BUYING A CAR IN 2017
(WITHOUT HAVING HEADACHES IN 2018)
THE POLITICS OF CARS
In the past several decades, the public consciousness has been challenged on the subjects of vehicle ownership and safety, some of it under the guise of religion, and most of it from various small groups with various political agendas. Since these groups have been particularly vocal, people have been loudly and wrongly encouraged to purchase “politically correct” vehicles (“politically correct” being defined by the small vocal groups, which, by definition, is what someone else thinks we all should drive, no matter what our needs are). The goal of these groups is to convince you that buying one type of vehicle of another is either sinful or unpatriotic. This chapter is written to help you to wade through the barrage. It is for information only, but the goal is to suggest that you disregard politics and purchase what your transportation needs dictate.
Historically,
the first challenge came from Ralph Nader in his book, Unsafe at Any Speed,
in which he declared the Chevrolet Corvair as a turnover waiting to
happen. He was incorrect, probably due
to his lack of any experience with cars, but since he bombarded the public with
his message in order to make himself famous, the Corvair, which really was a
good handling, fuel efficient vehicle for its time, died.
POLLUTION:
The air pollution problem was the next big political
football. A group of Californians
decided to push a bill through the
To clear things up a little, all internal combustion engines put out pollutants. There are some internal combustion powered vehicles today that put out so few pollutants, that they are considered by the government as emitting near zero emissions. The problem that still exists today, just like in the 1960s, is that 5% of the vehicles on the road are contributing 90% of the pollution from vehicle emissions. The passenger car portion of this 90% are the ones that are either not well maintained or are incorrectly modified by their owners. Also, even now, the newest diesel powered vehicles are allowed to smoke in our non-smoking environment. When you go downtown and you smell the fetid air, it is mainly diesel fumes that you smell.
This website will not try to offer a cure all for the pollution problem, but there are some truths that must be faced. Trucking industry vehicles, construction vehicles, and city transportation vehicles should probably be required to be as environmentally responsible as the rest of us, not just with new vehicle purchases, but with current vehicle maintenance.
The real problem is that
there are many people who would like to have efficient running vehicles, but do
not have the money to keep up the maintenance.
They need to get to work and back just like the well-to-do people, but
since they are having to drive vehicles that are in
the twilight of their years, maintenance for their vehicles can be
overwhelming. This is where the
pollution discussion should center. How
do we clean the air and still find a way to allow the poorer segments of the population
to get around without forcing them into mass transportation that cannot get
them where they need to go?
While on the subject of pollution, the environmental lobby has decided that to curb emissions in the cities, speed limits should be lowered. This has been accomplished in many cities, and the outcome is higher vehicle emissions. The problem is that our highways can handle a certain amount of vehicles at any given time before traffic gets thick enough to force everybody to slow down for a traffic jam. With lowered speed limits, vehicles must spend more time on the roads, thereby causing traffic jams for longer periods than with higher speed limits. Traffic jams are the major cause of excessive vehicle emissions.
RELIGION AND FUEL ECONOMY:
The question has been directed at the SUV driving public
that asks what vehicle would Jesus drive, or more specifically, implies that he
would never drive an SUV. (Since he
walked most places, that might be the logical
conclusion.) The idea is to make the
driving public think that Jesus would a) actually buy a vehicle, and b) would
choose a small vehicle. It is not a smart thing to do to try to second guess a perfect being, but with
thirteen people to haul around, it would seem illogical to try to stuff them
all in a Ford Fiesta. One would hope he
would consider a bus, but we are not expert enough to try to accurately predict
the actions of The Almighty or those that speak for Him. He works in mysterious ways, and this website
will not engage in predicting His actions for that reason, if for no
other. The prediction is that the people
conducting this campaign have about the same expertise as any of the rest of us
in predicting what Jesus would drive.
PATRIOTISM AND FUEL ECONOMY:
Another equally preposterous charge is that people who drive SUVs are unpatriotic. With that logic, why would not we consider anyone who drives anything to be unpatriotic? Where do we draw the line? Are we unpatriotic if we own a home of more than 800 square feet? How about if we own a boat? A second vehicle? Two TVs? More than three sets of clothes?
