# Let's talk SUVs- I'm in the market, as it were... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 18, 2008, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-suvs-im-in-the-market-as-it-were/445819 "2008-04-18T01:21:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2008, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-suvs-im-in-the-market-as-it-were/445819/41 "2008-04-19T01:16:40Z")
I’m curious. How do they measure the interior capacity of a vehicle? I’ve seen some XC90s on the road and they seem to be about the same size as a Pathfinder. The Pathfinder is actually a little bigger per web site stats. Volvos site claims about 10 more cubic feet of cargo area than the Pathfinder. Seeing the Volvo on the road and looking at my Pathfinder, I find that hard to believe. Is there a standard for measuring cargo room? ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2008, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-suvs-im-in-the-market-as-it-were/445819/42 "2008-04-19T02:03:17Z")
[QUOTE=Rick] If you are interested in safety, you might want to look elsewhere. Not too long ago I saw a brand new one (Paper plates) upside down on the 405. The roof over the driver’s seat was crushed to the top of the doors. :eek: [/QUOTE] Yeah. A brand new one. Those aren’t Landcruisers. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2008, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-suvs-im-in-the-market-as-it-were/445819/43 "2008-04-19T02:56:04Z")
::: Shrug::: I doubt the roof on the earlier ones was any stronger. Unless you have a cite of course. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-suvs-im-in-the-market-as-it-were/445819/44 "2008-04-19T03:07:04Z")
My family has had 3 suburbans in a row, I think. I’m the oldest kid, so I didn’t drive it much. The new ones don’t have as much room behind the 3rd seat, though they fold easier (2007 v. 1999, I think) and the old ones were better looking. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2008, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-suvs-im-in-the-market-as-it-were/445819/45 "2008-04-19T03:38:49Z")
**Argent** I don’t doubt that you have a lot of off road experience. Don’t doubt that I do too. I suspect that **EJ** has plenty as well. However, you continue to be more concerned about the look of the vehicle than what its intended use is for. > [@Argent](#): > > you want something like this one. If you want to turn heads everywhere you go, and be able to go everywhere in the first place, that’s what you want. It’s the AK-47 of 4x4s. > > The Armada looks like a deformed donkey dick infected with elephantiasis and then re-styled by Ray Charles while he was on LSD. That bugs me. EJ is not going to do the Dakar rally, or even Baja. You are not addressing the OP’s question. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2008, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-suvs-im-in-the-market-as-it-were/445819/46 "2008-04-19T08:14:27Z")
How am I not? This is what the OP asked for: [QUOTE=EJsGirl] Ideas? Experience? Anecdotes? [/QUOTE] And that’s all I was doing. For _once_, a thread comes along where seemingly the only people on the Dope who know or care about 4x4s in the least bit are not only all together in the same place, but _actually talking about 4x4s._ You bet I am going to state my opinions, and state them loudly. There’s maybe one thread every year where someone actually solicits opinions on SUVs, in this time of high gas prices, and even then how often is the OP actually open to the idea of a Landcruiser at all (like **EJsGirl** is) rather than instinctively going for either the most luxurious, or the most “environmentally friendly” vehicle? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2008, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-suvs-im-in-the-market-as-it-were/445819/47 "2008-04-19T13:58:41Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] How am I not? [/QUOTE] **Argent** , I was a bit too harsh. This is what I was trying to say…. Many detractors of SUV’s and 4x4’s claim that all we want to do is intimidate people with big, aggressive looking vehicles. It’s kind of silly really, when IMHO (and I’m sure yours too) new 4x4’s are anything but aggressive in form or function. But I digress. You seem to care a lot about the looks of the vehicle. Hell, I’d by an Aztec if it suited my needs. I can be a real rebel sometimes. I care about what I need in a vehicle. Not so much what it looks like. But you’re right, EJ was just looking for ideas, anecdotes, and experience. So anything goes. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-suvs-im-in-the-market-as-it-were/445819/48 "2008-04-19T14:19:33Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] _actually talking about 4x4s._ [/QUOTE] Not all SUVs are 4x4s. Although they were initially intended to be, some US manufacturers began to offer them as 2wds as in many cases 4x4s were not being utilized by the customer and therefore were not worth either the additional expense or the additional load on the power train. Tailoring the needs of a vehicle to the needs of the customer is what the wise manufacturer _should_ do, and I have found that even in the case of a company like Chrysler, which is not what I would call a “top of the line” manufacturer, Range rover and Volvo being examples, customer feedback plays a role in determining what features they will add or subtract. Even something as goofy, in my opinion, as refrigerated cup holders and glove boxes being a good example. If one wanted a 4x4 with the intent of using it as such, I would recommend a Hummer H1. With it’s wide stance, long suspension travel, and inflatable and deflatable tires on the go, offers everything one could wish for in a 4x4. Certainly on the low end of the price range a Fj Cruiser is another good example of a well performing vehicle that offers many of the features found in a competent 4x4. I know a fellow peer who owns one and it hasn’t left him stranded and he uses it regularly in an off-road capacity. It is not to high on the comfort factor but if you want a 4x4 for what it was intended for I would say it’s a good choice. Normally I wouldn’t offer opinions on a vehicle I haven’t personally owned but so take it with a grain of salt although I do trust and respect my peers. We are in the same business and see vehicles from a perspective that the general public does not get a chance to see. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2008, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-suvs-im-in-the-market-as-it-were/445819/49 "2008-04-19T14:47:34Z")
Hey now guys, no bickering! 😉 Seriously, I appreciate ALL the responses in here. It’s true that I won’t be doing the Dakar Rally anytime soon (at least, not in a non-Defender 😉 ) but one of the things I like about my LR is that there doesn’t seem to be much that could happen that it can’t get me out of. I know that won’t be the case with lots of other cars. I do care about looks as well as performance, though gas mileage runs a distant third. I don’t want to be driving a deformed monkey dick around town… 😃 I looked at a Volvo at the Chinese take-out place last night. Great looking, but it’s a studio apartment compared to the 'Burban. I will have to drive a few to see if the extra space is manageable. And my Ford problem wasn’t on account of our Explorer- it was my first SUV and I loved it, actually (death tires and all!). We got another Ford model that was a lemon (car tried to kill my husband twice, total power cut-off at freeway speeds including brakes and steering), but neither the dealership (who couldn’t diagnose or fix after more than a month) nor Ford would take responsibility for it, so we had to file suit. Eventually Ford settled and made us very happy, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-suvs-im-in-the-market-as-it-were/445819/50 "2008-04-19T15:34:57Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl] Hey now guys, no bickering! 😉 [/quote] Sorry about that. And apologies to you **Argent** if I went over the top. [QUOTE=EJsGirl] I looked at a Volvo at the Chinese take-out place last night. [/QUOTE] Damn, they sell everything. 😃 I thought I would start another thread about buying a vehicle. These are the things that make someone tunnel down to a decision. [The must haves for your vehicle?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9707184#post9707184) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-talk-suvs-im-in-the-market-as-it-were/445819.md?page=2)