this article had me fuming

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(parrot_lady @ Jul 1 2006, 11:25 AM) [snapback]279679[/snapback]</div>

Anybody remember the expression " whistling past the graveyard"?

 

they cost $3000 to $5000 more... so come get a $50k luxury car that (in the case of the hummer) gets single-digit mpg while you're waiting for the next breakthrough that's decades away...

 

You might start to see more of this as the BIG 3 really can't compete with Honda & Toyota Hybrid vehicles So they will resort to politics ie. throw some mud & smear, to get better sales..

If you want to smear back, call a reporter/ columist and offer your prius to be used for a week so the can type a real example..

 

I just dropped Ron an e-mail. Told him I'm looking. Asked him what a H2's mpg is at 70 MPH. I thought it was nice of him to give us his e-mail address.

 

Sorry, I'm too busy checking the fan belt on my Prius that goes to the generator. Anybody know when that needs to be replaced?

Nate

 

"If you want to REALLY save gas and money, you still have to wait a few years" (ok, I paraphrased since I can't swipe the quote easily)

Yeah... like wait until, say, 1996 when they made the gas and oil-free EV1 that they have since destroyed? Ohhh. They mean wait "a few years" for the fuel cell vehicles. Yeah... that'll save some money. And "a few years" - does that mean model year 2009? At the rate the prices for fuel cells are dropping, the cars should only cost about $750,000 by then. Groovy. Next month you will be able to buy a high-performance EV that'll go 250 miles on a charge, do 0-60 in under four seconds, and cost $100k without subsidy.

But I'm sure it is best to wait for fuel cells. And drive an efficient Hummer or Cadillac in the meantime.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jim1eye @ Jul 1 2006, 05:16 PM) [snapback]279787[/snapback]</div>

Maybe we should ALL drop him a line to let him know where to look for his head. The article says his e-mail is: [email protected] (AOL! Figures!) I would suggest that you NOT mention you saw the article on Priuschat, no use in giving him access to more information he can distort.


P.S. I just sent my e-mail.

 

Dang, talk about all sorts of misinformation. Someone should also forward him this article: http://autos.msn.com/advice/CRArt.aspx?contentid=4023460 and mention that when CR tested the current gen Prius, they got 35 city/50 highway --> 44 mpg overall.

Funny thing of the Cadillacs and Hummers that CR tested and where they listed their MPG figures in the April 06 auto issue, Cadillacs range from 16-19 mpg (the Escalade, DTS and XLR weren't tested). CR didn't test the H2 but did test the more efficient H3 getting 14 mpg. Car and Driver tested the Escalade and got a whopping 11 mpg (http://www.caranddriver.com/roadtests/10890/road-test-review-2007-cadillac-escalade-page4.html).

(Not surprisingly) Not a single Cadillac has an EPA highway rating of higher than 27 mpg (lowest is 17) and the H3's is 19 w/an automatic.

He also omits some huge problems w/hydrogen right now: no infrastructure, cars currently WAY too expensive to make and the amount of energy needed to extract the hydrogen is WAY too large and much of that would need to come from burning fossil fuels.

Cadillac and Hummer a "best bet"? Right...

 

Gee people, it is a 'puff piece' advertisement...

Wonder what Mr. Goldman would say if he sold Toyotas?

In the San Diego area, there is a family that sells Toyotas on one lot and Fords on another; they take 'shots' at each other on the radio as a routine.

Which brings a question:

How many of us are swayed by advertizing, either print or electronic? Do you actually believe any of it?

 

...and this guy is waiting for a hydrogen powered car so he can save on gasoline? LOL

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(parrot_lady @ Jul 2 2006, 08:44 AM) [snapback]280052[/snapback]</div>

What I would do is get the columists email, post it here and let everyone else post what they paid & what they've saved and flood this persons email, that may get the truth out there in a second colum!!

 

Which brings a question:

How many of us are swayed by advertizing, either print or electronic? Do you actually believe any of it?
[/quote]
I believe not a word. Get my advertising pointers from current users of the product I am interested in. Can't even rely on 'independent sources' or tests since money talks.

Same goes for USA news. I don't even bother with anything coming from US sources anymore. Daily I go online and read foreign news translated into english. Any one source is suspect in my mind as US generated propaganda for overseas purposes. However, if articles in many languages are being written about a world event I feel a little better it's not just one writer's opinion. Besides, the world is not US-centric so I get a rounder education regarding lots of world issues not even addressed by US media.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(wstander @ Jul 2 2006, 05:05 AM) [snapback]280043[/snapback]</div>

You mean like, "you don't have to plug it in" instead of advertising, "you have to go to the gas station" ??

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Lil Mo @ Jul 2 2006, 06:10 AM) [snapback]280057[/snapback]</div>

Not *just* waiting... but driving an efficient Caddy or Hummer while he waits for that time when he can "really" save gas. I mean... why bother doing it half way for the next 20 years, right?

 

I consider this an act of desperation. Just how desperate? Enough to pay a consultant to write an article specifically designed to get people to buy GM products, then pay the paper to print it. What surprises me is that the paper did not identify it as an advertisement. It obviously is. The italic bio at the end indicates this guy is basically a car salesman at the dealership that is advertised in the lower right corner.

Am I angry? No. You'd have to be pretty stupid to swallow it. And anyone that stupid isn't going to be influenced by logic of facts; they've probably already made up their minds and anything like facts or logic would be dismissed as not conforming to the concept they have already embraced.

I think the giveaway is 'if you want to save oil, buy a hybrid, if you want to save money by a General Motors car.' I'm mean, if the author's arguement was valid, seems to me buying ANY car would do. Buy a cheap, small car that gets really good mileage...say....a Toyota Corolla? But no, you have to buy GM. Not only that, but a Cadillac or a Hummer. Because spending $4+,000 on a Caddy will save you more money than buying a $15,000 Corolla? How blatant and obvious is that?

This would be a great article to pick apart and discuss in a High School lit class. If it were me, I'd also add the math and make it an interdisciplinary unit.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusguy04 @ Jul 2 2006, 10:38 AM) [snapback]280098[/snapback]</div>

That's pointless. He's not a reporter or a columnist. He's a salesman at the Dealership. There isn't going to be a second column. If there is, it will be a rehash of the first and the end will still be "Buy GM: Cadillac/Hummer." It's an advertisement disguised as an article. Probably in some local Mall-type/Community newspaper.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusguy04 @ Jul 2 2006, 11:38 AM) [snapback]280098[/snapback]</div>

His e-mail is in the advertisement. it is <[email protected]>. I think we should ALL send him an e-mail thanking him for drawing attention to Hybrids. Even if he is clueless. Please explain to him the error of his ways. A math lesson would not be out of order, or perhaps an IQ test.