On a related topic to the many SUV threads running around out there:
God, I hate those damn little compact SUV’s. The Touota RAV4, the Honda CRV, the Chevy Tracker, and anything made by KIA. These vehicles are nothing more that Toyota Corolla’s on stilts. Literally - they share the same chassis. But people seem to think that now they’re driving an SUV, so they can weave in and out of traffic, drive like crazy in the rain, take up two parking spaces. All that shit. And then the commercials show these guys out in the woods? OMIGOD, you if you can’t drive your putt-putt 4 cylinder sedan through the forest, you damn sure can’t drive one of these things through the woods. The only difference is the sheet metal and the extra 12V outlet in the back.
I’m serious. I saw one of these things get stuck trying to cross a grassy field in a light rain. What a fucking joke.
And the people who drive them seem to think that they’re now in the SUV club, so they get all of the extras like brush guards and running boards. The guy who parks in the space next to me at my apartment has one of those Toyotas and with a $300 alarm system no less (he told me how much it cost). Christ, no one wants to steal your little car OK? What really pisses me off is that this alarm is dialed up as sensitive as can be. If I even brush his car on the way into or out of mine, the fucking alarm goes off and I can see him scowling out the window of his apartment. FUCK OFF BUDDY!
I have similar feelings to the damn “luxury” SUV market, too. If you want to drive a Lexus, you probably don’t need a towing package. Spend your money and buy a nice Mercedes coup or something. The Lincoln Navigator is probably the most garish whore wagon I ever seen.
And I hate the Ford Excursion, too. WHO THE FUCK NEEDS A CAR THAT BIG? IT DOESN’T EVEN FIT INTO A NORMAL GARAGE! :mad:
I have no problem with your average Ford Explorer - it’s just those damn niche vehicles designed to let everyone drive a SUV.
I must agree. I saw one of the new Cadillac SUV’s the other day. Give me a freakin’ break! So a regular Jeep or Explorer isn’t good enough, Mr. Mid-Life Crisis, you’ve got to get the most expensive one so all your buddies at the club will know you’re a Big Man.
I’ll not be askin’ what you drive there johnnyharvard, since bashing other people’s choices seems to be so much more entertaining, but I will offer a few personal anecdotes.
My youngest sister is here in Connecticut, and owns one of them abominable little Honda Rice Burning SUV’s. True enough that it’s as much a truck as my son’s skateboard, but she has no ‘off-roading’ aspirations, and the beastly little Honda gets her to her job in the winter where her socially conscious and cute as a button little Saturn just sat there spinning its wheels. She’s guessing that it’s easier to pay for the thing if you can make it to work, and I don’t begrudge her the sense of security.
For my own part, I design and build buildings and develop land (Our Motto: ‘Raping the Landscape since 1982’). A good portion of my time is spent driving around in the woods and fields and slogging through construction sites. Another good portion of my time is spent entertaining rich people (poor people being notoriously shy about building things). My ‘luxury whore wagon’ bridges the gap between the two worlds, and allows me to both get business and properly conduct it.
As an aside, ye shouldn’t discount the ‘luxury whore wagons’ just on account of their appointments. My Range Rover has a V-8 and the balls of a bear – I handily pulled one of my F-350 4x4 dump trucks out of a mud bog that had it sunk past its axles, and have never had to walk my way out of a field as I did a number of times when I had an Explorer.
No doubt there’re fools involved in the choice and use of any vehicle (don’t get me started on ‘A boy and his Camaro’), but there’s also a place for all of the different vehicles, else the marketplace wouldn’t support them.
Dr. Watson
“If decisions were a choice between alternatives, decisions would come easy. Decision is the selection and formulation of alternatives.” – Kenneth Burke
In another SUV-related thread, it was reported that the CAFE standards are 27.5 mpg for cars, but 20 mpg for trucks (SUVs are considered trucks). Consequently, today’s Lincoln Town Car is about the same size as yesterday’s Granada. While the Town Car is nicely appointed with comfortable seats and all sorts of needless gadgetry, interior roominess is sorely lacking compared to Town Cars and large Mercurys from 1979 on back. However, trucks aren’t as restricted in size. Why pay the big bucks for a smaller car when you can get a larger truck or SUV for roughly the same amount of money?
