danoid wrote:
I just wish I could buy it for spare parts. With fuel economy standards likely to go into the 40 mpg range, anything that can pull a trailer will become illegal. In 12 years, these cars will be worth more in parts than as whole...
Not how fuel economy standards work. It is a fleet-wide average (ie, high mpg models balance out low mpg models), with seperate standards for passenger cars and for light trucks. Currently 27.5ish for cars, 20.5ish for trucks (from an article I read a few weeks ago). Our current Liberty CRD's probably beat the current passenger car mpg requirements and far exceed the truck requirements. The new VW Taureg diesel is claimed to be rated to tow 7500 pounds and still get 28 mpg highway.
If our CRD didn't have the aerodynamics of a shoebox, it would like run 30-32 mpg highway.
I believe higher mpg standards will mean greater use of small diesels in pickups (which is why Cummins, Isuzu, VW, etc... are all investing in them, and why Toyota, GM, etc... are buying shares in companies with small diesels that are likely to meet US emissions specs). I bought my CRD because I wanted a tow vehicle that got decent MPG. It is friggin ridiculous that average mpg of the US vehicle fleet is lower now than it was in the 1980's.
I know this won't be a popular opinion, but the US auto industry is its own worst enemy on fuel economy. Every time there is a fuel price shock, US makers loose market share because they refused to invest in the tech needed to be ahead of the curve. For all the PR Ford has gotten over the Escape hybrid, the electric drivetrain is license from Toyota, and thats not a domestic diesel powering the Grand Cherokee CRD's.