Even Deep Discounts Can't Move SUVs

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | May 8, 2005 | Michael Taylor

[DustyMoment]

We've been down this road before (no pun intended). SUV and low fuel mileage vehicle sales typically fall off every time gas prices go up.

As soon as the price of gas stabilizes and/or retreats to a lower level, GM, Ford and Harry's Hot Rod Shop won't be able to produce enough vehicles to meet demand.

In the meantime, I'm perfectly happy with my 3 SUV's and have no plans to downsize to a hybrid anytime soon.

[wmichgrad]

So would it be OK to own an SUV here in MI where we get snow in the winter? Or how about to tow a trailer? Can I use it to cart around my family of 4 plus two dogs and all of our stuff? Can I just drive around by myself on a nice sunny day? Please let me know soon, because I have some errands to run and need to get going.

Thanks!

[Junior]

I don't think he was advocating making SUVs illegal. He was just voicing his opinion on why he doesn't like them. Hell, I can't stand the really big ones, but even I don't want to see them made illegal (maybe be forced to drive in the right lane period, no passing, nothing, but not made illegal).

[brownsfan]

"As a result, people who want full-size cars have to buy SUVs."

I drive a Bonneville. I have a hard time not viewing it as a full-sized car. I guess if you're talking about the old Electra 225 land yachts, yeah, the Bonneville is small. I can fit 4 adult males with 4 sets of golf clubs in the trunk. It could hold 5 males, but 5 sets of clubs would be pushing it. How big do you really need?

[wmichgrad]

What year is your Explorer?

[Mrs. Shawnlaw]

Thank you to post 43!!! The anti-suv crowd are falling for the liberal agenda. The suv is a pickup with a top on it and an open interior! We love our suv's! My jimmy gets 20mpg and the qx4 gets 18.
Ford and GM are terrible at dealing. Nissan is very accomodating, willing to deal and 100x the vehicle. Ford is arrogant and GM will not rectify the dex-cool horror. This article is nothing but the big 3 whining.
Shame on you suv nitpickers on a conservative site!!

[AppyPappy]

2002. I bought it used last year for about $15k.

[Ditter]

Buying a small low to the ground vehicle was your choice but you want me not to have a choice? I don't drive much and don't fill up my Tahoe (15/19mpg) up more often than every 3 weeks or so, but when I do drive, a Tahoe is my choice.

[MJM59]

SUV's are preceived safer because they are bigger. I like to think of it as a lazy person's safety. Safety for those who are too lazy to learn how to drive the damned things properly. Most SUV drivers just point the things in the general direction they want to go without regard for anyone else on the road. Simply because they are big they think they can get away with it.

[ThisLittleLightofMine]

The Prius is ugly and I think a Honda accord gets just as good of mileage. People are so willing to fork out big dollars for that tin on wheels, when they could buy any compact car and get good mileage, it seems silly.

[wmichgrad]

I drove a new Pathfinder on work trip a couple of months ago. Great vehicle! Only problem was that it takes premium gas. Ouch!

[timtoews5292004]

thanks for reading way more into my own personal opinion than I said. If I were running things, SUV's would at least have a minimum gas mileage requirement, at least the same as a pickup truck. I know people can choose whatever they want. I just wish they'd chose something that would help lessen our dependancy on people who'd cut our throat the moment our back was turned.

[szweig]

Gee whiz, fellas...I drive a Harley-Davidson Road King. I get ~ 36 mph in town (I'm quick off the green light...I like to get to 40 mph quickly else I'd do better than that.) Plus I don't have to wait in traffic (Kalifornia allow lane-splitting) and I don't have to waste my time in traffic. I can waste it at the time and place of my own choosing. If more people drove motorcycles traffic (and the world) would be a far, FAR better place. The Road King handles great in town and also is a comfortable cross-country ride. I'll never go back to a cage.

[Mogger]

No one wants a suv that gets 8 mi per gal on a good day when gas is over $3.00 a gallon

My 1997 Saturn SL1 now has 416,000+ miles on it and still gets 40 to 42 MPG.

I commute with it most of the time to save gas so I can drive my "SUV" (see below) that gets 12 MPG.

[Junior]

A minivan does not block the line of sight in the manner the largest SUVs and regular vans do. Minivans typically have large windows front and back that allow following vehicles to see road conditions ahead.

I know of at least one fatal accident caused by blocked line-of-sight; the SUV in question suddenly changed lanes and the car behind him plowed into the vehicle stalled in the lane.

[Don Carlos]

Doom and Gloom! The sky is falling! Oh, woe is me!

[reagan_fanatic]

Nine out of every ten SUV's I see on the road are not being used to 'carry around my ten kids and 15 bags of groceries' as they like to tell us but are being used as in-town transportation by a single, solitary 5' 3" female yakking on a cell phone who can barely see over the dashboard.

[Principle Over Politics]

That is funny, but not to the persons riding in the Geo
Metro who collide head on with my 7,000 lb. Chev Diesel truck.

Which would you rather be riding in?

[Junior]

Many people like the SUVs because they are taller than most cars, and the driver can see over the traffic and know what's coming up on the road.

Of course, you're contributing to this problem...