Another problem with suv purchases is that the automakers are dropping production of true sportscars. And I don’t mean those dinosaurs, the camaro or mustang. I mean the Supra, 300ZX, and RX7. These are beautiful sports cars that are no longer made because companies can make more money selling testosterone fueling suvs.
You get to squish little cars.
Peace,
mangeorge
Work like you don’t need the money…
Love like you’ve never been hurt…
Dance like nobody’s watching! Source???
Hell, I’ll change lanes to avoid a puddle. Little puddles can conceal humongous potholes, as I discovered to my cost one time. Not gonna make that mistake twice.
SUVs exist so that I can’t see when they park next to me and I have to back out blind. Someday these fool things (and those mini-vans) are going to get me in an accident. Also, even if they aren’t tailgating, they are up so damn high their headlight light up your whole car at night. Where I live, there is almost no “wilderness” that you’d need a SUV for. Mostly, it seems people need these safari cars to go to the wilds of the mall.
At the risk of being taken to the pit, hasn’t anyone noticed a higher percentage of the angry - aggressive drivers these days are women almost invariably ensconced behind the wheel of one of these behemoths? A three-ton bustier, maybe?
"He doesn’t want the mini-van because, in his words, “its too family”.
—Bunny Girl
I’m a, so far, happy owner of a Windstar.
Plenty of room for either set of grandkids and their (yawn) parents. Beats my old Subaru.
Plus , I get to squish little cars.
Peace,
mangeorge
Someone in the PR department at Ford must have been reading this thread…
I saw a television commercial last night from Ford talking about how they love the outdoors and blue skies and so they VOLUNTARILY keep their emmissions 35% below federal standards.
Someone give them a cookie.
SUV’s are indeed minivans in disguise. Just another lame attempt by car companies to create one vehicle they can market as being “all things to all people.” Even the name betrays this.
In theory, there’s no difference between practice and theory, but in practice, there is.
It’s mostly a macho-testosterone-bragging-alpha male sort of
thing. Kind of like having the best set of golf clubs even if you
couldn’t golf a round under 500 if your life depended on it.
I really think that’s correct it the same as the guys who wear their c-phones on their waist like there constantly receiving calls on a hot-line or something. What’s with these people? Everyones got a c-phone these days why do they need to advertise it ?
Same goes for these people that drive the SUV’s like look out I’m coming thru.
Oh well everyone to their own thing. I don’t have an SUV but I do have a c-phone and keep it in my pocket out of view and also because I don’t wanna lose the thing.
hmmmmmmmm…well I don’t have a cell phone nor do I want one. If you can’t wait till you get to a pay phone or your own home phone to make a call, your in sad shape. Besides, I don’t want people to be able to reach me where ever I go. As far a SUV’s go…I have a Ford Explorer XLT that I love. It is not an SUV. SUV’s are for women…Explorers existed long before anyone ever heard of an SUV. As far as I’m concerned, an Explorer and a lot of those other big vehicles are Trucks. I use my truck to go skiing in the winter, and to the beach in the summer. There is so much room in my truck for all the things I travel with. I’ve been told that I always over pack and so what if I do. It’s my truck. It also does very well in the snow. If you know how to drive a truck then you have nothing to worry about as far as rolling over goes. I also didn’t pay a lot for my Explorer. I paid only $12,661 in cash in one lump payment. I also get a minimum of 260 miles out of every tank of gas. To me, that’s great. The last car I had didn’t get half that far on a bigger gas tank…it was a 72 Olds Cutlass. I’m very happy with my truck and I wouldn’t give it up for anything…well, I would give it up for an Expedition or the brand new ford truck that I can’t remember the name of. They say it’s the largest SUV ever but to me it’s a truck and I love trucks…
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I want a cell phone, but they still cost more than I think they’re worth. I also want one of those Hum Vee things.
I’d like a cell phone because they’re handy (Shaddup, handy 
). I want a Hum Vee so I can squish SUV’s…and ford Explorers.
Peace,
mangeorge
Out here in Cali these things are loading the road. Basically the most ppl we see driving them are women. I do not doubt there is some sort of thing with safety but I tell you its a power thing with them now.
Example…I saw the tiniest Asian women climbing (and I am talking climbing) into a 40k SUV. She could see over the steering wheel but for a minute it looked like a kid. She then proceeded to floor it out of a parking lot, nearly tbone a few ppl and generally make a nuisance.
Now this is not a slight on women or Asians for that matter, but the consensus out here is that the ppl driving the SUV’s seem to basically force their way through traffic because of the SUV sheer size. Sure ppl say I am getting it for safety bt I swear I think they may cause more accidents than prevent them. The lvl of driving here proves that.
