Buyers remorse after trading to small cars...

[vwW12]

I must say, we love our smart convertible after 6 months of ownership, and unlike the people below, can't complain. On the other hand, we did keep a heavy sedan for long trips and airport pickups!

NOVEMBER 5, 2008
Small-Car Buyers' Big Regrets
By JONATHAN WELSH
Fran MacDonald got better fuel economy and maneuverability in traffic when she downsized from her Buick sedan to a tiny Chevrolet Aveo. But the small car was noisier and didn't ride as smoothly. And then there were the hand-crank windows.

"I was driving with my mother, and she asked me to put the window down," Ms. McDonald says. "When I told her she'd have to do it herself, she said, 'Well, I don't see a button.' "

While large vehicles often come with a lot of creature comforts built in, compacts tend to be basic, even stripped-down. Ms. MacDonald's Aveo has manual locks. While getting back to automotive basics was part of her plan, she says she misses the Buick's "power everything."

"I really miss my CD player," she adds.

This year's record-high fuel prices drove some consumers to switch to smaller vehicles. Now, as fuel prices have pulled back, many are rediscovering some of the reasons they bought big cars and sport-utility vehicles in the first place.

Perhaps the biggest draw for large vehicles: comfort. Having wide, soft seats to accommodate the ever-growing American physique and space to stash briefcases, totes and handbags has changed from a luxury feature to one drivers take for granted. And as people spend more time in their vehicles, they have come to crave the sense of safety, privacy and insulation that come with larger vehicles.

Sometimes what seems like a small downgrade can lead to big regrets. Blake Schomas traded his 2002 Chevrolet Suburban, an SUV with room for eight, for a relatively fuel-efficient Chrysler Pacifica. The Pacifica is big, but it carries two fewer passengers than the Suburban and cannot tow as much.

"I kind of regret the decision to get rid of the Suburban, which had a lot to do with the price of fuel," says Mr. Schomas, a marketing manager in Hudson, Wis. While his Pacifica's fuel economy beats the old truck's by as much as 40%, the new vehicle seems downright small compared with the Suburban. The big problem is that its third-row seat takes up what would otherwise be room for cargo.

"We have two kids, and if one of them wants to bring a friend, our storage space is reduced to nothing," says Mr. Schomas. It also lacks the bigger truck's "family room" comfort, he says.

Even though average gasoline prices have fallen from a peak of $4.05 a gallon in July to about $2.40 -- dropping about 26 cents in the past week alone -- the broad move to smaller cars is still going strong. Sales of compact cars like the Honda Fit, Nissan Versa and Toyota Yaris have risen 28% through the end of September compared with the same period last year. Midsize cars like the top-selling Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Chevrolet Malibu are flat. Nearly every other segment of the auto market is declining, with large SUVs down 36%.

Still, some industry experts point out that relatively few motorists are making extreme changes, such as trading in their Chevrolet Suburban for a Smart car. After all, switching vehicles is costly, especially for people trying to unload an undesirable gas guzzler with depressed trade-in value. And with real-estate, credit and other financial markets faltering, high gasoline prices aren't necessarily the biggest problem on consumers' minds.

Some families with two SUVs are replacing one with a smaller car while keeping the other for trips that require a lot of space, says Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with IHS Global Insight, a research company in Lexington, Mass. In many cases, she says, it takes a while for drivers to discover the downside of ditching the four-wheel-drive truck for a frugal compact.

"A lot of people who like their small cars haven't gone through a winter with them yet," Ms. Lindland says.

Driving in harsh winter weather can be more harrowing in small cars because they can feel less stable and secure on snow-covered roads. Less ground clearance means their undersides scrape in a few inches of snow. This also compromises traction, making them harder to control and more likely to get stuck.

Ms. Lindland says she experienced these problems herself a few years ago after trading in her Chevrolet Trailblazer for a BMW Mini. She now drives a BMW X3 SUV.

Phil Gott, one of her colleagues, got rid of a fuel-hungry Dodge Durango and bought a compact Mazda 3 two years ago when gasoline reached $3 a gallon. Recently his wife wanted to take a trip with their daughter and four of her friends, but neither the Mazda nor their other car, a Dodge Neon, had enough room.

"They wound up taking my collector car -- a 1974 Chrysler Imperial," he says. The enormous sedan, with bench seats in front and back, easily accommodates six passengers. "It probably wasn't legal, though," Mr. Gott quips.

A 500-mile-a-week commute convinced Jolie Morris of Wasilla, Alaska, and her husband to trade their 2006 Dodge Ram 3500 pickup for a Honda Civic. The switch cut their fuel bill by more than half. Still, Ms. Morris misses the truck.

"I miss the bigness of it, which makes you feel safer. Plus, it was fun to drive and it sounded great," she says of the rig, which guzzled $600 of diesel fuel each month. The small, fuel-efficient Honda simply makes more sense.

"It was a case of need versus want," she says.

