# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/81 "2008-06-29T03:00:22Z")
[QUOTE=treis] Pollution/gas consumption is only a small part of the SUV hatred. Some of those things are giant, and can really obstruct your view. They make parking more difficult, and they are much more likely to flatten me like a pancake in an accident than a car. [/QUOTE] Exactly! All the posts in this thread about the environment are very noble and what have you, but the main reason I hate the damn things is that they make my driving experience more difficult! They are almost impossible to see past or around, and reduced visibility is not a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/82 "2008-06-29T03:11:44Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Finn] Seriously, you wear what sounds like a backpack meant for hiking on a city bus? And are the people laughing with joy the ones you’re knocking over as you move about this bus? [/QUOTE] I don’t go shopping during rush hour. The buses are not crowded when I enter, and I can get to a seat and remove the pack without inconveniencing anyone. If it’s not full and not likely to get full, I’ll set it on the seat next to me. To date, I’ve never hit anyone with it or even received any snarky comments from the other bus riders. It takes up a lot less space than a baby stroller or one of those wire “old lady” shopping carts. Should I start a “Ask the Guy Who Doesn’t Own a Car and Backpacks Everything” thread in MPSIMS? ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/83 "2008-06-29T03:23:51Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] Does it occur to you that this is inexcusably rude? Would you like me to come to your place and start dissecting your property and grilling you on whether you need it all? [/QUOTE] That’s why when someone asks why I have/do something, I answer,“because I **like** it.” As ol’ Rush used to say, “words mean things!” ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/84 "2008-06-29T03:57:27Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] Why are the words “no offense” almost always immediately followed by the most retarded opinion on the planet? [/QUOTE] It is a courtesy signpost by the opinion holder to let you get the outrage dynamo spun up. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/85 "2008-06-29T04:00:35Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] London to LA: 5,382 statute miles. Add in the round trip. Fleet average fuel consumption for airliners: 4.82 L/100km per passenger. If our differences are indeed slight, it’s probably just rounding errors, since I did some of the math in my head. [/QUOTE] Ah, ok. Yeah, it probably was just rounding errors; your new mid-800s number is much closer to mine. Also, I didn’t realize it was 4.82 L/100km _per passenger_. (I didn’t think much about the numbers at all, I just blindly chugged). Accordingly, I must retract my complaint that you were unfairly pinning the entire costs of the plane ride on just one family. Like others, I am a little confused as to what difference economy vs. first class makes. Could you clarify? ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/86 "2008-06-29T04:22:40Z")
[QUOTE=enipla] I’m mostly a true liberal, so I don’t care what others drive. It’s none of my business. [/QUOTE] I wish I could agree with this, but I can’t. Not when monster behemoths are taking up multiple parking spots, blocking visibility (seriously, why must their hoods always creep into my field of vision right when I need to turn into oncoming traffic?), and slamming people into medians because the drivers don’t know what the hell they’re doing. Not all SUVs are built the same, true. And not all SUV drivers are the same either. But still. SUVs on the road have raised the bar on defensive driving, and that’s why I can’t stand the vast majority of them. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/87 "2008-06-29T04:33:44Z")
In this country (and maybe in the US?) there are a lot of small (even 4cyl) utilities - which are like car-sized pickups - that have the grunt to pull fairly large trailers like horse floats. These are typically Japanese diesels. Some are 4WD, some 2WD. They’re perfect for hauling bigger loads in times of high fuel prices. You won’t get the luxury, but you’ll get a 2.0 or 2.8 litre direct-injection diesel motor that can pull a bullock out of the shit. Torque city. For mine, I wonder if I’m the only person who is actually considering purchasing a LESS fuel-efficient car in the near future, and doing so precisely because of the cost of petrol. I am a single guy living alone, and the vast majority of my driving is the ten-minute trip to work. I’m currently doing this in a 4cyl 2.0 litre 1991 Camry. but that car is on its last legs maybe, and it’s possible worth a hundred bucks. If it dies, I’ll need to replace it, but small cars are getting expensive, and if I’m only driving twenty minutes a day, I might be better off buying something much bigger as a bargain, and the savings will pay the extra fuel for quite a while (I drive sedately, and I don’t tow anything). ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/88 "2008-06-29T04:45:22Z")
Someone wanna calculate the carbon footprint of killing yourself with a non-firearm, then being cremated? Because gosh, if we could convince a lot of peope to do this, we could really save on carbon emissions. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/89 "2008-06-29T04:47:10Z")
[QUOTE=Bosstone] Didn’t expect to catch a lot of flak about the groceries comment. I spend $100 at Costco and usually fill up my trunk. Go fig. [/QUOTE] I spend $100 at Costco, and fill up my _tank_. Never even get into the store. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/90 "2008-06-29T04:54:35Z")
