Will pump pain kill journalism?

Agreed. I'm no tree-hugger by any means, but anyone can see the value of hybrid or "flex-fuel" vehicles. My next purchase will be one of those vehicles.

 

I wouldn't bother with "Flex-fuel" until the alternative is something other than ethanol, which doesn't sound like a viable alternative for the long run.

The hybrids are interesting though. My wife just bought a Corolla and we do most of our driving around in that. Nice to get 34 highway mpgs and about 25-26 in the city. Right now, it seems like the most useless vehicle to me is a mid-size or especially a full size car. Trucks don't give you gas mileage, but they do offer utility that some people need. And you need the fuel economy of the compact.

 

Indeed. For all the death-of-the-SUV talk lately, I suspect sales of large sedans are falling even faster. My wife has a hand-me-down Crown Vic her parents gave her about six years ago. For us, it's about the most useless car imaginable, and she can't wait for it to kick the bucket so she can justify buying something smaller. Unfortunately, it shows no signs of slowing down. 125K miles and going strong.

 

A hatchback-type thingy like a Honda Fit would be awesome, but I'm not impressed with their mileage. In fact, there's little out there in the non-hybrid category that impresses me. I'm not ready to trust hybrid technology and dropping 7 G's on a battery that goes kaput the moment warranty expires.

I hope there's a 1989 Chevy Sprint in mothballs somewhere. Those fucking 3-bangers were awesome gas sippers.

 

There aren't many big sedans made anymore, period. The Crown Vic has been discontinued, GM downsized its big sedans years ago and Chrysler can't give away the 300 anymore.

 

Great points. Also, how about the people who handle the home delivery of the papers? Can they afford to do so once gas hits $5 a gallon? Can papers afford to pay them enough to keep home delivery alive? The horizon is not bright for our business. The end may come sooner than we think and gas prices could be a contributing factor.

 

I wonder if Chrysler/Dodge regrets dropping the Neon about now? Those babies could really fly.

 

My car's in the shop again, just for an oil change and tuneup — and to have the AC looked at.

It's nearly eight years old and has 135K miles on it.

I don't know WHAT to do. I want a Prius — and maybe two, eventually. But we're starting a family, and may need a minivan-type thing.

There is no denying I need to replace my car, probably by the beginning of 2009, but we're also shopping for a house for May 2009.

If I get something that's NOT a Prius, I can keep my car payments down significantly, because a) a Prius is about $5,000 more than regular cars and b) I assume the Big Three et al. will have blowout sales in the fall considering the economy and gas prices.

Life was much, much easier with $2/gallon gas.

 

The Caliber is its new "equivalent."

 

Will gas prices alter where you look for a house?

I've always been a person who has been about convenience. So my wife and I bought a house in our city's historic district, which is right by downtown and offers me a 10 minute (if that) commute to work and a 10 minute (if that) commute to the college I cover (in two directions). If I had followed my town's trend, I'd be in a subdivision that's 20-25 minutes from work. Every day, when traffic bottles up in that part of town, I'm experiencing little to no traffic to get to and from my home.

The point is, I'm glad I'm in town and not out in the burb.

 

Yes. We're looking to buy within walking distance of my wife's bank and a HUGE supermarket. Plus, we travel (or used to anyway) to see both sets of parents/inlaws and where we're looking offers quick escape to major highways.

Basically, she's have one car for nights when I'm at work — for emergencies purposes only. And it would also be the "travel car" (i.e. minivan, whatever).

I's still need a car for work and covering my beats. I was thinking of the Prius for that.

 

So, in all seriousness, why aren't we asking these serious questions at the highest levels of our economic structure? Are we too stupid to know that the termites on Wall Street are eating us alive and that most of the high-exposure media handling Wall Street are merely pawns in this game of destroy and conquer?