LittleLebowskiUrbanA's Journal: California and SUV madness

What the hell's wrong with this state? Why does everybody want some big gas guzzling SUV that you can't park anywhere and probably never use? Why not just buy a house instead? I won't even get into the braking and handling drawbacks.

    I reckon some SUV owners use their vehicles to justify to themselves that they're not trapped in urban sprawl and in the middle of a rat race-they are still masculine men. As for the female owners, they don't like the "family car" stigma of station wagons and minivans even though they get better gas mileage, are easier to park, and handle better.

Common excuses for owning an SUV:

-for towing my (almost always nonexistent) boat

-I feel safer

-I want my spouse to be safe (ignoring accident statistics)

-for the river

-for the kids that ride in it twice a day

-for going up to the mountains once a year

    Any other excuses? By the way, I drive a Acura Integra GSR here and a Dodge Cummings turbo-diesel 4x4 back home on the ranch. Both of those get better mileage than most medium sized and large SUVs.

Dodge Cummings? NOOO!!

[MonTemplar]

Please tell me you made that one up. :-D

Re:Dodge Cummings? NOOO!!

[LittleLebowskiUrbanA]

Wel, I misspelled Cummins but no, I didn't make that up. Great engines. We have one w/ over 400,000 miles on it and goig strong. Gas engines don't have enough torque compared to diesels and don't last as long.
These are work vehicles for a working cattle ranch of 28,000 acres that's located 70 miles from any town.

SUVs

[Blind Linux]

Not all SUVs are utter junk.
Volvo's XC70 is incredibly safe, featuring a Rollover Protection System, side-impact airbags for front seats, and 3pt seatbelts, amongst other safety measures.
It also seats as much as a minivan and gets better mileage than most.
However, I tend to agree that most SUVs are overhyped, gas-guzzling piles.