Would you take advantage of a one-time massive auto incentive?

[LordLovesAWorkingMan]

Another post got me to thinking about personal finance and notions of ecological responsibility. My question is simple:
If a one-time 50% discount were applied to American gas-burning new vehicles, would you buy one?

[lectrobyte]

1. Uh, hybrids do burn gas. There are some folks who've converted

them to plug-in operation, but it's a do-it-yourself expensive proposition for now.

[LordLovesAWorkingMan]

2. picky, picky

OK, fine: vehicles that ONLY burn gas.

[lectrobyte]

4. Sorry, I drive a hybrid myself, and I'm very surprised by the number

of folks who ask about plugging it in. Even though you get better mileage, all of the energy is coming from gasoline. E85 might be a good question to ask about, too, I'm surprised by the strong split I see here on that.

[SmokingJacket]

3. No. I only drive used cars.

Maybe one day when new cars are even more environmentally responsible, I'll change my mind.

[LordLovesAWorkingMan]

5. huh?

New cars emit far fewer pollutants than cars from the 70's and 80's...how is a used car any more environmentally responsible?

[SmokingJacket]

12. No, I know my used car is not as responsible... but it's CHEEP.

I'd be willing to go into major debt if the car had no emissions -- but not until then.

Also, full disclosure: my husband and I walk to work and my kids walk to school. I don't depend on a car except for groceries and errands and rare travel. It would be madness to buy even a half-price new car.

My ten-year-old volvo is a solid old thing, hauls the groceries and takes us to the beach once a year. I would consider buying a hybrid or whatever someday.

[Taoschick]

7. I stopped

Buying new cars when I moved to NM.

I've got property out in the middle of nowhere that can only be accessed by very poorly maintained county roads. They beat the hell out of a vehicle's suspension. I've got a couple of very robust older Jeeps that handle the roads adequately. Why would I blow thousands of dollars on a new untested vehicle?

[datasuspect]

9. you can fix the hell out of older jeeps too

without having to take them in all the time.

[Taoschick]

11. I was

Driving back to Georgia to visit family a couple of years ago and I experienced a catastrophic rear main seal blowout somewhere in Oklahoma in the middle of the night. No leaks, no warning...it just went. I limped it back to Georgia and had a new straight 6 put in. One of the guys working on the Jeep was just ecstatic. He always wanted to work on a vehicle older than he was. :D Other than that, I've never had a problem with it.

[datasuspect]

8. a one or two year old car

is wayyyyyyyyyy cheaper than a brand new one off the dealer floor. it's the same car, often with minor modifications or body styling/trim changes/additions/deletions.

program cars, demos are the best way to go.

you have to be careful though, as a large quantity of cars come off the rental market. still, in the event of a GM vehicle, they have to be certified before they are sold. and they actually do inspect the vehicle's mechanical systems in that process.

a gm dealer buys a percentage of used inventory from online GM auctions.

so, you have for example an 05 chevy impala that gets picked up for 6500 at dealer wholesale. the dealer will sell that vehicle around 13,500 or 14 ish (with about 20 - 30l\k miles). depending on the customer, a dealer can get as much as 17,500 (or as high as 20k on the back end).

knowing what these things are WORTH will save you money. you will never know what the dealer actually has in the vehicle and you will probably NEVER get wholesale, but you can make the price a little better by going in with your own funding.

anyone who still buys NEW cars needs to have their heads examined.

[Kickoutthejams23]

6. Actually I'd either buy a Solstice or a Chrysler 300

Still shopping around. Have zero interest in mini-vans. I'm a single guy.

[liberalmuse]

10. I'd buy a Smart car w/a Diesel II engine...

and then make my own biodeisel. I don't know if/when the Smart car will be available in the States, never mind the make with a deisel engine (which I believe is available in the U.K. and maybe even Canada right now).

[EC]

13. I voted other

any fossil fueled auto now would be a waste of money...just finish using up what I have now and two years or so down the line buy a new alternate fuel auto (not corn) save that 50% to put on the new one then...

[Tesha]

14. No, there is no American brand I would consider buying.

(Assuming the question meant: "Non-hybrid gas-burning vehicle
manufactured by GM, Ford, or Chrysler or domestic divisions
thereof...)

My answer would have to be "NO, there is no 'American' brand
I would consider buying, no matter how inexpensive the vehicle
was to purchase."

GM products, with the possible exception of Saturn, just
disgust me. I sit in them and the bad design makes me
want to vomit. I wonder how much damage they've done to
SAAB since acquiring it?

I like Chrysler products, but they have proven to me more
than once to be the least reliable of all the cars I've
ever owned, whether in-warranty or out of warranty. It's
like they have an endless supply of "infant mortality"
problems.

Fords are boring but okay. Poor human factors design in
the cockpit, though.

Really, if it weren't for the blind patriotism of middle
Americans and vast fleet purchases by rental car agencies
and local governments, I think all of the (former) "Big
Three" would have gone mufflers-up decades ago.

Tesha

[TheWraith]

15. Couldn't afford it even with a discount.

The pricing on cars these days is insane. Out here in the boonies, nobody but the rich people have new cars. Relatively rich, that is--they're nowhere near really rich, but well off enough to buy Hummers and not worry about the cost.

If I could afford it, yes, I'd probably take advantage of a deal like that. I'd choose something that was efficient, but for reasons of maintainence cost more than concern about ecology. I've long since come to grips with the fact that I can be as efficient as I like, recycle my paper and plastic, etcetera, but it doesn't make a difference in the big picture unless millions of others do it too.

[lutefisk]

16. Well, if they still made the Ford Excursion with the V-10 engine...

Just kidding. I honestly would not buy any new American car. I have driven and owned enough vehicles to have a strong preference for Japanese vehicles (though they may be manufactured in the US).

There are many "foreign" models that employ more American workers in their production than many "American" models (made in Mexico, for example). I'm looking for a vehicle right now- and no, a scooter just won't work for my family- and maybe half of the foreign models I've looked at are actually made in the US, employing American workers.