My understanding is that trucks also have fewer pollution restrictions. This makes them a bit easier for the DIYer to maintain. Ever looked under the hood of a new Lincoln? Or a new Taurus, for that matter? If something went wrong with either one, could you figure it out? Also, most of the newer U.S. cars have sideways engines, while most trucks still use a rear-drive configuration.
The Excursion was designed to compete against the Chevy Suburban. Why isn’t the Suburban included in all the SUV-bashing? Has the model been around so long that it’s immune to criticism?
And trucks are built stronger than cars. Therefore, they usually last longer.
None of this means that I’ll buy a new truck or SUV, or even a new car, for that matter: they all cost too much. But I understand why some people do.
“A lot of Christians wear crosses around their necks. You think when Jesus comes back, he ever wants to see a cross?” – Bill Hicks
FYI - I drive a 1998 Chevy Silverado ext-cab pickup. It doesn’t have 4WD and about as much off road that I get is driving on the pasture roads when I’m hunting. I drive the pickup because my big smelly dog (black lab) can go along with me without leaving hair and slobber all over the inside of the car. I used to have an explorer, but it just turned out that I was too big to fit in the front seat (6’4 250). I got the extended cab truck instead so I can then put the seat further back when driving. It also helps to avoid the aforementioned dog problems.
Logically, I guess I have the same problems with the Suburban as I do with the Excursion. I am unfairly biased in favor of suburbans because I grew up in Texas where every family has a suburban. I’m also a Chevy truck person (haven’t see that debate in here yet ;)… ) so I’m biased against Ford truck products. It’s irrational but it’s the truth. To top it all off, Ford made the Excursion bigger than the suburban just for the sake of making it bigger.
People that drive like idiots are going to drive like idiots no matter what kind of vehicle you put them in. I drive a RAV4 because it sits up a little higher than a car. I like the concept of not having to deal with a trunk. And it makes it easier for me to get out of the way of idiots who don’t know how to drive because I can see them coming a little better than if I were in a car. I have no need for a huge vehicle. And I won’t buy another car.
Okay, can we get a grip here? For those who loathe SUVs on account of their trendiness, I feel your pain. (Sorry, couldn’t resist that one.) I just attended a truly deadly dinner at “the” local country club and was bemused by all the big-honkin’ SUVs. But they were no more fundamentally ridiculous than the other Lincolns, Mercs, etc.
To be honest, I found it funny in a subversive way: what next? Grayhound busses?
That said, it’s stupid to pitch a wall-eyed hissy fit over someone’s choice of a car, for God’s sake. Yeah, I drive a 4x4 and it just walked me through a 12" snowfall when most other folks were stuck.
But the crucial point is this: it’s just a blatant waste of time categorizing people by what they drive. Trendy, beaten up and rusted, cheapo tin can, land yacht–why does anyone care all that much?
What really sucks is that here in the NYC-metro area we have parkways (No, I’m notleading there), nice roads, no trucks. Well except for SUV’s, of course. The signs at the entrance ramps say ‘Passenger Cars Only’. Some signs say ‘Parkway-No Trucks’
The plate on the Yukon says “GMC Truck”, it can drive on the parkway.
Now New York Stae is caving in, and will begin allowing pick-ups on the parkways. Previously pick-ups needed a permanent cap on the bed and seats in order to drive on parkways. So many people fouted those regs that the state has given up on enforcement.
Oh well, that’s my rant.
Then we’ll turn our tommy guns
on the screaming ravaged nuns
and the people’s voice will be the only sound.
-P. Sky
No. I don’t shoot deer at all - all I mainly like to hunt are doves. Driving through the pasture refers to driving from the gate to the pond, whereby I hide the truck below the dam and then go sit under a tree with the dog and wait for the birds to fly by.
We do hunt coyotes and pigs from a truck out in the middle of the pasture, but my personal vehicle isn’t up to the task. For those purposes we use an old 4WD truck with big knobby brush tires.