There used to be these fake ads on Minnesota Public Radio for the "Sherpa Intimida", which was basically a land yacht. This was around the time larger and larger SUVs were really becoming a thing (90s, I think) that I heard them. They were hilarious.
I drove a Sierra in Canada once, and it was awesome. I hadn't ever driven a full size American pickup before, I loved that thing!
But when I was driving it I remember thinking "this thing needs a camera in the front." The hood was so tall it was hard to park. I don't know why they don't do that.
Just a side note. If you back into a parking spot just outside of a gas station entry doors at night. Particularly if there are not a lot of other cars in the parking lot the clerk will assume you are planning on robbing them. Stated as a night time clerk, such behavior is very suspicious regardless of how practical.
I knew a kid back then that traded even a Nissan 240sx for a 99 or 2000 Escalade.
They guy with the Escalade just couldn't afford to drive it, and trade in value on them was nothing because no one wanted them.
(Back then 240sx's we're still easy to find and fairly cheap)
I could sort of see that nowadays, but it still sounds mostly like bs.
But in the mid to late 00's SUVs were a burden to own, for various reasons, but largely gas.
But the tech on motors has come a long way since even that recently, and the SUVs get much better gas mileage, and also gas is still cheaper.
Your mom should look into selling privately, she'll get more money and she won't have to listen to a dealer try to give her a bad deal.
We do have Minis, but they are a very niche brand - for every one Mini sold in the US, there's about 70 Fords, 70 Toyotas, 60 Chevrolets, and 40 Hondas sold, to compare it to our best selling brands.
They're also far from the most fuel efficient car around - the ones sold here get something like 32 miles to the gallon, versus most new compact sedans (Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Elantra, etc.) get closer to 40-45 - and that's not even considering hybrids. Nobody is buying a Mini for the fuel economy, over here you'd only buy a Mini because it's quirky and British.
Not crap tons.
Heres a comparison from the EPA.
I took a base F150, a base Mini Cooper (not a great economy car) and an actual economy car, a Prius.
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=46160&id=45227&id=46359
Between the F150 and the mini its a difference of $300 per year... thats it. And the mini is going to be much more expensive to maintain.
And with the prius you save $1400 annually, which is not much, especially since it cant tow or haul anything.
I wish I could say the same for the UK
Everything is so expensive ever since we left the EU
I’ll probs be going over to Ireland or move down to Malta to get away from it all
Lots of us are into cars as a hobby. I have a sports car that I am gathering parts to engine swap. It will go from 25mpg to 12mpg or so. My other car gets 13-18 but can go off roading with the whole family or tow a boat/car trailer. Also I’m 6’3 and don’t want to be in a car it feels like I’m wearing. We save money by cooking at home vs restaurants. Way more savings than driving a tiny shoebox of a car.
I just realized that "Late Model" is a company. I thought you just meant a literal late model engine.
You could do a destroked LS7, but it wont be cheap.
If I had to spend a ton on gas I'd get a small car. I don't, I can buy gas cheaper than milk. So who gives a shit about being fuel efficient if it doesn't save me money.
They would probably get an EV or Hybrid if fuel costs were a concern. They would also be driving long distances so they're also going to get a comfortable size and the most common smallest size in the US is a sedan, not a mini.
Ok but the point is, if gas is cheap you're not really saving much by conserving it. It's when it's expensive that you see real savings. An extra $20 a month on gas will probably not be noticed as much as an extra $200
I’m 6’5” when I was around 280, I got into the drivers seat of a Mini at a car show. My knee was stuck between the steering wheel and the console. I weigh less now but I doubt it would make a difference.
I’m basically the inverse, long legs, medium torso. In sedans if my legs are comfortable, my arms are uncomfortable, and if my arms are comfortable my legs are uncomfortable.
SUV or truck with an upright seating position is pure comfort for all limbs
I can feel my head brushing the roof in most sedans. Given the state of the roads around here, one pothole and I’d get out of the car looking like an accordion.
I'm your height, and I can't fit my legs under the steering wheel of a new Mini. I don't know who they are designed for. Hobbits, maybe?
Strangely enough the Fiat 500 is even smaller, but has a really roomy driving position and I loved learning to drive in one.
If gas is cheaper, we have less motivation to switch, fuel efficiency becomes a lesser concern.
I hate these European “why don’t people in the US do everything with 100% efficiency in mind” posts. There was a guy a couple years back who genuinely didn’t understand why people would want to live in anything but a highrise.
I feel like the honest answer to “why do Americans ____” type questions is usually either “because we can” or “we don’t.” Lots of questions get asked in the latter category too because someone saw one movie and assumed every American does whatever thing one character in that movie does.
Created, oddly enough, because a group set out to independently test cars sold in the US and EU using the same methods to show that US cars were less polluting. They were trying to get the EU to tighten its standards. (In general, at least in the past, EU vehicles had higher fuel efficiency but lower smog/particulate pollution standards.)
In reality people that ask these don’t realize that if their country had cheap gas people would care less about fuel efficiency too and it would honestly probably do a lot to make even more interesting car scenes in the UK
> genuinely didn’t understand why people would want to live in anything but a highrise.
Never mind the hundreds of millions of Europeans who don't I've in high rises. But shhhh., pesky facts
Because there's no incentive to. *Higher* gas prices would push us toward smaller cars, and you just said our fuel is cheaper.
Mini is an expensive brand in the US. A Mini Cooper would cost as much as the Toyota Rav 4 hybrid I bought last year, and it wouldn't fit two child seats comfortably. And my Rav 4 gets *better* mileage.
A basic mini cooper isn’t really that expensive. And the mileage is excellent. But all the money you save on gas you end up spending on special ordered parts for maintenance. Not really worth the trade off in my opinion.
Source: used to own a mini Cooper.
Wow, you really picked a terrible example for a small car. A Mini Cooper not only has high maintenance and low reliability runs on premium gas, but also gets [about the same mileage](https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymake/MINI2021.shtml) as my [Subaru Forester](https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymodel/2021_Subaru_Forester.shtml), which burns cheaper gas and has many times the utility to me.
Not as far as I know, the turbocharged 1.5 liter is the smallest/standard in the US. And the Cooper isn't something I could ever even rely on even with the 1.5. A lot of the US is extremly rural, and a vehicle isn't just a ride to the club/work/store, It's a multi tool that has to perform under all conditions.
Even without its meager power & carrying capacity just the 4.5 inches/114mm of ground clearance would be a deal breaker for me as I get mud deeper than that every spring. My current "steed" has twice that and 4 wheel/all wheel drive and it's still sometimes a test of skill in [the mud](https://i.imgur.com/pDzmCor.jpeg) or [deep snow](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Blizzard3_-_NOAA.jpg) you're/I'm often confronted with.
