# Why are people selling their SUVs? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 28, 2008, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583 "2008-06-28T18:00:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/221 "2008-06-30T18:11:26Z")
[QUOTE=MrDibble] Does America not have…here they are called “bakkies”… I think, maybe, you’d call them compact pick-ups? Half-ton to 1 ton jobbies like the Ford Bantam or Toyota Hilux, with 1.3 -2.0 l engines, TWD, that sort of thing? [/QUOTE] The Hilux has been replaced by the Toyota Tacoma here and the closest thing we have to a [Ford Bantam](http://www.carsplusplus.com/pictures/2005/36069/photo.jpg) is the [Chevrolet SSR](http://www.tomstrongman.com/RoadTests/ChevySSR/Images/10SSR.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/222 "2008-06-30T18:14:21Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] Not really. The smallest engine you’d usually find in a US market pickup is a 2.5ish liter V6. [/QUOTE] Those are the full-size trucks. **MrDibble** was referring to small ones like the [Ford Ranger](http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/2008car1tablef.jsp?id=24467). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/223 "2008-06-30T18:17:20Z")
[QUOTE=Lute Skywatcher] Those are the full-size trucks. **MrDibble** was referring to small ones like the [Ford Ranger](http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/2008car1tablef.jsp?id=24467). [/QUOTE] 2.3L 4 ~ 2.5L V6… ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/224 "2008-06-30T18:21:05Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] 2.3L 4 ~ 2.5L V6… [/QUOTE] 2.0L 4 ~ 2.3L4… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/225 "2008-06-30T18:32:23Z")
> [@](#): > > How about you get a normal car for everyday use and an old Ford Transit for the instruments? We use my “normal” car for joint use. He usually goes to rehearsal straight from work, so whatever we buy will be his sole vehicle; I don’t see how we could make a justification for the two of us to own three vehicles. He doesn’t like the SSRs. So far we have just been looking at what we see on the road and checking out apparent storage capacity, visibility, etc. Murano looks OK, as does Outback. We do not like Fords (bad experience). Our second choice when we bought the Santa Fe was a RAV-4. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/226 "2008-06-30T18:33:17Z")
Isn’t Pontiac coming out with a sedan-sized Holden-made pick-up soon? IIRC, a friend was talking excitedly about it (only time I’ve ever met a dedicated Pontiac fan), but the way he described it, it sounded like a modern El Camino. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/227 "2008-06-30T18:34:47Z")
[QUOTE=Sigmagirl] . We didn’t buy an SUV because we _neeeeed_ one. We bought one because we didn’t see any alternatives. I’m asking for alternatives. Anyone? [/QUOTE] A small cargo trailer? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/228 "2008-06-30T18:37:03Z")
[QUOTE=Student Driver] Isn’t Pontiac coming out with a sedan-sized Holden-made pick-up soon? IIRC, a friend was talking excitedly about it (only time I’ve ever met a dedicated Pontiac fan), but the way he described it, it sounded like a modern El Camino. [/QUOTE] _shudder_ ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/229 "2008-06-30T18:41:54Z")
Yeah, it kind of sucks. Based on the G6. I’ve got photos somewhere. I think a pair of tubas would fit just fine in my old Toyota Matrix. I always called that a ‘tall wagon’, to distinguise it from a SUV. Got 30 in winter, 35 in summer, observed. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/230 "2008-06-30T18:49:23Z")
[QUOTE=Finagle] A small cargo trailer? [/QUOTE] Can any old car tow one of those? Or do you need say, a minivan, which is almost as or bigger than your standard SUV, and once attached to a fully loaded cargo trailer will then bring your MPG back down to the level of the SUV you are seeking to replace. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/231 "2008-06-30T18:52:47Z")
[QUOTE=Lute Skywatcher] Those are the full-size trucks. **MrDibble** was referring to small ones like the [Ford Ranger](http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/2008car1tablef.jsp?id=24467). [/QUOTE] I suppose you could use those, but you’d have to have a bedcover to keep something like a tuba from being exposed to the elements, and then there’s the issue of theft, too, although I don’t know how much safer a tuba would be inside the cabin of an SUV as opposed to under a truck bedliner…plus you have to consider how hot of an item on the black market a tuba really is… ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/232 "2008-06-30T18:53:52Z")
Right. IAN an engineer, but I don’t see how hauling even a small trailer will help fuel economy. The goal here, I think, is to get the vehicle with the largest and most efficient storage capacity without sacrificing high MPG. Is the Matrix still made? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/233 "2008-06-30T18:54:43Z")
