argh.
Preview, preview, preview.
You don’t really know that. When I go off-road (and yes, I live in a city) my Cherokee is covered with mud for days. But that’s just because I’m too cheap to pay full price at the car wash and I don’t have a place to wash it at home. So I wait for the mid-week “sale days”.
I went to a gathering of Jeepers in San Pedro. Their rigs were “built”, with such “macho silliness” as body lifts, huge bumpers, racks galore, jerry cans, huge tyres, etc. And they were spotless. But these guys take their Jeeps out all the time, crawling over rocks, climbing up hills, and having fun with them. Then they wash them when they get home.
I used to look at all the SUVs on the freeway and think, “Poseurs!” But you never know what people do when you don’t see them.
Back OT: As Carina42 said, “Buy what you want to drive.” I don’t know you, and I don’t want to be mean. Please don’t take this as an insult, as Idon’t mean it to be one. Maybe you should look at yourself and ask why you’re still single? I’m pretty sure it’s not the car you drive. (Oh, I’m probably not the best person to be saying this. I’m also getting older and am not married, not seeing anyone, no prospects…) Many people say, “Why doesn’t s/he like me? What’s wrong with me?” The normal response is, “There’s nothing wrong with you! It’s all those others who don’t see what a good person you are!” We don’t want to make people feel bad. Since we like the person, we stick up for them and tell them they are not at fault. I’ve been given the Standard Response myself. And I’ve heard from dates or girlfriends, “It’s not you; it’s me.” and “You are so sweet…” (Note: “Sweet” seems to be code for “I like you, but I don’t want to sleep with you.”)
I happened upon a couple minutes of a teevee show that followed two people on a blind date. He was a millionaire, and she was stunning. Guess what? The guy had no personality. The guy was probably thinking, “I’m rich and good looking. Why isn’t this working?” The answer was obvious to everyone but him. I’m not saying you have no personality. I don’t know you. But I’ve known guys without cars or who drive pieces of crap, who still have relationships. Some of them have gotten married.
So it’s not what you drive. It’s who you are. If the women you meet are not attracted to you, you may be looking for the wrong kind of woman. Or there may be a part of your personality that needs attention.
Right. I’ve barely finished my first cuppa joe, and I’ve been under the weather for over a week. I may be full of nonsense. I’m not a psychologist. You can take or leave my opinion.
But in my opinion, drive the car you like and don’t bother with whether chicks’ll dig it.
I don’t need a guy with an SUV, I have my own. 
Actually, I have a RAV-4 and I love it. I drove a truck before that, which was great for hauling stuff, but not so great if you wanted to transport more than one other person comfortably. I love my RAV. It has lots of room, cargo space and is comfy for people in the back seat.
However, if your main purpose for getting a SUV is looks, forget it. Comparitively, it’s like hunters who don’t use the kill for meat or fur: stupid and wasteful.
elmwood, definitely don’t buy an SUV in the hopes of impressing women. That’s the wrong reason to buyt a car, it says horrible things about you, and you’ll attract shallow, superficial women that you won’t want to date anyway. And it screams midlife crisis.
Buy a motorcycle instead. Much better for the intended purpose.
Hear! Hear!
Say, I checked the price on an R1 last week. Jeez! For that money I might look at a bike like yours. [homer]Mmmmm! Ducati! [/homer]
I love the lift gate on the back of my truck.
One guy steered for the concrete divider instead of the back of my truck during an Interstate panic stop.
I so want to see a sports car plow into it that I’m tempted to use the tail/brake light kill switch.
That is because an SUV does not allow one to view the tail lights in the stream of cars ahead for warnings of brake lights.
If your concern is only your image, then by all means -
Suburban Assault Vehicle.
If you want safety - Volvo or Saab
If you want to pick up chicks - the new VW Beetle
If you want to impress your dog - a pick-up with a short chain behind the openable rear window that just allows the puppy wuppy to hang his head over the side of the bed.
Johnny L.A., to tell you the truth, the R1 terrifies me. Too much muscle, not enough finesse. Maybe I’m just a wimp. Oh, the downside of owning a duc - every body wants to race you. Three motorcyclists going the other direction lifted the front tire as they saw me on my 11 mile ride in to work today. That said, I know where there’s a red 748 for sale…
I actually never drive a car, so I’m probably not qualified to comment on this…
I should mention that because of the influence of Johnny L.A., Bashere, Spiny Norman, and Coldfire - and the respect I hold for them - I’ve been looking into acquiring a motorcycle (nothing fancy… I’m just a poor college student) in the future (not the NEAR future, of course… I’m just a poor college student).
friend heloise,
we also have a rav4, and love it. often, people ask why anyone not driving off road would need four wheel drive. here in omaha, the street crews are so inefficient that winter driving is very difficult. the rav4 is fuel efficient, roomy, comfortable and just fun to drive. we just traded our 1998 for a 2001. we love our toyota!
