Make that a box of </b>. Funny how they showed up in the preview.
Section 1, Rational Responce to False Statements in Thread
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SUVs are not all about looks, they are also about utility - ie very useful for all kinds o’ stuff.
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SUVs fit nicely in S.F. streets, and parking spaces. And The last measurement I took, the SUV I drive takes two inches less (length) than a sedan (Ford Explorer vs. Ford Taurus).
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The ‘Environment’ stuff is mostly crap. Some SUVs get terrible gas mileage, however, the exhaust from smaller (harder working) engines is worse. (Note - since this is the pit, no site, cite, or sight is given).
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Of course not all, or even most, SUV drivers are any worse than teh average driver. Maybe better, since they care enough to get a car they percieve as safer.
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SUVs don’t block your view if you don’t tailgate.
Sectoin 2, PIT Worthy Reply
On the journey of Life, may you eat my dust, as I leave your pathetic attempts at transportation far behind in my rear view mirror.
My SO, the Doctor, really likes her SUV. Why? Because Kansas is subject to large, sudden snowstorms and bad weather that defies the abilities of road crews to clear it for a day or so.
Regardless of any argument as to “which vehicle does best in snow”, etc., she is able to drive to the hospital and to see her patients in their homes much easier and more safely (for her, mind you) in her SUV.
So what about the other 99% of the year when it is not snowing or that bad out? Well, contrary to the opinions voiced here, it’s really not in our budget to buy her two cars for one person to have. And her SUV gets about 25 MPG, which is actually better than my Mustang GT (18-20 MPG).
And of course I realize that this is just another vehicle characterization flaming thread, like those against Minvans, BMW’s, pickups, 1964 Dodge Polara’s, etc. So I’m not really bothered by the alternative viewpoints.
Now I’m going to go crawl under the floorboards and hide…
Waaaah. As is Oregonians are good neighbors. I wouldn’t piss on them to put out a fire if I had to.
-Sam
It is worth noting the difference between minivans and SUVs, for one reason:
minivans * can * serve a real purpose; they hold significantly more passengers than a car. For some large families, this is a neccessity. Most SUVs hold the same number of passengers, or maybe one more if you squish a little.
And don’t launch into the “I need it for snow” argument. I drive a Jeep Cherokee on occaision; I have been the passenger when it got stuck in the snow, while driven by a very experienced driver. My Chevy Nova has never once gotten stuck–probably because I’m not given the impression that my car can go through stuff that it can’t.
I acknowledge the use of SUVs in a few rare instances; but in most cases it’s just a case of some twit who needs to be smacked upside the head.
I fail to believe that there is any use for the ones so goddamn large that there are LED turn signals on the fucking side mirrors, because the monstrosity is too big for you to see the front or back ones if you’re anywhere near the side of it.
When I lived in Utah, I NEEDED my SUV. I hated it, but I needed it. It is a small lil Susuki Sidekick, that doesn’t have A/C, gets about 22 MPG, and makes my insurance rates go WAY up. But, it got me around in some of the worse snow storms I have ever seen. From November until May I traveled 20-40 miles a day, in all sorts of weather conditions, both during the day and the night, on paved and dirt roads. On more than one occasion I traveled in a blizzard so bad that I couldn’t see a foot in front of me. One time the mud on my dirt road was about 4 feet deep, with a layer of ice underneath it. I had to put into 4-Low to get into my driveway. Because of all of this, my nerves are shot, and I’m scared to drive, though I am feeling better about it now. But my point IS, the SUV really, really, REALLY came in handy. And for many non-Californians, SUVs are not just desired, but they are needed.
But I couldn’t wait to move to CA and get rid of it. Why on Earth does anybody need an SUV in CA? I mean, the most exciting reason for me about the move was that I could finally get a nice lil “sporty” car. Ok, anything other than my Sidekick.
Reasons for an SUV:
To haul stuff–Granted, but not ALL the SUV drivers in the world need to haul anything other than their fat asses around.
For the 4WD–Uh, in CA, there is absolutely NO reason for 4WD, unless you go “diggin” or Off-road. But there are not many of those either.
Cuz it looks cool–Trust me, it doesn’t.
So, SOME people need SUVs, that’s why they were made. Other people just want to spend the extra money (Why would anybody want to spend more money on something they don’t need?).
Maybe you should have made that clear in the OP, instead of lumping all SUV drivers together. We ain’t all bad.
Oh no! Why didn’t someone tell me the only appropriate vehicle to drive is a Geo Metro? We should all drive those go-carts!
I think I will just keep my big old low down four wheel drive truck. I don’t think a Geo Metro would work in the mountain snows.
Regardless of their lack of merit in other areas, it is faulty logic to conclude from these examples that SUV’s give no advantage in snow. Quite simply, they do do better in snow than most vehicles. Whether or not someone NEEDS one for snow, or whether or not it’s worth having one for 1 or 2 days a year when it snows heavily are of course debatable topics. But the argument against SUV’s is not served by implying things that simply are not true.
Of course, it wasn’t MY OP, but hey, who’s counting?
Here’s my reasoning. It snows here in Colorado. A fair and good amount, in fact.
Couple years ago, I had an Explorer. It was, in fact, the only affordable 4x4 I could get at the time.
Suffice it to say it started snowing HARD on Friday evening. By Saturday morning, there was over three feet of snow on the streets. My other car, a Camaro was buried, and all I could find was the antenna. On television, there were continual pleas for folks with 4x4 vehicles or SUVs to go out into that storm and help doctors and nurses get to work at the local hospitals.
