How does Mercedes avoid the gas guzzler tax?

[Used2be]

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In my shopping I checked on a Mercedes 2013 E63 AMG model with a 5.5 liter bi-turbo V8 motor, 518 hp and NO GAS GUZZLER TAX!! How do they slip by the feds with that size and horsepower rating without activating the gas tax? I asked the salesman and he had no clue. I have no idea how that is calculated, but is it possible that Mercedes tunes their motors to somehow be using less gas in certain rpm ranges that are used in testing?

[Vic55]

Vehicles that get 22.5 mpg combined are exempt... measure by the EPA.

Apparently the m157 engine in the E63 meets this requirement.

[Used2be]

Originally Posted by Vic55

Vehicles that get 22.5 mpg combined are exempt... measure by the EPA.

Ahhh, thank you. I probably could have googled the definition if I'd thought about it. I think the door sticker gave a 18 city/27 highway reading or something close to that, which I thought was probably very optimistic.

[Pazzo009]

Originally Posted by Vic55

Vehicles that get 22.5 mpg combined are exempt... measure by the EPA.

Apparently the m157 engine in the E63 meets this requirement.

Okay, but I always wondered why pick-ups, escalades, tahoes and so on avoid it.

[stealth.pilot]

Originally Posted by aculeg87

Okay, but I always wondered why pick-ups, escalades, tahoes and so on avoid it.

SUVs are exempt, because the government wanted to protect the sales of products that drive Detroits margins. I.e. they care more about promoting the domestic auto industry than the environments.

Politicians - bunch of unethical bastards. Wish they all dropped dead.

[jphughan]

Originally Posted by aculeg87

Okay, but I always wondered why pick-ups, escalades, tahoes and so on avoid it.

Are you ready for yet another example of well-intentioned laws being taken advantage of and abused? It's because those vehicles are considered "light trucks", and trucks have less stringent fuel economy standards. That happened because the government didn't want to overtax trucks that were used to support farming, industry, etc -- but of course people came to the government and basically said, "Sooo....what constitutes a truck, exactly?" Well, automakers built SUVs such that they would meet that definition, and thus SUVs generally avoid the Gas Guzzler Tax. Incidentally, SUVs being considered trucks was what drove so many people to buy them for the Section 179 tax incentive back around 2000 that was intended to help people buy "trucks" to support their business, and instead completely backfired for this reason. It became known as the "Hummer loophole" because so many people used it to deduct the entire cost of an SUV on their income taxes. And, amazingly, it happened AGAIN in 2011: http://www.forbes.com/sites/janetnov...w-or-cadillac/

Want even more irony? The Gas Guzzler Tax that was intended and expected to push consumers and manufacturers towards smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles has actually had the OPPOSITE effect. Manufacturers with a given model were faced with the decision of either making it more fuel-efficient (hmm, that could be somewhat difficult) or just making it larger and heavier to move it into the next weight class up where the standards are more lax (hey, that's easy!!), and guess which option they picked.

[stealth.pilot]

Which is why if any vigilante here wants to go shoot dead any member of Congress or of the Executive branch, the US constitution condones that.

[///M1]

Originally Posted by jphughan

Are you ready for yet another example of well-intentioned laws being taken advantage of and abused? It's because those vehicles are considered "light trucks", and trucks have less stringent fuel economy standards. That happened because the government didn't want to overtax trucks that were used to support farms, industries, etc -- but of course the industry came to the IRS and basically said, "Sooo....what constitutes a truck?" Well, SUVs are now considered to meet that definition and thus they generally avoid the Gas Guzzler Tax.

Want even more irony? These Gas Guzzler Taxes that were intended and expected to push consumers and manufacturers towards smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles have actually had the OPPOSITE effect. Manufacturers with a given model were faced with the decision of either making it more fuel-efficient (hmm, that could be somewhat difficult) or just making it larger and heavier to move it into the next weight class up where the standards are more lax (hey, that's easy!!), and guess which option they picked.

Well said, I've always shook my head how this whole thing works...

And the EPA testing remains a mystery. the 6-spd F10 M5 is allegedly more economical than the DCT one despite having one gear less, and as a result has a GGT of $1K, vs. $1.3K for the DCT. Go figure.

And recently they re-rated the MPGs on the 328i, and now it has the same rating as the 335i...

[PatrickC23]

I heard "talk" that BMW's fight on the gas guzzler tax with the EPA is on-going. no idea if true or not. Can anyone verify this? And if so, what could BMW possibly do to change their consumption #'s??

[Pazzo009]

Thanks for the clarification. I understand it makes sense in regards to the tax adversely affecting the sales of these trucks, however I find it insulting that it's called a gas guzzler tax when in actuality it's really a luxury tax