Why do so many folks hate SUVs? Is it angst driven? Environmental? Ideological? Or maybe a fear of domestication? I honestly don’t know and rarely did I give two flips about it until late August 2005. Once Katrina hit, the car market in the United States forever changed and so did yours truly’s viewpoint on the All-American SUV.
I like them now because everyone hates them. But not in the same way. I like the fact that everyone seems to be dumping them. Now parts are as plentiful as whores for hire at a political fundraiser. No really. I’m dead serious. I can now easily buy a vehicle loaded with leather and all the options for less than 2 grand wholesale.
Of course I have no real need for it. But hey. I didn’t need to buy old Lincolns back in the day either, and I bought two. Speaking of which, the Suburban now has the unique honor of being the most repossessed vehicle at my sales. With the Ford Taurus and Dodge Ram taking second and third. Anyone want to start a family? A mobile mechanic business?
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People hate SUVs because they’re the prime example of waste. Wasted gas, wasted space, more dangerous driving conditions, etc. I grew up in the minivan 80s and I’ve been saying this since the boom began in the 90s when everyone was dumping their caravans for explorers and suburbans. I never understood it. Why pay more $$$ for a vehicle that gets worse mileage than your old minivan and is smaller than your old minivan?
I always said the only explanation was darwinism. These people wanted to be the dominant species of the road. Moms bought suburbans to make sure if they were in a crash it wouldn’t be HER kid that died…
“Why do so many folks hate SUVs? Is it angst driven? Environmental? Ideological? Or maybe a fear of domestication?”
Speaking for myself only, I can’t stand poseurs and pretenders. I can’t stand off-road vehicles bought by soccer moms to be used exclusively as cooler versions of minivans.
I do care about the Environment, but I care about efficiency even more. I also care about the mess in the Middle East and the Terrorists that are funded by Saudi pertodollars.
There are so many reasons to be against SUVs. My main comlaint is their gross inefficiency. Crossovers are barely better, sore not the 4,600 and 5,000 lb Flexes-Edges- and GM elephants like the Traverse-Enclave-Acadia etc.
Andf there are so many of them on the road, you end up feeling unsafe in a (plenty big for Europe) Honda Accord, and feel the need for a car with both active and passive safety, such as a G8, or, better, a 5 or 7 series.
But If I had a family to carry around, in a world full of Escalades and Expeditions, would I still feel safe in an excellent Honda Odyssey? No, I probably would get the biggest well-handling SUV, such as an X5 Diesel or a GL class diesel. The HP numbers are unimpressive, but I could care less, what matters is the TORQUE to accelerate, and these misers have more torque than an M3!
Talk about a blast in the old way-back machine…those original Explorers were a bit smaller! There was no possible way they could toss a third row in them back in 1991. Another favorite – “place the sunroof in the bag in the cargo area.” Classic.
They were what – 160hp? 4-speed auto. Crude front and rear suspension. Truck-hard interior and ride. Low rear seat. 15 mpg. They sounded like farm equipment. And yet people flocked to them like they were giving them away.
Kind of like the crossover thing now. I think we all can agree that “crossover” is the 2009 way of saying “politically correct fuel and space hog.”
Another tragity of the SUV boom is the death of the station wagon. In 1990 Ford (taurus), GM (A and B-bodies), Honda (accord wagon), and Toyota (camry wagon) all had affordable fuel efficient stationwagons. By 2000 there was just 1 left, the Taurus wagon which died a few years later. Now the only midsize wagons are high priced models from germany.
Again, why people dumped minivans and station wagons which offer equal-or-more interior space and better fuel economy for a gas guzzling beast with less interior volume blows my mind and shows how low-level animalistic instict drives so many decisions people make.
I hate their annoying headlights, their equally annoying fog lights, and lastly, the invincibility factor they give their owners.
I love my SUV, but I think I’m probably an exception to the rule. I use it how they were supposed to be used, not how they have been.
I used to rant on and on about how so many people drive these things, until I got one.
My slowly falling-apart 90s GMC Yuk-ahoe is out in the driveway right now with 192 bats of insulation in the back (12 bundles of 16) that I brought home warm and dry on a cold/damp fall weekend.
After I unload it, I have to hook up my car hauler trailer and move our communal rally-cross car.