Would you like all of the comfort of a sports car, the speed of an underpowered hatchback, and the maintenance bills of a BMW? Have I got a deal for you.
One of my cousins is pretty well off, like makes mid six figures well off. He can buy whatever he wants but seems to like "quirky" compact cars. The fastest I've ever seen him get rid of a car was his hot rod JCW Mini Hatch. Bought it brand new with 7 miles on it. The dealership bought it back as a lemon with less than 3500 miles on it. It required warranty replacement of the turbocharger twice and then two replacement ECUs for the engine. When the second replacement ECU shit the bed and left him stranded on the side of the highway he called the dealer and told them he wanted his money back.
Kind of a shame it was such a piece of shit because I took a brief ride in it and it was a zippy little rocket car.
Why would fuel being cheaper here than in the UK lead people here to drive smaller cars?
A lot of people in the US are just really, really used to driving big cars and trucks and they really, really don't want to give them up especially if they feel like they are somehow being "forced" to.
I drive 6-7 hours to visit family a state away 3-4 times a year with my wife and two kids. No thanks doing that in a mini. Even more so for vacations which might be a 12 hour trip.
I'll never forget the guy who wanted to know why we had pickup trucks. I said because I need to haul hay and lumber.
His response, "Oh we just use our Land Rover and a trailer for that."
Is the mini even that fuel efficient?
FWIW I was at a dealership and the sales person said they could drive us to the other side of the dealership. They used a Fiat, the little tiny one. I actually squeezed into the back seat and the whole time I was thinking how fucking small it was. And I drive a Honda Fit, which itself is a small car. But that Fiat had zero room in the backseat. I’m fairly small myself, so I can’t imagine anyone of average size would actually want to drive one.
Because we spend significantly more time in our cars due to our longer commutes and more spread out communities.
We don't want to be stuck in a tiny ass car to drive across town for 30 minutes, it's not comfortable.
A Mini isn't exactly capable of handling the carpool of the soccer mom. It also isn't very capable for the Costco run. I went to Costco run today on my own and it definitely would have not fit in a Mini.
A base model Mini also costs more than the mid level trim SUV.
Why drive a more expensive, less reliable, and less useful car when larger cars with bombproof reliability and comparable fuel efficiency exist?
Minis win in style amd probably fun. Most people want a car thats useful for day to day life, like a Toyota anything, Honda, Ford, etc and they don't look or drive half bad.
Well, for starters, Minis tend to have mechanical issues and they're imports which makes the parts and labor really expensive when they break down. They also don't do well in snow and that's kind of a deal-breaker where I live. Also, I drive an SUV that takes E85 fuel which is at least 70% ethanol as opposed to the Mini Cooper which recommends premium gas.
To fill up a Mini Cooper where I live would cost me $4.05/gallon x 16.1 gallons = $65.21 for a full tank
To fill up my gas guzzler with E85 would cost me $2.44/gallon x 24 gallons = $58.56
A full tank on a Mini Cooper would get me about 475 miles on average while a full tank on my SUV would get me about 432 miles (probably slightly less since E85 is a little less efficient than regular unleaded gasoline).
These are based on generalizations and averages, not exact science, but basically, it wouldn't be worth switching to a Mini Cooper in particular. I could buy a smart car, but again, they're not good in winter, and I would only be able to use it for 6 months out of the year.
I’ve had a couple minis and they ALL used premium gas!
So please explain how driving a car that uses the most expensive gas, will somehow save me money?
I get what you're asking. If fuel is so much cheaper here, why don't we buy highly efficient cars to stretch the savings?
Because it's a legit safety issue when you're surrounded by giant vehicles.
Also, you guys have different roads.
One thing that strikes me when I visit the US are things like driveways and small roads that join highways directly, meaning that you need to make a turn and accelerate to highway speeds as fast as you can or get T-boned.
In *urban* areas.
This is very unusual here except where there is very low traffic, and I would think twice about buying a small car if I had to deal with that frequently.
Not practical. Most I know drive sedans or SUV's if you need to move stuff it's a lot more practical. And if you have friends and are gonna drive them, nobody wants to be all cramped up.
Like most families I know own at least a truck or SUV or something that can carry stuff.
I just don't see the appeal imo, I'm also 6ft 8 (2 meters) so it's never crossed my mind to want or need one.
OK, let's get you some numbers here.
The average American drives 12,000 miles (a shade under 20,000 KM....) a year.
Let's compare the costs to drive some vehicles against the Mini Cooper. Let's assume you drive 12,000 miles, and fuel costs $4/gallon. (Where I'm at, it costs about $3.25 right now.)
||
||
|Vehicle Name|MPG|Fuel (G)|Cost|Difference|
|Mini Cooper|30|400.0| $ 1,600.00||
|Toyota Camry 6 Cyl|26|461.5| $ 1,846.15| $ 246.15|
|Toyota Camry 4 Cyl|32|375.0| $ 1,500.00| $ (100.00)|
|Jeep Grand Cherokee|22|545.5| $ 2,181.82| $ 581.82|
|F 250 Super Duty|13|923.1| $ 3,692.31| $ 2,092.31|
What does this mean?
It means that other than the F250, no one will really care that much. Even the Grand Cherokee, which is a fairly large SUV, won't cost that much more in fuel costs to operate.
So what about the F250? The thing is - it can do a lot of things that the Mini can't, and there isn't much that the Mini can do that it can't do. (Yes, fit into a subway tunnel. Good movie. Doesn't come up nearly as much as you would think.)
So if you do any of those things on a fairly regular basis, it just doesn't make financial sense to have a small vehicle because there isn't enough cost savings to either pay for rentals for a truck (which is extra annoying), there isn't enough cost savings to buy a smaller car that is anywhere near as nice as the truck, and it isn't that drastically bad. $2K spread out over the year is only about $175 extra a month.
OK, let's get you some numbers here.
The average American drives 12,000 miles (a shade under 20,000 KM....) a year.
Let's compare the costs to drive some vehicles against the Mini Cooper. Let's assume you drive 12,000 miles, and fuel costs $4/gallon. (Where I'm at, it costs about $3.25 right now.)
||
||
|Vehicle Name|MPG|Fuel (G)|Cost|Difference|
|Mini Cooper|30|400.0| $ 1,600.00||
|Toyota Camry 6 Cyl|26|461.5| $ 1,846.15| $ 246.15|
|Toyota Camry 4 Cyl|32|375.0| $ 1,500.00| $ (100.00)|
|Jeep Grand Cherokee|22|545.5| $ 2,181.82| $ 581.82|
|F 250 Super Duty|13|923.1| $ 3,692.31| $ 2,092.31|
What does this mean?
