[rescue] What a load of...

[Lionel Peterson]

>From: Francois Dion <francois.dion at gmail.com>
>Date: 2007/09/27 Thu AM 09:50:58 CDT
>To: The Rescue List <rescue at sunhelp.org>
>Subject: Re: [rescue] What a load of...

>On 9/27/07, Dan Sikorski <me at dansikorski.com> wrote:
>> Francois Dion wrote:
>> > Disapointing. I was really expecting close to 2000lbs. They make the
>> > cars out of tin nowadays? So I'm baffled by such low numbers. Let me
>> > look at a Chevy Avalanche. 1190lbs! ??
>> >
>> I don't find this at all surprising.  Minivans are intended to move
>> families, and children weigh much less than your average 175lbs.
>
>But I see them loaded with stuff besides all the kids, and a roof box
>too... And with the gas tank full etc. Surely we are talking more than
>1200lbs? Even with 5 people and some luggage, you can easily reach
>over 1000lbs without trying. At that kind of load, they typically are
>riding pretty low in the back.
>
>> On top
>> of that, I'm not sure you could physically fit 8 175lb people in a
>> minivan.  They're not going to spend a lot of money building them up
>> with a lot more capacity than 99.9% of their customers will use.
>> Besides, car manufacturers make trucks for people who want to move
>> cargo.  Use the right tool for the job.

I have argued for a long time that "back in the day" (late '60s through OPEC 
gas crisis/mid-'70s) cars were over-built to exceed the needs of the cars, 
and since the mid-70s cars were designed for a specific purpose with no extra 
margin in any part (the famous self-destruct after 125K miles feature most 
new cars seem to feature)...

My Mustang (1967 convertible w/straight six 200 cubic inch engine) is SOLID, 
and will run for another several decades with minimal fixes, and I'm 
considering trading in my "truck" (SUV) because at 70,000 miles I'm loking at 
several thousand dollars in repairs AND THE CAR IS IN GOOD SHAPE. (I'm 
looking to trade it in before the equity in the car runs out/drops 
considerably)

Argh.

Lionel