Posted on 07/30/2008 7:46:30 AM PDT by SmithL
But it's coming fast. You can sense the shadow, the darkening, the imminent and oily doom. The dinosaurs are trembling, scribbling out their wills as fast as possible. They know the end is near, the signs are all in place, as that giant $63K Toyota Land Cruiser V8 you bought just a couple years ago violently depreciates down to less than half of what you paid for it. Ouch.
Yes, the imploding petroleum economy has spoken, and this is what it said: The era of the big, happy, dumb SUV is over.
Will you celebrate? Mourn? Mark this year on your calendar with the bright red Sharpie of petro-economic ignominy mixed with the cold tears of terrified Detroit CEOs, and dash off to buy a nice scooter? Well, why not?
Twenty years. That's about how long these great and ridiculous beasts stomped the Earth without peer or predator or even much coherent justification, how long the full-sized SUV has been at the center of warped American automotive identity, giving soccer moms and frat dudes alike a false and often dangerous sense of security and capability, when all the beasts really offered was horrible mileage and appalling handling and many thousands of fiery rollover deaths, mixed with aesthetics straight from the caveman-with-a-sledgehammer school of design. Ah, we loved them well.
Shall we enjoy a brief retrospective? Because I believe it was Ford MoCo who (arguably) fired the opening salvo,...
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Ha, that is funny because I was re-e-e-eally tempted to. Personally, I have driven GMC trucks all my life and never had a single problem with them. My husband owned a Ford Taurus when I met him that threw oil so bad that you couldn't get out of it without getting it on your clothes. He is now a bonafide GMC lover.
I thought we had already seen the end of Morford - what happened??
The SUV will go back to being a niche product like the convertible, purchased by people who will actually take the thing off-road (and the prices and add-ons will go down in price).
Actully, the SUV was born of the CAFE regs that were intended to push the car manufacturers away from large, rear-wheel-drive sedans and station wagons. Light trucks were, at that time, exempt from the regulations. Instead of meekly complying with the federal government, the manufacturers chose to move the station wagon to the truck chassis.
Station wagons were always more popular than vans, even in the '60s and '70s. Back then, vans were mostly commercial vehicles. The custom "conversion" van phenomenon of the '70s was an attempt to make vans seem "cool", but it certainly wasn't aimed at families (quite the contrary, IIRC).
I think all of that leads up to the popularity of SUVs vs. minivans. There was more to it than mere "fad".
We just bought our first SUV last month. A 2008 Ford Escape Limited V6 with 200 HP rated at 18/24 MPG (it actually gets closer to 20/28). We couldn’t be happier!
Yeah, and in 1985 one of my coworkers declared to me that the 30-year fixed mortgage was dead and would never be revived. That didn’t come about either.
The SUV is great for ditzy soccer moms (ROT IN HELL) who are always getting doped up on xanax and causing accidents on 206, ruining Clemenza’s commute home.
When I was a kid, you didn’t (expletive) with guys who drove a blazer, as they WOULD be able to kick your ass.
Remember that for democrats all of us common people (not them)who make a comfortable but not rich living are indeed "the rich" whom they are going to tax the daylights out of. My kids are certainly not "rich" either and for them, with children, an SUV is the logical vehicle to have.
Bozo there can write what he wants, but let him show me a car that can get 21-22 mpg on the highway WHILE TOWING ANOTHER CAR like my Xterra SUV can do. Let him come up with something that can tow more than maybe 1000lb of trailer. There isn’t much out there that can do that. Certainly most of the new “crossovers” can’t do that. most of them are rated to tow....nothing.
I prefer to think of this in terms of highest/lowest common denominator.
Conservatism/capitalism allows people to achieve higher standards. When a small number of individuals excell, they motivate others to strive for personal improvement. In the long term, everyone benefits.
Liberalism consistently values the LOWEST common denominator - bring the successful down to the level of the lazy/failure types by sheer iron rule. This is, of course, societally self-destructive in the long term.
06 f-250 diesel fx4 supercab w/spray-in bedliner and 4-pin hitch ... for my 29’ fifth-wheel - and my 5’4” wife.
bonus - just over 10 mpg while towing! with a/c!
Please, someone post a “End of the Dumbasses” Alert and tell us these people are no longer allowed to WRITE without being fined for being stupid....
LOL! I wouldn’t have taken the bashing personally. I just hope this truck is as reliable as my previous vehicles.
I’ve owned a mix of cars over the years but it just occurred to me that my last Ford vehicle was also a diesel: a 1985 Ford Tempo diesel with a Mitsubishi motor. Man did I love that car.
"Drag 'em all down!"
Yup. The Chevrolet Suburban was introduced in 1935... Love to get my hands on a 1947-1955 First series version. I’d settle for a ‘55 second series to a ‘57.
"Did Morford just say 'imploding petroleum'? I think I just got moist."
Where I live the "Morfords" of the mainstream news media start screeching for 4WD SUV owners to volunteer their vehicles, gas, and time to rescue the idiots and non-drivers from themselves at the sign of the first winter snowflake. The last five years I've plowed my driveway and my neighbor's and parked it for the duration.
I'm hoping I get at least 10mpg while carrying/towing.
Funniest part of the whole transation was we traded in a Honda Accord Hybrid. They didn't know if we were serious or not :)
Hey, just doing our part for the economy.
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