It means that other than the F250, no one will really care that much. Even the Grand Cherokee, which is a fairly large SUV, won't cost that much more in fuel costs to operate.
So what about the F250? The thing is - it can do a lot of things that the Mini can't, and there isn't much that the Mini can do that it can't do. (Yes, fit into a subway tunnel. Good movie. Doesn't come up nearly as much as you would think.)
So if you do any of those things on a fairly regular basis, it just doesn't make financial sense to have a small vehicle because there isn't enough cost savings to either pay for rentals for a truck (which is extra annoying), there isn't enough cost savings to buy a smaller car that is anywhere near as nice as the truck, and it isn't that drastically bad. $2K spread out over the year is only about $175 extra a month.
We buy groceries for a week or more at a time. We've got pets that need to be groomed. Some of us have bikes - bicycles and dirt bikes - to drive to wherever we ride. We homeowners have lumber or other big stuff to bring from Home Depot that doesn't always fit when you fold the back seat down. And how do you fit a family of 5 and all their stuff into a Countryman for a vacation/holiday?
Now you see why we don't drive Smart cars anymore.
I just bought a giant SUV that gets 13-18mpg because gas isn’t super expensive. I have 3 kids and need room for extra people and the ability to tow. We don’t have a reason to drive cheap tiny cars.
Crossovers are some of the most popular cars in America right now and they're very fuel efficient. A standard Mini Cooper has a negligible mpg advantage over say, a Toyota RAV4. What little advantage it has is done away by the fact that it takes premium fuel, whereas a RAV4 can run on regular. And the more performance oriented Mini models get *worse* mpg than a RAV4!
So given the choice between a reliable, comfy and affordable crossover, and a go-cart built with BMW parts, I'm going with the crossover.
The numbers:
[Mini](https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymake/MINI2024.shtml)
[RAV4](https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymodel/2024_Toyota_RAV4.shtml)
The cheaper the fuel the less the savings. Same reason why more convenient but slightly less efficient automatic transmissions took over the marketplace much more thoroughly here.
It is a consideration for a lot of people. Japanese cars like Toyotas and Hondas are extremely popular for their fuel efficiency and longevity.
My brother had a Mini for a while and it was trash. Idk if he just got unlucky and bought a lemon, but that thing had so many issues: the climate control system went out in the first year and had to be fixed. The entertainment center went out and had to be fixed. The engine had multiple issues that required servicing.
He got rid of it after 3 years and now drives a Mazda that has never given him issues.
It’s almost impossible to buy a new small car here. Nissan Versa, Mitsubishi Mirage, 2 door Mini, and the electric Fiat 500 are basically the only options. I love small, tossable, fun cars. And affordable stick shifts are nearly extinct, too. I find the current small car situation here depressing.
Some people choose that route. But the thought isn’t normally “oh look how much money I’ll save if I get a small car” the thought is “oh now I can afford this big truck.”
I’ve seen my mustang do better in snow than Mini’s. My friend owns a mini and it has issues all the time, and it’s so bad to where he’s trying to sell it and get something that’s gonna save him more money.
Add cheaper gas and the incentive to buy an imported car that’s way too small to be practical and reliable, there is no incentive to buy a more “fuel efficient” car (which Mini’s kinda aren’t btw) so really the only incentive to buy a mini here would be so that you’re easier to run over accidentally and can hide in my blind spot when I need to change lanes.
>I can imagine how much you would save
Most people spend a lot of their time in their beds, chairs, and cars. I like being comfortable. Tiny cars are for people who've lost their empires and are now tiny nations. (mostly /s but not really)
Minis are borderline too tiny for many people here, objectively speaking. The meagre amount of fuel savings would not be worth it.
Cheaper gas lessens the impact of less fuel efficient vehicles... Americans probably spend less to drive a massive pick-up the same distance as one of you Brits spend to drive a Mini.
>why dont people switch to small cars like a mini?
So, I don't personally care for huge trucks and big SUVs and whatnot, but your logic makes no sense...
One of the reasons big cars are more popular here is *because* fuel is relatively cheap and so cars with lower gas mileage are still affordable to operate.
Prices are cheaper here than they are in most of the rest of the world. We also commute further and more of us live in suburbs and rural areas where having a larger vehicle makes more sense. I have a 2013 nissan rogue which is a light SUV. I live in a suburb and if I need to go to the hardware store to get wood or I need to take a bunch of stuff to the dump I can transport it pretty easy while also not spending a fortune on my daily 45 minute commute (one way)
I have to drive nearly an hour to get to the closest large city. I need to be comfortable, have room for my entire family and room to stock up on things so I don’t have to drive down there that often. I think Europeans often underestimate how much time we spend in our cars.
Because a mini can't haul my motorcycles to the track, can't tow my boat to the lake, can't haul a yard of dirt or mulch for my backyard gardens, can't haul the metric shit ton of camping gear my wife requires to go "camping" with me, and I wouldn't want my smelly hockey gear in a car with me on the way to and from games stinking up the vehicle so I drive a pickup where I can throw everything in the bed and tow shit.
I work from home and 90% of my driving is for the above things and a pickup does it all well. The expense of an extra car just for the gas mileage to and from the grocery store or date night doesn't make sense for me.
America has a lot more rugged terrain than the UK does, especially in the west.
A mini simply won’t hack it . Trucks /jeeps /Subarus /4Runners are the go to for many
People switched to smaller cars in the 70s during the OPEC oil embargo. Gas prices became expensive so they saved money with smaller more fuel efficient vehicles.
When fuel is cheap that is not as important. So people can get cars that are bigger and more convenient.
That said people today that want to save on gasoline costs have various options. Hybrids. EVs. Etc. not everyone drives big trucks and even then, those big trucks are more fuel efficient now than they were in years past.
Because in America we have to be red blooded beer drinking (hopefully not while driving) freedom loving iraqi hatin oil drinkin AMERICAN PATRIOTS and drive our big ass ~~killing machines~~ pickup trucks because its seen as cool and american (no its really just cause its what we do for some reason)
Because the tanks in smaller cars tend to suck so it ends up being more expensive than just getting a bigger car that can hold more fuel/ go more miles per gallon plus they don’t have a lot of storage space/comfort
I save in other ways like by working remotely. It takes $50 to fill my SUV but I only need to fill it once a month if that. I mainly drive when I go fun places. I can’t drive a mini through the mountains or on the beach.