In the summer, I can tow my RX7 to the track, and keep my tires/tools etc. inside the truck nice and secure. I don’t have to unload as soon as I get home tired and sore (like I did with my old pickup) since I can lock the doors and leave it in my driveway.
This lets me get away with a cheaper/lighter open trailer instead of an enclosed. Fold down the rear seats, and a queen-size air matress perfectly fills the back, so it’s our tent as well.
When it’s not towing the race car, hauling building supplies (you’d be amazed how much can fit in it), taking the Husky to the park or being used as a driver on heavy snow days, it just sits in my yard waiting to be needed. I probably put less than 10,000km per year on it. Honestly, for a few thousand dollars, having one of these as a true utility when needed as a 2nd or 3rd vehicle is incredible.
(Steven, as an aside, mine is starting to knickle/dime me to death… what’s the going rate on a 6-7 year old Suburban/Expedition/Excursion 4*4 with tow package these days?)
Master: people seem to think that they need AWD, and this is a main reason why the wagons died. Minivans offer much more space than wagons, so they replaced them, and some are offered w AWD, but soccer moms hate their styling. (I like the Honda Odyssey’s, but there are not many others I like). But the Odyssey class minivans are 4,600 lb behemoths.
Subaru is currently the main choice of those who still want a wagon and do not need as much space as a minivan.
+1 on station wagons. The solution to the need for SUVs is the wagon, easy to engineer and build using a 4 door platform. I can’t understand why they don’t make them again.
Used Accord wagons sell for a premium as do the Camary wagons. The big Olds and Chevy Caprice wagons are sought after since they can pull a boat and haul cargo without being a truck. Not many left today it seems.
@MasterOfTheJawan – and not quite so high-priced mid-sized wagons from Sweden…
- Very happy owner of an ‘08 Saab 9-3 Sportcombi
@Redshift – you are one of the 2% of SUV owners who actually has a genuine need for the thing. Which is why GM has made Suburbans for what? 50 years plus? The overwhelming majority of SUVs (especially pricey ones) seem to be driven by small blond (natural or otherwise) women with surgically-attached cell phones. Solo.
Because SUVs are a Jack of all Trades and a Master of None.
- Most are woefully inadequate (and unreliable) for off-roading beyond driving down a dirt road
- Most can tow, but no better than a truck, often worse due to a shorter wheelbase or higher centre of gravity.
- Most are heinously slow
- Most get worse gas mileage than just about anything comparible
- Most can carry people and cargo equal to or less than a good station wagon or pickup.
There’s simply no actual reason to own one, except to conform. If you’re towing or offroading, a truck is better. If you’re into performance, a sporty coupe, sports car, muscle car or GT is better. If you need to carry lots of people or lots of cargo, a wagon is better. If you want gas mileage, a small car is better.
The only reason fullsize and mid-size SUVs still exist is America’s obession with showing their ass to the world.
The market is EVER-so-slowly going the correct route, with smaller crossovers making more of an impact every year.
I love the warning about using tires other than what was provided by Ford, “otherwise your safety may be affected.” May have well said “keep these firestones under-inflated kiddies!” The coral pink polo shirt was giving me flashbacks so I stopped the video soon after.
As for the question: I’ve always hated SUVs. The reasons are plenty:
* Because of their inherent inefficiency. These are HUGE, heavy machines with genuinely miniscule interior spaces. Their utility is truly questionable when compared to alternatives (station wagons, pickup trucks, etc.)
* Because SUVs became a drug that kept Detroit from facing the truth for almost 15 years. Instead of making cars they just gave up and sold over-priced padded comfytrucks and painted themselves out of business… all while thinking they were somehow brilliant.
* Because of the goofy justifications of their owners: “I feel safer” “I like sitting up high” “I might want to go off-road” You’re NOT. That statement contradicts your first. You’ll never.
* Finally because they are just plain awful to drive. The SUV is the automotive equivalent of the La-Z-Boy chair duct taped to a grocery cart. Top heavy, unstable, lousy handling, combined with driver-lulling comfort. They completely divorce the operator from the act of driving.
–chuck
OK, I can understand the “I hate poseurs” attitude – if anything, I probably share it completely, be it Masi bicycles, Harley Davidson motorcycles or SUV’s (Disclaimer: I’ve owned three Jeep’s during the time my wife was a real estate agent, and two Harleys – and have flown colors in three clubs over the past twenty years).