[Dunerunner]

She should have bought a smart Passion Coupe. Big car goodies with the economic benefits of a small car!

[xcrew229x]

I'm thoroughly not understanding how a grown-up, thinking person would not know there are going to be trade-offs when going from a land based ocean liner to a motorboat. It's not the car's fault.........

[Orphan-Beggar]

Originally Posted by vwW12

Small-Car Buyers' Big Regrets
By Jonathan Welsh
"I was driving with my mother, and she asked me to put the window down," Ms. McDonald says. "When I told her she'd have to do it herself, she said, 'Well, I don't see a button.' ROLL DOWN THE WINDOW!
"I really miss my CD player," she adds. BUY A CD PLAYER!
"I kind of regret the decision to get rid of the Suburban, which had a lot to do with the price of fuel," says Mr. Schomas, a marketing manager in Hudson, Wis. While his Pacifica's fuel economy beats the old truck's by as much as 40%, the new vehicle seems downright small compared with the Suburban. The big problem is that its third-row seat takes up what would otherwise be room for cargo.
"We have two kids, and if one of them wants to bring a friend, our storage space is reduced to nothing," says Mr. Schomas. It also lacks the bigger truck's "family room" comfort, he says. FAMILY ROOM ON WHEELS?
....relatively few motorists are making extreme changes, such as trading in their Chevrolet Suburban for a Smart car. HOW WOULD THIS WRITER KNOW?
Some families with two SUVs are replacing one with a smaller car while keeping the other for trips that require a lot of space
"A lot of people who like their small cars haven't gone through a winter with them yet," Ms. Lindland says.
Driving in harsh winter weather can be more harrowing in small cars because they can feel less stable and secure on snow-covered roads. Less ground clearance means their undersides scrape in a few inches of snow. This also compromises traction, making them harder to control and more likely to get stuck. BUY A SNOWPLOW!
A 500-mile-a-week commute convinced Jolie Morris of Wasilla, Alaska, and her husband to trade their 2006 Dodge Ram 3500 pickup for a Honda Civic. The switch cut their fuel bill by more than half. Still, Ms. Morris misses the truck. WASILLA?
"I miss the bigness of it, which makes you feel safer. Plus, it was fun to drive and it sounded great," she says of the rig, which guzzled $600 of diesel fuel each month. PUKE!

with EDITS

[forestacademy]

I wonder if there is a direct correlation between Americas Love affair with Big vehicles and the introduction of the McMansion. As Americans we don’t go out and decide how much house we need for our shrinking family size, we looked at how much house the Bank would let us have. If it is only a couple with plans to have one or two kids, and the bank tells us we can afford the McMansion we go for it. We like SPACE. We equate space with luxury and success. We laugh at those who are stuck in a “starter house.”

What had not occurred to most folks was the extra cost of purchasing that large spacious house. Now I have extra rooms to decorate, and redecorate as the kids grow. There is that much more house to be taxed as property values went up, not the tax rates will have to go up as property values go down because our municipalities have gotten so accustomed to growing budgets. Now the biggest hit in the family budgets with these big houses is the growing cost of energy.

As this was happening in our American culture our love affair for the car grew because we had moved out of the city to accommodate our growing need for space in our homes. Suburban sprawl has pushed us to feeling we need more space in our cars as well.


Then Chrysler came up with the MiniVan with room for the soccer team. But manly men fearing what the neighbors think insisted it was not for them, Then along came the SUV to fill the need of equal space as the minivan (if not less) but without the MOM implication.


Now with the credit crunch / economic down turn perhaps folks will be forced into smaller homes (right sized home) and the cars will follow. We need to right size our cars. Lets stop making sure we have enough room for that once a year trip that requires the extra space. In case you haven’t rented a car lately car rentals will usually “upgrade” you to an SUV because all the small cars are gone. So if you need that extra space once or twice a year rent it. You will probably have saved much more money in gas than that rental will cost you, not to mention lower car payments.


In conclusion of my ramble, Down size your house to the size you need not want or the most you can afford. Down size your cars to what you need. Save energy, save on payments, save on taxes, have extra money to pay off your credit cards, save money so your kids can go to a good school, and help save our natural resources. You manhood is not defined by how big your stuff is.

If you still want luxury, the auto makers have provided up models of many compact cars, but do we need to have our cup holders chill and heat our beverages , are we to lazy to turn our own wipers when it rains, and do you really need a car that parks itself.

[grwhitaker]

I guess none of the people quoted have ever heard of renting a large vehicle for those two or three times of year that they may need one... and it is a whole lot cheaper than the payment, gas, insurance, and maintenance on a large vehicle. I especially liked the guy who complained that the Pacifica was "smaller" than his Suburban. Isn't that like saying a 32 ft. trailer is smaller than an 40 ft one???

[SmartAzz]

Yep, you can always rent for the occasional time you need a bigger vehicle. But all the all I find the comments pretty silly, smaller does not nec mean less options at all, apparently those people just cheaped out and/or just like the feeling of piloting a land barge.