Big Cars are killing Americans

[MossRoad]

Well, a big one killed me on any consideration of getting a GM Truck again. Bought a used low miles, 1996 G30 van, with the 454 engine and throttle body injection. I spent 9,500 dollars on a piece of crap that only lasted 5 years, and then fell apart rather spectacularly in every way imaginable. Ended up just selling it off as scrap: A total loss for me. It is anecdotal, and i understand that, but this van was a piece of crap for me, and a huge mistake to have bought it. Everything failed. Nothing was easy to fix. And for some reason, the tow package, a major selling point, turns out that the rear differential was not limited slip. How does on sell a tow package with out knowing the differential is limited slip? Well, they did and sold it that way. And I just assumed it was there. I couldn't conceive that it wasn't there in a tow package.

Bummer.

To counter that, 14 years ago I purchased a 1993 Suburban for $6000. I put $1000 into it over the years. $7000 total investment. The left front lower control arm rusted out and fell apart. They do not make that part anymore. Junkyard parts have a bazzilion miles on them, and the body is finally rotting off, so last week I sold the Suburban to the scrapper for $400.

$7000 - $400 = $6600 total investment for 14 years = $471.42 per year. That's less than some peoples' monthly payments.

It was probably the most economical and dependable vehicle I ever owned.

Last May I picked up a 2003 Suburban for $8K. We'll see how that one goes.

 

[Hay Dude]

I believe the Suburban/Tahoe vehicles may be some of the most versatile, useful vehicles ever built. Still miss my Tahoe and would like to own another.
Outstanding comfort and ride quality for bigger guys. Quiet inside, roomy, safe and versatile for lots of tasks. Lots of family and cargo room. Tough like a truck and cushy like a luxury car.

 

[MossRoad]

I believe the Suburban/Tahoe vehicles may be some of the most versatile, useful vehicles ever built. Still miss my Tahoe and would like to own another.
Outstanding comfort and ride quality for bigger guys. Quiet inside, roomy, safe and versatile for lots of tasks. Lots of family and cargo room. Tough like a truck and cushy like a luxury car.

That describes my 2003 very well. My '93? Not so much.

To be fair, it was originally purchased by a local fire department as an emergency vehicle. It had very few factory options. Didn't even have mounts for a rear seat ( I added those later, no easy task ). I think the only options it had were carpet and a locking rear differential.

The 2003 has all the factory options except CD changer, just single CD player. It is so quiet compared to our '93, and even our Impala. Really comfortable. However, it gets worse mileage than our '93. Probably because it's heavier, even though both are K1500's.

The little 5.3 is pretty impressive compared to the 5.7 in the '93. It will cruise at 90mph very well. Found that out in Oklahoma in an 80mph zone. Kinda scary. The '93 was good to about 70.

Overall, the Suburban with a 7000# car hauler trailer is the best choice for our needs. I have removable low sides for the trailer, it has a 5500# load capacity, and that's plenty for my little 1500# tractor and attachments, or anything else we need to haul, like firewood and mulch. When our kids move (and they do frequently) we rent U-Haul enclosed trailers for $45 a day. Works great.

 

[Hay Dude]

Yeah I mean the newer ones

 

[MossRoad]

Yeah I mean the newer ones

Yeah, I know. I was just very happy with the differences a 10 year newer model had.

I told the wife that if we plan properly, in about 10 years we can upgrade to a 2013.

 

[kenb1023]

Yeah, I know. I was just very happy with the differences a 10 year newer model had.

I told the wife that if we plan properly, in about 10 years we can upgrade to a 2013.

View attachment 727958

That's the way I look at RVs

 

[crashz]

I didn't read all 29 pages. Sorry.

Point One: That title is just so irksome. Big Cars Killing Americans. Yep - its the cars fault. Not at all the irresponsible and imbecilic behavior of the people. No, all the cars fault.

Point Two: Do you see a lot of pedestrians? I live in the highly populated Northeast. Nobody is walking around here. People jump in the car to go to the other side of a mall (back when malls were popular).

The only way a "big" car could be remotely responsible for the death of Americans is if you account for the giant Americans being able to wedge their enormous bodies into bigger vehicles. This allows us to to get to fast food and eat so much more conveniently. That's it, I'm gonna sue GM cause I'm a fatty! Its their fault (I'm being sarcastic, see point one)!!!

 

[Dftodd]

The article was just Newton’s law applied to vehicles. a bigger vehicle does more damage if you walk in front of it. Surprise surprise surprise. If you walk in front of any moving vehicle it will hurt. Blaming vehicles for people’s stupidity.
It was really a bad article, hosted on a site promoting ****.

That would explain why it was moderated out That takes tractor **** to a whole new level

 

[Dftodd]

I would like to understand what drove the change to the larger vehicles especially the height. I know the requirement for child seats caused a need for a very accessible back seat but the height to me is just stupid. You can't reach over the side of the bed and reach the center of the bed so you need to climb up in the bed much more which is not a safe option - how many times have you slipped getting in and or out of the bed of a truck? If you need to tie something down it is much more difficult to do so. This is not mentioning that load height is much higher and entry height used to be almost a straight slide in whereas now you need to climb up into them. As somebody else mentioned - the axles are still the same height - they do not go through any more but their ride center is higher making them easier to roll. The front ends are bigger and not as sloped causing more blind spot in front of the vehicle. Rear cameras are a virtual requirement because you cannot see anything backing up.

I have an 05 Silverado 2wd and I pulled up next to a new one the other day and the bed height was at least six inches higher. When other newere truck owners get in mine they often comment on how much smoother it rides than theirs. Please tell me - what is the advantage of the new designs other than added features?

My 2016 Sierra 1500 crew cab 4x4 is the smoothest and most comfortable riding trucks I've ever owned.

Truck is stock, with the low profile suspension so it only sits and inch or so higher then the 2wd models.

My last Sierra 4x4 had the low profile suspension in it as well.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

Nah, that's not a big truck... This is a big truck...