My question is: Why do we get so down on SUV drivers, meanwhile giving a free pass to any middle aged guy with a 911, Ferrari, etc. who’s never gone near a track day, autocross, or even a Sunday afternoon seat of the pants rally? Hell, even a Miata or S2000 driver in the same straits should earn equal scorn.
If we’re going to be unforgiving, let’s at least be fair in our hate.
it is kind of an arms race, with bigger and heavier vehicles on the highways, the rest that drive normal cars do not feel as safe as they did in the 80s and early 90s, when there were much fewer of these guzzling top heavy rollover prone poor handling wasteful SUVs.
Over in europe, even a lowly Civic or Corolla is mid-sized compared to the average car on the streets, which is most likely a Fiat Punto or VW Polo (smaller than the Golf) or Seat Ibiza or Renault Clio (=Nissan vesta) etc.
I can appreciate the case for full-size SUVs–your suburbans, your Expeditions, your Armadas, and so on. They have real utility and are great at towing.
But if you’re not towing anything regularly? A minivan has better fuel economy, a minivan has the convenience of sliding doors for your kids, a minivan has a better ride, a minivan is safer, so grow a pair and get a minivan for God’s sake. Nobody believes your “active lifestyle” fantasy besides you, anyway! You’re just taking the kids to soccer practice, deal with it.
What I REALLY don’t understand are mid-size SUVs–Explorers, Rodeos, TrailBlazers, and so on. A wagon is less thirsty, a wagon has the same utility, a wagon has better handling, a wagon is roomier, so grow a pair and get a wagon.
Compact SUVs I really hate. A hatchback or mini-MPV (the Cube, Xb at al.) are better, for almost all circumstances.
I’m not even going to seriously address the “off-roading” argument because 95% of people who buy these things don’t go anymore off-road than a gravel driveway. If you live in the snowbelt, a regular car with AWD will do you just fine.
Syke:
Thats a pretty good argument. Most of the posters here won’t acknowledge it though.
I agree about the Ferarri and 911s, but a Miata or S2000 can be very fun off the track just by going on twisty roads, or just enjoying a day with the top down.
I do, however, hate people who get V6 Mustang convertibles with the automatic. They should be getting a Sebring or Eos if that’s what they’re looking for.
This is making me nostalgic for my 1990 Ford Explorer (the same as in the video). It ran for 120,000 miles and was still running well when I sold it for $2,000.
It was better than my two conversion vans: Dodge (fitted out as a crude camper) and Ford (fitted out as a Vista Dome railroad car on rubber wheels). What was I thinking? Or the VW Microbus (dangerous). Or the VW Squareback (burned).
Now maybe I’m ready to get into a new class of well-hated vehicles–Prius.
1. In the US even the most illiterate retards get to drive because anyone can get a license and credit just by fogging a mirror. Even in third world countries there is a natural process of selection that keeps these people in public transportation.
2. Many of them drive without the supposedly mandatory insurance.
3. The cost of medical care is stratospheric and makes even the most expensive to operate vehicle seem like a bargain.
Driving a tank makes a lot of sense.
I don’t honestly get Prius hate. It would be a good little grocery-getter even without the hybrid engine. And that, I’d argue, is why it succeeded where other hybrids, like the original Insight, or even the first-gen Prius, failed. There was no reason to get them outside of the gas mileage. That isn’t true with second-gen and current Prius. It’s a good, boring, competent, grocery getter and errand runner that happens to get hyper-high mileage.
Well, as a general rule sport cars sit considerably lower than SUVs, so their headlights don’t bother me. Invincibility is still a problem.
For me it was both environmental, ideological and a distaste for conformity that I hated these things and cheer their demise.
As a kid in the early 80’s the only SUV’s – though nobody called them that – were Jeep Wagoneers, Land Cruisers, Bronco’s, Blazer’s, Suburbans etc, and it seemed they were owned by men who looked like Grizzly Adams who lived on a mountain top, or hunted a lot. But it was a niche market and they were never intended for the mall.
Then came the Ford Exploder,and the Nissan Mallfinder and with that came:
*The hyper marketing – bigger is better, safer – and under engineered – top heavy,drank fuel, crappy brakes,antiquated suspension, poor cargo room for the size.
