Originally Posted By gottaluvdavillains The Death of the SUV by Mike Krumboltz June 4, 2008 03:11:39 PM Dearly beloved. We gather here today to mourn the demise of the sport utility vehicle, or "SUV" as its friends liked to call it. The gas-guzzler lived a full life, driving in the fast lane from the 1990s to the mid-2000s. Alas, it fell ill a few years ago and never recovered. And really, we can't say the death came as a surprise. For years, folks complained about the environmental impact of low-mileage vehicles. Over time, those voices grew louder, but still the SUV fought on, proudly taking up two parking spaces and scaring hybrids from its lane. But then, gas prices soared and the SUV's vital signs plummeted. As much as people love large cars, the costs to keep fuel in the tank proved too much to take. As the New York Times reported, it now costs $100k to own and keep a similarly inefficient full size pickup running for five years. And so people pulled the plug on their trucks and SUVs, taking the beleaguered vehicles off life support and into the museum of dead car fads. U.S. News and World Report has written a thoughtful and compelling obit on the yuppie chariot. Read it and remember the SUV's positive qualities as well as its faults. It's what it would have wanted.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I'm keeping mine. It is a relatively small SUV and makes winter driving a lot more secure. Besides, we live very close to work and drive only about 5,000 miles per year. We go through considerably less gas than your typical Prius owner.
Originally Posted By mrkthompsn The best way to rid the world of SUVs is not to sell them, but to drive them until the wheels fall off. The next customer of an SUV should be the junkyard. If you sold it, someone else would continue to drive it.
Originally Posted By gottaluvdavillains Oh I just paid it off (thanks IRS) I am not selling it yet - all her friends are going away though!!
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost Look at it this way...it's probably ready to go. The poor thing has been laughed at, spit on and demeaned for so long that its spirit is probably been dead for a while anyway. It is tired of being thirsty all the time and listening to its owner complain every time they pull into a gas station (which is quite often). Its poor self esteem has fallen to the basement what with comments about how its male owners are "compensating" or something to that effect. Tired of being laughed as it bullies its way down the highway sporting bumper stickers proclaiming "Stop Global Warming" or "I (heart) my Planet" knowing that the irony of those bumpered messages are not lost on those little hybrids and their snooty little owners. (sigh) Yes, it is probably quite aware that its time has come and welcomes the chance to exit gracefully. No more coffee spilled on her console or having to listen to endless cell phone conversation. Its time has mercifully come. RIP
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< How do you tell it? You just say "It isn't you! It's me!" >> "You've changed!" might work.
Originally Posted By gottaluvdavillains Was at my sister's today - she has her Durango for sale -- I am looking for a smaller car for around town - and a truck cover for the Beast...But she is just too pretty to dispose of!! Plus with 6 of us (me,dh,ds19,ds17,ds12,dd9) a small car isn't always practical!!
Originally Posted By fkurucz FWIW, there are 6 passenger vehicles out there that are a bit less "behemothy" than an Excursion. But the truth is that for most people its probably better to just hang on to the SUV for now, as selling it would require discounts that would more than offset any fuel economy savings from a smaller car.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip You know it's all an evil Saudi plot, don't you? They lust after our big, throbbing SUV's and want to corner the market for themselves. They are jacking the price of gas so that they can buy all of our SUV's cheap. Once we've lost all of our glorious SUV's they will put the price of oil back to $65 a barrel and laugh their butts off about all the Americans driving their little clown cars.
Originally Posted By gottaluvdavillains <there are 6 passenger vehicles out there that are a bit less "behemothy" than an Excursion> Yes I know - but the condition DH had when we moved from the minivan to the SUV -necessitated by the 6'1"teen and 5'10" teen boys - was that we went diesel - at that point diesel was less than gas...And my 2000 Excursion (bought used in 2005) gets better milage than BIL's 2000 Suburban! Still time to park and cover unless going on family trips!!
Originally Posted By mrkthompsn I do this: <a href="http://www.hypermiling.com/" target="_blank">http://www.hypermiling.com/</a> From work to back, I only push the gas pedal going uphill. I pop it into neutral going downhill. I've really learned the terrain going back and forth to work. And if I'm on the open interstate with minimal traffic: cruise control.
Originally Posted By fkurucz ^^^IIRC in many (if not all) states it is illegal to coast downhill in neutral.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad Well I actually need my Suburban. Its hard to get 7 kids into a Smart Car.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan For you, a Suburban is an ecological and economical wise choice. For the guy commuting 60 miles a day round trip solo, not so much.
Originally Posted By DAR Let's see we have had the station wagon, van, mini van and SUV. Someone will find a way to make another vehicle that you can transport large amounts of people with.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan <a href="http://www.endoftheoregontrail.org/wagon.gif" target="_blank">http://www.endoftheoregontrail...agon.gif</a>
