The Tax They Didn't Tell You About

[cwo_ghwebb]

Good article regarding Congress raising CAFE standards. The cost is horrific and placed squarely on the shoulders of every American.

IBDeditorials.com: Editorials, Political Cartoons, and Polls from Investor's Business Daily -- The Tax They Didn't Tell You About

 

[ImnoMensa]

The Cafe standards inthe past brought us the SUV. Cars got so small families with kids couldnt get their kids in them so they bought waht was considered a small truck.

Congress got wise to that this time and included trucks in their new Cafe law. So what will you do with a family with three teens in it now? Buy a trailer to haul them in? Maybe they can sell side cars for the Mini's you buy.

There are basically only two ways to improve gas mileage. Make it lighter, take away its power.

Maybe we will go with Diesel ,but the extra cost of the diesel, and the extra cost of diesel fuel arent helping with that.

 

[cwo_ghwebb]

I saw an advertisement for the all-electric Chevy car. It looked pretty nice. I'm just wondering how much electricity cost to run that thing per month.

 

[bohman]

Good article regarding Congress raising CAFE standards. The cost is horrific and placed squarely on the shoulders of every American.

Lots of good points in there. And this congressional mandate ignores the one constant: Americans want big, powerful cars. Technology exists now for safe, fuel efficient cars. They're out there. My Saturn gets me 37mpg on average. Coupled with air bags, ABS, and a strong frame, it's reasonably safe. But none of that matters, when most folks WANT the big SUVs. The cars with the worst mileage will continue to outsell the best ones, even if the fleet as a whole gets better.

One point that I disagreed with though, was this:

History bears this out. In 1970, just before the first CAFE standards were imposed, the average car on the road was about 5 1/2 years old. By 2000, the average car was 9 years old — thanks to the higher costs of buying and operating new cars, a direct result of higher fuel efficiency and safety standards.

It's probably partially true, but it seems like quality control for new cars has gone up, and they are just holding up better than past models. I know some people will buy a new car every few years just for the hell of it, but the rest of us drive the old one until the repairs start to get too expensive.

 

[cwo_ghwebb]

Lots of good points in there. And this congressional mandate ignores the one constant: Americans want big, powerful cars. Technology exists now for safe, fuel efficient cars. They're out there. My Saturn gets me 37mpg on average. Coupled with air bags, ABS, and a strong frame, it's reasonably safe. But none of that matters, when most folks WANT the big SUVs. The cars with the worst mileage will continue to outsell the best ones, even if the fleet as a whole gets better.

One point that I disagreed with though, was this:



It's probably partially true, but it seems like quality control for new cars has gone up, and they are just holding up better than past models. I know some people will buy a new car every few years just for the hell of it, but the rest of us drive the old one until the repairs start to get too expensive.

I find more electronics on the new cars go bad. It's so expensive to get repairs and now MOM taxes repairs too!