These guys summed it up pretty good ya SUV lover
My personal problem, Yes I can't see past them. I have no idea whats goingon in front of me. 2) why does an 80lbs 5'2" women need to drive an Excursion...By her self...With no cargo...??????, Some people in SUV's think they are sports cars, they tailgate..No brakes, The take turns too fast...no handling. I'm also willing to bet Greg, Think back to the first snowfall. What was the first vehicle you saw in a ditch? An SUV?? it was for me, every year, other then that I don't really have a point. My first car was a 4Runner, and I loved that thing. So I don't hate them, as long as I'm the only one driving one

 

I don't have a problem with my mother's Expedition in the snow. And that's about it. We've got this Eddie Bauer, 5.4L V8, optioned out, $42k piece of junk. The plastic inside is disgusting, the moldings have faded and been replaced twice, and the air suspension makes odd noises at random times. And during the 14k miles and a year and a half of ownership, it has lost about 25% of it's value and put up an incredible 12.4 mpg. And for what? A seven mile commute to work. Pointless.......

 

My reasons:

1) You can't see over them, under them or around them. You are completely at their mercy if you are stuck behind one.

2) The most aggressive drivers I see are in SUVs. It used to be crappy, rusted out Camaros that drove up on your bumper, merged on top of you, or cut you off at random; now it is some guy/gal in a 3 ton SUV. I can stop in 116 feet, but how fast can some jerk tail gating me in an Expedition stop? There seems to be an attitude that you had better get the hell out of their way, because the accident is going to hurt you a heck of a lot more than it will hurt them.

3) Having rocks and road debris kicked up into my windshield and hood. Mud flaps should be mandatory because of the danger involved.

4) Did you guys read the thread about getting hit by idiots, and the people who have been hit by SUVs and jacked up PU trucks because they can't see anyone behind them?

Let me be honest: if I have kids and have to choose a minivan or SUV, I will buy the SUV. I hope that I am bright enough, though, to drive my sports car like a sports car and my SUV like an SUV.

I am done venting. Thanks for the opportunity to spew my frustration.

 

I live in Mosman, Sydney. It's a lovely old suburb overlooking Sydney Harbour with access to Balmoral beach where Shakespeare is performed 2 months of the year and the rest of the time is devoted to picnics and showing off breast augmentation.

In the average Mosman household Daddy drives a Porsche ('it's not an automatic' - for Young Ones fans) and Mummy drives a Lexus LX430. The top end drive Bentleys and Merc M430's. I don't think there is a lower end.

My question is: 'WHY?'

I'm scared to park in my own suburb for fear of a Mosman mum parking her 2 tonne monster on my S. In the last week I have seen one lady reverse park on top of another car (Toyota Landcruiser - must have been visiting) and another back into the car behind her because she couldn't see it (at least not with out pulling the sutures from a recent face lift).

Off road vehicles my but. The majority of these vehicles have never seen any obstacle more challenging than a speed hump and I expect the drivers believe the knob mark '4WD' is '4 Windy Days'.

To add insult to injury, 70% of 4WD's in Sydney have bull-bars. Basically a large prison door bolted to the front of the vehicle design to take advantage of other vehicles crush zones as they plow through an intersection.

A short list:
They take up more parking space
They handle like crap
They use more fuel
They impose a false and dangerous sense of invulnerability
They're dangerous (particularly to other motorists)

And they look billoddy stoopid in Mosman.

BTW, my next car:

and yes, that is a diminuitive Humvee next to it.

[Edited by AusS2000 on 03-26-2001 at 09:59 PM]

 

EXREMELY good point... the large size, high riding position and 4wd tend to make people do things they normally wouldn't. This can lead to some serious tradgedies. I'll never forget the Explorer I saw them pulling out of the woods outside Birmingham on the highway. It had rolled and the top of the vehicle impacted the trees... because of the body-over-frame construction, there isn't much rollover protection. The roof of the truck was crushed to the seat-bottoms over the length of the vehicle. Granted the guy was probably speeding, but I maintain they just aren't safe vehicles... yet everyone puts their families in them? The false sense of security that they impart tends to mean that there are 5 SUVs to every 1 car in the ditch during bad snowstorms.

They have their place, but right now 95% of users are not using them in the right place.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jason Saini
[B][QUOTE]Originally posted by AusS2000

 

Your 4-runner is fine... it's older, somewhat economical and not oversized. It's unfortunate that you get lumped in with the behomoths, and I'm sorry you take it personally but the fact of the matter is the SUV craze of late is out of control. Of the 11 models that Toyota produces, 6 are various sized SUV's!

 

Hey Greg, you're misquoting' me. I didn't say that.

You're welcome to have you SUV with gun rack in Boston. Just keep the hell outta Mosman

[Edited by AusS2000 on 03-26-2001 at 10:45 PM]

 

Greg,

If you wanted us to limit this discussion to 4-Runners you should have said so. It wouldn't be nearly as entertaining though because I suspect that most of us don't give a sh*t about 4-Runners. Personally, I could easily confine my opinions to All Ford and GM SUV's and the stupid BMW/Mercerdes/Lexus SUV's that were never meant to see a dirt road and I'd be just as emphatic. You can remove Pathfinders from the mix too. Who cares about those? Personally, as soon as I get my S paid off I'm getting me one of those Hummer SUV's to kick all your a$$es .

 

In the words of Mr. Cartman...

"Screw you guys, I'm goin' home..."



I love my War Wagon...and I'll probably get another soon! I want a whole FLEET of them so I can all yer scraggly asses over the place...!

Over and out...