* Stupid commercials that constantly played upon the high and mighty ,narcissistic aspect of the market.
*The feeling of invincibility that came over people who drove them. Every winter it became common to see SUV’s upside down in a ditch, something I rarely seen before.People were convinced the rules of winter driving no longer applied.
*Couldn’t see past them at traffic lights or using fog lights in the city, just because they can.
*They just got bigger and bigger and they still couldn’t sell them fast enough.
*But worst of all was the addiction to profit from SUV’s that made cars in the 90’s and 2000’s boring beyond belief ,not to mention killing the station wagon and to a lesser extent the minivan.
It hurt last year when gas went to $1.40 a litre ($5.29 a gallon)when I had to pay $80.00 to fill a 2.0 Audi, but I was comforted in knowing that it just might kill the SUV market or at least knock it down a peg or two.
It’s also why I enjoy watching Ford Explorers, Expedition’s etc being crushed on youtube for CFC.
That to me is the new porn.
I can understand the height argument. Two months ago, I bought a Porsche 924S (yes, I’m a poseur, it hasn’t been to VIR yet, in fact I’ve only used it to commute to work on days when the weather is too lousy to use a motorcycle or scooter), and my first jaw-dropper was pulling into a light on the main drag in Richmond and realizing that my eyes were on the same level as the wheels of the Armada in the lane next to me.
BDB: You got a point there. I find I take the 924S on the back roads when commuting to work, just like my Triumphs or Harley. I am hoping to get a bit of track time in next year, once I’ve got a few of the niggling points fixed.
I guess the real reason for the selective hate is that all those mid-life-crisis idiots in the sports cars are keeping companies alive turning out products that we consider desirable, and would own if we could afford it. Conversely, the SUV drivers are supporting products we’d rather see go away.
If you want to talk hard-ass attitude, I have always believed that automatic transmissions and cup holders should be banned from cars, period.
My mother had no problem driving a manual (her first automatic was the 1951 BelAir dad brought home from that dealership as that year’s family car) and she was as far from a car enthusiast as you can get, so I don’t see why everyone else can’t adjust. If anything, that double ban would force people to actually drive rather than using cars as mobile offices/living spaces.
I don’t understand all the SUV-bashing? Especially those ranting about “the lone Mom/Dad” at the wheel. Yes, SOMETIMES the wife or I are driving by ourself. Other times I’m hauling Mom, Grandma, three kids, and the kids hockey equipment…Should I take two+ vehicles instead? At that point the efficiency gain of a smaller vehicle goes out the window.
BTW…Done the minivan route. Although the sliding doors are great and the ride is nice, they can’t touch the Suburban/Expedition EL for interior space.
While many people claim that the reason they hate SUVs for environmental reasons, I suspect what really pisses off passenger car drivers is simply having tall vehicles block their view of the road. I don’t like not being able to see the road ahead either, but I don’t want any laws passed that would limit my future ability to own a SUV or pickup truck.
I believe that SUVs and now CUVs were successful for two reasons, tall ride height to see over traffic congestion and high per vehicle insurance costs and relatively low fuel costs makes owning one big versatile people and stuff hauling vehicle a relative bargain over owning separate passenger cars and tow/haul trucks.
Steve, you write about bargain SUVs at auction, but how do individuals who buy vehicles infrequently get in on the SUV clearance sale?
I might not like SUV owners (ESPECIALLY the ones that can’t seem to park them), but I’d fight to the death for their right to own them.
I’m a little different from most, i’m fine with people owning large suv’s, they can haul lots of people and tow at the same time, i would never own one because they are hell to drive, like the worst kind of penalty box for a sports car driver. hard to park, hell to drive in tight spaces, the distance it takes to stop one means people are on their brakes all the time 4 miles before the car in front of them and you have to slow down to 10mph to make a turn…they make the toyota camary seem like a fun to drive sports car.
i hate small suv’s with a passion(wrangler excluded), rav4, crv, escape. holding 5 people and can’t tow anything, they all seem pointless JUST GET A HATCHBACK/WAGON and every aspect would be improved.
i dislike suv’s but i love hatchback’s and wagons. groundclearance makes all the difference and less is more.
the only suv’s i’d ever even think about owning would be: a wrangler, samurai or H1, all for offroad and nothing else.