[QUOTE=Fish] Hey, **buddy** , did I say I went to the guy’s house and started grilling him? No, this smug insufferable twat in a chatroom started informing all of us how his family bought an SUV because they _neeeeeded_ it, and I asked why that was. So yeah, wanna talk about rude? No, better yet, why not talk about _being a shithead and jumping to conclusions._ [/QUOTE] Anyway, it’s extremely rude to drive a car that inconveniences and endangers others just so you can project a macho image. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/91 "2008-06-29T04:55:37Z")
**Economy vs first class:** An airplane uses pretty much the same fuel regardless of how many passengers it takes. A plane outfitted for first class seats can carry fewer passengers, and therefore the fuel cost per passenger goes way up. Here’s something I wrote a few years ago on the subject: > [@Sam Stone](#): > > An average first-class airline seat takes up the space of roughly 3 economy seats, when aisle room and support for first class is factored in (this number was calculated by comparing the floorplan of a 767 configured with nothing but economy seating, and one which has a first-class area in the front third of the plane, and counting how many seats were lost to the first-class section). > > Now, a 767 normally gets about 60 miles per gallon per economy passenger seat, according to Boeing. It therefore only gets about 20 miles per gallon per first-class seat. So if a person in first class flies 2000 miles, he’ll be responsible for consuming 66 more gallons of gas as compared to someone flying economy. > > Based on the difference between CAFE standards of cars and light trucks (21 mpg vs 27), you would have to drive about 6000 miles before the difference in gas consumption between a car and an SUV would equal the added fuel costs that say, ‘environmentalist’ Bill Maher incurs by flying first class instead of economy on his way to the Playboy Mansion. And we haven’t even talked about the energy required to keep the bunnies warm. And before you say, "but that plane is going to fly there whether I’m in first class or not!', the same argument can be made for buying an SUV - _someone_ is going to buy that shiny Escalade in the showroom, so it might as well be you. but buying the SUV means another one will be built to take its place, and flying first class encourages airlines to build more aircraft with first class seating. If everyone who flies first class refused on environmental grounds, new airplanes being produced would have more economy seating and therefore get higher fuel economy per passenger. First class is the airline equivalent of the SUV. Gee, I wonder why the Hollywood set doesn’t march against first class seating in airlines? And talk about unnecessary! All you’re getting for those hundreds of liters of fuel is a little more legroom, a better meal, and a drink. For a few hours. It has to be the most energy-wasting activity there is - other than flying your own private jet, that is. But how much you want to bet that those flights into Davos for the next environmental summit will be full of first-class passengers? If there’s room on the tarmac for the commercial jet with all the Gulfstream IV’s parked on the ramp, that is… ---
**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 29, 2008, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/92 "2008-06-29T05:03:21Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] Where do I get a brush like yours? I could paint my whole house in one stroke. [/QUOTE] The OP’s sarcastic brush is just as broad, as beautifully painted as it may be. ---
**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 29, 2008, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/93 "2008-06-29T05:07:49Z")
[QUOTE=Cosmic Relief] OK, let me see if I understand this. Many people said they absolutely needed SUV’s. Many people are now selling SUV’s. All the people selling SUV’s must therefore be the people who claimed they absolutely needed them. It cannot possibly be any of the people who liked the flashy look when gas was $1.25 a gallon. \*\*If the target of this fallacy were “liberals say X but now they’re doing Y” you guys would have taken it apart it like a blindfolded Marine with an M-16. \*\* Don’t get me wrong, I get a good deal of Schadenfreude that there are a bunch of ding-a-lings in Escalades who are going broke due to daily 100-mile solo round-trip commutes. I just can’t get behind a pitting that commits a logical fallacy to mock someone else’s logical fallacy; it’s like the valedictorian of summer-school doing a fist-pump on the graduation stage. [/QUOTE] I don’t understand this part…only worthless Republicans owned SUV’s when gasoline was cheap and the future was far away, not tomorrow? ---
**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 29, 2008, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/94 "2008-06-29T05:14:02Z")
[QUOTE=gaffa] Hell, I fit $300 worth of groceries from CostCo in my fucking **backpack**! Admittedly, it’s a big backpack and I routinely carry 100 lbs or more in the thing. It’s an external frame pack with a second soft-sided cooler pack mounted below the main pack to carry frozen stuff. When I pack it full, then strap a 36 roll pack of toilet paper to the top so I have to duck down to get through the bus door, I not only have a carbon footprint the size of an amoeba, but bring laughter and joy to the lives of the people on the bus. Living in a city with excellent public transit, I’ve rarely felt the desire for any car, let alone an SUV. [/QUOTE] You are fortunate enough to live in a city that affords you that method of transportation and therefore you are a statistical outlier in terms of a percentage of the overall population, not to mention the rural areas near where I live whereby people make their living using their pickup trucks of various sizes. This increase in diesel costs is hurting these honest, blue-collar working people more than urbanites, especially ones like you that have no need of a car. I’m seeing pink clouds populated with unicorns ahead, though, so it’ll be OK. ---