Wow … never expected such a response.
When I was living in Denver, one thing that struck me about the place was the sheer number of SUVs on the road – percentage-wise, there seemed to be far more SUVs there than in any other city I’ve been to.
One memory that sticks out was when I attended the neighborhood dog park advocacy group’s “walk in the park” event. Of the people that pulled up to let their dogs out, ALL of them has SUVs. I had the only car. Yes, I saw all the vehicles there – they were all SUVs.
In conversations with more than one woman in Denver, they explained that, just as they want their prospective mate to be taller and make more money than they do, they want Mr. Right to drive a better car – if she drove a Toyota 4Runner, her man had better drive a Toyota Land Cruiser. Most of the women I had dates with were working professionals, and being Denver, the majority had SUVs. Remember that commercial where the woman looks disappointed because her date drove an old Tempo? Well, excepting the Tempo, that was me on more than one occasion.
I know the masses on the SDMB tend not to be as superficial, and they could care less about my wheels. That is a Good Thing, and a reason why I spend quite a bit of surfing time here. Dating-wise, I know I need more work than the vehicle I drive. When the health insurance kicks in on June 1, I’m taking advantage of it to help “resolve some issues,” so to speak (coughshrinkcough). Still, I’m thinking of ways to “make the whole package more appealing,” and I thought that, at least among working professional women who don’t have that SDMB mindset, an SUV would offer a little more “oomph.”
As a recovering nice guy, too, I recall the various “SUV drivers are assholes” threads that pop up here occasionally. There’s also the occasional “why do women like assholes?” thread that pops up occasionally. let’s add it up – SUV = asshole = chick magnet. I’m tred of being thought of as a “nice guy” – I want to be an asshole, damnit, for once!
If I had my choice as to what I’d like to drive, it wouldn’t be an SUV. Probably a VW Passat wagon – it has excellent road manners and decent dog-carrying capacity, essentally meeting all my needs. However, it still has a bit of a “hey … nice car!” factor about it. I’m leaning in that direction now. Whatcha’ think?
BTW, I do think that an SUV seems like “too much car.” I wouldn’t take advantage of the off-road capabilities, and I’d be burning more than my share of non-renewable fossil fuels. Goes against my personal philosophy. Pathetic, as one poster said.
If you want an SUV, by all means, go for it. Just don’t drive like an asshole. I don’t have a problem with SUVs, personally (well, that’s nto quite true, but…) but I have a real problem with morons who drive badly.
If you just want to haul your dog(s) around, maybe a pickup truck with a cap on the bed? That way they can get in there all muddy and they won’t ruin any upholstry. And
I think chicks dig trucks. (Chime in, ladies.)
The station wagon idea ain’t shabby either.
Oh yeah - about those pretentious fuckwits who infest Denver (and also Boulder, where I live) - screw them. They suck. Do not let them dictate your car choice. Get what YOU want. If you truly want an SUV, get one. If you truly want the Passat wagon, get that.
And if you want to be truly bad-ass, take the money you saved not buying a pretentious yuppie-wagon and buy a motorcycle. (G)
-Ben
Hehe. There’s certainly plenty of pretentious fuckwits in Denver, though IMO Boulder is worse. I guess there’s also plenty of unpretentious nicewits :), and those are the ones I hang out & work with.
elmwood, my dear, a Passat wagon is a nice car. I like the dark blue ones. I’ve been taking tracking courses with one of my dogs down at Chatfield Reservoir. All these serious dog types drive either minivans or SUVs. I like the looks I get pulling up in my '67 Plymouth! And I’ve seen that ad you’re talking about. It has made me determine never ever to buy a Lexus. feh.
My SO of three years is a doctor & can probably afford just about any car he wants. His daily driver is a '96 Escort wagon with 140K on the clock. I really don’t care what he drives; he likes the car and sees no point in spending a lot of money to impress anyone, since cars are not that important to him. I find that more impressive about him than the type of car he drives. He does get ribbed a bit at work, since his colleagues drive status-type cars, but oh well.