So, off I go in my SUV. I spent 8 hours ferrying nurses and doctors who could not get from place to place to the local hospitals.
I would imagine that those people whose lives might have been saved by having medical attention would not complain about SUVs.
Lest ye go for the obvious attempt, let me remind you that Denver is no longer a cow town. It’s become quite the bustling metropolitan area, in the last 20 years.
It isn’t that they are shitty human beings, you not withstanding, but that a lot of them power trip behind the wheel.
Well, as you can’t even spell my screen name right, and you’ve not gotten anything anyone else has said, or substantiated any decent defenses, I doubt you’d get anything out of this either. Might I suggest you whomp yourself with a clue by four a few times to tenderize that mind so it might open to someone else’s opinion? MWAH Love ya. Don’t take any wooden nickels. :wally
I’ve not had problems with them. I’d be just as annoyed if they cut me off, tried to run me over, and rule the road.
That is a good suggestion. That way assholes with SUVs who didn’t know how to park wouldn’t take up two or THREE spaces at the grocery store.
Hmmn. As I don’t know what that is to signify, might I offer to bear a buttcheek so you can kiss my lilly white ass? Love to the wife and kids.
Obviously, some people do in fact need SUVs. But most people don’t. Most people use them because of the ego-trip involved. And of course they’ll tell you they need it. They aren’t just going to come right out and admit they’re only using them because they look good. After all, it’s harder to be egotistical when you can’t be self-righteous on top of it.
Gasp! Is this the same guy who criticized me for not providing a cite? Nah, couldn’t be. That would be hypocritical!
Oh yeah, and I’ll take a bit of time off the top if he can tell me how it’s actually spelled. Here, this should help (with the spelling problem, I mean. I don’t have much hope for the reading part).
Ahhhhhh, now it’s a bit more Pit-like.
To add on to what FreakFreely said…
A lot of the problem with SUVs today is that they’re being sold completely for looks–no power, just looks. That really takes the ‘utility’ out of the name, leaving ‘sport vehicle’. And there we see our problem–people really are going on some kind of power trip in these oversized, underpowered sports cars!
As far as I’m concerned, a true SUV consists of: a good-sized engine (ex.: nothing less than a V8 for something the size of a Jeep Cherokee or Chevy Suburban), a towing package, lift kit, good mud/snow tires, and of course 4 wheel drive.
Not everyone needs this stuff, but it sure comes in handy for the parts of America they haven’t paved yet.
Ummm, ignore my last post. That was my other personality talking.
Okay, fine. I admit it. I fucked up. I meant to post that in another thread.
Goodness me. An entire Pit thread about SUVs!
Well, everybody knows where I stand on this vital issue…I’ve been carping about these behemoths since about fifteen minutes after joining up here.
If anyone wants to go in with me on a big printing of bumper stickers reading HONK IF YOU THINK I’M AN ASSHOLE FOR DRIVING THIS THING, suitable for pasting onto HumVee bumpers in NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, etc., in the dead of night, lemme know.
But to clarify: I’m with FreakFreely on this subject. If you’re driving your SUV through the trackless wastes of the Rocky Mountains, carrying a truckload of surgeons toward a hopital-full of needy orphans, more power to you. If you’re taking up two parking spaces on Mercer Street in SoHo on Sunday afternoon, eat me.
Mr Cynical has been going at it in these threads tooth and claw…but he drives a pick-up truck. In Colorado. With the bed loaded with tools and garden refuse. Mr. Cynical is okay in my book, not that he gives a shit, or should. He has practical uses for his vehicle.
Some folks are saying “Why get down on SUVs? If you get hit by a semi, it would hurt more.” The argument of utility and practicality goes into effect once again…the semi is carrying vegetables to market, or Ping Pong balls to the sporting goods store.
But all too many people are buying these fuckers for a) the status, or b) “safety considerations.” I wish the former would invest in a nice Rolls Royce convertible instead.
I wish the latter would get their heads out of their asses. You buy a huge-ass car to “protect your wife and children,” I buy a bigger car for the same reason; you upgrade, I upgrade; where the fuck does it end?
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Keep in mind, I don’t even have my permit yet, so I can’t share any stories about idiot drivers, but I still feel like I should argue here.
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Some people need SUVs to tow stuff around. Nobody is yelling at them. But if you either a) buy an SUV because it makes you feel powerful/safe, b) drive an SUV around in perfectly flat paved areas, or c) drive like you own the road (whether you’re in an SUV or not), then we will get mad at you.
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Why aren’t we complaining about buses? Because nobody goes out and buys a bus just because they saw a commercial of a bus driving off-road. Plus, if I’m not mistaken, you have to get a special license that says you can drive a bus, which is not true for SUVs (well, there are weight limitations on drivers’ licenses, but I wouldn’t be surprised if any 16-year-old with a license can get in an SUV.)
Re: Oregonians; has anyone else heard the joke with the Oregonian, Californian, and the beer that they throw up in the air? I heard it on the SDMB before (and another version, which I’m presuming to be the original, which involved a Mexican) but I don’t remember the exact details of the joke. It’s a good one, though. And for the record, I’m from Oregon.
That’s the trouble with those dumb bastards in California and Oregon…they drink beer, then throw up in the air. Here in New York City, we drink all the beer, keep it in our bellies somehow, and then fall over in the gutters.
Is this some vanity bulimic thing you have going out there on the west coast?