OT: SUV bashing was --->Re: Carfax Anyone???

[nealtovsen@yahoo.com (Neal Tovsen)]

> I feel %100 safer in my SUV then I ever do in my
> Scirocco, or my wife's Escort.

Compare any truck-based SUV to the average car impact
ratings of the same vintage. No contest.

> actually
> feel more comfortable in the Explorer's handling. 

Whether or not you like SUV's, you have to admit:
Something is definitely wrong with your Scirocco! :)

> The SUV manufacturers are also making strides to fix
> many of the complaints people have traditionally had
> about SUV's, lower center of gravity, wider
> wheelbase,
> lower bumpers, are all standard features found in
> many
> newer SUV's. The only thing left to really do is
> increase fuel economy, and SUV's are not the only
> targets of that complaint!

As a traditional SUV-hater, I must agree that this is
true. The majority of non-truck-based SUV's have much
better characteristics. (Shhhh...don't tell anyone
they're based on station wagon or minivan platforms!)

> 
> People need to get off their soapbox in the SUV
> bashing department, SUV's are never going away, they
> have always been here and always will.

Yes, that's true as well. Personally, my problem is
NOT against SUV's themselves. If the same people who
originally bought SUVs prior to the mid 80's (the ones
who need utility in an off-road-capable vehicle) were
the same ones buying today, there wouldn't be a
problem. They know what they're buying, and they drive
them appropriately.

Fortunately, the trend appears to be going back that
way.

Part of my problem is that 90% of the SUV market
consists of people who are trading comfort, safety,
efficiency, AND UTILITY for "fashion". They're paying
a premium to do it too, and they're endangering the
rest of us in the process because they expect car-like
handling, braking, and crashing
characteristics...which ultimately kills people in
"normal" vehicles. The upward spiral in large,
supposedly safe vehicles won't stop because people
will always want to feel bigger than everyone else. My
BIGGEST problem is that the manufacturers knew this
LONG AGO, and only recently have they actually cared
to give people what they actually wanted. In the
meantime, you have stories like the Explorer fiasco.
It's a classic story of fashion and greed. That's what
makes me sick about SUVs.

Most people who buy SUVs today should have bought
something else. A Taurus wagon has far more capacity
than an Explorer. Just about any minivan blows them
away. Why don't the mfgrs market them as "cool"
instead of trying marketing a truck with leather seats
as "cool"? So few SUV's go off road that they're even
making most of them in 2WD models now!

If you *actually* need towing capability or hard-core
off-road capability, go buy an SUV...and drive it like
it was meant to be driven. They have a place in this
world, and always will.

If you need a winter snow vehicle, buy an AWD car. If
you need capacity, buy a minivan or a wagon (or the
new gen "SUV"...same thing). If you need capacity and
have a gravel driveway in a snowy state, buy an AWD
minivan or an AWD wagon. It's simple. You *can* find
cool wagons, and if people start demanding cool wagons
(as they have recently) manufacturers will start
making them (as they have recently).

Off my soapbox...

Neal

=====
~Neal

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