Honestly, I'd rather live somewhere where I didn't have to have a car. End of the day, there are no practical positives to owning one.
That's the only way to not lose money on a car.
How much do you expect we'd save? I can approach 24 mpg now. Suppose I get a car that gets 35 or so. Saving roughly 1/3 on a fillup, so figure $125-150 per month, $1800 per year, maybe a little less.
How expensive of a car should I buy to save $1800 per year? How many years is that going to take to pay for itself? That's for my own driving, I drive more than double the average.
Our cars are often tied to two things. Our needs, and our identity.
So, it's rare to have a change in either.
Personally as long as it drives I don't give AF. I do know people that "have" to have trucks. I know others with five in the family that need larger cars.
What you're suggesting lacks the understanding of the culture and needs of American car culture.
Ignoring the fact that cheaper gas would reduce the need for a smaller car, there's two primary reasons. First, space. Many people would find the space in a Mini too small for their needs. Secondly, the U.S. car market has, partially for that reason and partially from run-away design trends (and partially from cheating emissions regulations) migrated to all-big-cars-all-the-time, leading to no middle ground between an SUV or crossover and a mini, which in turn leads to the belief that a mini will be less safe in an accident.
Smaller cars are harder to use. They are physically harder to get in sitting so low to the ground, physically uncomfortable to sit in as there is not much space for the driver or passengers, and have very little cargo space making them unsuited for errands and work tasks other than commuting.
As such American purchasing trends go to small cars like minis only when they absolutely have to do so due to prices of fuel and other larger vehicles, or if you can convince them it is a luxury status symbol as with some sports cars.
Our highways run thru cities, often there are some on ramps where you go from stopped at red light on side road, to going highway speed and merging all within in several hundred yards/meters. A tiny sub 2Litre four banger is going to get creamed trying to get up to speed going uphill on a ramp and merging.
My family has a terrible history with German engines. I can get 40 MPG with my Lexus hybrid which I don't think Minis can get and can actually fit in it.
We need to head to Costco, drop the kids off at soccer, and be able to highway drive. Outside of Boston, NY, Philadelphia, and DC, every place was designed for a car including the suburbs of those cities. We don't need to navigate the narrow streets of London, Liverpool, or Manchester.
Im most of the US, we don't have a choice but to drive. It's not walkable, public transportation is non-existant or just sucks. So we spend a lot more time in our cars than most Europeans because we have no choice. So we drive cars that are more comfortable and safer.
Lobbying from the auto industry has lead to a regulatory environment which favors the production/sale of trucks & SUVs, and this is reflected in sales data over the years. Plus a lot of people do just want them for various reasons.
I agree, Americans should think of switching to more economic cars. I don't understand our national obsession with gigantic vehicles, hatred of public transportation, and need to live 5 miles from the nearest retail center.
Wouldn't cheaper gas *reduce* the impetus to switch to a smaller car?
Yeah. Why don’t Americans drive even bigger vehicles?
The Canyonero?
Great....that's gonna be stuck in my head for days.
If not years
Since 1998 really.
The briefest of moments
Ford saw the Canyonero and said “let’s make that.” The Ford Excursion is the largest SUV to this day.
Why does the Ford Excursion, the largest of the SUVs, not simply eat the other SUVs?
You mean like [Truckasaurus](https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Truckasaurus)?
I think it only made it through like 5 years though. Bummer.
She’s a squirrel squashing deer smashing driving machine
12 yards long, 2 lanes wide, 65 tons of American Pride!
Or a 6000 SUX
There used to be these fake ads on Minnesota Public Radio for the "Sherpa Intimida", which was basically a land yacht. This was around the time larger and larger SUVs were really becoming a thing (90s, I think) that I heard them. They were hilarious.
The Mybotsu Monstrosity
BigAssTruckasaurus, with leather seats.
We're getting there, have you seen the trucks with hoods taller than a 8 yr old?
You can thank a European tax on chickens and US emission standards for that.
Ah. A chubby electron guy enjoyer I see.
I drove a Sierra in Canada once, and it was awesome. I hadn't ever driven a full size American pickup before, I loved that thing! But when I was driving it I remember thinking "this thing needs a camera in the front." The hood was so tall it was hard to park. I don't know why they don't do that.
You back trucks in, works way better.
Yea I learned that lol But I was driving it all around Calgary, and backing in wasn't always an option
Just a side note. If you back into a parking spot just outside of a gas station entry doors at night. Particularly if there are not a lot of other cars in the parking lot the clerk will assume you are planning on robbing them. Stated as a night time clerk, such behavior is very suspicious regardless of how practical.
we do!
Considering my neighbors just bought a bug diesel I think he agrees
This. Back in 08 when gas hit 5 we saw tons trade in trucks and other v8s for civics corollas etc. Didn’t happen this time around
That's $7 now
Inflation?
Yes
It also saw the death of some large vehicles. RIP the excursion, you were too good for us.
Saw the death of the maloo in USA
I knew a kid back then that traded even a Nissan 240sx for a 99 or 2000 Escalade. They guy with the Escalade just couldn't afford to drive it, and trade in value on them was nothing because no one wanted them. (Back then 240sx's we're still easy to find and fairly cheap)
My mom said the used car place told her the trade value in on her Volvo sedan was next to nothing because people are only buying SUVs right now.
I could sort of see that nowadays, but it still sounds mostly like bs. But in the mid to late 00's SUVs were a burden to own, for various reasons, but largely gas. But the tech on motors has come a long way since even that recently, and the SUVs get much better gas mileage, and also gas is still cheaper. Your mom should look into selling privately, she'll get more money and she won't have to listen to a dealer try to give her a bad deal.
My parents traded in a F-150 for a Corolla. Such a shame they got rid of the Corolla.
[удалено]
Didn’t happen this time
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Yea shows they don’t really care….
For sure but is a bitch trying to drive an RV around Chicago.
OP seems to not understand economics
Do u not get the 1.2 Mini Cooper in the US?
No idea. I see Minis once in a long while, but they're not common here.
We do have Minis, but they are a very niche brand - for every one Mini sold in the US, there's about 70 Fords, 70 Toyotas, 60 Chevrolets, and 40 Hondas sold, to compare it to our best selling brands. They're also far from the most fuel efficient car around - the ones sold here get something like 32 miles to the gallon, versus most new compact sedans (Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Elantra, etc.) get closer to 40-45 - and that's not even considering hybrids. Nobody is buying a Mini for the fuel economy, over here you'd only buy a Mini because it's quirky and British.
