I thought, “man, I can’t even remember not getting 20mpg average.” So I looked. These are just the worst of their classes. As it turns out that is still VERY common:
Dodge Viper 14
Chevrolet Camaro 15
Mercedes-Benz AMG S65 16
BMW M6 Gran Coupe 16
Dodge Challenger SRT 16
BMW M760i AWD 16
Chevrolet SS 16
Dodge Charger SRT 16
Mercedes-Maybach S600 16
Nissan Frontier 4WD 17
Toyota Tundra 15
Ram 1500 4x4 15
Kia Sedona 19
Jeep Wrangler 18
Infiniti QX70 AWD 18
GMC Terrain AWD 18
Chevrolet Equinox AWD 18
Mercedes-Benz AMG G65 12
My 2010 Dodge Journey claims it’d hit 25 highway but I’ve never gone over 20 in it, so yay. Since the majority of my usage is 8mi of street-light- and hill-heavy commute back and forth to work, I obviously get well south of that day-to-day -.-
But we needed a “big car” for moves and stuff (we haven’t moved in the 6 years since I got it), and it was the only SUV-style thing other than an HHR that I could afford at the time, so here we are :P
I hear ya. I think the, “we need a big car,” thing permeates truck and suv purchases all over the place. It’s why my girlfriend bought one. We did actually use it for assisting in a move not long ago, but my guess is that is the last time it will be used that way. Another need she wanted to solve, “we’ll need it when we go camping together.” I love camping. I have -yet- to camp with her in 3 years.
To be fair, my car does come in handy when shlepping 3-4 people across the state to metal concerts once or twice a month, and is great when it comes time to bring enough food to feed 25 over to Tennessee, like I’ll be doing next weekend.
I like to pick on my big, dumb-looking momvan, though.
Holy cow, are we already to the time of year when you do the Tennessee Fest? Was that a year ago? I can’t wait for the pics and tale. It sounded awesome from last time.
Yep! The hostess requested Japanese food this year. No sushi cuz that’s hard and I’m neither gonna try to transport sushi grade fish in a hot car for six hours, cooler or otherwise, and I’m sure as hell not gonna try to buy it in rural Tennessee…
But we will have teriyaki chicken, pork tonkatsu, okonomiyaki, shoyu ramen with sliced pork chashu and soy marinated eggs, miso soup, white and fried rice, tempura shrimp and veggies, vegetable curry, hibachi vegetables, yakisoba, edamame, and maybe just maybe some gyudon beef bowls…
Plus breakfast omelet bar, bacon, pancakes, and sausage the next morning, and then a double batch of chili + baked potato bar the second night, but I’m only sous cheffing for that stuff…
Yeah we have a Honda Insight, and Ford Fusion. We have moved 3 times in the last 6 years, and go camping (with two small children) 4+ times a year.
People claim they ‘need’ a big vehicle for these things. These people are universally wrong. Outside of people who need trucks for work, landscaping, construction, etc. almost no one who says they need one truly does. They want the large vehicle, but also know it’s the costlier option so seek justification. It’s an American mindset, as much as anything else.
It’s a bit of a pet peeve of mine, really. If people just owned up to it, I wouldn’t mind.
This is largely directed at my family, who all own SUV’s/ trucks for those poor reasons.
I have a 2012 Ford Fusion which replaced my 1998 Dodge Dakota. I miss my truck when I need big stuff for the house, but it was impractical as a family vehicle. And, to be honest I love all the cushy stuff in the Fusion.
I hear ya. Though as someone who sees a car as more than transportation, and as an integral part of a lifestyle definition, I fully understand why people want whatever it is they want, even if it’s not what I want. Me, I want small, performance-oriented, and refined, a combo that is hard to find here in the US where big = better for most folks. But strictly speaking, I’d be 100% as “effective” in terms of transportation if I just drove a Versa.
Sure! And I can respect that, because it’s honest. If you want the big/ fast/ luxury car, own it. Don’t get the big honking SUV or Hemi Ram truck that gets 16mpg then complain about gas prices when they shoot up about how much you’re spending per week on gas. Then, when someone points out the obvious, don’t get put out and claim you needed that truck.
You didn’t. You wanted that one. You also paid at least $10k more for it than I did for my Insight. That’s the thing that really drives me nuts.
The best part about it (and most American entitlement to me) is how it is always accompanied by some hidden (or not so hidden) anger about oil/gas prices. Like people really have some rage when gas is not cheap, as though the world somehow owes them cheap gas prices so they can comfortable drive their gigantic fucking truck to Walmart.
Those were just the worst of each category. I think there was a follow-on link to more. I mean, it would make sense that a luxury SUV might not give a damn, but others not as much.
I need a truck about 1-3 times a year. I usually beg someone to use theirs. Option B is to get an old ass truck and just park until I need it but the trouble is… I know people who do that and we usually spend an hour or so trying to get it to run before we use it.
I could easily go for an Uber like service where I can just ask them to take me and their big ole truck to go get some material and then bring it back. I know you can rent trucks from Home Depot, maybe Lowes… but I don’t like those trucks, I want it for more than an hour, and that requires me to drive it. (says someone who drove her dad’s giant GMC…thing in her 20s. It was brown).
I’ve seen it done, but would like to encourage my friends to go in on a standard truck for the purpose of having one with the condition that anyone can use it from within the group. The questions often thrown out are how to handle title, insurance and taxes. But surely there needs to be a way to do something beyond 20+ an hour, plus taxes and fees just to haul off large items or move things occasionally.
I’ve thought about it as well, Nesrie. Then I worry about where to park it and how to handle using it more than 4 times per year. As it stands I rent often for those things and it never ends up being cheap.
In the financial independence crowd, there is sentiment that most people should buy a small, gas-efficient car for daily use. For the infrequent times when you need a truck, rent one. I’ve never done a cost benefits analysis of this type of move but I bet most people would come out ahead.
Of course, there are people who actually need a truck a lot of the time, and for them it definitely makes sense to get one. But many many people (esp in the DC area, where I live) have big honkin pickup trucks that look as though they’ve never hauled anything in their lives.
Yep. And sometimes I want a truck, for the whole day, but I don’t want to rent it because it yard stuff and garbage… like thinks that would bang up a work truck but shouldn’t be an issue because it’s a work truck.
I think the people that claim they need trucks all the time but really they don’t. Now I am not going to penalize anyone for wanting a truck, but unless they use it for work, 90% do not need a truck. I use an economical car, not super small, because I just find it financially and ecologically efficient. But there are days I’d just like to have a truck for a day or even a weekend to do something and there isn’t a great way to do that short of going full on truck all the time or one of these g I sure hope it works this time trucks. My family has a few of the g trucks, and they’re borrowed all the time. When there is an accident though… eek, and not because of the value of the truck but insurance and injury.
Per Google’s American’s use an average of 500 gallons of gas a year. At $3/ gal that’s $1500 (though I haven’t seen gas that high in a while, at least for any length of time).
Anyway, if you have a vehicle that gets 25% better mpg you save only $375/year (and only $500/year with 33% better mpg) Gimme a medium sized truck (Frontier or Tacoma) that I can use when/how I want over renting, please.
I mean it’s so variable. My car, even at 50 MPG, used around 350 gallons a year, but that’s because I do a lot of miles. In my wife’s car I’d use closer to 600 gallons. And gas here is over $3, paid $3.09 today. So for me it’d be about $700+ a year, and going to a truck? I’d be going and looking at around $1500 a year compared to my dad’s truck.
Not to mention the difference in costs of purchasing, insuring, and all that.
Now my mileage is higher than average, but even dropping that proportionally those numbers can be very different than the $375 number.
