Silly Useless Vehicles

The BBQ Pit
201

So, in your opinion, SUV’s sole purpose of existence is to go off-roading. :rolleyes:

This is an ignorant point of view, as SUV’s have proven to have many other purposes as well. They are great for carrying passengers. They are great for camping, as they can carry a lot of gear and passengers. They are good for snowboarding or skiing, for the same reasons as camping.

Oh, but I forgot…they aren’t always used for off-roading. My mistake. They must be UTTERLY useless then. :rolleyes: Just like sportscars are useless because not all of them are used for racing and are instead used as status symbols.

I imagine you’re going to either ignore this post like my previous ones, or you’re going to provide some stupid biased opinion from your satirical anti-SUV site and claim you “destroyed” my argument.

Your arguments have so far paralleled the ravings of a spoiled little child. It make me wonder if you’re not just some idiot little kid trying to be a big boy.

202

Done and done!

203

Hasn’t this already been dealt with several times before? Ol’ John, it’s not a “refutement” if it’s not a valid point!

Cost: Could potentially cause more damage to another vehicle.

Benefit: Could DEFINITELY offer better protection from other vehicles.

A “potentially” vs. a “definitely”… seems that SUV’s come out on the WINNING side. Hey, I just obliterated your entire argument… AGAIN!

204

Umm, wouldn’t a minivan serve that purpose too?

:rolleyes:

“blech” really says it all. People don’t want to use a minivan because of the image. So they make up fantastic scenarios to justify their so-called need for an SUV. Then they endanger our lives for the sake of image. That’s why SUV’s suck.

205

Anyone amused with FatherJohn should go here: THIS LINK IS A MUST READ!!! Oh, he isn’t just talking about SUVs, …NO…he is inquiring about the legalities of vandalizing them.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=63046
This guy is a piece of work. Please take a look at how his brain works.

FatherJohn, you are bitter and stupid - a dangerous combination.

I suggest you go ahead and try your idea of putting stickers on SUVs that read “posuer mobile”. The only justice for your ignorance is when an SUV owner drop kicks your ass into next week.

Ignorance is the enemy around here, and you are as ignorant as they get.

The baviour you inquire about is just in line with what a moron who cannot get his ignorant points across would resort too.

206

No, it wouldn’t. I have owned both types of vehicles – an SUV and a minivan. Most minivans can carry MORE people (seven vs. five) than most SUVs, but SUVs are better for carrying gear. Storage space in the minivan I owned was not as well laid out as it is in the SUV my wife drives. I can store more things in the SUV than I could in the minivan. So, if you’re gonna tote around a lot of people on a regular basis … by all means, get a minivan. I did. If you’re gonna haul a lot of stuff on a regular basis, get a truck or an SUV.

SCORE!

Can you even SEE your nose for all the irony flying around you?

This is fun! Come up with something else, fatherjohn. I like destroying your arguments this way. Do that link to the poseur site again that has the misleading safety statistics. I really liked debunking that one. Or do that thing where you actually quote what the operator of the satire site “thinks” and try to hold that up as fact. I enjoyed ripping that one to pieces. Don’t bother with that whole “SUVs don’t go offroading enough,” line, though. That one’s already been slammed and buried. I mean, would you rail against the owners of sports cars because they don’t always drive them in excess of 100 miles an hour? Gosh, THAT wouldn’t be very safe for other people, would it? I guess all those owners of sports cars aren’t using them for their intended purpose.

207

HONDA Max Cargo Capacity:

SUV’s:

Honda CR-V: 67 Cubic Feet

Honda Passport: 81 Cubic Feet

Minivans:

Honda Odyssey: 146 Cubic Feet

Chevy Max Cargo Capacity:

SUV’s

Chevy Blazer: 67 Cubic Feet

Chevy Suburban: 137 Cubic Feet

Chevy Tahoe: 108 Cubic Feet

Chevy Tracker: 34 Cubic Feet

Minivans:

Chevy Astro: 170 Cubic Feet

Chevy Venture: 156 Cubic Feet

Source: http://www.edmunds.com

It’s amazing to watch the self-deception of the poseur as he desperately attempts to justify his “need” to himself and others.

208

Nice try John. Now, you missed something quite important on that site: It lists the MAXIMUM storage space in each vehicle. It is hardly logical to compare the maximum storage space. You wanna know why? Are you going to listen if I tell you? You probably won’t, but I’ll say it anyways: More minivans have fold down seats than SUVs do. Of course this means that minivans have a great maximum capacity by probably doubling the normal storage capacity. However, this also limits the number of passengers a minivan can carry by 3. Therefore, SUVs are better for those who wish to carry people and equipment at the same time.