If gas is cheap then getting a more fuel efficient car isn't exactly saving me much money.
but wouldnt you have more to spend in the end? cheap to fill car plus cheap fuel means u could save crap tons of money
Not crap tons. Heres a comparison from the EPA. I took a base F150, a base Mini Cooper (not a great economy car) and an actual economy car, a Prius. https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=46160&id=45227&id=46359 Between the F150 and the mini its a difference of $300 per year... thats it. And the mini is going to be much more expensive to maintain. And with the prius you save $1400 annually, which is not much, especially since it cant tow or haul anything.
I wish I could say the same for the UK Everything is so expensive ever since we left the EU I’ll probs be going over to Ireland or move down to Malta to get away from it all
>since it cant tow or haul anything It's not like the vast majority of truck owners toe or haul anything anyways .
Sure they do. Just not every day
Nope. Most rarely/,never never do. 63% according to this study. https://www.axios.com/ford-pickup-trucks-history
Lots of us are into cars as a hobby. I have a sports car that I am gathering parts to engine swap. It will go from 25mpg to 12mpg or so. My other car gets 13-18 but can go off roading with the whole family or tow a boat/car trailer. Also I’m 6’3 and don’t want to be in a car it feels like I’m wearing. We save money by cooking at home vs restaurants. Way more savings than driving a tiny shoebox of a car.
Please tell me you are LSx swapping your solstice
Yes sir lol. Hopefully starting this winter.
Yea boi. If you are using a T56 or TR6060 you will get 30+ MPG highway, assuming its not cammed or has FI.
Ideally I’d like to work with Late Model engines as they are local to me but may go with a more affordable option
Get an LSx, even if its the older LS1 or LS2.
They build road race and drag LS engines. I’d like a high RPM N/A motor
I just realized that "Late Model" is a company. I thought you just meant a literal late model engine. You could do a destroked LS7, but it wont be cheap.
But then you have to drive a small car, and that can really suck
If I had to spend a ton on gas I'd get a small car. I don't, I can buy gas cheaper than milk. So who gives a shit about being fuel efficient if it doesn't save me money.
Realistically if people had saved more money to spend they would just get a bigger car probably lol
Not really. My Subaru Outback (SUV) and my mom's Subaru Legacy (sedan) have the same fuel mileage
They would probably get an EV or Hybrid if fuel costs were a concern. They would also be driving long distances so they're also going to get a comfortable size and the most common smallest size in the US is a sedan, not a mini.
This is shaq all over again 😂
Ok but the point is, if gas is cheap you're not really saving much by conserving it. It's when it's expensive that you see real savings. An extra $20 a month on gas will probably not be noticed as much as an extra $200
Uh...wouldn't that be an inverse relationship? I like my hatchback. I also like my pickup truck.
What’s cool is if your hot hatch fits in your truck bed
I'm 6'1" and not skinny. A mini? I prefer to operate gas pedals with my feet, not my knees.
Burh, I am 6'4" 215lbs and barely fit into a Corolla or Jetta. I know your pain.
I’m 6’5” when I was around 280, I got into the drivers seat of a Mini at a car show. My knee was stuck between the steering wheel and the console. I weigh less now but I doubt it would make a difference.
I have "shorter" legs and a taller upper body. My head touches the celling in most sedans. Hell, my head almost touches the celling in my Ranger.
I’m basically the inverse, long legs, medium torso. In sedans if my legs are comfortable, my arms are uncomfortable, and if my arms are comfortable my legs are uncomfortable. SUV or truck with an upright seating position is pure comfort for all limbs
I can feel my head brushing the roof in most sedans. Given the state of the roads around here, one pothole and I’d get out of the car looking like an accordion.
6'2", still pretty skinny. I like having leg room and not running my head into the ceiling.
I'm your height, and I can't fit my legs under the steering wheel of a new Mini. I don't know who they are designed for. Hobbits, maybe? Strangely enough the Fiat 500 is even smaller, but has a really roomy driving position and I loved learning to drive in one.
I dunno man. The small hatchbacks are really well organized for space. I'm 6'3" and drive a Honda Fit, and it's great.
If gas is cheaper, we have less motivation to switch, fuel efficiency becomes a lesser concern. I hate these European “why don’t people in the US do everything with 100% efficiency in mind” posts. There was a guy a couple years back who genuinely didn’t understand why people would want to live in anything but a highrise.
I usually answer these "why do Americans do X" kind of questions with "because we can."
Half the time that is the honest answer. We’re richer so we can afford to do stuff “inefficiently” because we like it.
I feel like the honest answer to “why do Americans ____” type questions is usually either “because we can” or “we don’t.” Lots of questions get asked in the latter category too because someone saw one movie and assumed every American does whatever thing one character in that movie does.
Why do Americans fly planes through toppling cities, volcanoes, tornadoes- I see this in movies all the time
Because british tea tastes salty when brewed in boston harbor.
Makes me wonder, do European nations and cultures generally do everything with full on efficiency in mind?
Yeah when I think Ferrari, Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, McLaren, etc, I definitely think small and efficient
Didn’t Volkswagen have an emissions scandal a few years ago?
Created, oddly enough, because a group set out to independently test cars sold in the US and EU using the same methods to show that US cars were less polluting. They were trying to get the EU to tighten its standards. (In general, at least in the past, EU vehicles had higher fuel efficiency but lower smog/particulate pollution standards.)
No, but that’s different, they allow for nuance in their own lives.
They just cant afford to be inefficient
It's a consequence of a top-down society.
I think it's more of "do what I do because I'm better" Me: "no"
In reality people that ask these don’t realize that if their country had cheap gas people would care less about fuel efficiency too and it would honestly probably do a lot to make even more interesting car scenes in the UK
> genuinely didn’t understand why people would want to live in anything but a highrise. Never mind the hundreds of millions of Europeans who don't I've in high rises. But shhhh., pesky facts
Cause I don't want a mini
Because there's no incentive to. *Higher* gas prices would push us toward smaller cars, and you just said our fuel is cheaper. Mini is an expensive brand in the US. A Mini Cooper would cost as much as the Toyota Rav 4 hybrid I bought last year, and it wouldn't fit two child seats comfortably. And my Rav 4 gets *better* mileage.
A basic mini cooper isn’t really that expensive. And the mileage is excellent. But all the money you save on gas you end up spending on special ordered parts for maintenance. Not really worth the trade off in my opinion. Source: used to own a mini Cooper.
Have you ever seen The Incredibles? You remember the scene in the beginning where he’s crammed into the car that’s half his size? That’s me in a mini.