Those auxilery sun visors are AMAZING!!!
Very nice touch, Ford.
I think tigeraid hit the nail on the head: SUVs are the Jack of all trades/Master of none. And that’s why so many people loved them and still do.
My take is Americans are by and large lovers of all things half-assed. I see people all the time just half-assing things left and right; do the 80% that makes the most difference because it only requires 20% of the work and screw the details because that’s “hard (whine).” This lets the “poseur” that makes up at least half the general populace have all things they could need in a single vehicle – weather handling, towing, people moving, comfort, volume…all checked off (80% of the way).
Personally I see the appeal of being able to have a Multi-Purpose Vehicle (when I got my license in Maryland all “SUVs” were registered as an MPV). Few, including myself, can genuinely afford a vehicle for every distinct purpose. But that brings me to the other American trait that drove SUV popularity – inability to be realistic about needs.
Two points to start: I lump pickup trucks in with SUVs, and I’m not against these vehicles being owned by country folk, or people who use them for a purpose (work, towing, etc.). That said, here are the reasons I’ll be glad to see the craze come to an end:
– I live in a major city, and I’ve learned that 4X4 is an alternative spelling for “jerk”. When I’m on foot and I see one coming, I let it go by before crossing the street. Too many people who buy these things are compensating. A rusted-out SUV = +++danger… these aggressive, abusive nut cases zip everywhere, take corners on the fly, and drive in the middle of the street – straight at any vehicle coming the other way.
– My hunch is that SUVs contribute to the cell phone problem. Drivers, especially women, feel protected and insulated to the point where they become complacent about being distracted.
– On narrow side streets, parked or oncoming SUVs often force cars to waltz around each other.
– SUVs reduce sight lines on the highway.
– SUVs elevate the risk of an accident for any vehicle parked beside.
– For a car trying to make a right turn at a stop sign, an SUV alongside to the left (SUV continuing straight ahead or waiting to turn left) can completely remove visibility to the point where the right-turning car is pinned in place until the SUV moves.
- Parked SUVs obstruct sightlines at intersections.
For some reason Explorers, Tahoes, and their like don’t bother me, it’s the Escalades and most of all the Hummers I can’t stand. I don’t understand why people continue to buy large SUV’s. I really thought after the 1-2 punch of post-Katrina gas prices and last summers $4 gas people would have learned. When it comes to the average American some lessons are never learned.
I really wanted a G8 GXP in the worst way and the local dealer located the one I wanted. I couldn’t get passed it’s SUV MPG while using premium fuel. That was the deal breaker for me.
this one really bugs me, a SUV with noticeably underinflated tires (maybe cuz it’s doubly wasteful).
No flaming the site, its authors or fellow commentators. Persistent offenders will be permanently banned.
How about adding flaming people’s home country to that list? Maybe I’m just thin skinned or my sense of patriotism is too big, but the America bashing on this site is getting old/offensive. I don’t go on rants about other people’s countries. Trust me, I could rip on Canada, Europe, and posters that think using British vernacular is cool (it’s not), but I choose not to. Please show the same courtesy, as some of us still take pride in our country.
Wow. Don’t everybody fight over who gets to go to the lynching!
I had my short 4×4 affair with a Scout International CornBinder in 1970. The local wise old bird from the local garage (he’d been plenty wild in his youth and his kids were keeping up scare just fine) pulled me out of a snowed over back road with his 2WD tow truck a loonnngg cable.
Said two things: 1) “Lucky you didn’t get far enough in that cable wouldn’t reach….you’d had to wait for spring.” 2) “People don’t seem to realize it don’t matter how many wheels are spinning if none of them have traction”
I still get a grin on my face and a surge of appreciation when I see a real gork like the old Land Rovers with the head light recessed back in at the radiator or the old post-war real Dodge Power Wagons. Authentic, capable.
I often hear the argument about how people have to own a SUV since they have to haul stuff home from the big box stores. I recently finished my basement. I rented a pickup, made 3 trips to Home Depot and bought all the drywall, studs, nail, flooring, etc. in one day then returned the pickup, filled with gas for less than $200.00. I didn’t have to pay for insurance or make costly monthly car payments, or pay for a lot of gas throughout the year just for the convenience of a day’s hauling. I could rent a truck a month and still be ahead. My daily driver is much more efficient and a lot more fun to drive than a truck. SUVs are status symbols for the weak minded nothing more.
