Comments on: SUV = Simply Unwanted Vehicle

By: AJ

AJ — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:53:50 +0000

Last winter I drove a 4×4 Jeep 2,500 miles over snow and ice covered roads, something I’d never do with a small or midsize car. SUV’s still have their purpose and are fun to drive. I can see buying another one someday. In fact I need to buy a tow vehicle within the next year, so I’m looking forward to getting a deal as people or dealers panic. ;)

By: ethermal

ethermal — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:44:03 +0000

Just a suggestion but bring em to Canada and sell em here. Our gas is still 20% higher then your gas and there is no shortage of SUVs here on the road. Get out of the city and there seems to be nothing but SUVs and trucks on the road. Check autotrader.ca to see what your ASS-U-V is worth here in Canada it might be worth the while.

By: SAC

SAC — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 06:50:10 +0000

Hey toxicroach, I want to be a bankruptcy lawyer. Last summer I worked for a lawyer filling out the petitions and most folk had pretty old high milage cars. One dude had a 2004 330i, and several folks had 2006 or so GM SUVs which last summer were bluebooking at about $26k and these broke folks owed over $40k on them. Too bad.

By: akitadog

akitadog — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 05:28:27 +0000

Go skin! I mean ’skins!

By: philbailey

philbailey — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:51:29 +0000

There’s been a lot of sex around on this site lately. Nothing sells like sex they say. That parsing is SO not so. The brits coined the phrase Simply Unnecessary Vehicles years and years ago.

By: folkdancer

folkdancer — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:25:37 +0000

I’ll have to learn to like football.

By: rpenna

rpenna — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:20:18 +0000

What’s this article about again? Man, I’m craving watermelons.

By: Landcrusher

Landcrusher — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:19:48 +0000

My advice, don’t sell your SUV.

Eventually, the depreciation will stop. Keep the truck until it starts to depreciate again.

Gas almost ALWAYS costs more than depreciation. If you actually drive so much that the math works the other way, then even consider buying an older economy car as a second vehicle. Or, be a conservationist rather than a green and actually do something good for pollution – move closer to work.

By: melllvar

melllvar — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:18:50 +0000

I guess the key question is – do they really want to sell it?

They probably aren’t willing/able to take the loss to do so, but at the same time it doesn’t cost the seller money to have a listing – just the PITA of keeping it show-ready.

A lot of sellers are in denial and/or desperate; doesn’t matter though – even if they found a sucker the bank wouldn’t write the loan anyway. It’s a waste of everyone’s time.

I’m just paying mine down as fast as I can which hurts, but it means when I upgrade to a better house it wont cost $500k either :)

So its not necessarily stupid to switch out, though I grant you it was stupid to buy a daily driver suv when you commute 100 miles a day.

Back when I was commuting 60 miles a day, I had a Civic. Gas was around $1.75/gallon and I still thought the Yukon Denali owners I worked with were nuts.

By: Ralph SS

Ralph SS — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:02:47 +0000

K. This one is my favorite.

I feel kinda naughty.

By: geeber

geeber — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:54:59 +0000

toxicroach: I can understand homeowners doing that; they are also under no obligation to sell it for a loss.

Well, that depends if they really want to sell the house. Buyers are under no obligation to bail someone out of a bad deal (or too many HELOCs).

I guess the key question is – do they really want to sell it?

By: Frank Williams

Frank Williams — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:47:46 +0000

toxicroach:
I am a bankruptcy lawyer, and I swear if you were to judge the market share by my clients vehicles, you’d think the domestics ruled the market and foreign cars were novelty items.

That reflects the "anyone with a pulse" financing deals the domestics tend to run more than the imported nameplates. The lower you drop your credit requirements, the deeper you get into the demographic that's likely to go the bankruptcy route.

By: toxicroach

toxicroach — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:34:28 +0000

I can understand homeowners doing that; they are also under no obligation to sell it for a loss.

But people around here are claiming to be spending 600 a month in gas just to keep one of these beasts running to work and back (long commute). At that point it starts being a tossup. So its not necessarily stupid to switch out, though I grant you it was stupid to buy a daily driver suv when you commute 100 miles a day.

And talking them down to a 95 Civic is pretty hard; people tend to dig in when you suggest that they are really 3 or 4 steps down the economic ladder than they think they are. There have been some studies that came out recently that show that poorer people spend more of their income on flashy things than wealthier people so they won’t look poor. And so they sign up for 20000 loans @ 20% interest…

Anyway, people are especially stupid when it comes to cars. I am a bankruptcy lawyer, and I swear if you were to judge the market share by my clients vehicles, you’d think the domestics ruled the market and foreign cars were novelty items.

By: Stingray

Stingray — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:29:33 +0000

@factotum

I was about to ask something similar.
Too many hot babes in all today’s posts.
Marketing strategy to attract readers? LOL, J/K

By: Jeff Puthuff

Jeff Puthuff — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:22:06 +0000

Did TTAC get a package deal at Cheerleader Stock Photos .com?

By: Ryan Knuckles

Ryan Knuckles — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:18:04 +0000

Or, you can be sensible. Taking an enormous loss on an SUV so you can afford that cutie-wootie new Corolla is just a knee-jerk reaction to high gas prices.
A better solution would be to keep your SUV as a back-up vehicle and buy a cheap, used, fuel efficient car. 15 year old Hondas are still dead-nuts reliable, get mid to upper 30MPGs, and will barely cost you $1000. As a matter of fact (as it has been stated on here) it is a prime time to buy that SUV that you have always wanted, just so long as you don’t plan to commute with it every day.

By: geeber

geeber — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:05:36 +0000

Frank Williams: First, “be your own salesperson.” Since dealerships don’t want SUVs and can’t sell what they have, seems sensible enough. Next, “price it right.” Just make sure you use chalk or pencil; values are still dropping like a stone thrown in a deep dark well.

I sure hope that these SUV owners are smarter than many homeowners have been…they are pricing their homes at “what they need to cover the mortgage” or “what it’s really worth” (which is usually based on prices valid in 2006).

Newsflash – potential buyers are under no obligation to help owners recover from bad financial decisions. If “what it’s worth” is less than “what you owe,” that is not their problem…

By: Stein X Leikanger

Stein X Leikanger — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:58:54 +0000

I gave mine away.

By: jayparry

jayparry — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:58:46 +0000

I thnk they just used ’skin’ on purpose ;)

By: SunnyvaleCA

SunnyvaleCA — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:58:43 +0000

Is there any truth to the adage “the best car salesmen are women”? Perhaps we can higher the one in the picture. That way, even if the vehicle still doesn’t sell the adventure won’t be a total loss after all.

By: improvement_needed

improvement_needed — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:51:56 +0000

did you use the redskins on purpose?