“SUVs are definitely in trouble because of gas prices,” said Mike Owens of Nader Automotive in Eureka. “I’ve been at this dealership for 21 years and have seen a lot of changes in the car business. I’m going to tell you — gas is not going down, it’s probably going to go up.”
According to AAA’s gas price-monitoring Web site, gas reached its highest recorded average price on July 3 at $4.098 a gallon for regular unleaded and $4.797 for diesel. Gasbuddy.com lists Eureka’s average price as $4.79 a gallon.
“Go on the New York stock exchange Web site, where the price of oil is $126 a barrel. It’s predicted according to the economic experts by mid-August to be $160 a barrel.” Bad news if you’re an sport-utility vehicle owner, Owens said. “I think this is something that will make car manufacturers wake up and start getting into more hydrogen power. More fuel-efficient vehicles,” he said.
Nader displays for sale such large-sized luxury SUVs as Cadillac Escalades and Hummers at its location on Broadway.
“The explosion to the SUVs started in the late ‘80s to ‘90s. When it went to Ford Explorers, and Expeditions, and the Isuzu Troopers — when those kinds of cars came out with all-new body styles, people went wild, but gas was a lot less. Now its tripled, almost quadrupled,” he said.
“I’ve got probably 20 SUVs right now and a brand-new Cadillac Escalade that sells for $60,000 and I’m having no action. Nobody’s coming in.”
At Harper Motors, manager Trevor Harper said SUVs have taken a hit at his dealership as well, and “It’s been significant,” he said. Harper feels that it isn’t just the automotive industry that is feeling the pain. “Gas prices aren’t the only problem,” he said. “There’s an inflation issue, and a grocery problem — and it’s the same as gas. Groceries are 20 percent more this year. People should be screaming about groceries more than gas.”
Harper said families that are larger and need the extra space that SUVs provide, unfortunately don’t have many alternatives. “They kind of need that space. If you can afford the gas, then you’re going to go ahead and get it.”
Even though Harper said the best-selling vehicle on his lot is still the Ford F-150, he said the smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles and hybrids such as the Toyota Prius, are growing in popularity. Harper personally chooses to drive one himself — the Ford Focus, which retails for approximately $17,000 fully loaded, and gets 35 miles per gallon, the Ford Web site states. “My average fuel mileage is 31.4 and that’s with 2,200 miles on it,” Harper said.
Greg Hendricks, sales manager of Opie’s Fine Cars in McKinleyville, said he personally isn’t a fan of the hybrid vehicles. “You’re not going to save enough gas to justify buying one,” he said. “The hybrids get 34 to 40 mpg, and it costs more to build that hybrid — if you’re really looking to reduce your carbon footprint. I’m not a believer in hybrids. If you want to be green, its not the answer. It just makes you look good.”
Hendricks, son of Opie himself, has been there for 40 years and said the recent slowdown in the car-buying industry that he and others have experience, is nothing he hasn’t seen before. “It isn’t the first one and it won’t be the last one.”
Hendricks, whose main business is used vehicles, said even though last month was good for his lot, selling “SUVs, pickups, small ones, big ones,” overall, they have felt the crunch there as well.
“It’s a major impact. In used car vehicles in the month of May, we were off.”
Hendricks feels that a trend may swing back toward minivans as an alternative to SUVs for families who need the space. “The next wave will be the cross-over vehicles and minivans.” Even though he said minivans get “30 percent” better gas mileage than SUVs, they haven’t proved to be as popular as SUVs have historically been, so “factories quit making them.”
“You can’t convince the public what they want,” he said.
At Nader, Owens said the manufacturers need to get with the program and provide the public with more alternatives, or lower the prices of the SUVs. “It’s not the small dealers that need to move on this, it’s the big fat cats who run these factories.”
While Owens does sell some hybrid SUVs, he said the prices are still too high in his opinion. “There’s the hybrid GMC Yukon, a big V8 that gets 20 (mpg) on the highway and in town, but it sells for $56,000. It would be more attractive if it sold for $30,000 — not that I could do that,” he said.
“I believe gas is going to go up and I think eventually the government is going to have to get involved and regulate the price,” said Owens.
“It’s affecting us locally because nobody’s buying cars and it’s a trickle-down effect. When people aren’t getting cars, they’re not buying parts and they’re not getting serviced and tires and oil changes,” he continued. “So the idea is, the cars have to keep rolling. The minute that stops, the whole industry stops. It’s like five people marching in a row. If the first guy stops, they all run into one another. It’s the same thing.”
As for Hendricks in McKinleyville, he’s choosing to remain optimistic that the cars will indeed keep rolling. “The car business is in a down cycle,” he said. “It will come back.”