[QUOTE=FoieGrasIsEvil] Can any old car tow one of those? Or do you need say, a minivan, which is almost as or bigger than your standard SUV, and once attached to a fully loaded cargo trailer will then bring your MPG back down to the level of the SUV you are seeking to replace. [/QUOTE] [You can tow a caravan with a 1.5L diesel Kia](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyJQvV1Hi_4). Towing a small trailer- perhaps a third of the weight of a caravan, at most- with a half dozen musical instruments with a 2 liter Toyota Corolla should be pretty easy by comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/234 "2008-06-30T18:54:57Z")
> [@](#): > > how hot of an item on the black market a tuba really is… A good one, pretty hot. I can name five people whose valuable horns have been stolen in the last year, and I just hear about them thirdhand. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/235 "2008-06-30T19:09:52Z")
[QUOTE=Sigmagirl] Right. IAN an engineer, but I don’t see how hauling even a small trailer will help fuel economy. The goal here, I think, is to get the vehicle with the largest and most efficient storage capacity without sacrificing high MPG. Is the Matrix still made? [/QUOTE] You take the trailer off when you’re not hauling tubas around. Or when you only have one tuba that will fit in the back. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/236 "2008-06-30T19:11:43Z")
[QUOTE=Sigmagirl] Right. IAN an engineer, but I don’t see how hauling even a small trailer will help fuel economy. The goal here, I think, is to get the vehicle with the largest and most efficient storage capacity without sacrificing high MPG. Is the Matrix still made? [/QUOTE] The idea behind the trailer is you have a usable car for the 90% of trips you aren’t hauling stuff - then you get the lousy gas mileage only when you need to haul stuff. In an ideal world, we would be able to affordable rent “hauling vehicles” because you need to move the boat twice a year or move your kid into the dorm. Instead, we have a bunch of people who need big cars because three times a year they need big cars to haul stuff, four times a year it snows bad enough that a big SUV will handle it (but not bad enough that you’d have to be an idiot to go out at all), and the rest of the year, they drop two kids off at daycare and commute in a behemoth to work. It was expensive to own THREE cars, impractical to rent an SUV when you needed it, and gas was cheap. The plus side of the bottom dropping out of the used SUV market is its becoming affordable to own one used and insure it for three times a year you NEED it. However, only those people who are in the market for one now get to take advantage of it. I think for rural folks and people who really do need access to large cars, the days of having something fuel efficient in addition to the vehicle that can take you down the side of the mountain in March is here. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/237 "2008-06-30T19:45:40Z")
[QUOTE=Chimera] Even if I need it to haul around my massive penis? 😃 [/QUOTE] How YOU doin’? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/238 "2008-06-30T19:51:28Z")
[QUOTE=Dangerosa] I think for rural folks and people who really do need access to large cars, the days of having something fuel efficient in addition to the vehicle that can take you down the side of the mountain in March is here. [/QUOTE] Doesn’t work for me yet. I could save perhaps $600 a year in fuel. Considering the upfront cost of the car, maint. and insurance, it’s not even close. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/239 "2008-06-30T19:55:34Z")
[QUOTE=Student Driver] Isn’t Pontiac coming out with a sedan-sized Holden-made pick-up soon? IIRC, a friend was talking excitedly about it (only time I’ve ever met a dedicated Pontiac fan), but the way he described it, it sounded like a modern El Camino. [/QUOTE] > [@Hemmings Auto Blogs](#): > > The Holden VE was bantied about as the new El Camino for the U.S., supposedly to be marketed under the Pontiac G6 umbrella but that turns out now to be an empty promise. From [here](http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/category/australian-cars/). ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/240 "2008-06-30T19:55:52Z")
[QUOTE=sugar and spice] [More station wagons](http://www.caranddriver.com/tags/body_styles/station_wagon+display-all.html). [/QUOTE] That [Dodge Magnum](http://www.caranddriver.com/buying_guide/dodge/magnum/2008_dodge_magnum_srt8) station wagon is hilariously high-powered! 😃 For those who feel they need to lay down some rubber on the way to soccer practice! (Not exactly a gas sipper, though.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583.md?page=13)