This country thrives on the consumption of goods and services. It allows us to learn new things, go new places, and meet new people. If all of us decided to own as little as it takes to survive, the economy of this country would collapse since most of us would lose our jobs, and we would become a third world country. Do these people want Ford and GM to fold up their tents? It is the profitable SUV market that is keeping them alive.
TERRORISM AND FUEL ECONOMY:
While on the subject of SUV gas mileage, there have been TV spots where another environmental group is trying to convince us that driving an SUV contributes to terrorism. Still another environmental group is terrorizing this country by burning SUV dealerships. The question becomes one of which terrorist group poses the most danger to this country. To follow these groups’ line of logic, it must be assumed that:
1. SUVs are totally unnecessary.
2. SUVs are responsible for the majority of the fuel consumption in this country.
3. All of the fuel used by SUVs comes from terrorist countries.
4. None of the fuel used by
small vehicles comes from terrorist countries.
5. Oil companies have to buy
from terrorist countries because of SUVs.
6. The countries that we buy
oil from are terrorist countries.
Some people buy SUVs solely
for status, ie, to drive a large, expensive (and therefore, impressive)
vehicle. In these cases of one-upmanship
and “keeping up with the Jones’”, it can be rightly said that more fuel is being
used than necessary. However, many other
SUVs are purchased because they are needed for the transportation requirements
of the owners. If the vehicle fits the
needs of the owner, it is the right vehicle for the situation.
There are many vehicles that get far worse gas mileage than
SUVs. Several pickup trucks, vans,
exotics, and many modified vehicles get worse mileage than any SUV. The Acura RDX, a midsize SUV, gets 22 mpg in
the city and 28 mpg on the highway with a V6 engine and without a hybrid
electric system. There are not many V6 sedans
that can boast that mileage. As a class,
Italian two seat exotic cars are rated the lowest of all in the EPA mileage
guide. A few two door,
two seat coupes dip into single digit gas mileages. Just because a vehicle has space, it does not
have to get bad gas mileage.
The third through the sixth
statements all have the same supposition.
That is, that this country buys oil from countries that support
terrorism. This country is doing its
best to stop terrorism, and it buys very little oil from countries that are
reported to support terrorism. We all
use the same oil to fuel our automobiles, heat and cool our environments, and
run many of our power plants. The
difference between the amount of oil that we currently use and the amount of
oil that we would use if those people that really don’t need SUVs would buy
something else is not going to stop terrorism or even slow it down. Terrorists believe that God wants them to
commit terror, so if we buy less oil from someone who supports terror, that
person would probably build one less gold plated palace, but since the
terrorist activity is considered to be a holy commitment, support of that
activity would most likely continue at current levels.
SUMMATION:
When we were kids, our
parents told us to play nice with the other kids, to give everybody a turn, and
to share our toys. When we grew up, we
found that the world does not work in that way.
It would be nice if it did, but it does not. For a moment, let us assume that this country
did run that way. Each of us would be
paid what we need, and we would live in common habitats. The excess money from our labors would be
directed towards the common good, ie, health care, food distribution, travel
facilities, etc. We would live in
identical little homes, ride bicycles or buses, and wear uniforms. Depending on the degree to which we take this
scenario, it is called either Socialism or Communism. Several countries have tried this form of life, and whether you consider these forms of government as
evil or not, the fact is that neither has ever worked for the good of the
people.
This website does not
condone the unnecessary use of fuel or other resources, but there are far more
real and provable reasons to lower our consumption of fuel than the implication
of a theoretical cessation of terrorist activity, a show of patriotism gone
awry, or a testament to some principle that has been twisted into
religion. Saving money, saving oil for
future generations, and saving the environment are very good reasons for
purchasing vehicles that accomplish our purposes without going to unnecessary
excesses.
This society puts out a
tremendous gross national product, and much of our ability to do that is due to
our ability to travel and to transport.
We could all trash our vehicles and ride bicycles like many people would
like to have us do, but in doing that, we would convert this country into a
third world power and become vulnerable to being conquered by any number of
countries that would prefer to control us and to loot our resources, as has
happened to many countries even in the last twenty years.
This website prefers to condone responsibility in our citizenship. With that in mind, when you try to decide on a vehicle for your use, it would be wise to disregard the politics and get what you need to accomplish your specific purposes, and be unashamed to purchase and drive it.