Compact car question.

[rabies1]

I am sick of going to any mall/grocery store parking lot and seeing these huge SUVs parked all around me. I thought the issue of global warming was making a real impact on people.
I have questions based on the reasons some people own an SUV.

In Europe they've been driving tiny cars for years.
Do they have very small families?
Do any of them own a large dog?

My ex husband owns an SUV and he has neither.
He doesn't carry or transport anything.
Why then? Help me figure this out.

Forgive my asking, I drive a hybrid.

[Warpy]

1. Penis extender and self defense

The first is self explanatory. The second arises because so many people are driving those hogs that it becomes dangerous to get involved in any accident if you're not in one, yourself.

I'll live dangerously, thanks. Mine is a Korean econobox with plenty of room for people or groceries or luggage or even the occasional small piece of furniture.

[NMDemDist2]

2. i had a business where i had to move products in a climate controlled space in PHX

I kept it cuz I can't afford to replace it (yet)

but it gets less than 50 miles a week on it and I have an older 6 cyc I drive mostly

[kestrel91316]

3. Is his male member perhaps length-impaired?

[doc03]

4. I have always preferred driving a smaller car even when gas

was cheap. I just bought a scooter 3 weeks ago and have put 1000 miles on it already at 65 MPG The only time I have drove my car since I got the scooter is when it is raining. It's the same thing with 2 wheelers, scooters are very popular in the rest of the world but in the US we have to have a huge motorcycle. This is one strange country, the guy that is a Banker during the week come Saturday he dresses-up like a bad ass biker and rides his Harley Davidson to the local bar with a bunch of other wannabees. Look at the Classifieds most Harleys have less than 1000 miles per year on them.

[CRF450]

13. Most motorcycle much larger than a scooter can get close to 60mpg

My dad has a Vulcan 750 and he gets close to it. High performance sports can also pretty high mpg while being a scary fast machine!

[doc03]

14. You don't get my point, I would agree a 750 CC

motorcycle is probably fairly economical. I was making the comparison in the USA where the herd has to have the big SUV rather than a compact car. It's the same with the motorcycle in the USA the big motorcycle is a status symbol. It doesn't apply to everybody but there are many bikers that get more out of the dress-up role playing than actually riding them.

[CRF450]

15. The leather is not just for looks.

What kind of outfit would you rather be in if you take a fall on a bike? From my brother's experience, road rash sucks!

I dont care much about SUV's but you gotta stop and think for a moment. For that brief few minutes or less you see an SUV or truck cruising along with only one driver, do you know if that driver is gonna pick up alot of people? Carrying some stuff that you cant see to a construction site? Going to pick up a trailer? You never know...

[doc03]

17. Oh come on, families are smaller today yet we

Americans have bigger and bigger vehicles, the average home size has doubled in the last 50 years. Did you ever notice all the self storage buildings that have sprung up over the last few years. People have so much "stuff" even though the average home has doubled in size we have to rent extra storage space to keep it in. I see people all the time with Heavy Duty pickups with diesel engines and 4 wheel drive that never get off a city street and never haul anything larger than a grocery order. The local school Superintendent lives up the road and has not one but two Hummers I have never seen even a spot of mud on either one. OK the leathers the bikers wear are for safety I get that but why no helmet? I now it is a statement of their "Freedom". What I am getting at is America is a greedy, selfish and materialistic society for the most part.

[CRF450]

19. Some states dont have laws requiring you to wear a helmet

Which is REALLY stupid but if they wanna end their lives that much easier, they can go right ahead. Expression of freedom right? LOL!

[happyslug]

5. A few years ago I ran across an article about people who drove SUVs or Mini-vans

The key was BOTH groups of buyers used the Same word, but it meant DIFFERENT THINGS FOR EACH GROUP. The SUV drivers view it was a need to show the world they could take care of themselves and their families, while the Min-van Drivers took it to mean how could they help other people in their Communities. Mini-van drivers thought NOTHING of hauling their children and their children teammates to little league (Given as an Example) while SUV drivers did so, but it was NOT the primary reason to buy the SUV and they went out of they way to AVOID doing so (While Mini-van Drivers went out of they way to provide such transportation).

