It’s True, It Doesn’t Matter What You Drive

I finally traded in my Audi last week after conceding that there’s no end in sight to high gas prices.  If I were really wise, I would have dumped the car a few years ago when candidate Obama told Americans to cope with high gas prices by inflating their tires.

The new car (after the "market adjustment")

So after a combination of internet research and several test drives, I settled on the 2011 Honda Civic.  It’s affordable, reliable and it gets 36 miles per gallon. 

Finally ready to make the purchase, I went to the Honda dealership last week to pick out the car.  Based on my research, I expected the vehicle’s sticker price to be about $18,500.

Not so.  The dealer jacked up the price by $1,900 to reflect a “market adjustment”.  I’m accustomed to dealer add-ons for items such as tinted windows, an alarm, paint sealant and whatever other tangible features the sales guy can point out.  But c’mon, a $1,900 market adjustment?

It turns out that I’m not the only person trading in for a car that gets excellent gas mileage.  In fact, the dealer only had three of these cars left on the lot.

It’s plain economics and I shouldn’t have been surprised by the dealer mark-up.  Simply put, high gas prices push up demand for fuel efficient cars.  Hence, a market adjustment.

So it’s true, it really doesn’t matter what kind of car you drive.  Either way, you’ll be affected by Washington’s anti-energy policies.  But maybe you don’t know this if you and your advisors are chauffered around town on the taxpayer dime.

At a public town hall earlier this month, the president proved he is either clueless or indifferent.  Seeing an opportunity to lecture, he chastised SUV owners for complaining about gas prices.  “If you’re complaining about the price of gas and you’re only getting 8 miles a gallon…(laughter).”

Obviously, there are events in the world that the president has little control over.  For example, I won’t point the finger at him if political protests in the Middle East cause oil prices to skyrocket.  Or if rising demand in China pushes prices upward.

But he’s not even interested in taking advantage of what he does have control over.  Expanding domestic energy production should have been done yesterday.  Don’t count on it happening tomorrow either.  The BP oil spill was a convenient opportunity to issue a moratorium on new offshore drilling permits.  Although a federal judge recently overturned the moratorium, the administration continues to drag its feet on issuing drilling permits.

Someone should tell President Obama that high energy prices aren’t a good reelection strategy.  We’ll see who’s still laughing in 2012.

(Note to any car buyers: Obviously, market adjustments are negotiable.  Through hours of negotiation, we talked down the overall sticker price by $5,000.)