**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 29, 2008, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/95 "2008-06-29T05:17:29Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] Yup–I had someone tell me with a straight face that when the roads get icey, she’s ever so grateful for the 4 wheel drive in her Explorer. The fact that they tend to flip over didn’t deter her, nor did the fact that we live in suburbia and only rarely is she out and about before the salt trucks. :rolleyes: She must get her 3 boys to soccer, football and baseball in comfort and style! I hate SUVs–I hate sharing the road with them; I hate the whole entitlement meme that comes with them (here, in the suburbs). You don’t need a Suburban (if ever there was a wrongly named car) out here in the wilds of strip malls and subdivisions. No, you don’t. The most humorous part of the story is that the woman with the Explorer above lives in a village that’s zoning is so strict, pick-ups and RVs etc are not allowed because they were deemed unsightly and unnecessary. I don’t know if they had to rewrite the village ordinances to allow SUVs. And of course, now she bitches mightily about her fill up cost. Everyone is entitled to make their choices as they see fit. What I tend to roll my eyes at is people making bad decisions and then expecting them to be lauded and then when it’s clear to all that it was a stupid choice, expect sympathy from those who made better choices all along. This works for sex partners as well… 😉 [/QUOTE] Or perhaps these regular people at the time failed to piss you off until SUV’s became the liberal rallying cry for global warming and poor fuel consumption back when, you know, global warming and expensive gasoline weren’t on our collective radar, at all. ---
**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 29, 2008, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/96 "2008-06-29T05:22:22Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] London to LA: 5,382 statute miles. Add in the round trip. The point here is not to bash anyone for their lifestyle choices, but to make people realize that focusing on SUV drivers as especially wasteful is misguided. The fact is, we burn far more energy per capita than most other people, and SUVs are not the reason. We use more energy because we live in bigger homes, drive more, air condition and heat our homes more, buy more stuff, use more electricity for all our toys, fly more, and eat more. The U.S. and Canada are huge, and therefore we have more transmission line losses and spend more energy to move ourselves and our goods around. SUV’s are a very visible symbol of excess, but SUV drivers are no more wasteful than you are, since SUV’s only make up a tiny bit of our overall energy consumption. And your own habits may may make you more wasteful than the SUV driver and you may not even realize it. So have a little more tolerance, and look in a mirror before you start throwing stones. [/QUOTE] A Fucking Men. Well put, **Stone**. ---
**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 29, 2008, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/97 "2008-06-29T05:25:37Z")
[QUOTE=Cazzle] Exactly! All the posts in this thread about the environment are very noble and what have you, but the main reason I hate the damn things is that they make my driving experience more difficult! They are almost impossible to see past or around, and reduced visibility is not a good thing. [/QUOTE] So we should ban 18 wheelers on our interstates, too? They are far harder to see around, get around and are FAR more deadly to get into an accident with than your avergae SUV. Shit, they even run on that ineffecient bullshit diesel crap.BAN THEM ALL! ---
**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 29, 2008, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/98 "2008-06-29T05:30:42Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] A friend of mine at work, single, living fairly close to work, is _leasing_ a Hummer. The big honking tank kind. I sort of shake my head every time I see the thing. [/QUOTE] Hummers are the statistical outliers, and obvious targets for criticism, as they deserve it. Escalades, too. But there are plenty of people that bought very capable, somewhat fuel-efficient SUV vehicles for reasons of need or assurance when gas was cheap that still own said vehicles, and have no better option that to keep them. So they are evil because you get by with a Honda Civic? Pot and Kettle and all… With the way things are going, perhaps the survivalist Marine-types have it right with stored food, ammo and a 4WD ready to hit the hills. You never know. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/99 "2008-06-29T08:41:37Z")
[QUOTE=FoieGrasIsEvil] So we should ban 18 wheelers on our interstates, too? They are far harder to see around, get around and are FAR more deadly to get into an accident with than your avergae SUV. Shit, they even run on that ineffecient bullshit diesel crap.BAN THEM ALL! [/QUOTE] By all means, you can ban 18 wheelers when people start using them to run errands or do anything else that could be done in a smaller, safer vehicle. It’s funny though… I don’t remember using the word “ban” in my original post. I thought I just said I hated them. ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583/100 "2008-06-29T10:05:23Z")
Heh. Apparently “Land of the Free” is only meant to apply to the Federal Government, not to peer pressure. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-selling-their-suvs/454583.md?page=6)