| Dr.X |
How dumb do you have to be to "panic" sell your MDX because of gas mileage?
This is from an article in today's Boston Globe" -
"Jon McHugh, of Swampscott, is celebrating the last payment on his 2003 Acura MDX by putting the SUV up for sale. He had expected to drive it a year longer, but rising gas prices and growing economic uncertainty made him reconsider. Plus, McHugh recently reacquired a taste for the convenience of a smaller car. Whenever possible, he drives his wife's new Civic Hybrid, which costs half as much as the Acura to gas up.
"I don't need this much space," McHugh said of his SUV. "It just seems ridiculous."
This move just makes no sense. Depreciation, the "premium" that manufacturers and dealers are adding to the price of "economy" cars, not to mention that the MDX is one of the most efficient choices available offering space, near luxury, performance AND fuel economy for its price.
Maybe "Jon" hasn't figured out that the reason the Civic costs half as much to "fuel-up" is that its fuel tank is smaller?
Let's check back in with Jon and find out how much he likes his new car when he takes a long trip, has to get home from "Home Depot" with the new lawn mower or looks at his checkbook wondering where his equity and money went or the fact that he now has another 5 years of car payments to look forward to - |
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| mdxx3 |
Maybe he drives a lot and has to fill up over a thousand gallons each year.
Lets start a Dump-My-MDX list:
1) Jon McHugh, 2003 MDX, Swampscott
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| ROTORRAY |
| Personally, I've never understood the "panic sale" mode. Many folks sell/trade their vehicles at a TREMENDOUS loss and turn around and purchase an "economy" car. Now, no doubt the "economy" car will get better gas mileage, but they have lost, literally, THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS in the process. That, my friends, will buy a LOT of gas. Eventually, we will all be downsizing because that's what the car companies will be making (if they want to sell us cars). Yea, the Prius gets 42 (or whatever) mpg, but the battery the thing has might cost $4,000 to replace in eight years. Now, you say you won't keep it 8 years? Say you sell it in 5 years, for example. Am I gonna buy the thing with a pending $4,000 battery replacement on the horizon? I don't think so. I think you're gonna either buy me a $4,000 battery or lower your sale price to take the bite out of the looming battery replacement. You can just imagine what a dealer will give you on a trade. JMHO. |
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| midnightMDX |
| The guy probably didnt need a large car anymore. We dont know what kind of mpg he was getting. He could of just took it around town and got 12mpg or drove 100 miles a day to work. He said he only wanted to drive it a year longer, so he was going to sell it anyway. |
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| BlueStreak |
I have both an X and a HCH. There are times when I need the space and I need to tow, so I will keep the X. Now, does it make more sense to run errands in the HCH or the X? Do the (simple) math. I'm putting all kinds of miles on my HCH and my X is sitting more. I don't need all the space to go get groceries.....
I agree people are over-reacting big time to this. If people just slow down, combine trips and make better use of car pools and mass-transit, this would have a large impact on the daily consumption numbers. But we're not willing. I do see people slowing down some, but not many.
One guy in our office just dumped his Jetta diesel and his Benz diesel...selling both back to the dealers. Don't you know he lost his shorts. Both cars were less than 3 years old. He sold due to the high price of diesel. And both cars got decent mileage. The depreciation and loss of value when compared to the gas cost - not smart decisions.
Re: battery replacement costs, I'm not worried about it. The Honda warranty is 8 years (10 if you live in a handful of states). By the time I need a new battery pack, battery tech will have improved significantly, costs will be lower, and it won't be the issue people think it is. Until the 8 year mark it's Honda's problem and not mine. And yes, I will have mine 8 years from now. My last Honda was 14 years old, my boat is 22 and my garden tractor is over 40...and all are still going. |
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| BlueStreak |
Since we're on the topic of selling and buying smaller due to gas prices, anyone see Chrysler's latest promo?
Gas Guarantee
Chrysler LLC is offering buyers of most of its new vehicles a gas card that will lock in the price of gasoline at $2.99 a gallon for three years. http://www.chrysler.com/en/refuel/
Interesting fine print. |
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| jhue |
quote:
Originally posted by BlueStreak
Re: battery replacement costs, I'm not worried about it. The Honda warranty is 8 years (10 if you live in a handful of states). By the time I need a new battery pack, battery tech will have improved significantly, costs will be lower, and it won't be the issue people think it is. Until the 8 year mark it's Honda's problem and not mine.
Several Prius taxicabs have gone over 400,000km without any battery problems, and nothing other than regular maintenance (fluid changes, brake pads).
I have heard reports of a handful of prior generation Priuses that have had out-of-warranty battery failures. The good news is that the aftermarket has figured out how to do individual module replacements (current Prius battery is made up of 28 prismatic modules, six cells per module), so the repair costs are down in the few hundred dollar range rather than thousands. When the battery fails, it's just one module that goes bad, not the whole thing. |
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| josephd05 |
| Regarding the Dodge 2.99 gas campaing, another gimmick marketing scam by another horrendous domestic brand. You know their cars are pure junk when they come with these ridiculous ideas. They really think buyers are that stupid I guess. |
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| laborlitigator |
Personally, I almost traded in the MDX for a Hybrid Highlander. However for an additional 9 miles per gallon, I was going to take on another 42K loan. I thought twice about it.
I can't justify going overboard like that. |
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| gmc74 |
quote:
Originally posted by laborlitigator
Personally, I almost traded in the MDX for a Hybrid Highlander. However for an additional 9 miles per gallon, I was going to take on another 42K loan. I thought twice about it.
I can't justify going overboard like that.
When I bought my X last year, the Highlander Hybrid was the leading contender, but when it was all said and done, the X is a nicer car with more comfort and better features, I will sacrafice 9 miles per gallon for that. |
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| gmc74 |
ok, so if this guy trades his 03 X for a Civic Hybrid, let's do the numbers.
He is going to get about $12k for his car, the Civic is going to cost him $22k according to edmunds.com
so the Net is a $10k loan + sales tax and what ever other BS they pile on, he is looking at about $225 for 60 months.
The HCH gets 40/45 vs 15/20, so roughly 25 mpg more.
We will assume 12,000 miles a year, half city/half highway
500 city miles = 12.5 gallons vs 33.33 gallons
500 highway miles = 11.1 vs 25
MDX = 58 gallons @ $4 per gallon, $232/month
HCH = 33 gallons @ $4 per gallon, $132/month
He is going to save $100 per month in gas, for every 1000 miles he drives, if he drives 2500 miles per month, this deal would save him money.
Of course, I don't think this guy is that bright, so he will probably get f*cked on his trade, and pay over retail for the Hybrid, so these numbers could be skewed. But that is offset by the fact that I didn't take into account the increase in Property Tax (which is a sh!tload in Mass) and I calculated his X's mileage at 2008 rates. |
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| gmc74 |
| oh, and that assumes that the gas prices don't go down anytime in the next 5 years. |
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