"That car is killing us. The boat is, too."

[Bouncy Ball]

Just said to me this afternoon by a neighbor. He owns a Suburban and a boat. I suggested trading in the Suburban and he said they owe too much on it and trade-ins on Suburbans suck right now. They tried and the dealership was VERY lukewarm on taking it, said he has too many Suburbans and the market is very soft for them right now. Hmmm, wonder why. (BTW, I thought it was funny he called a Suburban a "car.")

Then about the boat, I said "well, maybe don't take the boat out to the lake so much, save money on gas that way."

He said "Well, the thing is, we didn't buy it just to have it sit in the driveway."

I said "that's true, but hell, I'd at least take it out less often."

They use the Suburban a lot, though, and he said they are putting about $100 a week in gas in it. $400 a MONTH!!!!! Sheeee-it. Even with my horrible commute (that ends next week), I'm only spending about $160 per month. And soon, that will be knocked down to about $60 a month (again, when this commute ends).

I had a hard time having any sympathy for him. Some people have to LIVE on what he spends on that "car." And he said his payment on the Suburban is $400 a month. Crap. Almost $1000 a month on the VEHICLE.

FYI, he was a bush voter. Knowing that, I couldn't resist: I said "Heh, what irony! We've got two guys in the White House with all kinds of ties to the oil industry, and look at gas prices. Shit."

He laughed kind of a bitter, yeah-but-that's-not-really-funny laugh and said "Well, that's one thing I'll say--I like gas prices under Democrats a hell of a lot more."

I told him I like EVERYTHING under Democrats a hell of a lot more.

So, are people having a hard time even getting rid of some of the really big SUVs?