Gee…what was that I just did? Did I just debunk one of john’s arguments? Gee, I think I did, with almost no effort.

209

In addition, if you want to use the maximum space available in many minivans, you have to remove the bench seats, which is a two person job, and a pain in the ass to boot, which means that day-to-day, if you want to be able to carry something large on a moment’s notice, the cargo space in the back of an SUV is bigger than the tiny space behind the back seat in a minivan.

210

Not to mention most mini vans can’t carry as much weight or pull as much of a trailer.

211

I note that you excluded the Excursion, Ol’ John. Heck, you excluded the entire Ford line entirely. And GMC. And Lexus. And Dodge. But especially the Ford line, considering that’s the most popular line of SUV’s in the country.

If you want to say that SUV’s suck, you have to prove that ALL of them (or, at least, a majority of them) truly do suck.

As it is, I’ll simply say that you’re simply comparing one aspect of an SUV to a minivan. Tell me, Ol’ John, what other ways can an SUV differentiate 'tween a minivan? Or is interior space the only difference you can think of?

You see, a SMART car buyer doesn’t look at a single statistic when buying a car… he looks at ALL the statistics. Can you find a car with more interior space than a Suburban (I’m ignoring the CR-V here… who really wants one of those, anyway?)? Sure ya can. But if all you want is interior space, then you go to U-Haul. Tell me, what’s bound to have more power, a V-6 equipped minivan, or a V-12 equipped Excursion? In short… what good’s all that space in the minivan if you can’t pull it?

See, Ol’ John, much as you like to think you’re clever, you’re simply missing the point… SUV’s are good at lotsa tasks. Period. Sure, they may not excel in every category, but they do EVERYTHING with a modicum of success. Like a Swiss Army Knife.

Now, I don’t expect you to get this… after all, you went through close to TEN FUCKING PAGES of ranting and raving and you’ve STILL yet to get a new thought to permeate that layer of dead brain tissue swirling around in your cranium. Hell, it took you, what, four pages to realize that your little Poseur Shit-site wasn’t gonna prove squat.

What has more power under the hood than an SUV? Hell, you can go buy a Ferrari (or a jet-car, but those aren’t street-legal), but that’ll run ya, what, a million bucks? An older 'Vette is probably comparable.

What has more interior space than a SUV? A couple’a minivans.

What’s more comfortable than your average SUV? Well, you can always get an M-Class or something.

What off-roads better than an SUV? I dunno… a dune buggy? An ATV?

But what does ALL of those better than an SUV?

Sure, some people buy an SUV because they think it’s something it ain’t. Those people are morons. But those same types of people exist in all sorts of car preferences.

Or are you trying to tell me that my mom, a meek and mild and soft-spoken woman, is trying to appear “macho”?

212

John, how well do you think a minivan could lug camping equipment up mountain roads? Were you trying to compare the minivans capabilities as a camping vehicle to the capabilities of an SUV as a camping vehicle?

I know a lot of SUV’s do have folding back seats. However, I’ve seen many models that do not have folding seats. SUV’s have a lot of storage space with the seats UP, probably just as much as most minivans.

I have yet to see a minivan that doesn’t have removeable or folding seats. I also have yet to see a minivan with as much engine power as a minivan. The seats are designed to be removed to give it a lot more storage space than it normally has.

I’ll reiterate someone’s post: SUV stands for SPORT UTILITY VEHICLE. Although some are good for off-roading, NOT ALL ARE DESIGNED FOR IT. Off-roading is not the SUV’s main purpose. You have faulty knowledge, if any, if you think that it is. The UTILITY part of the acronym means, GASP!, that it has multiple purposes.

I’m sure minivans have a larger maximum storage capacity. I’m sure compact cars get better mileage. I’m sure trucks can haul more. I’m sure sports cars can go faster. But I’m also sure that an SUV is well-rounded in EVERY ONE of these aspects, which cannot be said for any of those class of cars.

213

Damn brain. “minivan with as much engine power as a minivan” should read “minivan with as much engine power as a SUV”.

Maybe I should go to bed.

214

What “fantastic scenarios”?

215

Some “SUVs” are just cars molded into a psuedo SUV shape, like the bullet-looking Lexus, for example.

Heck, it rides, handles and performs like a car. It’s got a power plant right out of a car. Must other SUV owners be aggravated by this vehicle? It’s hardly an SUV.

fatherjohn is hung up on pushing miniivans instead of SUVs. I don’t get it.