The reason people hate on SUVs is simple: class warfare, and that’s all I’m reading here.
Anything that’s popular with the middle class is a symbol of everything that’s wrong with our wasteful decadent society and we could solve all our problems if only everyone thought exactly like me and my friends. Why SUVs in particular? Most obviously it’s the quasi-religious dogma of Environmentalism, and I strongly suspect the way they are particularly popular with women.
I think for whatever reason minivans and station wagons became uncool, and that drove the demand for SUVs. People have a need for the mobile office / mobile closet for kids. If you look at the Edge/MKX, it shows we have come full circle, because that my friends is simply a stream-lined minivan. It just took 20 years for the car companies to realize that cars like the Toyota MPV were terrible to look at and uninspiring to drive.
I support everyone’s freedom to pick whatever car they would like. However, the truck exception for gas guzzler rules in the US should be ended for one, no reason a sports car getting 15mpg should be treated differently from an Excursion. And there needs to be some sort of SUV parking ghetto enforced, far, far away from the entrance, because watching people conduct a 12 point turn in a Nissan Armada while on the phone is eye-rape.
If you want to kill the SUV market, just make gas $8 a gallon like in France, and dump the tax revenue into something useful, like mass producing Tesla’s to drive the price down to $20k.
I have never understood SUVs. I remember when the Jeep Cherokee started getting popular. Then the Explorer came out, and all hell broke loose in SUVdom.
When the Explorer came out, I owned an 86 Mercury Marquis (Fox body) station wagon. It had every bit of the interior and cargo room of the early 90s Cherokee or Explorer or Blazer. The only difference I could tell other than ride height and 4WD (which most buyers didn’t need) was that the little SUVs were cool and my Foxbody wagon was not.
Then people started calling Suburbans SUVs. Folks, Suburbans were never SUVs. They were big truck-based station wagons, just like the International Travelall that stroked that market first. But I have lost this skirmish, and acknowledge that everyone on this site but me considers a Suburban to be an SUV. I can take it.
When Suburbans became a big hit in the 90s, I owned a Ford Chateau Club Wagon. I never understood Suburbans. Every one I ever saw packed for a family vacation had luggage piled up and covering the entire back window because there wasn’t enough room behind the back seat for cargo. My van was a way better family travel vehicle, but Suburbans were cool and my Club Wagon wasn’t.
Despite all this, I still harbor a quiet envy for an Excursion or an Expedition EL. And if the price were right, I would even consider a Suburban. I don’t really need it. My oldest goes to college next year, then we are down to a family of 4. But I would drive one in a heartbeat. Why? Because I like the following things: Big, V8 power, rear wheel drive, station wagons, and Big. Did I say Big?
I will join in on the general hatred, however, of Escalades and Navigators. If you need (0r want) a big, really expensive, really comfy station wagon, Chevy, GMC or Ford have everything you could want. Unless you are out to impress everyone else and make sure that nobody thinks you may have spend under $45K on the vehicle, then I guess you need an Escalade or a Navigator.
I dislike SUV’s simply because they are a cynical exploitation of a massive CAFE loophole.
And it was CAFE, not the SUV, that killed the station wagon.
I’m gonna put on a big flamesuit for this one, but there IS a case for automatic transmissions, especially the newer six and seven speed ones on certain kinds of vehicles and for people who drive in certain kinds of traffic. I’m sorry, but a stick shift in stop and go SUCKS, you can deny it if you want, but it really sucks. It is a b*tch on my kness and I’m only in my mid-20s! I hate to think what it is like for someone in their 50s with knee problems. I can completely understand someone who lives in the Washington suburbs or L.A. getting an automatic for a daily driver.
Please. You can get an Escape for 18k after rebates, and I love for example Porches even though I’ll probably never own one short of winning the lottery.
It’s the fact that SUVs killed off entire vehicle classes (every single domestic wagon, full size wagons of any make, most hatchbacks, and most minivans) that were better at what they’re used for 99% of the time. It was a triumph of cynical marketing over utility and substance.
The fact that the Suburban killed off the ’90s GM B-bodies is enough alone to give SUVs my undying hate forever.
The other issue with buying SUV’s back in the day was that you were giving $10k+ to the big three.
