8 comments

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  Hewlett June 5th, 2008 at 4:30 pm

  This is true. I’ve noticed most newer trucks out there have four full doors and a short bed. Trucks are built to work and haul, not commute and get groceries (although hypcritical little me does both in my Ranger).

  If gas keeps climbing, or at least holds for a long time, I’ll be waiting to see if commuters go for a real change and actually start moving closer to where they work (gasp!). Living 3 miles from work, it doesn’t matter what I drive.
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  Matthew June 6th, 2008 at 8:47 am

  The problem for many people is that it is much more expensive to live closer to work, especially if they work in a large city. People will have to make the choice though — spend money on gas or spend money on a residence? I agree, the latter is a better option, but many will be dissuaded by getting less house for the money.

  I, however, cannot wait to move closer to work. This 60 miles each way thing is getting really old. One more year…then I can move.
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  nick June 9th, 2008 at 10:01 pm

  I agree, too many people use them as their main vehicle. My father, who works for a contractor, pulls a trailer on a regular basis, and is 6’5″, wouldn’t trade his F250 diesel for anything, even with the fuel costs pushing $4.50/gal. My brother who drives 30-35 miles to work each day, bought my mom’s old car when she upgraded and parked his F150 for the most part, only driving it when he needs to haul teh kids’ 4H animals, etc.

  Personally I want one, but definitely not as a daily driver / commuter. Their utility is irreplaceable though, at least in my neck of the woods down home, especially come the routine winter blizzards we’re known to have in this bloody state…
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  heath December 22nd, 2008 at 9:20 am

  I think you have your facts wrong. I would appreciate it if you would get them straight and publish the truth. It is things like this that promote the public perception that the foriegn auto makers make better vehicles and everyone is buying them. Stay to the facts and people will relize the US auto companies are building just as good of vehicles and in many cases better than the foriegn companies.

  The F-150 attracted 473,933 buyers this year, making it the No. 1-selling vehicle for 2008–it’s been the best-selling vehicle in America for 27 years running. Another 431,725 buyers drove off Chevrolet lots in a Silverado.

  http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/782/the-years-bestand-worst-selling-cars
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  Matthew December 22nd, 2008 at 9:51 am

  heath: I don’t have my facts wrong. Besides, they weren’t even my facts; you can see where I referenced them from. Did you notice this article was from *June*? It was accurate at the time. Of course numbers have changed in the past 6 months. It was significant at the time because it was the first time in ages that the F-150 wasn’t on top of the sales charts. And I believe they were monthly numbers, not year total. Get off your “stay to the facts” horse and recognize the difference between what I posted and what you posted.

  And no, US automakers are not building “just as good…and in many cases better” than the imports. Some of the US cars are quite good, yes, but there’s still a lot of them that are very bad. The design and material quality gap has closed quite a bit with things like the latest Chevy Malibu, but it’s still not quite as nice as an Accord. And the reliability of this new wave of improved American cars is yet to be proven, and with their track record they have the burden of proof upon them. My family had American cars for many years and all they did was ruin our vacations and cost a lot of money in repairs. I’m not just going to jump in on faith until they’ve proved they’re worth it.
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  Heath December 22nd, 2008 at 11:32 am

  It is nice to see you admit the information has changed and is out of date. I appreciate that. You may want to research some of the latest JD powers reviews and see how cars are coming out now. The US has several brands that are surpassing the imports in quality. Really when you look at it you can see they are all pretty much even. This is because most of them are using the same suppliers to make the different systems on the cars. I can understand someone who has had bad experience in the past being reluctant to buy a car again. I have always had good luck with my cars. Currently I have a 91 olds with 230,000 miles on it and never had to do anything to it outside of maintenance. Here is some more information you my find interesting.

  Per the EPA in 2008.

  Top 10 Best Average Fuel Efficent Car makers

  1. Mini with 12 models and 27.66 mpg average
  2. Honda with 27 models and 23.81 mpg average
  3. Chevrolet with 88 models and 23.36 mpg average
  4. Lotus with 3 models and 22.33 mpg average
  5. Volkswagon with 28 models and 22.21 mpg average
  6. Pontiac with 24 models and 22.20 mpg average
  7. Saturn with 21 models and 22.14 mpg average
  8. Kia with 20 models and 21.8 mpg average
  9. Suzuki with 18 models and 21.77 mpg average
  10. Toyota with 55 models and 21.6 mpg average
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  Matthew December 22nd, 2008 at 6:08 pm

  Heath: I think you’re still missing my point. You’re comparing apples to oranges. This post was about monthly sales, and that for the first time the F-150 fell to fifth. It was a brief moment in time, but it was significant. It was quantifiable effects of $4 gas on auto sales in America. Those numbers are still valid, because they were referring to May 2008 sales. I don’t know why you’re arguing about this. They’re sales numbers for one month. One-sided apologists drive me nuts.

  I’ll add that nowhere in the original post did I say anything about American cars or their quality, I only said that for the first time a truck was not in the top selling spot. You turned this into an argument about something that wasn’t even mentioned. A little defensive, hmm?
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  ben June 10th, 2010 at 7:00 am

  Japanese cars are far better than American junks that uses Chinese made engines like the equinox. No their quality have not narrowed. American junk makers are good in rebadge. like the Mazda hybrid(using Toyota hybrid ) tribute rebadge as ford escape.