America has finally turned the corner....

[saxdiva]

I sure wish I saw SUV use dying out in my neighborhood, but so far the macho contingent seems determined to hang on to their... well, you know.

I'm sure I'll see less of them as they get reposessed...

[Rollo]

I wouldn't count SUVs out, I still need my Jeep to drag around my boat, camping, moving furniture, etc. My next SUV will be a hybrid something like the new '09 Saturn Vue with 250hp, 3500 lb towing capacity and gets roughly 24-32 mpg. I'm sure the demand for these will be huge. The Smart will be great for 80% of my driving, saving fuel and minimizing the mileage on the Jeep or future SUV. What I can't see is the single person driving an Excursion or Suburban type of vehicle to work every day. Hey, I'm just as bad driving the Jeep, but that will change in about a month.

[Rotary Roadster]

I think most Americans will come round to "small is beautiful" way of thinking and realize that changing driving habits will reap dividends financially. Most will probably end up owning a smart or similar small car for daily driving and then keep the SUV for irregular use and heavy shifting duty (boats, trailers etc.). There will always be idiots who want a huge SUV with 30" rims to flaunt a macho image in place of common sense but this is America and they are entitled to waste their money as they see fit.

What I think would make a difference to the environment would be a stringent annual car test. Much like the M.O.T in the UK which checks an entire car is road worthy every year. There are some real pieces of junk on the road here in San Diego belching out all shades of smoke from exhausts which are held on with a lot of duct tape and hope. How they pass emissions god only knows.

[rwjrn]

My other car is a CUV. I asked my roommate to drive it to work the other day so the battery wouldn't die.

[nprsmart]

Originally Posted by BobDiaz

By the way not only are sales of smaller high millage cars up, but scooters have a 3 - 6 month waiting list.

Bob Diaz

Not my style, but I saw a very nice pink scooter yesterday... The 20 something redhead driving it was cute too.... in sharp contrast to the retirees we generally see tooling around on scooters in this area.

I've seen more scooters in the last six months than ever before.

[BigWarpGuy]

I have read that the sale of scooters of gone way up while the sale of motorcycles have stayed the same. Perhaps it because scooters get excellent gas mileage and cost way less than motorcycles. I also read that they are easier to ride since they have a place for ones feet and have auto trans. There is a group at Yahoo hoping to create a cross between a car and a scooter called cabin scooters; all weather scooters.

[mdfortwoguy]

I'm still keeping my SUV around... then again, it is a 4 cylinder/5 speed that gets 30 MPG on the highway.

[Fowvay]

I gotta admit that the recent drop in resale values have made picking up an SUV a very attractive proposition. I know it's stupid and I don't really need one but... I enjoy going big pimpin' now and then too.

[saxdiva]

Originally Posted by BigWarpGuy

I have read that the sale of scooters of gone way up while the sale of motorcycles have stayed the same. Perhaps it because scooters get excellent gas mileage and cost way less than motorcycles. I also read that they are easier to ride since they have a place for ones feet and have auto trans.

My "other car" is a Yamaha Vino 125. Gets about 90mpg and is just as much fun to drive as the smart.

[rwjrn]

Those cabin scooters look similar to the Carver which is already out in Europe, but is taking longer than expected to make it ready for the North American market. (sound familiar?)
Carver

YouTube - top gear carver

YouTube - top gear carver

I signed up for one of these too.