In 2006 BMW enjoyed about a 6% profit margin. So, on a $45k 5-series wagon BMW makes about $2,700. On a 30k Explorer or Cherokee or Tahoe they were making $10k.
When you bought a 5-series you were getting a car that cost $42,300 to “make”. With a 30k Explorer you were getting a car that cost 20k to make.
@jpcavanaugh You like a big RWD V8 powered station wagons? What you want is a 94-96 Buick Roadmaster wagon. It’s a land yact powered by the LT1, same engine as in the Corvette from those years =) AND you still get 26 mpg highway.
I don’t hate people for what they drive because what people do with their money and time is their own business. If someone drives a 911 cause it makes them feel young, so what? If someone drives a Tahoe because they thing Mini-vans are ugly, again, why should that bother me? Life is short and sometimes pleasure is hard to come by. If it floats your boat, do it.
If anything annoys me it’s driving habits. I’ve been tailgated by reckless Civics and passed SUVs doing 55 in the right lane. The driver makes a big difference. If they drive with a modicum of courtesy everything is cool.
Lots of haters on this site, wow…
Yeah, and who on here seriously proposed banning people from driving SUVs? A lot of people just plain don’t like them, and we can have an opinion, thanks. Just like we can discuss whether the new Buick Regal looks good or not without infringing on the right of people to buy them.
’m sorry, but a stick shift in stop and go SUCKS, you can deny it if you want, but it really sucks. It is a b*tch on my kness and I’m only in my mid-20s!
I’ve only ever had manual transmission cars and when I used to commute down 128 in the Boston area I never had a problem with it. I actually prefer it, as in most traffic you can, if you keep it in first gear, drive with just the gas and use engine braking rather than the brake to slow the car.
I travel for work and obviously my rentals are automatics. I’ve done the bumper to bumper thing in Miami, Atlanta, LA, SF and I can honestly say, I think a manual is easier in traffic than an automatic.
jmo I guess it’s a matter of taste then. I’ve done freeway trips where I have to through northern Virginia (only second to Los Angeles in the entire country as far as traffic goes) with a manual and I preferred an auto. In stop-and-go a manual becomes mechanical, boring, and irritating. It’s better for open road driving and twisties, though.
A manual DOES keep one better focused on actually driving than an automatic under any circumstances though, I’ll say that. I’ve never seen anyone yammering away on a cell phone that drives a manual!
In my experience, there are 3 main kinds of SUV drivers:
1. The “safety nut” who buys a giant vehicle to feel “safe” instead of learning how to drive.
2. Bling — someone who wants to get in your face to tell you how “successful” they are.
3. People who need to haul passengers and tow large loads at the same time.
Note that driving off-road didn’t make the list.
But, the real issue is that there are enough SUV drivers who drive their giant 8000lb vehicles aggressively as if they’re small cars or even motorcycles, which puts me at risk. And, no, I won’t join the arms race — I’m too practical to buy a big ugly expensive vehicle that doesn’t suit my needs. I mean, if a driver can’t figure out that they should drive an 8000lb truck as if it were an 8000lb truck, they deserve some backlash.
Also, I don’t like waste — particularly waste of a finite resource like oil. But I’ll save that tirade for http://www.treehugger.com/... :-)
I like them now because everyone hates them…. Now parts are as plentiful as whores for hire at a political fundraiser.
+1.
If you turn your own wrenches for repairs, the total cost of SUV ownership has cratered. Especially 4X2 models – for a few $K you have a truck like vehicle that should go 150K more miles.
Of course, SUVs are trucks. They should be driven accordingly.
jmo I guess it’s a matter of taste then.
I think it might also depend on the type of car. What car were you driving through NOVA with a manual?
I don’t know about other SUVs, but I had a 2000 Explorer with a limited slip differential and I thought it handled pretty well for a vehicle with a high center of gravity. The one time I had to make an emergency maneuver, the Explorer made the swerve without a wiggle. I’d expect the late model Explorers with independent rear suspension to handle even better than mine.
I say drive what you want. So what if most Porsche, BMW and M-B owners never driver their cars anywhere near what the cars were designed for?
What annoys me more than poseurs behind the wheel are people that assume that driving this or that car is compensation for a small penis or some other perceived inadequacy.
LOL look at that lady’s mom pants.