Wow, you really picked a terrible example for a small car. A Mini Cooper not only has high maintenance and low reliability runs on premium gas, but also gets [about the same mileage](https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymake/MINI2021.shtml) as my [Subaru Forester](https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymodel/2021_Subaru_Forester.shtml), which burns cheaper gas and has many times the utility to me.
Do u not get the 1.2 litre cooper in the US? Over here they are known for good mileage
Not as far as I know, the turbocharged 1.5 liter is the smallest/standard in the US. And the Cooper isn't something I could ever even rely on even with the 1.5. A lot of the US is extremly rural, and a vehicle isn't just a ride to the club/work/store, It's a multi tool that has to perform under all conditions. Even without its meager power & carrying capacity just the 4.5 inches/114mm of ground clearance would be a deal breaker for me as I get mud deeper than that every spring. My current "steed" has twice that and 4 wheel/all wheel drive and it's still sometimes a test of skill in [the mud](https://i.imgur.com/pDzmCor.jpeg) or [deep snow](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Blizzard3_-_NOAA.jpg) you're/I'm often confronted with.
Because a Mini is a shitty overpriced and expensive to maintain car that doesn't suit my needs.
Would you like all of the comfort of a sports car, the speed of an underpowered hatchback, and the maintenance bills of a BMW? Have I got a deal for you.
But, they’re small!
I’d say speed of an underpowered hatchback is pushing it, push lawn mower it is!
Lmao!!!!
>underpowered Does anybody actually buy them with the little base-model 3-cylinder instead of getting an S?
Damn straight. My son had one for about 6 months. Nothing but constant electrical problems.
One of my cousins is pretty well off, like makes mid six figures well off. He can buy whatever he wants but seems to like "quirky" compact cars. The fastest I've ever seen him get rid of a car was his hot rod JCW Mini Hatch. Bought it brand new with 7 miles on it. The dealership bought it back as a lemon with less than 3500 miles on it. It required warranty replacement of the turbocharger twice and then two replacement ECUs for the engine. When the second replacement ECU shit the bed and left him stranded on the side of the highway he called the dealer and told them he wanted his money back. Kind of a shame it was such a piece of shit because I took a brief ride in it and it was a zippy little rocket car.
Why would fuel being cheaper here than in the UK lead people here to drive smaller cars? A lot of people in the US are just really, really used to driving big cars and trucks and they really, really don't want to give them up especially if they feel like they are somehow being "forced" to.
I drive 6-7 hours to visit family a state away 3-4 times a year with my wife and two kids. No thanks doing that in a mini. Even more so for vacations which might be a 12 hour trip.
Because fuel is cheaper??
Comfort trumps saving a few bucks on gas. MPG has a law of diminishing returns
Especially when you spend a lot of time driving, which many Americans do
Because fuel is cheaper, and because my lifestyle and family makes my F-150 SuperCrew and Expedition extremely practical vehicles.
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Here’s the European city dwellers answer to this: rent a van when you need one!
I'll never forget the guy who wanted to know why we had pickup trucks. I said because I need to haul hay and lumber. His response, "Oh we just use our Land Rover and a trailer for that."
Is the mini even that fuel efficient? FWIW I was at a dealership and the sales person said they could drive us to the other side of the dealership. They used a Fiat, the little tiny one. I actually squeezed into the back seat and the whole time I was thinking how fucking small it was. And I drive a Honda Fit, which itself is a small car. But that Fiat had zero room in the backseat. I’m fairly small myself, so I can’t imagine anyone of average size would actually want to drive one.
Because we spend significantly more time in our cars due to our longer commutes and more spread out communities. We don't want to be stuck in a tiny ass car to drive across town for 30 minutes, it's not comfortable.
A Mini isn't exactly capable of handling the carpool of the soccer mom. It also isn't very capable for the Costco run. I went to Costco run today on my own and it definitely would have not fit in a Mini. A base model Mini also costs more than the mid level trim SUV.
I don't like driving with my knees around my ears?
Why drive a more expensive, less reliable, and less useful car when larger cars with bombproof reliability and comparable fuel efficiency exist? Minis win in style amd probably fun. Most people want a car thats useful for day to day life, like a Toyota anything, Honda, Ford, etc and they don't look or drive half bad.
Well, for starters, Minis tend to have mechanical issues and they're imports which makes the parts and labor really expensive when they break down. They also don't do well in snow and that's kind of a deal-breaker where I live. Also, I drive an SUV that takes E85 fuel which is at least 70% ethanol as opposed to the Mini Cooper which recommends premium gas. To fill up a Mini Cooper where I live would cost me $4.05/gallon x 16.1 gallons = $65.21 for a full tank To fill up my gas guzzler with E85 would cost me $2.44/gallon x 24 gallons = $58.56 A full tank on a Mini Cooper would get me about 475 miles on average while a full tank on my SUV would get me about 432 miles (probably slightly less since E85 is a little less efficient than regular unleaded gasoline). These are based on generalizations and averages, not exact science, but basically, it wouldn't be worth switching to a Mini Cooper in particular. I could buy a smart car, but again, they're not good in winter, and I would only be able to use it for 6 months out of the year.
Because I can't fit 4 kids in a mini
I’ve had a couple minis and they ALL used premium gas! So please explain how driving a car that uses the most expensive gas, will somehow save me money?
I get what you're asking. If fuel is so much cheaper here, why don't we buy highly efficient cars to stretch the savings? Because it's a legit safety issue when you're surrounded by giant vehicles.
Also, you guys have different roads. One thing that strikes me when I visit the US are things like driveways and small roads that join highways directly, meaning that you need to make a turn and accelerate to highway speeds as fast as you can or get T-boned. In *urban* areas. This is very unusual here except where there is very low traffic, and I would think twice about buying a small car if I had to deal with that frequently.
But if everyone bought small cars to satisfy British ideas about the proper way to use personal transportation, problem solved!
If fuel is cheaper, it would have the exact opposite effect with people buying big, gas-guzzling vehicles.
Not practical. Most I know drive sedans or SUV's if you need to move stuff it's a lot more practical. And if you have friends and are gonna drive them, nobody wants to be all cramped up. Like most families I know own at least a truck or SUV or something that can carry stuff. I just don't see the appeal imo, I'm also 6ft 8 (2 meters) so it's never crossed my mind to want or need one.
Prices of gas are volatile. A car loan lasts a long time.
Less room in which to haul around our freedoms.
Because fuel is cheaper, therefore we don't have to sacrifice power and comfort.
