Gas prices in California fell to less than $3 a gallon in November. That is a whopping drop from the state record of $4.58 in June.
There’s already evidence big car and truck sales are perking up in response.
“This drop has been a wonderful thing,” said Kurt Rodriguez of Santa Maria Ford. “We definitely have more interest in our big trucks. There’s more phone traffic and more walk-in traffic. Before, all people were looking for was small cars.”
So does it follow that all those Chicken Littles who traded their Hummers for gas sippers they could park in the closet now feel buyers’ remorse?
The Sun tracked down a couple of owners of micro cars—the ones that look like golf carts—in order to find out. What do they think now?
And, let’s be honest, we also wanted to know who are these people—librarians from Berkeley, daredevils with pitons and parachutes, maybe the leather crowd?
William and Laureen McCluen of Santa Maria took ownership in September of a Smart Car, Mercedes Benz’ U.S.-marketed micro. William is a stockbroker, while his wife just left real estate (the market has been slow) and is retraining as a paralegal.
Their vehicle measures 61 inches wide and tall and is 106 inches long. It runs on a three-cylinder 70-horse engine. It could fit inside one of Rodriguez’ trucks.
The McCluens’ little Smart Car is dark blue with gray trim. Their son Scott graduated from UC Davis in June. Majoring in entomology, Scott made the Dean’s List, so Mom and Dad wrote a check for the car as a gift.
“In 2004 we all went to Paris,” Laureen explained. “We saw a lot of them. My son said, ‘When they come to the U.S., I want one.’ He liked the uniqueness and the smallness—it’s so easy to park. Gas prices are always a factor when you’re in your first job, but it was more the uniqueness and ease of parking.”
Still Scott’s mom wondered about safety: “I took it out on the freeway, but other than getting up the onramp—the acceleration is not the best—it felt just like a bigger car.”
Ample headroom, side airbags, and more widely spaced rear wheels also helped reassure her.
The McCluens have no second thoughts even as gas prices sink.
“For a brand new car, $15,000 is pretty inexpensive, even if gas is $2 a gallon,” Laureen testified.
Lisa Donovan is president of P&L Electric in Lompoc. Her husband Pat is vice president.
Lisa is 5-foot-nothing, and has five kids, four grandchildren (with two more on the way). The wildest enterprise the Donovans are known for is their annual Christmas light exhibition. They won the Mayor’s Award last year.
Lisa and Pat took ownership of a Smart Car in August—a white convertible with black trim. Pat made the reservation after seeing advertising on Good Morning America.
“Doesn’t she look like a Smart Car person?” he said with a laugh, looking at Lisa curled like a teenager in her office chair.
At first, the micro car was a shock to the family: “They had not actually seen one,” Lisa said with a grin. “When I drove up in it, my youngest son said, ‘What is that? I officially don’t know you.’ Now they all love to drive it.
“They say it is a foot longer than a bike.
At Cottage Hospital, I zipped into half a parking spot. I get half price from the mobile car wash guy.”
Lisa had been driving a big Lincoln Navigator at 16 miles a gallon.
“It cost us $100 to fill up the Navigator,” she said. “It’s $30 to fill this up and I go just as far.”
She sees it as a no-brainer. But Pat insists economy wasn’t his motivation: “In the back of my mind, maybe. It costs a lot to drive the big car now. But it was more the novelty of it. You don’t see many of these.”
Sure enough, as she drives, Lisa gets a reaction from onlookers—one she doesn’t always welcome.
“Everybody stares,” she said. “They’re watching, and they drift into my lane.
“Adults will ask, ‘How many miles to a charge?’ They think it’s electric. Kids will say, ‘It’s so cute. Did you pick it up at Wal-Mart?’”
The Donovans have no more regrets than the McCluens as gas prices go down.
“We looked into a hybrid, but it’s $10,000 more than a gas car,” Lisa explained. “How long is it going to take to recoup that? The Smart Car is so much more cost effective. And now it’s even cheaper to fill up. I have no thought of trading it in.”
But remember those Christmas decorations? There aren’t many families like the Donovans who plaster their house with light bulbs every Christmas. Are they really typical consumers?
“For our anniversary, he took me on a wine-tasting trip that ended in Hawaii,” Lisa remembered.
“We try to find unique gifts for each other,” Pat admitted after Lisa recalled the motorized cat box he bought her. Over his shoulder can be seen more than 1,000 frogs—of all colors, stuffed, ceramic, hand-drawn and otherwise—filling his office.
“We just got a 225-amp panel for the Christmas lights,” he added.
Maybe micro-car people are different.
Contact freelancer John McReynolds through the executive editor at rmiller@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Nov 20-27, 2008.