The worse part of the Article was people who drive Pickups. They tend to think more like mini-van drivers then SUV drivers. People who buy Pickups tend to look a what they can do with the Pickup (i.e. hauling) and think nothing of loaning it to friends for hauling (People, furniture, other goods).

Thus the real issue is how does he view himself in the community? If he is a joiner and what to help the community he buys a Minivan (or a Pickup) while if one's concern is one's STATUS in the Community you buy a SUV (In the 1960s and 1970s the same people bought Sports-car, but that is another story).

As to the article I can NOT find it right now, but it was a report to an Auto company about how to use certain key words in ads to hit BOTh Groups, but to realize while both heard the same word it meant two different things to each group. Empowerment sounds rights, as to the actual word being used, but it has been years so I may be wrong as to the actual word, but the thing that caught may attention is that auto makers realized the word MEANT TWO DIFFERENT THINGS to each group.

Now over the last few years the mini-van is presumed to be dieing, but all that is occurring is it is changing. In the 1980s the Station Wagon was replaced by the Mini-van, for the mini-van did what the station Wagon could do in overall better design. Now the movement is to the "Cross-Over Van" which is smaller version of the Mini-van (Do to the higher price of Gasoline). Thus while the Mini-van may be gone is a few years, it will be replaced by the "Cross Over Van" Which will do the same thing (and appeal to the same buyers).

[razzleberry]

6. some people want 'school-bus-like-seating'

for a variety of reasons ...
overweight
bad back
old

.
those people that don't mind being called
nerds, buy a mini-van.

people who are nerd-sensitive, buy a SUV.

[rabies1]

7. Heh. Heh. Then, here's another question...

Do people in Europe have bad backs?
Are a couple of them old or overweight?
See what I mean?
I'm telling you I can't understand why anyone would want to buy a huge vehicle that costs a fortune at the pumps.

Do they not care about the environment?
Do they not know about it?

I don't understand it at all.

[razzleberry]

9. another factor could be the size of a parking space .n.t..

[emmadoggy]

8. Well, it's a lot of the reasons already mentioned here, but also

around here, it's all about the four-wheel drive so everyone buys SUV's and pickups. Plus, I think a lot of people want to know that they HAVE cargo capacity or hauling ability regardless of whether or not they ever actually use it (or use it only once in a blue moon).

With our winters, I'll admit that having the security of 4-wheel drive would OCCASIONALLY be nice (though there are many options there that AREN'T necessarily huge SUV's, and I figure if it's that nasty out, I shouldn't be on the roads anyway), but other than that, I don't get the whole SUV craze either. Not at all.

Like someone above said, I don't care about the nerd-factor so we drive a mini-van. It's no hybrid, but it does pretty well compared to a lot of other vehicles (mileage-wise). A lot of people with 2 or 3 young kids (or more) and who have serious nerd-factor issues, have to have an SUV to have space for all the carseats (and space for groceries etc.). Of course, a mini-van serves this purpose just fine but it's that dreaded nerd-factor. I don't understand the whole mini-van/nerd thing either.

Of course, not all SUV's are created equal. My sister drives a small Hyundai SUV (can't think of the model name). It's a stick and she gets pretty decent mileage (by today's standards) and also has the benefit of the higher clearance and 4-wheel drive when she needs it. Then there's my other sister who has a minivan (good) and a Chevy Suburban - a behemoth of a bus which gets HORRIBLE mileage! She has three young children in carseats. My brother has two cars - a "drive to work car" which is a tiny Ford Festiva stick which gets 40 mpg - and his "regular" car which is a Jeep Cherokee - yep, an SUV. The catch is, that he drives the Cherokee to work in the winter because of the 4-wheel drive. And he drives about 50 miles one way to work, and Iowa winters are very loooong.

On my husband's side of the family, there are so many Jeep Cherokee's and other SUV's I can't even count them all. He has 10 nieces and nephews and I think almost every one of them drives an SUV and only two of them have kids and most of them are single!