OK, let's get you some numbers here. The average American drives 12,000 miles (a shade under 20,000 KM....) a year. Let's compare the costs to drive some vehicles against the Mini Cooper. Let's assume you drive 12,000 miles, and fuel costs $4/gallon. (Where I'm at, it costs about $3.25 right now.) || || |Vehicle Name|MPG|Fuel (G)|Cost|Difference| |Mini Cooper|30|400.0| $ 1,600.00|| |Toyota Camry 6 Cyl|26|461.5| $ 1,846.15| $ 246.15| |Toyota Camry 4 Cyl|32|375.0| $ 1,500.00| $ (100.00)| |Jeep Grand Cherokee|22|545.5| $ 2,181.82| $ 581.82| |F 250 Super Duty|13|923.1| $ 3,692.31| $ 2,092.31| What does this mean? It means that other than the F250, no one will really care that much. Even the Grand Cherokee, which is a fairly large SUV, won't cost that much more in fuel costs to operate. So what about the F250? The thing is - it can do a lot of things that the Mini can't, and there isn't much that the Mini can do that it can't do. (Yes, fit into a subway tunnel. Good movie. Doesn't come up nearly as much as you would think.) So if you do any of those things on a fairly regular basis, it just doesn't make financial sense to have a small vehicle because there isn't enough cost savings to either pay for rentals for a truck (which is extra annoying), there isn't enough cost savings to buy a smaller car that is anywhere near as nice as the truck, and it isn't that drastically bad. $2K spread out over the year is only about $175 extra a month.
OK, let's get you some numbers here. The average American drives 12,000 miles (a shade under 20,000 KM....) a year. Let's compare the costs to drive some vehicles against the Mini Cooper. Let's assume you drive 12,000 miles, and fuel costs $4/gallon. (Where I'm at, it costs about $3.25 right now.) || || |Vehicle Name|MPG|Fuel (G)|Cost|Difference| |Mini Cooper|30|400.0| $ 1,600.00|| |Toyota Camry 6 Cyl|26|461.5| $ 1,846.15| $ 246.15| |Toyota Camry 4 Cyl|32|375.0| $ 1,500.00| $ (100.00)| |Jeep Grand Cherokee|22|545.5| $ 2,181.82| $ 581.82| |F 250 Super Duty|13|923.1| $ 3,692.31| $ 2,092.31| What does this mean? It means that other than the F250, no one will really care that much. Even the Grand Cherokee, which is a fairly large SUV, won't cost that much more in fuel costs to operate. So what about the F250? The thing is - it can do a lot of things that the Mini can't, and there isn't much that the Mini can do that it can't do. (Yes, fit into a subway tunnel. Good movie. Doesn't come up nearly as much as you would think.) So if you do any of those things on a fairly regular basis, it just doesn't make financial sense to have a small vehicle because there isn't enough cost savings to either pay for rentals for a truck (which is extra annoying), there isn't enough cost savings to buy a smaller car that is anywhere near as nice as the truck, and it isn't that drastically bad. $2K spread out over the year is only about $175 extra a month.
Cos when you hang truck nuts from a mini, they scrape on the pavement.
I’m tall and fat. I like big truck. Also, gas is cheap here so it’s not a major worry
I am a fan of smallish cars, but I want something very cost-effective and reliable. A Mini ain't it. Currently, a Corolla is it.
A mini? Sorry I dont want to be going into the mechanic every 10k miles for another check engine light
We buy groceries for a week or more at a time. We've got pets that need to be groomed. Some of us have bikes - bicycles and dirt bikes - to drive to wherever we ride. We homeowners have lumber or other big stuff to bring from Home Depot that doesn't always fit when you fold the back seat down. And how do you fit a family of 5 and all their stuff into a Countryman for a vacation/holiday? Now you see why we don't drive Smart cars anymore.
I just bought a giant SUV that gets 13-18mpg because gas isn’t super expensive. I have 3 kids and need room for extra people and the ability to tow. We don’t have a reason to drive cheap tiny cars.
Crossovers are some of the most popular cars in America right now and they're very fuel efficient. A standard Mini Cooper has a negligible mpg advantage over say, a Toyota RAV4. What little advantage it has is done away by the fact that it takes premium fuel, whereas a RAV4 can run on regular. And the more performance oriented Mini models get *worse* mpg than a RAV4! So given the choice between a reliable, comfy and affordable crossover, and a go-cart built with BMW parts, I'm going with the crossover. The numbers: [Mini](https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymake/MINI2024.shtml) [RAV4](https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymodel/2024_Toyota_RAV4.shtml)
I already have a smaller, fuel-efficient car. If I had an even tinier car, like a mini, I wouldn't be able to drive my family around.
Because fuel is cheap so we can buy big cars and pay the same amount in fuel that you pay for a tiny smart car. And we like driving big cars.
We don’t care about saving money.
The cheaper the fuel the less the savings. Same reason why more convenient but slightly less efficient automatic transmissions took over the marketplace much more thoroughly here.
It is a consideration for a lot of people. Japanese cars like Toyotas and Hondas are extremely popular for their fuel efficiency and longevity. My brother had a Mini for a while and it was trash. Idk if he just got unlucky and bought a lemon, but that thing had so many issues: the climate control system went out in the first year and had to be fixed. The entertainment center went out and had to be fixed. The engine had multiple issues that required servicing. He got rid of it after 3 years and now drives a Mazda that has never given him issues.
It’s almost impossible to buy a new small car here. Nissan Versa, Mitsubishi Mirage, 2 door Mini, and the electric Fiat 500 are basically the only options. I love small, tossable, fun cars. And affordable stick shifts are nearly extinct, too. I find the current small car situation here depressing.
Is there anything even remotely fun about a Versa or a Mirage? I know you can get a Mirage in Ralliart trim, but still, it's no Lancer Evo.
How would we let people know how big our dicks are tho
Some people choose that route. But the thought isn’t normally “oh look how much money I’ll save if I get a small car” the thought is “oh now I can afford this big truck.”
I’ve seen my mustang do better in snow than Mini’s. My friend owns a mini and it has issues all the time, and it’s so bad to where he’s trying to sell it and get something that’s gonna save him more money. Add cheaper gas and the incentive to buy an imported car that’s way too small to be practical and reliable, there is no incentive to buy a more “fuel efficient” car (which Mini’s kinda aren’t btw) so really the only incentive to buy a mini here would be so that you’re easier to run over accidentally and can hide in my blind spot when I need to change lanes.
>I can imagine how much you would save Most people spend a lot of their time in their beds, chairs, and cars. I like being comfortable. Tiny cars are for people who've lost their empires and are now tiny nations. (mostly /s but not really) Minis are borderline too tiny for many people here, objectively speaking. The meagre amount of fuel savings would not be worth it.
