Will cars keep on growing as the bigger they are, the less mpg required by CAFE?

[user removed]

Don't get me going on taxes. No one here can even list every tax they pay monthly.
I think the Boston Tea Party was about a 3% tax, and they risked being hung, drawn and quartered by the English for comitting treason.

regards
mech

[oldtamiyaphile]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

As far as I know the US doesn't tax car purchases or the purchase of parts or service. Some individual states or cities do.

I think you still have tarrifs on imported vehicles such as the 'chicken tax'.

[oldtamiyaphile]

Originally Posted by Madact

It particularly annoys me when used as a justification for calls to make cyclists pay rego etc. given that the cyclist is already paying far, far more than their share (if they pay income tax).

I used to commute 16km each way by bike, which cost me about $1200/year in things like tyres, brakes, tubes, wheelsets (brake surfaces wear out) and so on. 10% GST means I was paying about $120 a year in defacto road tax.

[serialk11r]

Originally Posted by oldtamiyaphile

I used to commute 16km each way by bike, which cost me about $1200/year in things like tyres, brakes, tubes, wheelsets (brake surfaces wear out) and so on. 10% GST means I was paying about $120 a year in defacto road tax.

Holy smokes dude, get a cheaper bike? Or is Australia just expensive like that?

In middle school and high school I rode overall maybe 10km a day and I never spent that much on parts. Never changed a brake pad, wheels only replaced if hit by a car (happens a lot :/) and tacoed, otherwise done with the cheapest replacement. Tubes and tires were always the cheapest (although I got sick of switching tubes and started using the extra thick ones that basically are impossible to puncture).

Theft was the biggest cost, and I'm pretty sure in 5 years and thousands of miles I did not go through 1000 dollars in bikes + components.

[adam728]

Originally Posted by Madact

Oh, the SUVs and 4WDs are definitely getting smaller.

Not here. Just look at the progression of something like the Hilux/Tacoma, 4Runner, S10/Colorada, S10 Blazer/Trailblazer/Traverse. Each generation is larger than the last. Just like cars as well.

[oldtamiyaphile]

Originally Posted by serialk11r

Holy smokes dude, get a cheaper bike? Or is Australia just expensive like that?

Australia is probably about twice as expensive as the US for things like bikes, although the internet is helping level things out. It was a Trek 1400 road bike which is a fairly low end model. The original wheels only lasted about six months, it's the sandy soil that really kills them when it rains. An old school steel rimed bike with basic gears could plow along with minimal attention, but these days there isn't much steel anything in a bike shop. Nothing on that bike was especially reliable so it was always upgraded when it failed. I always run good tyres (for safety and puncture resistance) and even just that costs about $80 ea for about 3-4,000km. Car tyres are much cheaper per km.

[Frank Lee]

Looks like we need to do cents/mile for bicycles too.

I bought my Fuji Sports 12 in 1982; gawd only knows how many miles are on it now. Wish I had an odometer on it the whole time. But parts costs have been minimal. Oh, I did have to buy a new rim once when a cow stepped on it. :/

[Hersbird]

Us import tax on cars is 2.5% and 25% on light trucks and vans. These don't apply to Canada and Mexico. The 25% is a bit excessive but the 2.5% seems fair considering the money we spend on keeping the sea lanes open and free. Do you think anything would be allowed out of Taiwan were it not for the US Navy. China if unchallenged there would then move and shutdown Japan if left to it's own wills.

[niky]

While both countries do receive military assistance from the United States, it's worth noting that the Japanese Navy isn't much smaller than the Chinese Navy, and is arguably more sophisticated, while Taiwan has a pretty well-equipped Air Force.

This is not to say whether a US import tax is fair or not (IMHO, the US can impose any tax it wants within its borders), but the punitive 25% Chicken Tax is rather ridiculous, and has long been a sticking point in trade negotiations.

[serialk11r]

Originally Posted by oldtamiyaphile

It was a Trek 1400 road bike which is a fairly low end model. The original wheels only lasted about six months, it's the sandy soil that really kills them when it rains.

A Trek 1400 is not a low end model in my book LOL.

Do they not sell super cheap Asian brand bikes in Australia? Well I suppose it's low end wheels that you need not a low end bike, although if the bike is low end enough you can just buy a new bike instead of buying new wheels. Strange how the economics works out sometimes.

Also China would not shut down Japan, despite all the anti-Japan sentiment they actually like their Japanese stuff. I saw a military official rolling in a Lexus GX570 once. Kind of funny if you think about it. They also don't have enough nuclear subs to shut down Taiwan (because you have to block the other side of the strait which is pretty far from the mainland!), and they also like their computers (whose boards are still made in Taiwan, mostly).

Do you really think there are enough US ships sitting in Asia to counter actual malicious intent from China? There are plenty of anti-ship cruise missiles and submarines to get rid of anyone they want to get rid of. It would be spending money to lose more money due to falling trade. Just because China is this evil bully in your mind doesn't mean they do stupid things like that.