Is there any vehicle more conspicuously stupid than an SUV?
SUV’s (and “crossovers”) are big, heavy, and inefficient. They handle terribly, don’t stop very well, and are markedly less comfortable than cars of comparable price and features. They require more and costlier maintenance, are more complex, and will ultimately cost much more in repairs and upkeep than a comparable sedan over the life of the vehicle. (Think tires, brakes, ball joints, wheel bearings, transfer cases, etc).
Most of the justifications for buying an SUV are preposterous. If there is a snowstorm that is so bad that a FWD car or RWD car with traction control and four good snow-tires canÂ’t handle, then YOU SHOULDNÂ’T BE OUT DRIVING AROUND IN IT. And the likelihood that such a storm will arise under conditions where you SIMPLY MUST drive around is approximately zero. The schools are closed, and/or you can work from home or call in sick. Police and Fire excepted.
Regardless of how much money you are budgeting for a new vehicle, THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A CAR THAT IS BETTER FOR THE SAME MONEY AS THE SUV YOU ARE CONSIDERING. It’s not for nothing that the Car Manufacturers are constantly pushing trucks and SUV’s – their profit margins are substantially higher on the trucks and SUV’s.
One of the worst features of SUV’s is the one that cause many women to favor them: You can see over the roofs of cars. But the fact that you can see over the roofs of cars means that YOU ARE BLOCKING THE VIEW OF CAR DRIVERS – for no reason other than your own self indulgence. How many parking lot accidents are caused by the fact that the driver of an AUTOMOBILE is completely blind to what’s coming because there are so many stinkin’ SUV’s blocking her view?
The car manufacturers have made great strides in recent years to reduce the 4WD penalty in fuel economy, but nothing they do can compensate for the fact that if you drive a 4WD/AWD vehicle you are carrying around 3-400 pounds of mechanical apparatus that you don’t need. Think of it as having Rush Limbaugh and Rosie O’Donnel in your back seat all the time. It affects not only fuel economy but tire and brake wear, and the load that is placed on the suspension, transmission, and engine – for the life of the car.
OK, if you live in an area that has a combination of a LOT OF snow for much of the year, and a lot of hills to negotiate, then maybe 4WD can be justified, and if the snowplows donÂ’t know where your street is and you actually have to drive around in foot-deep snow for much of the year, then maybe an SUV can be justified, but for the rest of us, it is a stupid indulgence.
When I was growing up, most families got around with little trouble with rear-wheel drive ChevyÂ’s and FordÂ’s that didnÂ’t even have posi-traction. Amazing, isnÂ’t it?
). Clearly there is A market for pickup trucks and always has been; clearly they have always served a need. What we're talking about here is degree; the market for such vehicles has exploded in recent years, and it's equally clearly not because the public suddenly started needing to move more stuff; a significant portion of that increase is the same reason for this shift from normal cars to SUVs: because the advertiser told them to.
It's all good.