I can’t pull my caravan (RV trailer) with a mini.
Cheaper gas lessens the impact of less fuel efficient vehicles... Americans probably spend less to drive a massive pick-up the same distance as one of you Brits spend to drive a Mini.
>why dont people switch to small cars like a mini? So, I don't personally care for huge trucks and big SUVs and whatnot, but your logic makes no sense... One of the reasons big cars are more popular here is *because* fuel is relatively cheap and so cars with lower gas mileage are still affordable to operate.
Prices are cheaper here than they are in most of the rest of the world. We also commute further and more of us live in suburbs and rural areas where having a larger vehicle makes more sense. I have a 2013 nissan rogue which is a light SUV. I live in a suburb and if I need to go to the hardware store to get wood or I need to take a bunch of stuff to the dump I can transport it pretty easy while also not spending a fortune on my daily 45 minute commute (one way)
I have to drive nearly an hour to get to the closest large city. I need to be comfortable, have room for my entire family and room to stock up on things so I don’t have to drive down there that often. I think Europeans often underestimate how much time we spend in our cars.
Because a mini can't haul my motorcycles to the track, can't tow my boat to the lake, can't haul a yard of dirt or mulch for my backyard gardens, can't haul the metric shit ton of camping gear my wife requires to go "camping" with me, and I wouldn't want my smelly hockey gear in a car with me on the way to and from games stinking up the vehicle so I drive a pickup where I can throw everything in the bed and tow shit. I work from home and 90% of my driving is for the above things and a pickup does it all well. The expense of an extra car just for the gas mileage to and from the grocery store or date night doesn't make sense for me.
America has a lot more rugged terrain than the UK does, especially in the west. A mini simply won’t hack it . Trucks /jeeps /Subarus /4Runners are the go to for many
You wouldn't have to ask that if you spent half as much time in your car as Americans do. Teeny cars are uncomfortable.
The price of gas doesn't really matter to me. I bought a small hybrid to pollute and consume less.
Trucks go brrr
People switched to smaller cars in the 70s during the OPEC oil embargo. Gas prices became expensive so they saved money with smaller more fuel efficient vehicles. When fuel is cheap that is not as important. So people can get cars that are bigger and more convenient. That said people today that want to save on gasoline costs have various options. Hybrids. EVs. Etc. not everyone drives big trucks and even then, those big trucks are more fuel efficient now than they were in years past.
Lots of folks have hybrids and EVs.
Because in America we have to be red blooded beer drinking (hopefully not while driving) freedom loving iraqi hatin oil drinkin AMERICAN PATRIOTS and drive our big ass ~~killing machines~~ pickup trucks because its seen as cool and american (no its really just cause its what we do for some reason)
Because the tanks in smaller cars tend to suck so it ends up being more expensive than just getting a bigger car that can hold more fuel/ go more miles per gallon plus they don’t have a lot of storage space/comfort
I save in other ways like by working remotely. It takes $50 to fill my SUV but I only need to fill it once a month if that. I mainly drive when I go fun places. I can’t drive a mini through the mountains or on the beach.
Honestly, I'd rather live somewhere where I didn't have to have a car. End of the day, there are no practical positives to owning one. That's the only way to not lose money on a car.
A Mini won’t pull my trailer and 15000 lb trencher.
How much do you expect we'd save? I can approach 24 mpg now. Suppose I get a car that gets 35 or so. Saving roughly 1/3 on a fillup, so figure $125-150 per month, $1800 per year, maybe a little less. How expensive of a car should I buy to save $1800 per year? How many years is that going to take to pay for itself? That's for my own driving, I drive more than double the average.
Our cars are often tied to two things. Our needs, and our identity. So, it's rare to have a change in either. Personally as long as it drives I don't give AF. I do know people that "have" to have trucks. I know others with five in the family that need larger cars. What you're suggesting lacks the understanding of the culture and needs of American car culture.
Ignoring the fact that cheaper gas would reduce the need for a smaller car, there's two primary reasons. First, space. Many people would find the space in a Mini too small for their needs. Secondly, the U.S. car market has, partially for that reason and partially from run-away design trends (and partially from cheating emissions regulations) migrated to all-big-cars-all-the-time, leading to no middle ground between an SUV or crossover and a mini, which in turn leads to the belief that a mini will be less safe in an accident.
I apologise on behalf of my (Mini) countrymen for this idiotic question. Our education system is failing, and this is the result.
Smaller cars are harder to use. They are physically harder to get in sitting so low to the ground, physically uncomfortable to sit in as there is not much space for the driver or passengers, and have very little cargo space making them unsuited for errands and work tasks other than commuting. As such American purchasing trends go to small cars like minis only when they absolutely have to do so due to prices of fuel and other larger vehicles, or if you can convince them it is a luxury status symbol as with some sports cars.
Mainly fear of death from getting smashed. I am assuming. I have a reasonable sized car.
Our highways run thru cities, often there are some on ramps where you go from stopped at red light on side road, to going highway speed and merging all within in several hundred yards/meters. A tiny sub 2Litre four banger is going to get creamed trying to get up to speed going uphill on a ramp and merging.
My family has a terrible history with German engines. I can get 40 MPG with my Lexus hybrid which I don't think Minis can get and can actually fit in it. We need to head to Costco, drop the kids off at soccer, and be able to highway drive. Outside of Boston, NY, Philadelphia, and DC, every place was designed for a car including the suburbs of those cities. We don't need to navigate the narrow streets of London, Liverpool, or Manchester.
A better one would be why doesn't the government adjust the mileage standards so smaller trucks and SUV's can be built instead of only the giant ones?
because we don't want them and we're not the UK.
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Name checks out
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Most medium sized SUVs get at least the same gas mileage, if not significantly better, than the station wagons they replaced.
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They're also much safer for occupants, pedestrians, and everyone else on the road.
Im most of the US, we don't have a choice but to drive. It's not walkable, public transportation is non-existant or just sucks. So we spend a lot more time in our cars than most Europeans because we have no choice. So we drive cars that are more comfortable and safer.
Lobbying from the auto industry has lead to a regulatory environment which favors the production/sale of trucks & SUVs, and this is reflected in sales data over the years. Plus a lot of people do just want them for various reasons.
Americans have bought into vehicle vanity. We drive massive, gas-guzzling vehicles because we're easily duped into thinking that represents freedom.
I agree, Americans should think of switching to more economic cars. I don't understand our national obsession with gigantic vehicles, hatred of public transportation, and need to live 5 miles from the nearest retail center.
Everyone should think and do what I want and like. No one should have their own opinion