Do you own a SUV?

[ejtaylor822]

We have two SUVs; Ford Explorer and Expedition. Both with 4/all-wd (a must have after being stuck for hours in snow once), towing package and V-8’s. Before we got the Explorer I dreamed on owning an SUV. As a semi-pro musician it’s rough hauling an upright bass and/or cabinets and amps in a Ford Thunderbird or Nissan Altima. I use to love watching people’s faces as I would maneuver the upright bass into the little Altima and drive off.

Before my daughter was born we wanted to replace the Altima as it had high miles and the Explorer was getting up their on mileage as well. We decided to get something that would be comfortable to travel in, safe, 4-wheel drive, towing capacity, carry lots of people in, and would be easy for my wife to get the baby in and out of. We looked around last summer (2004) and found a great deal on a Ford Expedition.

The first time we took our little girl to the doctor, in the Expedition, I came out of the Dr’s office and there was a “citation” on my windshield. I was sleep deprived but I was pretty sure I was not parked in a handicapped space or in front of a fire hydrant. I picked up the “citation” and discovered I was “cited” for driving an eco-unfriendly, gas-guzzling, smog producing, unnecessarily large, environment-killing vehicle that was more for status than usefulness and should look at other earth friendly more practical forms of transportation.

Okay, first of all you do not tell a red-blooded American male what car to drive. Second, it’s no one else’s business what I or anyone else chose to drive to provide and protect for our family, and third, you never, never, never do something like this to a new dad who has had no sleep with a one-week old baby and a wife going through post-partum depression. I am very easy going and it takes a lot, a whole lot to get me mad. I was instantly livid and ready to cause bodily harm!!!!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

I was parked a few spaces down from an “all organic natural vitamin and coffee shop” and could see a couple of hippies from the university in there watching me. With the citation in my hand I stomped down there, threw open the door and shouted to the entire store, demanding to know who put this $#!+ on my car. I do not know if it was my 6’-3” 300 lb frame, the frazzled-desperate-deranged new Dad look of blood-shot eyes from lack of sleep, or the reality of knowing psychos are walking the streets, but the entire place went silent and no one moved.

I then asked if anyone saw anybody put this on my car. A couple of heads turned towards the hippies in front of the window that were watching me earlier but they did not move. I looked right at them and stated that “if I ever see anyone putting anything like this on my car I will crack someone’s skull! Try me if you think I’m kidding!” About this time I saw my wife and little girl going by and started to realize what an @$$ I was being – fortunately I did not recognize anyone from church /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif. I wadded up the citation and threw it in the trash. But, I was still angry. I got this vehicle for my family. For protection and comfort and it is no one else’s business to tell me what is best for MY girls!

My point to all of this is that, yes, I will agree some people do by SUVs for status – whatever that might be. However, I believe you will find that most people have a good reason for owning SUVs, or, any car for that matter. As far as gas, we work around this. The Explorer gets about 16 (town) to 20 (highway) MPG and I drive it every day. The Expedition gets anywhere from 14 to almost 18 MPG as we mostly use it for trips. The Expedition will sometimes sit in the garage for over a week.

Here’s what I find funny. The granola’s and tree hugger’s complain about the SUVs. Yet when I see them in their car, driving by themselves and usually hauling a bicycle more expensive than the car (thought the purpose of the bike was ride and not haul around on top of a car to take somewhere to ride) the car is usually burning oil and when stopped in traffic they have to keep the RPM’s revved so the car wont die. Now I ask you. What is causing more harm to the environment: An SUV or a car leaking and burning oil?

 

[gsxr1100]

I agree; however, I know many family members (mine) that "think they need SUV's when they do not. My sister has 2 of them. She says she needs one for he kid. Really? I can do the same thing in my car. I can go on and on about it, but at least she does not whine about gas prices. She can afford it.

I do not know how people survived before them, amazing.

But...

Boy, try that in Springfield MA throwing open a door and yelling at people…..you will be “six feet down” pretty quick here. You would take it and drive away. Not joking either, unless you have spinners.

I work with avid bike riders and they haul their $5K to $7,000 bikes to there “play ground” and drive pretty nice BMW’s & SUV’s …So I do not know where the “bicycle more expensive than the car” came from…..

