I have a Ford Escape, like ZipperJJ said, it’s a mini-SUV. I got it because a friend works for Ford and it was the car that appealed to me the most. The only thing I really haul around in it is kids- 2 teenagers, and 3 more pre-teens when my husband’s kids are in town.
It doesn’t snow here (but we have driven it to the snow in Tahoe), and I rarely take it off road, but it’s nice to know I can. We do a lot of hiking and camping, etc., but we almost always take my husband’s truck.
My work commute is a flat 15 miles on highway 101.
It’s not terrible on gas, but certainly not as good as the Honda Civic I had before it.
My Mom bought a mid-sized SUV. She has spinal stenosis. The taller vehicle makes it easier to get in and out of. I like that about our Pathfinder and Grand Jeep as well. And, my Mom’s Highlander can make it to our house and back in winter. She watches our pets when we take a trip, so that’s very import for her safety and our piece of mind.
You see, I own a bunch of shares in Exxon and I want to do my part to keep the stock price moving up…
In all seriousness, I do use my Explorer for some SUV’ish capabilities, although I could just as easily have purchased a mini-van.
My needs:
I’m tall, head hits roof in most cars
Need to seat 7 (carrying around kids and their friends quite frequently)
4WD so I’m not stuck at home those 3 days per year when we get 1 inch of snow, and yes I have used this feature
Will tow in future (jet skis or boat) but not yet
Mr. Legend and I have been asking ourselves this question for over a year now, as we ponder what car to buy to replace our '86 Jeep Cherokee. Our main car is a Nissan Sentra and both of us, at 5’11" and 6’2", have plenty of headroom in the front seats. I rarely need to haul anything bigger than the Sentra can handle (we have folding seats in the back, and I’ve carried lumber and other bulky loads in the car). I do use the Jeep for the occasional oversize load, probably twice a year. When we bought the Jeep new, we were childless and went up to the mountains most weekends. We were tired of losing oil pans and mufflers off the compact cars we had in the early years of our marriage, and we were ready for a vehicle that was actually designed to take the abuse. It served us well for 17 years, but it’s been on its last legs for quite some time now, and last year it got to the point that we won’t take it out of town at all because we’re afraid we’ll get stranded. I drive it now only in emergencies.
Mr. Legend’s elderly parents live about five miles up a very rutted dirt road that turns to very slick mud after a heavy rain. When we visit them (almost every weekend), my father-in-law drives down and picks us up at the beginning of the bad part of the road. They bought a CR-V two years ago, and although it’s not what I think of as a “real” 4WD, it’s worked for them pretty well. We’re considering it. However, it gets about 23 mpg (combined), which isn’t much better than the 22 mpg I’ve seen for the Jeep Liberty, and the Jeep has actual 4WD, high and low. The question we’re asking ourselves now is whether we don’t go off-road as much as we used to because we aren’t as inclined to or whether it’s because we really can’t. Our family owns a cabin at the end of a mostly unimproved canyon road, and my in-laws are afraid their CR-V can’t make it up the road without damage. I’d like to have a car we can use to get there again without worrying whether we’ll lose parts along the way. Is it worth buying another Jeep for the (realistically) 3 or 4 days a month we’d need its capabilities? I suppose I’ll have an answer in a month or two, since we can’t put off buying a second car forever.
I spent a lot of time looking for a good old station wagon, I would have liked to have found an old Vista Cruiser, or preferably a Buick Century.
My sister actually gave me my '83 Diesel Blazer. And I LOVE that darned thing. I have always considered it a truck. In 83, they were still trucks and hadn’t been tagged with the label “SUV” yet.
It sure seems as if, for SUVs, more than their fair share of drivers act like jerks. But that’s likely due to the sheer number of them.
Anyway, in answer to your question “Do I need it”. Yup. I use it for work where were all manner of equipment gets hauled to and from various jobsites. Also for hauling my garage sale treasures home. For taking the dog and her toys out to the dog park to play and in general for safety on the roads here in the frozen North in the winter months.
