too) moving crew and tools in one vehicle vs two.
I own 3 trucks for my business. I drive the largest one only when I need to move large amounts of my equipment. It gets about 8 miles per gallon but will move 15 tons of truck and stuff.
My second truck gets about 14 MPG but is a 15,000 gvw truck.
My little pickup truck is a Dodge Dakota that uses the least fuel but hauls the least “stuff”. My income depends on the “stuff” I move in these vehicles. I could move the same stuff in the pickup as the big truck but it would take all day and likely take about as much fuel. I never drive the big truck to go on a sales call, I use the Dodge for that.
The media and congress are a one size fits all bunch of fools. Different vehicles are necessary for different transportation needs. Heavy trucks deliver milk meat and eggs to the supermarkets however and congress needs to think about that. I don't ever foresee Smart cars dropping 1000 gallons of milk at Walmarts.
Perhaps brilliant government planners should use the same logic they seem to want the peons to use. IN most communities 40 passenger buses run with a driver and one or two people on board for many parts of each day. Maybe a city “driver” on a Vespa with a sidecar will picking up commuters will launch American planners into Euro fuel thought fame.
I have an old beat up pickup thats great for chores. When i’m not using it I much prefer a passenger car. Dollar for dollar a car handles better, accelerates better, brake substantially better, and is smoother to drive. They also get much better gas mileage. I’ve never understood why i’d want to pay more to drive a slower reflexed vehicle that isn’t as much fun to drive? I’m not towing boats or going off road on a regular basis and there are very few occasions in my life when an SUV could do something a station wagon couldn’t.
“But if it is just to look macho, and the truck bed is always empty (but the “hey, everyone look at me” country music is blaring), I think it is just plain stupid.”
Like those little 5’1 housewifes in Ford Expeditions that never seem to have more than two passengers and will never go off road, haul anything more than a shopping bag, or tow a thing?
I have noticed a trend, however, in pickups these days to shorten the bed and extend the cab. Could it be that in some cases, pickups have become a symbol of masculinity for office dwellers who, lacking any actual loads to pick up, don’t mind a bit if the actual truck bed is shortened almost out of existence to make more cab room?
I love my 2004 Grand Cherokee Special Edition. The safety I feel while driving it during the winter (and we get some pretty harsh ones) is worth the extra gas cost for me.
what?....
My white Chevy Astro with roof rack (the “Sniper-mobile” of 2002) is just the thing for hauling my wife’s ceramic art to shows, and has more than paid for itself and the gas costs when we use it for business. At 18 mpg, though, I don’t use it for the less productive trips any more, opting instead for Mrs. Slowboat’s 1994 Camry.
I’d love to get my hands on a little scoot-bug for office commutes, though.
...and, OBTW, Hussein, I actually use it as a pickup and need its power and towing and hauling capacity.
C'mon, are you 'series'? Maybe for their wives. But real Wiseguys only drive Cadillacs and Town Cars, and in any color - as long as its black or dark blue.
(at least the ones I knew back in the 70's & '80's)
I love my Blazer. I drive it everywhere. I won’t stop driving or trade it in for a smaller car.
Do gas prices suck? Yes. However, I own my vehicle outright -- no car payments gives me some extra cash towards fuel.
I'm also near a train station, and I can walk to most of the places I need to get to every day. In a good week, I can get away with not driving four days out of every seven. Now, if gas hits $9 or $10 a gallon, I may reconsider.
I want my daughter and grandchildren in the biggest, safest SUV on the road!
I can’t wait to get my diesel Sprinter! Only two more kids to go....
Every forgets that the auto companies used to make HUGE profits on each SUV...Ford supposedly made $10k+ per Explorer, and even bigger numbers for GM’s SUV’s and trucks....whereas they just about broke even on eacvh passenger car they built. Now that prices are collapsing..and remember, something liek 65% of these are LEASED, which means that the hit to the bottom line on the greatly reduced residual value has yet to be taken...to the consumer who buys one..new or used, the total cost, ( factoring in the lower price, fuel, and greater depreciation, may still be MORE cost effective to operate)
I don’t haul hay every day, but should I buy a second car so you won’t be offended by the sight of the empty bed of my pickup? Perhaps I should leave the tailgate down so you can see the bits of hay remaining in the bed?
A lot of people cannot afford to buy a car/truck for every purpose, so they buy one that covers all of their needs. That Suburban may only carry one person to work, but be moving 5 kids and gear camping on the weekends.
I doubt people who own trucks default on payments any more than those who drive Prius “Look at me, I’m GREEN” status symbols.
I have a Ford Explorer. Many, many times I’ve had to haul lumber or similar sized items for home improvement projects or help someone move. I will probably use it less, but there’s no WAY I’ll get rid of it.
I drive a 2006 Toyota Tundra Double Cab 4wd. I work and live during the week in the city, but Thurs evening through Sunday evening, I live in the country on my river property. I NEED a truck that is part SUV (back seat for my kid and dog), has a large bed (I haul a lot back and forth), and can tow my boat, camper, and other trailers. I also go OFF ROAD A LOT - every week. Without 4wd, I’d be stuck on the gravel bar.
I will never give up my truck willingly. The day I am forced to give up my truck will be a very sad one. Ironically, I don’t drive my truck around in the city - I take public transportation (ride the train to work).
I managed to do that on half of the working days in June. Some people where I work think I'm an oddball - and of course, they're right.
For a few, it really infuriates them.
But for the most part, I'v get overwhelmingly positive feeback
Last winter changed my mind on SUVs. Getting stuck on the road, trapped at home for more than a day on two occasions and crashing into potholes was eye-opening. This spring’s flooding cemented the deal.
