good post, but IMO, but if a family out there has bought and paid for an Expedition, chances are they won't be worrying about $50, $75 or even $150 mo. more in gas to justify them buying another car.
Those that are living that close to the edge, should never have bought a large SUV to begin with....and there are a lot of those families.....they should have bought a small car instead.
Those are the same folks that sure as hell shouldn't be spending $28k on a hybrid. Go buy a used Civic and call it a fucking day. It's not like you need a big or even any SUV to manage a family. Growing up we had four kids and a fucking two door Monte Carlo and a large sedan and managed just fine. Hell, fuck the Hybrids all together...buy a regular 4cyl version as we've done the math 100 times...Hybrids take like 7-10 years to pay for themselves vs their regular gas counterparts.
IMO, what we are seeing today is a reality check for most families budgets. Folks who for 5-7-10 years now have been living on the edge or beyond their means all bitching because they can't afford an extra $150 mo. for gas and or another $300-$700 mo. in a mortgage payment.
Fuck, if you can't afford those or don't have any extra money to cover expenses that come about like this, then you're living over your means period. Can't blame gas prices or mortgage companies on that. Seriously, if you need to forgo lunches out or movies with the kids, just to make ends meet, you have issues way beyond the cost of gas.
Reality check folks....I don't like gas prices going up one bit, but for many, it's time to start living like you make more than you do.....wake up and plan for the future vs spending for today.
Rant off.