But the “needing” part is generally work, and when the work truck is on someone else’s project. I do take the bus also, but having a diesel is great, the big ole darlin’ gets AWESOME mileage.
Personally, I see no need whatsoever for anything larger than a regular car. I live in an area full of hill billys and hicks, and the vehicle fad here is the biggest, loudest truck you can find jacked up on wheels so high that you need a ladder to get into the thing. I heard one nitwit call his a “big rig.”
It’s the STUPIDEST looking thing, aside from the huge spoiler on the back of something like a dodge neon.
I’m under the impression that SUVs are driven, primarily, by women. Women with children. These same women could choose a minivan and get the same seating capacity for nearly the same MPG. But, something I managed to realize was that these women don’t want regular minivans. They want “sport minivans.” And that’s exactly what the SUV is - a minivan with “sport” tacked into it and a little more kick under the petal.
Then we can go back to those huge ass Ford or Dodge truck/suburban things that people like to take up and entire roadway with when they park. I see these primarily driven by tiny white women who are sucking up that much gas all alone in that huge tank of a machine.
Now for my victory story involving huge beasts of vehicles vs small cars. My husband and I are driving along the highway in our shiny new cadillac. Some obnoxious asshole in one of those monster trucks 20 feet off the ground thinks he’s going to pass us like we’re too slow for the likes of him. Hubby drops the car in sport mode and dusts the prick with ease. Damn, caddys can growl sexy. Monster truck boy kept his distance the rest of the trip. Don’t mess with Cadillac.
As a general contractor, I haul the basics of tools, parts and such so I don’t waste time running to and from supply houses. My 2001 E250 is also needed to pull a utility trailer for machinery or bulk building materials.
BTW, thank you Habanero for ignoring the OP request.
That’s one of the reasons I went with a Suzuki Vitara rather than a Jeep. When folding down the back seat, if I first remove rather that fold up the bottom of the back seat, I can then fully recline the front seat to make a level bed from one end of the vehicle to the other. (Comfort first in all things, says I.)
In the summer I’m not into sleeping in the vehicle because it get’s stuffy (although it comes in handy if it is pouring rain and I want to delay in pitching a tent). Someday I’ll get around to making bug screens and tarps for the windows to solve that. In the winter, however, it really comes in handy, for when the storms get too bad, I can pull off and get a comfortable night’s sleep, rather than having to either push on through to the next town (which sometimes is not practicable even with chains due to the distance), or digging around in the middle of the night in a blizzard pitching a tent.
The thing is, we won’t be seeing any posts from these people because they know they will get the wrath of anit-SUVers, so this poll is flawed already.
I can’t see owning an SUV for “just in case” types of situations, like helping someone move (actually, that’s a good reason NOT to own one!), yet driving it all the time. If I felt I really needed one, I’d get an old beater for camping or towing, but have a sedan as my everyday car.
And I’ve always owned small 4-cylinder cars and never had to change my plans due to snow. I live in the Northeast. You have to suck up and deal. I don’t need to rely on 4WD (which doesn’t help you stop when you’re doing 65 MPH, like some a-holes think).
I have no need of an SUV, but I have one… albeit it’s a small 4 banger Isuzu Amigo. I also have a Pontiac G-6, I don’t need that either… although I do need one of them in order to get to work.
I just upgraded to a 99 Jeep Grand Cherokee after my much beloved 5-speed 92 Honda Accord died (260,000 miles may she RIP). I bought the Cherokee at an auction for $5k and it’s in superb condition cosmetically and mechanically. It’s a V8 and fully loaded with all leather interior. Really great deal.
5 days out of 7 it’s just me and the 2 kids going back and forth to work, school and daycare. On the 6th day, it’s me, the kids, groceries, laundry, household shopping, dry cleaning, the baby’s stroller, and space so we can breath and be comfortable while getting all the errands done. On the 7th day we rest.
With the Cherokee, I can be more efficient and limit my errands to one day per week, whereas with the Honda I had to split it between 2 and 3 days because I couldn’t fit everything I needed into the car. The Cherokee costs more per fillup BUT I use less gas because I’m not driving as much per week.