Of course, I believe that the other half is caused by what I like to refer to as Assholius Mercedeas Cellius- Mercedes idiots with cell phones grafted to their ears. These guys make drunks look like Indy race drivers with their stupidity
Gracie has it right. I heard of a Subary with 2 kids in the back being squashed by a SUV. The kids are dead.
Dave Barry describes the Chevy Subdivision:
www.herald.com/davebarry/
Click “Road has a new Hog”
“these people often purchase just a couple of items … which they put into the back of their Subdivisions, which have approximately the same cargo capacity, in cubic feet, as Finland.” No Dave, it would take at least two SUVs to squeeze in Finland.
Read the Tonka article too.
Another quick comment about SUV’s is that the moment the economy starts it’s downward slide ( It will , you know, it can’t be good forever) I can’t wait to see all the SUV drivers putting their lease vehicles in the paper to unload the high monthly payments. Heh heh heh
Or possibly repairing their vehicles and keeping them in good running order, as that may be more cost-effective than replacing their vehicles every few years, as some people like to do.
I’m driving my Jeep until the body falls apart.
I’m then going to replace the body.
I buy things to last a while, from my computer to my stereo, TV and my auto.
I figure that a person gets what they pay for; so I’ll spend a little more now to save a lot more later.
But then again, I’m considered by those who know me to be fiscally conservative to the point of eccentricity.
It comes from having a [financially] humble background, and not a macho-testosterone-bragging-alpha male kinda thing, as CMKeller believes.
<FONT COLOR=“GREEN”>ExTank</FONT>
I can’t entirely knock SUV’s–they look cool, they’re generally dependable, they’re roomy, and gas is cheap right now.
My biggest problem, though, besides the environmental hazard, is the safety issue. Studies have shown that SUV’s are safer in collisions–for the person in the SUV. The person in the smaller vehicle is in fact much worse off that he would be otherwise. This makes sense from a physics standpoint.
This presents a variation on the Prisoner’s Dilemma–that is, the best thing for one person often leads to disaster if everyone does it. If everyone drove an SUV, the collision safety factor would be negated.
Before then, some soccer mom is going to plow her Ford Canyonero–I mean, Excursion into my Beretta, and I’m done for.
Dr. J
PS: I’m just glad that SUV has become the common abbreviation, as opposed to the one the early commercials were trying to push–“sport ute”. A “sport ute” is someone who plays for Rick Majeirus.
You can have my SUV, and I will listen to you about getting run over, as soon as you get all of the semis off the road. Until then I would like all of the advantage I can get against you or a truck.
Putting the obviously tongue-in-cheek aside, the next logical step in road safety by the SUV logic are 11 mm cannons, tire-piercing road caltrops, and perhaps extendable saw blades. Or maybe those neat little mini-cars that roll under your car and fry your electrical system.
Seriously, though, I don’t want the roads to end up looking like Along The Scenic Route by Harlan Ellison.
I sure ain’t gonna bet against you! In 1973, we took a rear-wheel-drive Datsun 510 as far into the back country as the rest of the “see-the-property” caravan (long, irrelevant story) and parked it at the top of a hill, at the bottom of which were mud flats, talus slopes debris, and running water rivulets. A 4WD Bronco bolted down and started back up and started spinning all fours, peeled off sideways, and mired. A Chevy CustomDeluxe 4x4 pickup owner got out, twisted the wheel locks (remember when you had to do that?), went at it in lo-lo-4, bogged down in the trough before even hitting the midpoint. A WW II Willys Jeep sashayed through without incident. An International Harvester full-time 4WD managed to follow with a lot of twisting and squirming. The rest decided to stay on our side and walk the rest of the way in.
I’ve personally driven a low-slung rear-wheel-drive massively ostentatious family-car 1967 Pontiac Bonneville through the Jemez mountains of New Mexico in late December with chains on the back tires, and, with adequate caution, managed to traverse a route officially closed off to anyone without dedicated 4WD vehicles with chains.
If I knew I had to face challenging terrain, I’d be happy to have a vehicle fully suited to face it, preferably something agile and 4WD and equipped with a winch and well-balanced. Maybe a Humvee with chains and hydraulic winch and serious roll bars and reinforced nylon web seat belts. But at best it gives you a significant edge; it doesn’t say you can go anywhere or that you don’t have to worry about getting stuck or losing control due to the terrain.
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I remember seeing VW bugs, the old ones, chug through snow that stopped 4WD’s cold.
I worked one winter at a filling station on the Grapevine (a high altitude freeway between Bakersfield and Los Angeles), and these little buggers would come put-putting in for gas.
They were not much appreciated by the guys in their big 4WD pickups.
Kinda amusing, actually.
Peace,
mangeorge