But anger management does help you know…..
/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[jim_wilson]

I can remember 23 or so years ago when I first started driving pretty much was driving big old American made cars that weight in the vicinity of 3500-4500 pounds depending on whether you were driving midsize or full size. I got up to 18 miles per gallon on a good day in my 75 Chevelle with a 2 barrell 350ci. Then came the mid 80's when the gas prices went up and the car sizes shrunk - Japanese cars, Chevettes, Ford Escorts, etc. were pretty popular. Pickup trucks, vans, Suburbans and like were driven by contractors, delivery companies and people with large families. And everybody who was driving small cars got along just fine - I don't remember the whole world coming to a halt because your only car was a Ford Escort and you weren't driving a Ford Excursion as your commuting vehicle. My significant other grew up in a family with 8 kids - they had one car and it wasn't an Excursion - it was some sort of station wagon. And they got along just fine.

I have been driving small cars for going on 20 years now - started with a Datsun GX310, bought a Honda CRX, and now am driving a Honda Civic. The Datsun had 120,000 plus miles on it when I got rid of it - the CRX had 165,000+ and the Civic now is up in the 167,000 range and still going. I also ride a motorcycle on occasion. I mention this because driving a small car my life on the road has gotten harder because of the preponderance of large pickups and SUV's on the road now. I can't see in traffic any more - in my opinion people in SUV's do not pay as much attention as they should, they suck up parking spaces and block entrances, etc. And going back to my mention of the 80's - I believe in many cases they are unneccessary. People drive them because they think bigger is safer (even though they roll over more easily than a car) and because gas is cheap. What I particulary love is the people who buy the Chevy Avalanches and the Ford Explorer Sport Traks and then pull a trailer behind them when they need to carry stuff because the abbreviated bed is too small to carry anything. In short I believe that for probably about 75% of the people who drive them,pickups and SUV's are a waste and just about status and showing off on the road. If you want people to move out of your way on the road buy a 1972 Chevy Nova with dents in every body panel and watch the intersections magically open up for you.

I think this country has finally come to truth time - we have spent something like $500 billion dollars on the Iraq war (if the news I read is correct) we consume the lions share of energy on the planet, and our economy and future are way too tied up in petroleum. We can't afford to bulk up the levees in New Orleans but we can spend billions to wage a war that is arguable at best as to whether it is benefitting our future or not. This country used to be about innovation, advancement, and protecting it's citizens. Now it is about who has the most influence in goverment and who can throw the most money around. And we the citizens sit around and stamp our feet because filling up the 3 ton truck we drive down the highway to work every day is getting too expensive.
In my opinion the entirety of our political process and the civic culture that used to help us advance our technology and push for logical solutions to problems has just become another roadblock in the way of real solutions. I remember Al Gore a few years back saying he wanted everybody driving electric cars by the year 2000. That is just an insane comment. There are the people who live in the middle of the city and can't understand why everybody can't just use public transportation and think SUV's are just insane (RE: aforementioned hippies). I think there are few ex New Orleans residents who might have some comments to make about the efficiency of public transportation. Legislating the type of vehicle a person can drive will never work. We need alternative energy sources and we need some sort of economic incentive to go with more efficient vehicles. Cars by and large have become an appliance - you get in - turn the key, fill it up at the gas station occasionally and it just works. Individual vehicles actually make for a pretty efficient transportation system. For anybody who knows computer networking the layout of the internet is a good analogy to our highway system - any one packet (vehicle) has multiple ways to get to it's destination. Any transportation solution that does not take these factors into account will fail. There is ethanol from corn, or sugar, biodiesel, solar power, wind power, nuclear, wave power, geothermal, etc. All of these are viable solutions to our energy problems yet we continue to push oil. I truly believe this issue needs to be forced one way or the other - or the very future of our country may be in jeopardy. We are dependent on outsiders for our energy, we send our jobs overseas, we are spending our tax dollars on foreign war(s) of dubious value and acting as the worlds policeman. And yet American farmers are going under and middle class living standard (allegedly) continue to decline. This all has to end somewhere and fear the outcome won't be pretty.

Oh yeah - just for record, I am not "anti-SUV" , I hope next spring to buy a Chevy Suburban or GMC Yukon XL. Which will be used for hauling the tractor, runs to the building supply store, and loading up people when we have a large group. Other than that I will drive the Civic commuting to work or ride the motorcycle. I am anti "illogical vehicle choice" which is what I believe a large portion of our driving public is doing when they buy large vehicles for driving back and forth to work every day.

<end of rant>

 

[HGM]

I'll try to keep from going off on a rant.

