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smart142

Good riddance to those SUVs

5 posts in this topic

31/07/2009

Maybe the US car industry is collectively still wondering why it has gone to the wall, why no one wants its outrageous 6-litre monster machines which belch down the freeways drinking petrol like it was fizzy cola. If this really is the case, if General Motors still wonders how its Cadillac Escalade six-bedroomed home on wheels has driven it down the road to bankruptcy, it needs look no further than the US Government's 'cash for clunkers' plan, which has ploughed through the $1 billion reserved for it in just one week. The money was supposed to last until November.

The plan allowed for car owners to claim $4,500 back when they traded in an old car with a fuel efficiency rating of 18 miles per gallon (or less, presumably, like 10mpg perhaps) for something with an efficiency rating at least four miles per gallon better. That means they would be getting a new car with an MPG of 22 mpg, which is preposterous in the UK but in the US, hey, it's a start.

The motoring public of the US didn't need any further incentive - they've been positively qeueing up to rid themselves of their SUV beasts.

And now the cash has run out, leaving more than a few car owners no doubt rueing the day they ever took a shine to their giants with the driver's seat armrests.

To make matters worse, the next release of cash is expected to be accompanied by a ruling that drivers must trade their cars in for something even more fuel efficient, which will probably bring them down to something powered by a 3-litre engine. What will the poor citizens do without their armchair driving positions?

Incidentally, I'm aware that the picture is of a Cadillac Escalade Hybrid which is reported to offer a 25 per cent fuel saving, which means it now does 20 mpg in the city and 21mpg on the freeway. That's worse than a V8 Range Rover, which I guess is considered a small car in the US.

Posted by Graham Hutson

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Source.

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The dealers accepting the 'clunker' have to do a really nasty operation to the motor;

1. drain the oil and dispose of in a clean manner.

2. pour in a 60% silica - water mixture (powdered glass)

3. run the engine until it stalls, (usually 2 to 7 minutes) the water evaporates and the glass powder grinds all internals to a halt.

4. try to restart, if it does, (next to no chance) they start the process again.

5. tag the motor describing how the internal damage is extensive and not correctable

There is a clip of this procedure on YouTube, a recent model Volvo screaming to a painful demise.

Parts car only after this, the idea of the program is to get those polluting motors off the road, not sell them back to the used market to have them spew more junk into the air.

Edited by B Tisshaw

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Not all SUV's are bad.I like the smaller ones! They can still pull a smaller trailer, and get reasonable milage.To bad you can't buy small suv's with diesel engines in Canada.

Edited by PrairieBoy

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I tried riding a mountain bike with full suspension and knobblies on asphalt a couple of weeks ago and it was horrific, like trying to write a letter with balloons on your hands. Kind of what I feel like when I get a Mercedes SUV as a loaner "car" ;) Though the new GLK has stupid-low profile tires, to make it even more useless off-road....That clunker decommissioning process sounds like fun! Kind of like the French car destruction they did down there when the "Coalition of the Willing" did not include Chirac's France (and most countries) and there were some "Bash a French Car" events at county fairs. I don't know where they managed to find the cars, LOL! Freedom Fries forever!

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