Frankly, I prefer to drive. I’m a better driver than most men I’ve been with anyway, so I’ve always done the “guy” thing of being the designated driver. I own two pickup trucks myself, why I should be impressed by a man who owns one is beyond me. 
Okay… so to bring it all up to speed…
nonono, that’ll take too long. I’ll “sum up”:
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You’re under the impression that most women want a “status car” (At least the ones who YOU seem to be interested in-I see a divorce in your future)
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The biggest (and, IMO the biggest cliche), is that Status=SUV
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Many SUV drivers have been noted as A$$holes/“bad boys”.
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Most women are attracted to “bad boys”.
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You want to be a “bad boy”
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…even though it goes against every fibre of your being to buy an SUV.
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You’d much rather have the Passat.
Answer:
Get your Passat in black or dark metallic tone with leather seats, sports/handling package, and nice, sporty mag wheels.
Why:
Sports a truly rebellious nature. You’re not buying the cliche, nor are you settling into the cliche that a wagon might promote. But you’re still getting the vehicle YOU want, while still allowing the “bad boy” fantasy.
…but don’t overdo it: no neon lights or chrome pimp-junk (and polished rims are also to be avoided, IMHO) and opt for the tastefully-tinted windows, not the drug-dealer blackouts.
2 stories:
1–One friend I know bought himself a Jaguar XJ-S because the girl he was crazy over was into Jags.
After she left him anyway (probably because she thought he was too much a pushover in buying the Jag-NOT a “bad boy” trait), he realized he made a big mistake and basically sucker-punched himself.
2–This other guy I know has a company car: Deep blue Citroen station wagon.
Stock.
Blue with blue interior.
Inside the car, he had stickers declaring “no wife”.
uhh…
…yeah. You, too, can imagine what kind of woman he was looking for. But he’d proudly claim that there were only TWO of this particular model of car in this colour combination in the country.
…Like this makes some world of difference. :rolleyes:
I gave up trying to tell him, “If you’re looking for a girl who’s interested in your CAR, then I can promise you that they’re not going to care wether yours in only one of TWO blue-on-blue Citroen station wagons in this country. They will only see a blue station wagon!! Most women of that type will only recognize certain makes, and don’t even care about models, much less colours!
SO, unless you’re cruising in an oh-so-obvious BMW, Mercedes, Audi or SUV, they’re really NOT going to notice or CARE!”
He’s still trying. He still doesn’t get it.
So, anyway, there you have it. My suggestion. Take it as you will. I’m going back to bed now.
Another no on the SUV. Have you heard what’s going to happen with gas prices this summer? Personally I’m attracted to a guy that tries to go easy on the planet, but that’s me. If you need the room, get a minivan and spend the extra money on a motorcycle. Motorcycles are a lot of fun (and guys who are about to get married or become fathers are always selling theirs for dirt cheap- just don’t get a Harley), and minivans are great for camping and hauling stuff. I read a study somewhere that compared the personalities of SUV drivers and minivan drivers, and the main difference seemed to be that SUV drivers were more worried about what other people thought about them than the minivan drivers. So much for the rebel image. Feh.
Mielikki: What about guys who have a compact SUV for camping and a motorcycle? (BTW: I agree with you 100% about the Harleys. The only thing I’d consider replacing my Yamaha with is another Yamaha – or a Ducati.)
Johnny L.A.: as long as it’s not a Harley, then I forgive you.
Relieved, ain’t ya? I can tell.
The only reason anyone would buy a Harley (IMHO) is for the image. They are horrible bikes. I have a Goldwing, which is pretty much the minivan of the motorcycle world. If I replace it, it’d be with a newer Goldwing. Mr.Mielikki has a Ninja, which I affectionately refer to as ‘the penis bike’, but it’s been quite reliable. In fact, he’s now vowed to never buy another car (at least not a new one- we still want one car between us at least because let’s face it- rainy days suck if you have only a motorcycle for tranportation.) and just buy really cool motorcycles.
You could always get one of those fake SUVs that have two-wheel drive.
Here in the midwest gas prices are supposed to jump up to 3.00 a gallon. If gas prices are supposed to get anywhere near that there, I would suggest something like one of those hybrid cars. If a woman asks why you got a hybrid instead of a SUV, just say “that way I can afford gas and a nice diamond” 
Pick the vehicle YOU like.
Girls can smell poseur from a mile away, and they don’t like the scent.
If you’re happy with your vehicle, it’ll show in your confidence. If you’re driving something to impress women, you might find yourself resenting it when it doesn’t.