And you think gas prices are bad here in USA

[thebear54]

WOW...an H2 on a Danish island.....go figure
Must have been the royal family visiting, they are the only ones with enough money to fill the tank and keep an SUV like that running over there. The road taxes alone would be enough to kill the average working person .
Yes that is one of the reasons everyone takes public transportation, bikes, motorcycles and the normal average sub-sub compact car in Europe. My family still lives in Holland and the only time they take their cars out is for family vacations and weekend trips.
John

[nater]

My neighbor has an H2. The transmission blew up in it; he was having trouble getting it fixed.

He lives in the same (model/ size) house I do; I was wondering how (or why) he affords an H2. After talking with his wife at a picnic, I found out they have four children in a 1600 sq ft three-bedroom house. They have 1 child and one baby in the master bedroom with them, and then one child in each of the other bedrooms. I kept asking why they don't finish the basement (for more bedrooms) or buy a bigger house. She was kind of vague in her answers, then she admitted that they only rent the house because they can't afford to buy.

My jaw hit the floor. They are living like rats in order to afford an H2? I couldn't believe it. She then mentioned that they were really tight on money since her husband lost his job. She then said her husband will be doing some security consulting soon. (To me, my first thought is this means he analyzes computer networks and gets paid $150 an hour to define a strategy and implement systems. Not quite!)

She then proceeded to explain that her father owned an Avacodo farm in California, and that her husband would be supplied with night vision goggles. (I guess avacados are frequently stolen). She tried to put a positive spin on it, and I realized what she was really telling me. I replied, "So, is he going to drive the H2 around the farm in the middle of the night in California while wearing night vision goggles?" (me trying not to smirk). "Yup! He's really excited about it. We're leaving in two days."

I'm thinking to myself that these people have completely lost their mind! The gas just to get the H2 to Cali and back from Denver has got to be scary, not to mention that the fuel required to run an H2 all night, every night, at California prices!

Their entire lifestyle, centered around their H2, is a zero-sum game, perhaps even a net loss! They are still paying rent on the house while they are gone all summer, by the way.

I did some more thinking, and I realized the only Suburban in the neighborhood is in the garage of a renter, and the other renter down the street just showed up with a new Expedition, the only one as well. I think these people are absolutely nuts! I think they expect me to be jealous of their fabulous lifestyle!

I now laugh at anyone I see driving a 3-ton beast. It seems to me they are all poor, and getting poorer, in order to afford the giant grocery getter. They always look so proud of themselves behind the wheel but I think they indeed can barely afford to fill the tank. I'm sure there are exceptions to this, but the sheer number of the full size SUV's on the road means a substantial portion have got to be living paycheck to paycheck to feed the beast.

Will they ever wise up? Hard to say. Maybe at $6 a gallon, but only time will tell.

Nate