Dear Tom and Ray:

This will probably seem like a really stupid question, but I need professional advice. I own a 1-year-old Jeep in perfect condition, which I bought for my job. I was laid off from said job, and now I own a gas-guzzling, really nice-looking Jeep Grand Cherokee that is too big and too expensive for me to drive, especially since I no longer have a job. My question is, Should I trade it in for a smaller, more fuel-efficient car? I have no payments, and being unemployed limits what I could buy. With gas prices continuing to climb, I don’t really know what I should do, since I own the vehicle outright. Care to advise an idiot?

RAY: I guess this is what you might call “idiot to idiot” communication.

TOM: Or, more accurately, “idiot AND idiot to idiot communication.” So consider yourself warned, Micci.

RAY: Actually, you’re hardly alone. SUVs and pickup trucks were, for many people, a fashion trend during the past 10 years. And like many fashion trends, they were, at heart, exceedingly impractical.

TOM: Tell me about it. Try wearing a miniskirt like I did during the entire winter of ’68!

RAY: People who didn’t need pick-ups and SUVs bought them anyway, because they were seen as cool, despite the fact that they handled like crud, tended to flip over more than other vehicles, ripped countless inseams during ingress and egress, and drank gas like it was a dark-chocolate-caramel-mocha freddo from Peet’s Coffee.

TOM: So now, here we are, with a lot of people stuck with SUVs that get 15 mpg while gas is $4 a gallon. What to do?

RAY: I’d say dump it, Micci. You’re going to take a bath on it, no question. Anytime you sell a car that’s a year old, you take a huge hit from initial depreciation. Add to that the fact that you’re selling a vehicle that not many people want nowadays, for the same reasons you don’t want it. But there’s always a price at which someone will take it.

TOM: If you don’t want to sell it yourself, you can even try CarMax, if there’s one in your area. They buy late-model cars at the wholesale price.

RAY: And since you own it outright, you can take the cash you get, buy a cheaper 2-, 3- or 4-year-old fuel-efficient car, and then put aside a few grand to get you through this period of unemployment.

TOM: If you had an income and weren’t in desperate straits, you could hang on to it a little longer, to see if gas prices level off and come down a bit, which they might. That might make your Jeep a little more valuable on the used-car market. But if you can’t afford the gas to go out looking for a job, you need to do something now. Plus, I don’t see gas prices coming down a lot.

RAY: Me, either. Combine the instability and war in the Middle East with increased demand from growing economies in China and India, and the decreasing supply of oil in the Earth, and the long-term trend for oil prices is up, rather than down.

TOM: That’s why I’d say dump the Grand Cherokee now, while there are still a few other idiots out there who haven’t caught on yet. Good luck, Micci!

Sorry, Charlie, wrong again

Dear Tom and Ray:

This is a question I have always thought I knew the answer to, but now I am searching for a concrete answer, and who better to turn to? Does a vehicle use more gasoline in starting the engine than it uses in idling for say, 5 to 10 minutes? The reason for the question comes from “discussions” with my wife about why I leave the car running when I run into the local 7-11. With gas prices being in the headlines on a daily basis now, she says it’s a waste of gas to leave the car running, while I debate that the car burns more gas during ignition. Therefore, more-frequent shutoffs equal more burned gas. Being the husband, I am told by my wife that I am always wrong. Any chance I’m right this time?

TOM: Well, Charlie, good news: Your record is perfect. You’re wrong again!

RAY: The only vehicle I know of that uses a ton of extra fuel getting started is the space shuttle.

TOM: All modern cars have computer-controlled fuel-injection systems, which meter out precisely the amount of gasoline the engine needs, and no more.

RAY: So, starting the car uses no additional gasoline. Your wife is absolutely right that if you’re running into a convenience store, you should definitely turn off the engine to save fuel.

TOM: Hybrid vehicles do this automatically. When you come to a stop at a traffic light, even for a few seconds, the engine automatically shuts down. And then, as soon as you touch the gas pedal, it starts right up seamlessly, and takes you on your way.

RAY: And pretty soon, I suspect, lots of nonhybrid cars are going to have that same “stop-start” technology, because it DOES save quite a bit of fuel.

TOM: If it makes being wrong again any easier to take, Charlie, we should tell you that there was a time when cars had horribly wasteful carburetors. In those days, there probably WAS enough fuel leaking down and percolating to have made you correct, if you were driving a ’67 Buick Special.

RAY: And since you’ve obviously held this opinion for years, I don’t see any reason for you to admit to your wife that you’re wrong. Just tell her that the facts have had the audacity to change while you weren’t paying attention.