How do you haul 2000 lb trailers, loads of soil, boats, or large furniture with a 2.0 liter 4 door? How well do 2.0 liter 4 doors drive through muddy fields? Can they pull another car out of a deep ditch ditch? Can you bolt snow plows onto them?
I drive a 2.8 liter 2-seater with no cargo space myself, but I know large 4x4s have many uses.
I agree that one person driving an SUV anround in a city is very stupid.
Where’s FatherJohn when we need him?
I’ve got a 95 1/2 Isuzu Rodeo. Why did I get it? Because I remember all the big-ass cars my parents had when I was growing up and all the crap they’d hold. When you’ve got a kid with rich grandparents and you’re driving home from a major Xmas, you need all the room you can get. When you’re trying to drive 4 adults to lunch, a little legroom in the back is a good thing. Unfortunately, my wife’s so-called “mid-size” Altima has less room in the back than my old 76 Firebird. And I think less trunk space as well.
It takes the Rodeo to make up for the 76 Monte Carlo, the 76 T-Bird, the 68 Skylark, or even the 79 Delta 88 in my memory. And gas mileage be damned, it pays for itself in shipping costs even with the 500 mile drive.
But some people don’t look at life as a series of compromises. Just today, I took a load of boxes from a recent move to a cow-orker who’s moving himself. Now, Nader-boy has griped about my SUV before, but when the boxes I brought wouldn’t fit into his ubiquitous Jetta (which I pointed out), he had to admit the “Utility” of my vehicle. And I might also point out that I held onto the boxes until he was ready to take them so that they’d be recycled. Like I said, it’s all about compromises.
Moderator’s Notes:
We ain’t havin’ that argument in here. Again.
I haven’t taken the Cherokee off-road since the last time it rained. (What’s the use in off-roading if you don’t come back all muddy?) But I did get to use the four-wheel drive on some back-roads in Canada a couple of weeks ago. Having parked off of the muddy dirt road to hike up a trail, the rear tire spun when we tried to leave. My friend looked at me like, “Uh-oh.”, but I just pulled up the 4WD lever and off we went. It was also useful for keeping us from sliding on the dirt roads.
In other news and in another thread, my 1946 Willys CJ2A is seriously sick.
You beat me to it.