While I agree with alot of points mentioned in these posts, I totally disagree with the SUV as a status symbol immage.

Here's my point. The SUV came from the station wagon of old. It was the ultimate family car because it had plenty of room for the family and groceries,luggage,etc.

The mini van took over, it was practical and roomy, as well as better fuel economy in most cases, though wanst really made to tow a trailer since they were unibody designs and most had front wheel drive.

Along came the SUV, small ones, large ones, in-between ones. They were based on a pick-up truck chassis wich helped for the strength to tow a trailer. The SUV allows for better vision, higher seating possition for comfort and entry/exit, plenty of room for whatever, 4x4 option for the person that may need it on the farm, boat ramp, off road, in the snow. Its easy to see how the "big city" type might not see the practicality, though to someone on the outskirts that happens to travel or visit the outdooors, you cant put a price on the convinience.

The newer ones are aimed at better ride and stability due to a lower center of gravity and independant suspension. Some of the safest vehicles on the road today are SUVs (wont see that on the news) /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif.

I'll speek of Ford since thats what I'm most familliar with. The last generation Explorers, Mountaineers, Expeditions, and Navigators have Roll Stability Control(RSC). This is an electronic ABS system that can anticipate body roll and yaw and pulse the appropriate brake to assist in stabilization. They also have "Fly by wire" throttleing that takes the nut behind the wheel out of the picture durring these instances to de-torque the engine/drivetrain for safty purposes. I have driven a Navigator on the streets of Dearborn in the dead of winter with at least 8" of snow on the ground and can tell you that your driving habits can remain the same as they would be on a clear dry summers day. The truck will keep you safe.

With that said, I dont meen to incinuate that you dont need to be responsible for your own actions, just that in this country we have made it a point to protect the ignorant.

To me the "status symbol" types are all driving the HEV's and sub compact cars. Some of them are hipocrates because of the reasons mentioned earlier regarding the little oil burning import with the $5000 bicycle strapped to the back.

As Americans, we love the fact that we can live our lives as practically as we want. If that means that I want to drive an old school bus to work, I can. I wish we would stop being the nation of whiners looking to point fingers with one hand while looking for a handout with the other and go back to resemble the proud people that founded this country.

OK, so it didnt work... I didnt get as political as I thougt I would though.... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[RobertN]

How did people survive before SUV's?

Watch "The 70's Show" sometime. It's called a Ford Country Squire station wagon. Seating for 9 if you use the flip up seats in the back. 400ci or 460ci engines, C6 autos. And, they got equal mileage or better than most new SUV's at least the larger ones. GM and Chrysler made thier versions too.

Some just used big cars. When I was a kid, we had a Plymouth Fury-3. It seated six comfortably, and the trunk easily held suitcases ect for a trip. On the open road, we could pull 25mpg from the 360ci/auto combo in it. Granted, that was driving very mellow on open highway, keeping it between the speed limit and 5mph over.

What would be interesting is to hear from some of our International TBN'ers to see how thier families handle larger families, and/or guests and friends .

 

[Dargo]

Vista Cruiser baby, Vista Cruiser!

Man, did I ever hate sitting in the rear seat backwards with my little sister!! /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[Cityboyfarmer]

It's not just our economy that runs on fuel. Everything on the entire planet requires some type of fuel for survival when it comes down to it. Food is fuel. The whole food chain concept is all about acquiring fuel to keep on keeping on. As far as SUV’s are concerned, the free market will work itself out; that is unless the government gets too involved in it. The government will surely screw it up with too many mandates. It used to be thought that it took millions of years of rotting dinosaur carcasses to create crude oil, but I read somewhere (don’t remember where) that it is now believed that is not the case, that it takes a lot less time than originally thought. I hope that’s true. Who really knows how much oil is actually out there in the Earth’s crust?

In the mean time, let’s drill in Alaska, off the coast and build more refineries. Might as well pump it out of the ground and use it till its gone, then the free market will figure out how to propel vehicles with water, urine or maybe even dead cats. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[RobertN]

And they could run too!
Hurst Vista Cruiser
1969 Vista Cruiser
Big Block Fury 440
small block Country Squire
Sport Fury

 

[RobertN]

I'm sorry. Honestly. I left out the 12 second Fairmont. Load the family, we're going bracket racing /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
12 second Fairmont Station wagon(pre SUV)

 

[Egon]

No, I do not own a SUV.

Egon /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif