Turn High Gas Prices In Your Favor: Buy A Gas Hog
By Eric Peters, Automotive Columnist
One way to turn high gas prices in your favor is to consider buying a gas hog vehicle.
That may sound crazy at first, but the plummeting value of larger, not-so-fuel-efficient pick-ups, SUVs and larger sedans has left buyers holding all the cards. It’s a virtual sure bet that you can drive home such a vehicle at a tremendous discount — very possibly enough to keep you in “free gas” for several years, even at 15 mpg.
Especially if you don’t use it as an everyday vehicle.
GM, Ford and Chrysler, for example, are offering discounts as large as $8,000-$10,000 off on several popular models — and that’s just “up front.” You can count on being able to haggle the price down even more — because the dealers are increasingly desperate to get these vehicles off their lots. Private sellers may be even more motivated — because they literally cannot afford to keep the vehicle any longer and will be sorely tempted by any offer that puts cash in their hands.
Some specific recommendations:
Ford Crown Victoria/Grand Marquis
This is a full-sized, six-passenger rear-wheel-drive sedan with a standard V-8 engine that gets 15 city, 23 highway. It is also (by far) the least expensive large sedan with a V-8 engine you can buy. The slightly nicer/posher Mercury version carries a sticker price (2009 model year) of just $28,170. Two or three year old versions of this big cruiser and its Ford cousin are currently in the $10,000-$15,000 range — or about what you’d pay for a new subcompact and half the price of a new hybrid Prius.
GM Hummer H3
The “small” Hummer (based on the Chevy Canyon/GMC Colorado pick-up) is being offered at fire sale discount — $7,500 off the MSRP sticker price (which begins at $32,345 for V-6 equipped models). That puts the price of this rugged off-roader down to the $24k range — and you can probably haggle it down some more from there. The cost to own the larger, Chevy Suburban-based Hummer H2 is cut back even more — by as much as $8,000 off sticker, just for openers. GM is absolutely desperate to get rid of Hummers and dealers stuck with a parking lot full of unsold inventory are pretty much at your mercy.
Chrysler Pacifica Wagon
This large wagon is thoroughly pleasant, if a bit underpowered and gas thirsty (15 city, 22 highway from the standard 3.8 liter V-6). But with room for six and available all-wheel-drive, it makes a great family car — especially given the bargain basement prices. Chrysler has already announced that 2008 will be the final year of production — which alone would assure a great deal. But Chrysler is hurting badly right now — across the board — so any buyer with cash in hand is sure to walk away with a new Pacifica for a lot less than the $24,635 base price. Slightly older ones are even more agreeably priced. Current retail values for ’05 models, for example, are in the $11k-$16k range.
Toyota Tundra Pick-up
Toyota (and Nissan) chose the worst possible moment to come to market with large, V-8 powered pick-ups to go toe-to-toe with domestic pick-ups such as the Ford F-150 and Chevy 1500 series. Sales of all large trucks are tanking — but Toyota and the other import brand don’t have the loyal following among truck buyers that Detroit’s Big Three still enjoy. So now is a great time to buy a full-size import pick-up like the Tundra (as well as its Nissan equivalent, the Pathfinder Armada). The slow-selling Honda Ridgeline is another good bet — though this car-based pick-up is not a heavy-duty vehicle like the Tundra or Pathfinder and does not offer a V-8 engine. Still, it’s the one Honda you can haggle over price on — and that is no small victory!
Lincoln Navigator
The grandaddy of super-sized SUVs has become a super-sized liability for Lincoln dealers — where unsold Navigators are sitting like so much high-priced lawn sculpture. The Mark LT pick-up (basically a dressed up version of Ford’s F-150 pick-up) is an even greater source of red ink. Both are on the endangered species list — and you can expect to be treated like royalty just for thinking about buying one these days. See also: Cadillac Escalade and GMC Yukon Denali.
General Recommendations:
It’s open season (for buyers) on pretty much any mid-sized or full-sized SUV (especially those with V-8 engines), large pick-ups and sedans. The domestics are hurting more than import brands — so the best deals are likely to be had at a Ford, GM or Chrysler store. But don’t overlook import brand mid and large SUVs — which are experiencing the same problems as their domestic counterparts — or prestige brands such as BMW, Audi and even Mercedes Benz. It’s not just gas prices but the general economic downturn that is hurting the industry across the board. You may be able to get a much better deal than you thought possible — and it can’t hurt to ask!
For info on some of the currently available incentives/rebates, etc., see:
Ford vehicles: http://www.fordvehicles.com/incentives/offers/
GM vehicles: http://www.gm.com/vehicles/currentoffers/
Chrysler vehicles: http://www.chrysler.com/en/incentives/
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This is a question(not a commet). what ever happened to the water enjected(hydrogen)
device that gives you about 40% better mileage??? Costs less than $150. for materials and instalation.
The new Porsche 911 gets better mileage with the 7 speed double clutch, especially on the highway.
The reason, 7th gear, which the manual transmission doesn’t have.
Gears 1-6 are comparable.
Same driver in both vehicles, the double clutch will get better mileage.
So long as the driver knows how to use the manumatic interface.
I know the DSGs well and they are great auto shift shift boxes , they have their roots in the shift-o-matics Porsches & VWs of the 70s . But like any automatics the shift patterns are limited to deal with the varied driving conditions in the most efficient way .
And on the DSGs wet & dry clutches they were built for quick shifts not for fuel efficiency . But one of the side effects of this is it is the most fuel efficient auto shift shift box ever made , maybe ever will be .
But it will never equal a manual in the hands of a well trained driver when it comes to efficiency .
And on having more gears that is to have more ratios for more driving situations not for increased fuel efficiency . Our cars in the US are shorted on gearing to give fast takeoffs not for maximum efficiency .
Automatics.
VW has 7 speed (dry) double clutch transmission and 5 speed manual in the ‘new’ Golf
The 7 speed ‘DSG’ gets better mileage & is faster.
ZF will replace their second generation 6 speed automatic with their 8 speed automatic. Why didn’t BMW launch the new 7-series with it?
JATCO’s 7 speed automatic will find more homes than just in Nissan/Infiniti products.
I love to see a G25 in addition to the G37.
No argument there , we’ll see which one performance of efficiency matters most when we pull up to the pump and see $6-7 a gal ………….in a couple of years . I raced Porsches & motorcycles when I was young so I’ll always be a manual shift person . No stinking automatics here , ever ….LOL
On the track speed & power are your friend , on the road fuel economy is your friend . Words I’ve always lived by ……….With the new diesels BMW 3 series CDI for one you can do what they said wasn’t possible to have speed , power & unbelievable fuel economy .
in response to By me on Aug 21, 2008
You are correct that many automatic drivers do not drive efficiently. Read this web site and you have the answer to that. On the other hand there are many that drive a manual transmission for performance and would get far better mileage with an automatic. To sum it up mileage is 10 times more dependent on the driver than on the transmission.
And has been stated better mpgs are related to how the car is driven and the driving skill of the driver . And as a rule automatic only drivers are not very proficient when it comes to driving for fuel economy .
And most of the things that can be done in a manual to improve fuel economy are not possible with an automatic . Not to mention that even the best of automatics have more internal friction than a manual which costs fuel economy .
Many times if you purchase a manual shift transmission vehicle in the US, you are stuck with really short gearing.
Audi ’02 V6 Quattro 6 speed stick. Top gear is just over 24mph per 1k revs.
That allowed a top speed of about 150mph (with rear trunk spoiler) at maximum engine power.
Audi ’02 V6 Multitronic. Top gear is MUCH taller, just over 38mph / 1K
The front drive car gets way better highway mileage, and slightly better city mileage (it is lighter though)
The lack of cruise gearing isn’t just a German problem.
Honda does the same with the Civic & Fit.
in response to By me on Aug 21, 2008
Bad example. People have far different driving habits even on the same route. I guarentee I get 25% better mileage than a lot of other people with a similar vehicle on the same route I take to work. The big thing is if you try to get good mileage you can do it with any transmission. My car gets a 5 mpg drop in mileage for every increase in 10 mph. If you accelerate more you use a lot more gas. If you use your brakes very little you get great gas mileage. Maybe you can get a little better with a standard transmission but I would bet it is more in the 5% range if that.
A perfect example of automatic using more fuel is the Toyota Matrix . I know two people that both drive around a big US city in their cars . One has a manual and the other has high tech automatic . They are rated almost identical but in real world driving the manual car is achieving 30-40 % better mpgs . Same car with almost identical EPA ratings where the manual is averaging around 40 mpgUS and the automatic is only achieving the high 20s over the same routes same time of day .
Another example is the Versa , I have a friend with one with the CVT and is only hitting low to mid 20s . And I know for a fact that the manual version over the same terrain can easily hit 40 mpgUS .
My response to By me on Aug 21, 2008
You have your facts wrong and that is all there is about it. Granted if you are talking about traveling at speeds at just below where an automatic transmission shifts into high gear you may be right but otherwise there is not that much difference. I have driven both. I can get great gas mileage in both. It all depends on the driver but there is not that much differnce in transmissions. Maybe there is some model vehicle out there where the gearing is far different but for the most part newer automatics are very good.
A couple of things , the current EPA tests means squat when comparing to what something will actually achieve in the real world . From the current EPA test there is little difference on a car running on a dyno , not in real world driving .
Second anyone that has traveled around the world and actually driven manual versions of models sold here with only automatics know how big the difference really is . On many models a 40 % penalty is being generous .
In response to By me on Aug 21, 2008
I think you are being a little harsh on automatic transmissions. The epa rating on many vehicles are very close to manual tramissions and in some cases even better. The vehicle I purchased a few months ago is manual because of the 2 mph increase in the highway rating but the city rating was the same. A lot does depend on how you drive the manual trans though. Engine and vehicle size make a far greater difference than newer transmissions.
Hyper mile driving does help to certain extent but is seriously handicapped by the US addiction to the automatic transmission . The worst of which can have a 40-50 % penalty in fuel consumption or a manual trans in the exact same vehicle . While the German & Asian Direct Shift Gearboxes autoshift boxes still have a 25-40 % penalty over a good manual equipped version they are an improvement .
In the rest of the world where oil is expensive & always has been fuel consumption has always mattered so automatics are a very small percent of what is sold .
A real change in our wastefilled driving culture will have to take place if we ever wish to make improvements in efficiency that will last . We leaped towards the 40 mpgUS mark in the 80s but we stopped short of the mark and have retreated every since . In the rest of the world the 40 mpgUS mark was surpassed long ago . We are about to rejoin this journey only if oil stays high enough for long enough . And the first step on that journey like it was in the mid 70s is to shun low mpg transport . GM , Ford & Chrysler I hope you are listening this time .
Or hyper-mile an existing vehicle. If everybody with a car that got 18-20 mpg city (guilty, only thing I could afford at the time) let gravity do some of the work and didn’t have to be the first to the light, they’d pick up around 10% fuel economy. That’s what my gains were with merely not blasting from light to light and trying to maintain a constant speed for as long as possible. The fuel savings from that are more noticeable when going from 17 mpg to 20 than when going from 30 to 32.
First I want nothing to do with a hybrid as they do nothing that a diesel can’t do cheaper and cleaner . Second I have not owned a car that couldn’t achieve at least 40 mpgUS since 1977 .
We don’t need these over strict emissions on light duty diesels , it accomplishes nothing . These rules were passed on a class of vehicle that hasn’t been sold in any numbers since the late 80s . That is cleaner air only on paper . If we really cared about fuel consumption we could adopt the current European light duty diesel rules . If we did this we could have fleets of clean 40-70+ mpgUS cars on our roads tomorrow .
And if we continue with our zealous ridiculous light diesel emissions rule we will still have limited numbers of high mpg diesels . In models like the BMW 3 series diesel and the VW TDI diesels 40+ mpgUS is easily achieved today on US spec cars .
So the argument of it isn’t worth the effort of getting fuel efficient vehicles don’t hold water . I speak from some 30 years of driving very fuel efficient diesel powered cars of all makes . The savings more than pay for the effort . And the higher oil climbs the quicker the pay back is totaled up .
@me:
You’re missing the point here. Look at the deeper math – lets say you buy a brand new Prius for .. $27500 (that’s mid-level). You get 45 miles to the gallon (the average for Prius owners), and drive 10k miles per year. At $4/gallon, thats $888 dollars spent on gas that year, bring your purchase price to 28,388.
Now, buy a late model Pacifica for $16k. Give an average of 20 mpg. You get $2000 spent on gas for a year. That brings your purchase price up to $18k.
You would have to drive for Prius for *10 years* before you start paying less for it than your Pacifica. In the mean time, you get a lot posher ride!
This article is more about your wallet than the environment. To working-class America, the Wallet takes immense precedence over the Environment.
(Also, as an aside, the fuel used by the SUV driving public is negligible compared to the fuel consumed by the US Military / Industrial complex – get all the 9mpg trucks you want, it’ll still take 40 of them per person in the US before it matches the Fuel ‘economy’ of the US Navy.
Unfortunately there aren’t many new vehicles that can get 28-30 mpg (non imperial) in city for sale in the US.
We’ve been transmission deficient for far too long (decades), and the ‘solution’ was adjusting engine size.
Bigger in the late ’60s, early ’70s, smaller in the late ’70s & early ’80s, with the same number of gears. 4 speed manuals & 3 speed automatics.
and the EPA was fully anti-diesel by 1993.
Sure the ppm sulfur was reduced to 500 ppm, but no timetable was given for further advancement (say an order of magnitude in a decade; 50ppm in 2003, and then once again by 2013)
So without a fuel source, why would foreign manufactures even bother developing diesel engines that would attempt emissions compliance.
Now it is too late. After this last hurrah for ‘clean diesels’ the rules for emissions compliance will effectively kill diesels in five year, when they are required to match that of a gasoline engine.
Huh, gasoline & diesel are inherently different.
So the holy grail, besides the electric GM Volt & evolutionary third generation Prius, would be HCCI.
and compounding the problem is the perceived ‘need’ for much higher engine power than is really necessary.
A BMW 3-series with 200hp and a stick can go 150mph.
Part of that is the insanely low speed limits. They keep people removed from reality. We should have a national daytime speed limit of 100mph. {The old Honda Fit automatic can do 110mph flat out in 4th gear, & 90mph in 5th}
I don’t want to see what $200 a barrel, next summer, might do to the U.S.
What a stupid idea …One of these was a bad idea yesterday is today & will be tomorrow .
Only in stupid uninformed America where we are so stupid to think 20-25 mpg is great mileage . That is while the rest of the world has a fleet that achieves over 40 mpgaUS powered by clean powerful diesels screaming down the highway @ 130 Km/hr . Only here where oil has been cheaper than bottled water for far too long would anyone ever consider one of these single digit mpg gas hog models as a good buy at any price . If you are dumb enough to purchase one of these gas guzzling models today don’t complain when we are all having to pay $5-7 a gal in couple of years . Only a clueless idiot would buy anything new today that can’t hit 28-30 mpgUS city minimum .
And the big 3 are getting exactly what they deserved for fighting higher CAFE requirements , that they could have easily achieved years ago .
Today they can’t give away their worthless gas hogs , as it should be . While the Asian & German car makers are cleaning up with new high mpg clean diesels many are just now showing up on showroom floors pre sold and high mpg gasoline powered cars that they can’t keep on their lots . All already beat the 2020 CAFE requirements TODAY .
The big 3 could fill our roads tomorrow with clean diesel powered high mpg , 40-70 mpgUS versions of models that they already sell here . Many current models sold here are models that are sold here with gas power achieves half or less of what the exact same car with diesel powered model achieves . Many are in fact built here with clean diesel power but only sold in Europe . How stupid is that with $4 a gal gas ?????????
Oh never mind , they don’t want to survive or at least it seems that way to me .
Why would you buy any vehicle [new/used] today with a 4 speed automatic?
I wouldn’t purchase a new vehicle without a 6 speed auto, or a used without a 5 speed auto.
Gas prices are coming down, hmmm an election must be coming up?