60 Minutes : The Thrill Of The SUV

CBS News ^ | July 13, 2003 | Morley Safer, Correspondent

[newgeezer]

I had to laugh at Rapaille the "psychologist" whose apparently made millions telling the car companies what everyone already knows, wrapping it in some "reptilian" gobbledygook. (No matter what they say, 99% of the people who buy SUVs do it because they think they're macho, popular, and they want to be seen in them. Duh.)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, already. You're part of that 1% who doesn't, okay? ;O)

[Support Free Republic]

Hint! Hint!Hint! Hint!Hint! Hint!

[Dan from Michigan]

I got a good deal on the last 2 SUV's I had. I also need the 4 wheel since I'm often on dirt/mud roads and snowy areas in the winter time.

Besides, I like pissing off lefties.

[ambrose]

A gluttonous vehicle for our gluttonous times.

[oceanview]

and they aren't even safe, at least the American ones. Have you ever seen the crash video on a Yukon or F150 pickup? Scary.

[Gorzaloon]

– that it sits higher up, and people can see a lot more

People buy SUV's so they can see around SUV's.

[c-b 1]

Today, the family car is no longer a modest station wagon, but a Suburban, a Yukon, or an Excursion or a Land Rover or an Escalade.

Give me a break! You can't buy a modest station wagon. These same anti-america greens whined, and screamed back in the 70s until the government forced the manufacturers to shrink everything down to where you can't buy a real car. What do they expect people to do?

[isthisnickcool]

I have a really happy friend. He is so happy it's fun to see how happy he is. Why is he so happy?

He owns a Hummer dealership.

[mommybain]

I had to laugh at Rapaille the "psychologist" whose apparently made millions telling the car companies what everyone already knows

Not only is he telling the car companies what everyone already knows, he's telling their subsidiaries, along with other corporations. The company I work for (a subsidiary of a big-3 auto maker...look up Ditech.com and read the fine print, you'll figure it out) is basing it's entire marketing and operating plan on this man's "reptilian" gobbledygook.

Wanna be happy? Buy a car with a "happy face"!!!! Wanna know why the remade Ford Thunderbird tanked? Look at it's face. That's why! Wanna know why SUVs are selling? Simple. Survival of the fittest on the road. SUVs appeal to your "reptilian" brain...survival. I've heard this stuff at work for 3 years now, and all I do is write programs to maintain car insurance policies (until my job gets shipped to India thanks to H1-B.)

[Paul Atreides]

By and large, SUV owners seem a contented lot, lording it over the common herd, proud of the status symbols they captain to the shopping mall or the grocery store.

I was wondering how long it would take them to bring class envy into it.

[goodnesswins]

YEAH...what YOU said....I'm walking today because of a '91 Ford Explorer....which, when stopped at a light, with ME in it, was hit twice.....and lived to tell about it. Did about $10K damage....glad I wasn't driving our little '83 Honda Accord - I'd have been thrown into oncoming traffic.....and NOT be here, I believe. Go POUND sand, you who criticize SUV's.....I haul the grandkids around, have camped in it, and it's still going strong at age 12. /RANT

[ChadsDad]

I'm on my third Suburban. I can haul a lot of Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Soccer crap, baseball crap, science projects, camping gear, etc., and pull all my trailers. I love the vehicle, and I don't need to explain why to anyone. You drive what you want, and I promise not to notice...

[ChadsDad]

I'm on my third Suburban. I can haul a lot of Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Soccer crap, baseball crap, science projects, camping gear, etc., and pull all my trailers. I love the vehicle, and I don't need to explain why to anyone. You drive what you want, and I promise not to notice...

[Parley Baer]

I just bought a used 2000 Tahoe with 4 wheel drive and the Z71 suspension. This is the best vehicle I have owned yet. If any of the greenies don't like it I will show them what my 5 cell MagLite looks like. Parley

[Paul Atreides]

If they're going to squawk about people's transportation, they need to squawk about liberals running around in private jets, stretch limos, and a certain congresswoman being chauffered to work when she only lives a block away. That's not to mention an ex-president galivanting all over the world for golfing trips. Let the working man keep his SUV!

[Miss Marple]

Of course! Of course, my SUV isn't very imposing, since it is a 91 Ford Explorer that now is starting to rust. On the plus side it has 300,000 miles on the original engine and transmission.

I have an SUV so that I can haul things and get my disabled mother and her wheelchair into the vehicle comfortably. We have hauled brush, a girls' soccer team, a riding lawnmower, and large dogs.

Without my Explorer, we would have had to buy both a sedan and a pickup. I consider our purchase to be economical.

Also, I am short and I like being up high. I cannot normally see oncoming traffic if someone is opposite me when I am turning left.

If they ban SUV's, I will buy a pick-up.

[The Brush]

I hate smoking and SUV's but I bought one and I smoke to pi$$ of Liberals, it's nice to know it's working!

[oceanview]

and you think that Tahoe is safe, right? Check out the photo at the right of the page:

http://www.whnet.com/4x4/crashes.html

scroll further down to look at the F150. The F150 frame is the basis for the Expedition.

[Rate_Determining_Step]

Tom & Ray are anti-car guys. Oh sure, the talk a good game and I do think they're quite funny, but they hate anything worthy on the road. From high HP cars to SUVs. If it ain't some Volvo S70 or Subaru Outback granola car, they just can't stand it.

-RDS
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[stylin19a]

I'm just about ready to buy an SUV....strictly for denfensive purposes. I can't see much forward/back/left or right on the road anymore. I have a devil of time getting out of a parking place in any mall parking lot.

I'm suppose they could've used the "Hummer means Clinton in American-English" definition.