10 Cars Nobody Would Miss if They Vanished

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Look twice, I mean 3 times, no... four!!

GM's corporate structure allows them to feel that making 3 or 4 different vehicles off of 1 platform makes perfect business sense. Confused? Chevy Tahoe, GMC Yukon, and the Cadillac Escalade are prime examples. Need further proof? The Chevy Traverse, Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia, and the Saturn Outlook are unnecessary clones of each other. The term in some circles is called "badge engineering".

The auto industry is in need of a major rethink in their priorites when it comes to satisfying a broad customer base. For so many years, mommy needed to be safe in her giant Suddenly Useless Vehicle. Here in Texas, this seems to be the norm. I see these "hulking pieces of" being driven around with only one person in them. Sure, these cannot be filled to full capacity 100% of the time, but the priorities of car-buying consumers are also in need of a major rethink.

TOYOTA. There's a name I'm not crazy about. Bland styling and boring just ooze in abundance from these rolling appliances. Hell, why does this company need a total of 7 SUV's? Call them crossovers if you want; they are still SUV's to those who really know. They only call them crossovers because now the vehicles are based on a chassis of a car, not a truck like before.

Same stinking thing as before, just polished to make the car manufacturers compliant with US government mandates to increase their CAFE numbers and to reclassify these vehicles as passenger cars, thus forcing the OEM's to engineer these vehicles to pollute less than the "double pollution plus" trucks and body-on-frame SUV's.

Hrothgar of TX @ Oct 19, 2008 20:19:08 PM

Ten Cars Nobody Would Miss...

Should be fifty cars or some greater amount. There are so many cars cars and now so few being bought. The economy affects this list as well as the large amount of good used cars. .Too many choices. The factor affecting the list and surely adding to its growth is modern technology that enables us to have so many new types of cars in such a short time...crossovers, mini mcro ssovers suvs, big suvs, little suvs, almost suvs.

gene loeb of IL @ Oct 19, 2008 02:05:01 AM

I agree - buy used!

I'm 48 years old and have never bought a new car. Why take a 25 percent depreciation hit after just one year, while also paying more for insurance? Better to purchase a two- or three-year-old car with 15k to 50k on the odometer and save many thousands of dollars. Reliability, appearance and comfort are benefits that don't disappear after just a couple of years.

My 2001 Ford Taurus LX (a flexible fuel vehicle) has 130k on it and still runs great. I haven't had collision insurance or a car payment in years. Thank goodness, because with the property taxes I pay, I couldn't afford a bank note!

dolby2 of MI @ Oct 18, 2008 06:48:25 AM

Only buy used...

I sold my full-sized car and bought a 1993 Mazda Miata for daily commuting to work. Yes, it is a small 2-seater but I drive to work alone every day and wanted the best MPG I could get in a commuter car. I get 28 MPG in town and insurance is only $75/6 months, liability only. I love my little ragtop. I still have an SUV which I park most of the time and only drive on weekends when I have more than 1 person with me. Like Warren Buffett says, new cars are for chumps. Buy used and let someone else take the depreciation hit!

Swisskid of VA @ Oct 18, 2008 06:30:38 AM

Here's Why...

Perhaps the drop in new Mercury Marquis purchases is the fact that the vehicle doesn't wear out, therefore not much need for a new one.

It keeps it's luxury ride and classic looks for a very long time, while routinely racking up 21-25 mpg. My '95 Marquis has over 200K miles, and runs great.

Marquis Fan of TX @ Oct 17, 2008 12:19:19 PM

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Rick Newman

Rick Newman

The global economy is mysterious, even scary. Chief Business Correspondent Rick Newman connects the dots. In addition to his writing for U.S. News, Rick is the co-author of two books: Firefight: Inside the Battle to Save the Pentagon on 9/11, and Bury Us Upside Down: The Misty Pilots and the Secret Battle for the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

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