I don't know when these people are going to wake up, especially if $3.00 gas hasn't punched them in the gut yet - but it's gotta be soon. I can only hope.

[rabies1]

11. Why for instance wouldn't they get something like a Tercel?

I'm hearing the safety argument - Though besides Volvo's I think there are other safe cars.
I'm hearing 4 wheel drive for the weather - How long is winter? Not all of us live in Alaska.
I'm hearing the off road possibilities - How many owners regularly trek to the wilderness?
I'm hearing the couple of kids argument - Why wont a 4 door sedan wont do (besides isn't the Prius hybrid a 4 door)?
I don't know, there's so many of these things out there and there seems to be no reason for them. Never mind owning a Hummer.
The only Good reason I've heard of yet is if the owners haul stuff for a living & need it to move things constantly.

[emmadoggy]

16. I hear ya.

A couple caveats though. And I'm not trying to defend the SUV position, because again, in most cases a minivan or crossover type vehicle can handle these issues, but..

How long is winter? Well, in the upper midwest, winter (and therefore bad driving conditions) can stretch from November through March with some bad weather possible in October and April. Soooo, a pretty good chunk of the year. Are driving conditions ALWAYS bad during that time? Absolutely not, but if you live in a rural area and drive 10-20 miles to work and the weather gets bad during the day while you are at work and you have to navigate home in it, the 4-wheel drive can come in handy and provide a little extra safety and peace of mind. (Although my husband and I have never owned a 4-wheel drive vehicle and have managed just fine, there have been many times when it would have been helpful for us and would have made me feel a whole lot more secure waiting for my husband to make it home in the dark during a snowstorm.)

Why won't a 4 door sedan suffice with a couple of kids? It can, but as soon as you cross over into three or more kids you're in a pickle. You need an extra row of seats. Not very many sedans can comfortably fit three carseats across the back seat (or even two in carseats and one not) and getting the kids in and out can be a real pain. This is the problem for people like my sister - she has three kids. At the time her third was born they were ages 4,3 and newborn, so all three in carseats for quite a while yet. Now does that justify a huge SUV (in my sister's case, a Suburban)? I don't think so - as I've said, there are other options. I'm just saying these are some of the reasons people buy these things. (Of course, this can then segue right into the whole overpopulation debate as well.)

I agree though that many, many people who own these things have no real NEED for them. They just LIKE them - like the look, the style, the status, the POTENTIAL usefulness (even if they rarely utilize it) etc.

:shrug:

[skids]

10. Look on the bright side...

...In the morning or afternoon, you can park in their shade. :-)

[CRF450]

12. Ask all the truck/SUV drivers that here at the Outerbanks NC (the beach)

You'll see more of them then cars and they are carrying many passengers and luggage for the folks coming out here for vacation. As for me, I drive an 01 Trans Am and a 01 Dodge Dakota. The T/A actually gets much better fuel milage than the truck so most of the time I drive that instead when I'm not working. I use the truck for work which is cleaning pools/spas. A mini van can get the job done too while getting better mpg but its not a good idea to have pool chemicals in a inclosed vehicle.

30 or 40% of the time off work I take the truck when hanging out with friends and doing other stuff to keep the miles off the T/A. A high mpg car would be nice to have for good fuel milage but they just dont appeal to me. I'm actually thinking about getting a G35 coupe for daily driving during the winter while I have the T/A garaged, it'll remain the fun car for good days.

[FogerRox]

18. I think Warpy has got it. Helped by modern ad campaigns and the herd mentality

Plus how many large Pu or SUV drivers bought their vehicle with peak oil or climate change in the minds..... I doubt those people are cognizant of these issues.


A year ago I bought a 10 yr old Dodge mini van, up to 30mpg on the hiway. Real good for carting campaign volunteers around. In 2004 I spent the month of Oct in FL working for Kerry/Edwards. I was given a dodge minivan, it was excellent. Since I bought my minivan I have worked in a congressional & school board race, might get a job in a state senate campaign, so for me its a pretty good choice. Othewrwise I would have gone for a hi mpg 4 cyl car.