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Swapping SUVS for smaller cars, regular fuel
DAVID IVANOVICH and DAVID KAPLAN
Houston Chronicle
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Houston-Jaime Rodriguez is borrowing his brother's Nissan Xterra for his sales runs because his own Chevy Tahoe costs too much to drive.
Milton Jordan is giving up those Sunday jaunts.
And while Ted Luna still cruises around in his Chevy Suburban, he's forking over $60 a pop to fill up the tank -- and struggling to pay for it.
"That means I've got to make more money somehow," Luna said.
With prices at the pump topping $2 a gallon, Houston motorists are scrambling to adjust. They're trading in sport utility vehicles for more fuel-efficient cars, skipping premium-grade fuel in favor of regular unleaded and cutting corners where they can.
Prices at Houston-area gas stations hit a new high of $1.87 a gallon Tuesday for regular unleaded, while premium pushed up to $2.04 a gallon. Nationwide, regular unleaded broke through the $2 threshold.
While today's prices are shattering records, they remain a far cry from the real cost of filling up back in 1981. Adjusted for inflation, gas prices back then were averaging the equivalent of $2.99 a gallon, noted Dave Costello, an analyst with the Energy Information Administration.
But that doesn't make today's pain any less real -- executives at retail giant Wal-Mart say consumers' buying power has dropped by $7 a week because of the higher fuel prices.
And some motorists are downsizing their vehicles to save money.
"We've experienced a lot of people trading in SUVs for passenger cars or cars with better mileage," said Nate Murphy, general sales manager for Munday Chevrolet.
Nationwide, sales of the larger SUVs were down 4.7 percent in April, Wards Automotive reported.
Instead, motorists are picking smaller SUVs built on car platforms, known in the industry as "crossover utility vehicles" or CUVs. Sales of these vehicles were up 13.3 percent in April.
And car buyers are getting on waiting lists to buy the new hybrid vehicles, which -- thanks to their combination of a traditional internal combustion engine and an electric motor -- get substantially better gas mileage. Take the Toyota Prius, for example, which boasts 55 miles to the gallon for combined city and highway driving. That's four times the fuel efficiency of some of the larger SUVs.
Of course, fuel economy isn't the only reason consumers pick specific models. Many consumers find crossovers easier to drive and park than the larger SUVs, while hybrids are popular in some communities because motorists can drive them without passengers in high occupancy vehicle lanes -- although that isn't the case in Houston.
But gas mileage is certainly on Houston motorists' minds.
At a Mobil station near the Galleria, where regular unleaded was selling for $1.96 Monday and premium was going for $2.16, Jordan was filling up his Toyota Previa van.
Jordan and his wife are talking about buying a smaller car as early as next month, because they plan to drive to Dallas frequently this summer.
Laura Fallin, a residential real estate agent, was there filling up her Infiniti I30 with premium gas. Rising gas prices have her thinking about replacing the Infiniti with a car that has similar luxury and uses regular gas.
With desire for large SUVs on the wane, auto dealers are getting creative. Munday Chevrolet, for example, has offered this deal: Buy a TrailBlazer, Tahoe or Suburban and the dealer will buy the gas for three years.
But for most motorists, buying a new car is not an option.
Rodriguez, a liquor company representative whose route can take him from Spring 65 miles south to Texas City on a given day, decided he couldn't afford to rack up the miles on his Tahoe.
"How many SUVs do you see on the road?" Rodriguez asked. "I guarantee every one of (those drivers) is complaining. It's crazy."
Full Article Here
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DAVID IVANOVICH and DAVID KAPLAN
Houston Chronicle
Houston-Jaime Rodriguez is borrowing his brother's Nissan Xterra for his sales runs because his own Chevy Tahoe costs too much to drive.
Milton Jordan is giving up those Sunday jaunts.
And while Ted Luna still cruises around in his Chevy Suburban, he's forking over $60 a pop to fill up the tank -- and struggling to pay for it.
"That means I've got to make more money somehow," Luna said.
With prices at the pump topping $2 a gallon, Houston motorists are scrambling to adjust. They're trading in sport utility vehicles for more fuel-efficient cars, skipping premium-grade fuel in favor of regular unleaded and cutting corners where they can.
Prices at Houston-area gas stations hit a new high of $1.87 a gallon Tuesday for regular unleaded, while premium pushed up to $2.04 a gallon. Nationwide, regular unleaded broke through the $2 threshold.
While today's prices are shattering records, they remain a far cry from the real cost of filling up back in 1981. Adjusted for inflation, gas prices back then were averaging the equivalent of $2.99 a gallon, noted Dave Costello, an analyst with the Energy Information Administration.
But that doesn't make today's pain any less real -- executives at retail giant Wal-Mart say consumers' buying power has dropped by $7 a week because of the higher fuel prices.
And some motorists are downsizing their vehicles to save money.
"We've experienced a lot of people trading in SUVs for passenger cars or cars with better mileage," said Nate Murphy, general sales manager for Munday Chevrolet.
Nationwide, sales of the larger SUVs were down 4.7 percent in April, Wards Automotive reported.
Instead, motorists are picking smaller SUVs built on car platforms, known in the industry as "crossover utility vehicles" or CUVs. Sales of these vehicles were up 13.3 percent in April.
And car buyers are getting on waiting lists to buy the new hybrid vehicles, which -- thanks to their combination of a traditional internal combustion engine and an electric motor -- get substantially better gas mileage. Take the Toyota Prius, for example, which boasts 55 miles to the gallon for combined city and highway driving. That's four times the fuel efficiency of some of the larger SUVs.
Of course, fuel economy isn't the only reason consumers pick specific models. Many consumers find crossovers easier to drive and park than the larger SUVs, while hybrids are popular in some communities because motorists can drive them without passengers in high occupancy vehicle lanes -- although that isn't the case in Houston.
But gas mileage is certainly on Houston motorists' minds.
At a Mobil station near the Galleria, where regular unleaded was selling for $1.96 Monday and premium was going for $2.16, Jordan was filling up his Toyota Previa van.
Jordan and his wife are talking about buying a smaller car as early as next month, because they plan to drive to Dallas frequently this summer.
Laura Fallin, a residential real estate agent, was there filling up her Infiniti I30 with premium gas. Rising gas prices have her thinking about replacing the Infiniti with a car that has similar luxury and uses regular gas.
With desire for large SUVs on the wane, auto dealers are getting creative. Munday Chevrolet, for example, has offered this deal: Buy a TrailBlazer, Tahoe or Suburban and the dealer will buy the gas for three years.
But for most motorists, buying a new car is not an option.
Rodriguez, a liquor company representative whose route can take him from Spring 65 miles south to Texas City on a given day, decided he couldn't afford to rack up the miles on his Tahoe.
"How many SUVs do you see on the road?" Rodriguez asked. "I guarantee every one of (those drivers) is complaining. It's crazy."
Full Article Here