Finding that used economy cars selling above their original window sticker while SUVs were selling for 20% under blue book didn’t hurt, either. Even smaller, crossover SUVs have been hit hard.
The $5k difference between an SUV getting 17/23mpg and an economy car getting 26/34mpg still buys a lot of gas. At $4.15/gallon, it will cost an extra $700/year in gas, over five years, that works out to $3500. Because of the depressed market for used SUVs, it is actually less expensive over the five years I plan on keeping it.
Quite honestly, I’d like to get out of my mini-van and into an older SUV, like a Suburban. The mini-van costs me over $600/month to own/operate (payment, gas, and insurance). Plus, we’ve had the van for nearly two years and only put just over 10,000 miles on it (with 2,000 of that being a single road trip to see family). For as little as my wife drives, the gas isn’t so much the issue as is the car payment and insurance.
I need my Tundra and it’s 381 HP to pull my boat.
When people give me grief about my Tundra’s mileage, I always say, “It is incredibly fuel-efficient compared to the boat I haul with my Tundra!”
I have a full size GMC extended cab 4 wheel drive. I ran the break even calculations on Edmunds.com.
It would take me 15 years to break even if I bought a Toyota Prius. No thank you.
Of Course in addition to the Sub I still have a real truck left over from the days when I actually hauled some thing. It has been depreciated to zero and since the cash value is not much more than that, I can keep it just in case I want to haul something. It is a 96 Chevy Flatbed, 1 ton,454. At $4 gal I don’t run around it any more.
barbra ann
Actually, I drive my GMC truck mostly for safety reasons and I think anyone that drives what I call a "clown car" is not only stupid but selfish because they are putting their family at risk to save a few bucks on gas. More clown cars on the road will put a whole new meaning to the redneck term "road kill".
Some of those people aren't the sharpest saws in the garage anyways. I know the type.
Wow. Nice. You apparently have a wide brush in your garage. You might want to watch where you swing that thing though, one of us country music lovin' stupid macho redneck truck drivers might take offense and run over your clown car.
Personally, I plan to upgrade to an H3 before they quit making them. Not for macho reasons, but just to irritate people like you. Be seeing you in my shadow, clown.
There’s a price point for almost anyone who drives a truck.
You’re getting flamed pretty hard for the “macho” comment. I read your post in passing and believe I took it out of context, then re-read it and think I understand what you meant to say.
Personally, I did the math. It would cost me more to purchase an “economical” auto, with insurance, depreciation, etc. than to just continue driving my truck for all manner of reasons, including going back and forth to work.
I actually traded my Nissan Frontier(16.4 mpg) crewcab for a F-150 crewcab and find that I get ~ 2mpg better gas mileage from the Ford (18.5 mpg).
BTW, I’m a Scoutmaster and I’m usually the only one who gets the “privilege” of carrying all the Troop gear plus 4 Scouts, so capacity is an issue.
I hope I wasn’t one that you’re calling “macho”. ;-)
Cheers,
SZ
Thanks MikeW happy driving
perhaps
who’s offended? nobody said anything about offended. i just used the word “stupid”,.... if people (decide they want to) burn gas at $5-going-on-6 a gallon and can hardly pay for it, and they dont have a real utility use for such a transhipment work vehicle, it’s out of their pocket, not MINE ;-) it just looks kind of stupid, but they can do whatever they want. everyone has a right to look stupid
And good work with the cycling, keep it up...you will have a stash of cash in no time flight....
To answer you, not many people "bicycle" to work here, I would guess, at least in this part of downtown Tokyo I am in, maybe 3%. Those who take public transportation are about 90%, and the remaining 7% probably drive or use a private vehicle.
DOWNTOWN TOKYO SUBWAY MAP:
This geograpic area is probably the same in size as from Sylmar or Northridge in the San Fernando Valley, to Huntington Beach (on the Wwest coast), or from let's say, north Chicago down to the border of Illinois with Indiana.
Note I said “some”, and not “many” or “all”. Interesting you took offense. Do you consider yourself as one of the “some”? I always considered you here as somebody intelligent and well reasoned, not like those folks I was referring to. :-)
Nope. No problem. You are “exempt”. You have logical reasons.
Most people who buy $30,000 trucks have reasons. I use my $13,000 truck to haul hay and horses. Some own them because they are safer, and they are willing to pay a premium in exchange for that safety. Many use them because they need the capacity for recreation on the weekends and holidays, and cannot afford a commuter car just for work.
My coworker looked at the bus schedule in Tucson - with connections, it would take him 1.5 hours to get to work. Where I live, it would be a 15 mile drive to the nearest bus stop.
Of course, I could get an apartment a mile from work, and just give up the good schools and room for horses where I live, but I choose not to do so.
What I find interesting is your belief that you possess logic, but others do not. It reminds me of the anti-gun folks: ‘I don’t want to own a gun, so anyone who does must be stupid’.
Cut people some slack. With new trucks running 20K on up, people buy them for reasons that match the way they want to live their lives - not just to project a redneck image.
I’m considering getting a bigger truck. I don’t WANT one, but I do want the ability to tow 8000 pounds, and my 1/2 ton won’t do that. In the next few months, I need to DECIDE if the extra towing capacity is critical enough to justify getting a new truck. My priorities may differ from your life, but I assure you I will be using reason. There is no way I’m going to spend 22K on a Silverado 2500 work truck because I worry about my image.
Here’s a thought: I’ll trust you to apply logic to your situation. In return, trust me to evaluate MY situation and do what makes sense for my family and I.
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