Buying a minivan would have sucked out my soul. Plus they actually have too much space for my needs.
So I could make do without my SUV, but life is so much easier (and cheaper!) with it.
On the public safety side, I actually drive much slower in the cherokee than the Honda. My speed is much easier to feel now, in the Honda I got a few tickets because it didn’t feel like I was going as fast as the speedometer showed (not that I thought the speedometer was wrong, I just don’t tend to check it every five seconds when I’m driving).
In some ways, yes I do need mine. We have two young boys and Newfoundland dogs, and there is no way to cram all of us into a sedan at the same time (dogs go to work with us every day). Also, I am short and the added height helps me see better.
On the dark side, it is a motherfucker at the gas pump. I think I get about 12 mpg in the “big” one (Land Rover Range Rover) and maybe 14 mpg in the “small” one (LR Discovery II). Last time I tried to fill 'er up at about $3.17 per gallon, the pump cut me off before the tank was full! It had a $60 limit! Sheesh.
Oh hell, let’s face it, I just like driving an apartment! Not true actually, if that were the case I’d be driving a Suburban. I like the vehicles themselves, the safety aspect (see my old thread about the Disco saving my life in an accident, not to mention my unborn son), the ability to drive it off-highway (yes, I have and do), and it’s just a damn fine car. And cool too.
This is my attitude toward the entire new car industry, SUV or just plain car. I’ve owned used cars since I was a teen, and with all the cars I’ve owned, including repair and upkeep, I’ve not come close to what a person pays for a new carin this day and age.
And unless they pay cash, the 35K sticker price is just the tip of the iceberg, they end up paying off a lot more than that with interest, fees and the like.
And that’s not even talking about if any problems develop in your new car after the warranty is gone. With all the computerized crap, it costs an arm and a leg just to get it diagnosed, let alone fixing it.
I like knowing if there is a problem that not only is it fixable without a computer having to tell you what it is, but that I even though I’m “only” a girl, can generally fix it myself, short of yanking the engine (that I need my sister for, she’s the master mechanic in the family).
No thanks, I’ll stick to good old Detroit Dinos anyday.
I’m driving an XC90 right now, and no I don’t really need it. But since it is a company car I don’t kick too hard.
I am looking forward to getting out of it and into either a S60 or V70 (sedan or station wagon)
I drive a beat-up '94 Jeep Cherokee. It’s come in handy for hauling music equipment and several home moves. Now it mainly hauls video and lighting equipment. It’s been a boon to me.
Yep. There are three altogether, but the oldest male lives with my SIL because the two males fight (very odd for this breed). Our big male and the bitch are buddies, though.
We are thinking about getting Angus (the big male) to help us bring a new puppy onboard before he goes, but I just don’t think I can handle a new puppy!
We have had a compact SUV with 4-cylinder mill and 4-speed automatic trans since the lease expired on the compact sedan with equivalent 4-cylinder mill and identical 4-speed automatic trans. We averaged about 24 mpg in the sedan and get about 22 mpg in the “cute-ute.” :rolleyes:
The mileage is relatively poor in both cases because it is primarily used to drive to work (and back) only 7 miles away on a heavily stoplighted route and the motor never, ever gets warm. However, judicious use of the cruise control has yielded roughly 15% or so better mileage.
YMMV :smack:
So, the “cute-ute” suffers a 10% mileage loss vis a vis the sedan, which sounds bad, but because of the low annual mileage uses only about 35 more gallons per year. In exchange for the additional 35 gallons, we get a vehicle that, with the exception of roll-over risk, is safer than the sedan, allows much easier ingress and egress for the grandparents and is actually very useful when the need to transport bulky objects arises.
OTOH, our compact sedan with 4-cylinder mill, 5-speed manual trans driven primarily on the highways (while obeying the posted speed limits) never delivers less than 32 mpg per tank and has consistently delivered 38 mpg plus on interstate driving while obeying posted speed limits.
