Decent mileage standards coming?

[UGoGirl]

I will be needing a car in the next year or so. I'm considering just holding off for a couple of years and getting by with our one vehicle in hopes that decent mileage standards will be required by the government. What would you do?

 

[Wildman]

I don't think that requiring a certain mileage and producing the expected results will make it so. I know that the car industry has been putting off using new technology to increase gas mileage, but I don't know if it will happen anytime soon.

 

[sweetlhs]

Do you really want the government to control what you drive? I'm too much of a free person for that. If I choose to drive a gas guzzler, that should be my right. Don't you think?

 

[UGoGirl]

It's my understanding that, by regulation, the U.S. auto industry will be required to improve emissions and gas mileage in the near future, but I couldn't recall if that is in the coming year or if it is further off. Upon further research, I found these standards: 2012-33.6 mpg, 2013-34.4 mpg, 2014-35.2 mpg, 2015-36.4 mpg, 2016-38.2 mpg, 2017-39.6 mpg, 2018-41.1 mpg. The auto industry won't improve mileage on it's own, which is the responsible thing to do, and which many consumers would like to see, so I'm glad the government has decided to take the lead as part of national energy and economic policy.

 

[mustangs&lightning]

Wow! By 2018, all new vehicles will have to get over 40 mpg! That's 800 miles to a 20 gallon tank! The only downside to this, in my opinion, is that the newer technology required to improve emissions and gas mileage is also going to make the cars that much more expensive than they already are.

 

[Geared]

I would hold off and see if it's going to happen. If anything, you'll save money on payments you're not going to make.

If you can get by on one car, yeah, I would definitely wait.

 

[Donnie]

There's nothing wrong with waiting, if you decide you want to do that. I wouldn't put off buying a new car if I really wanted it. Things coming down the pipes are often delayed and bring different results than what we expected.

 

[vroombaby]

Is anyone trying to guess what gas prices will be by then? I have about a 15 gallon tank but it is still expensive to fill it up lately. For some reason the more stations they build the gas continues to rise right along with it.

 

[mustangs&lightning]

Is anyone trying to guess what gas prices will be by then? I have about a 15 gallon tank but it is still expensive to fill it up lately. For some reason the more stations they build the gas continues to rise right along with it.

I don't even want to know what gas prices will be in 2018! They're already too high. I think that's part of the reason that the federal government has a plan in place to increase fuel economy over the next 5 years.