On paper, minivans have more total storage space. In the real world, it’s a pain to get the seats out of the back…and in…and out. I guess you could make do w/ a minivan, but people tend to choose things that work well for them, and they’ve chosen SUVs.

Minvans get better mileage, but only in EPA tests. In real world driving, when the burdened 4 or 6cyl is hauling people/gear, it’s making a living between 3-5 thousand rpms all day. I’ve driven Minivans to haul people and cargo as part of an old job, and all the struggling just killed any good mileage numbers anyone was promised. It essentially was an over worked truck. It survived, but mileage was down in the low teens easily.

My Dakota Quad Cab loafs along with two people or six people. I’ve taken several trips to the mountains in PA with the in-laws in tow, and with all the gear and people, I never really had to push the engine, and I realized that my mileage wasn’t far off from my mileage when I have lighter loads. I was scared to death of the horror stories about these gas guzzlers.

I understand the value of government tests, but I also understand the value of applying practical real world experience, which is what sells and resells things.

Minivans really exploded when they added more power, and better V6s became common. When first produced, ON PAPER they worked great, but when Mr Public used it, he screamed for more power, and they continue to squeeze in bigger engines. People were killing the small v6 and 4cyl engines.

The Japs are making more and more V6s and V8 than anyone would imagine, because the Jap cars could not offer the utility of American cars/trucks/vans. There are millions of people with towing needs, or off roading interests, and to fill that need they retooled entire plants to make v8s and SUVs. I can’t believe that Toyota has an SUV for EVERY single bracket now because the world is “macho” hungry!!! Toyota has completely redefined one of the most succesful auto companies based on “macho”? Say that again to yourself and you realize you can only be an ass to believe it.

At what board meeting did these mastesr of manufacturing say, “Our research indicates that people (half are women) want to be macho…so we are dropping our sports/sporty cars and we are spending BILLIONS to re-tool everything and make Utility Vehicles for every price range we can. We, members of the board, are putting our eggs in one basket because we’ve done research and it says “People want to be macho”…and we also found out that macho people secretly crave four door family cruisers…and they hate sports cars, so we are risking bankruptcy on macho people loving four door utlity vehicles.”

Why don’t you consider that? Car manufacturers are dropping their sports cars from their line-ups. They are adding SUVs of every size to fill every bracket in their line-up…all because people want to be Macho.

Unbelievable.

216

I’ll channel Ol’ John and answer for him…

-Driving the kids to school (oh, nobody ever does THAT…)

-Going to the store (yeah, right, in your dreams)

-Making a stop at the local Home Depot (oh, bullshit… who buys lumber these days?)

-Hauling some large bushes or small trees from one place to the other (man, this is like some bad dream! Such rubbish!)

-Going on a camping trip in some rugged terrain (bah! Humbug!)

-Hauling a couple thousand pounds of building supplies, plaster, etc. (now I know you’re lying… NOBODY ever tries to fix up their house!)

I can assure the world that all those activities have been undertaken by our family in the past three months, on a near-regular basis. And I can assure the world that our old minivan wouldn’t have been able to do all of that with even HALF the level of success.

217

Don’t forget the time when we were carrying a little over a ton of grass sod in the Expedition. No minivan could have managed that.

218

I wonder what percentage of LEXUS RX-300’s have carried even 1000 lbs. of “building supplies, plaster, etc.”

In any event, outsiders who are reading this thread might be wondering, who would buy an SUV if, as a general rule, there are better alternatives.

A recent newspaper article yields some insight into this question.

Although SUV buyers are demographically similar to Minivan buyers, automakers’ research has revealled some interesting differences.(my words)

A top G.M. Engineer said the following:

"Minivan people want to be in control in terms of safety, being able to park and maneuver in traffic, being able to get elderly people in and out," Mr. Schaafsma said. "S.U.V. owners want to be more like, ‘I’m in control of the people around me.’ " This is an important reason why seats are mounted higher in sport utilities than in minivans, he said."

And another quote:

Sport utility buyers are much more concerned with their vehicles’ external appearance, while minivan buyers are more interested in the vehicles’ interiors and practicality, said Thomas Elliott, Honda’s executive vice president for North American auto operations. “The people who buy S.U.V.'s are in many cases buying the outside first and then the inside,” he said.

219
220

Fatherjohn, are you actually considering vandalizing someones property because you don’t like it ? You, my friend, are obsessed. You’ll find in life that there are things that you don’t like, and unless you can make a valid point for change, which you haven’t done here, you should just let it go.
Don’t resort to vandalizum, or worse. It will serve no one well. Let it go, get a new hobby, or get some mental help, please.
For everyone else, FOR THE LOVE OF…, please let this thread die.