why do people like big ugly SUVs?

[Shelby]

The best reason to drive a SUV is to piss off all the politically correct idiot hypocrites.

It's a blast.

 

[Mr. Snakey]

They all want to like Al Gore. He has 6.

 

[agnslz]

Most SUVs look okay to me, but I just can't see how people find Hummers and Suburbans cool. Those are the most hideous things imaginable. The new Hummer looks a lot better than the old one, but it's still quite ungainly. I think people just look awkward and retarded driving vehicles that big to drop their kids off at school, go grocery shopping, or to church.

 

[Mr. Snakey]

Most SUVs look okay to me, but I just can't see how people find Hummers and Suburbans cool. Those are the most hideous things imaginable. The new Hummer looks a lot better than the old one, but it's still quite ungainly. I think people just look awkward and retarded driving vehicles that big to drop their kids off at school, go grocery shopping, or to church.

Yes Hummers are so ugly. They look really bad.

 

[mgnm]

Yes Hummers are so ugly. They look really bad.

My neighborhood is filled with H2's -- especially the bright yellow ones. Goddamn I can't stand the yellow ones. That color alone goes against the military's intentions for the Hummer to blend in with the environment.

Anyway, you guys should check out the photos on this website:

FUH2 | Fuck You And Your H2

 

[bottombuddy]

i have always driven volvos (well for nearly 19 years) and find them large enough for most dailly uses....great cars,ubber reliable and fairly cheap to run in the uk.....i owned 2 volvos at one point..a 480 sports coupe which i adored and an 850 estate.......new v70 is gorgeous..who wants to buy me one (giggles)

 

[lonesome_boy1980]

To carry their FAT ASSES away, LOL

 

[prepstudinsc]

I went from a Volvo to a Lexus and am now in a Land Rover. While it is by far the largest vehicle I've ever owned and driven, I feel much safer in it. After having my relatively new Volvo totalled by a girl who ran a red light, I wanted something big and heavy. I bought the Lexus just to have while the lawsuit was going through, and as soon as I got my money...I bought the Land Rover. Two weeks after I got the SUV, I was rear-ended, and while I had some damage, it was minor and the girl who hit me totalled her car. I was happy about that! So it's been good for me and it's nice to be able to haul stuff around in and I can put my dog in the back of the SUV and she's got plenty of room. Sure, it's terrible on gas, and it's sort of pretentious, but it's safe and I look good in it. (What else matters? LOL)

 

[Elmer Gantry]

Let me guess, you bought a petrol V8 model? Worst drinking problem in the market and nearly as bad as a H2, if you work it on a per weight basis.

The Land Rover TD5 Disco's are pretty good on fuel and have more torque. Much better option.

 

[findfirefox]

SUVs are an especially ugly symptom of a much bigger problem: America's resistance to decent, cheap, efficient, convenient public transportation.

I like yoooouuu

 

[viking1]

SUVs are an especially ugly symptom of a much bigger problem: America's resistance to decent, cheap, efficient, convenient public transportation.

Maybe if all areas of America actually had public transportation, things would be different...

 

[findfirefox]

Maybe if all areas of America actually had public transportation, things would be different...

"America's resistance"

Theres more of a problem then areas just don't have it, its that people are not willing to put forward any money (through taxes) to improve a system or get a new started, instead people just use that an excuse that they have to drive a car.

 

[viking1]

"America's resistance"

Theres more of a problem then areas just don't have it, its that people are not willing to put forward any money (through taxes) to improve a system or get a new started, instead people just use that an excuse that they have to drive a car.

If there were public transportation here, I wouldn't mind supporting it or using. I live out in the boonies, in the mountains, and there is no public transportation here. Some of the nearby small cities have a limited bus system, but it comes nowhere near me. There's not even a Greyhound station within 40 miles of here.

 

[BIGBULL29]

Maybe if all areas of America actually had public transportation, things would be different...

Good point! The car culture sucks. It encourages competition among people, hurts the environment and makes poor people feel bad.:redface:

 

[HazelGod]

I like nifty little sports cars that are like shit off a shovel when it comes to speed.

The other thing I really like about them is that they have just enough room in the cockpit for the driver and a like-minded companion. Nothing gets the juices flowing better than a 130mph blast down an empty freeway with a fellow adrenaline junkie for a co-pilot. Preferably a redhead. :wink:

 

[deleted136887]

To carry their FAT ASSES away, LOL

HEHE!
You think the fat asses came first, or the large SUVS to cart them around?

 

[Bbucko]

If there were public transportation here, I wouldn't mind supporting it or using. I live out in the boonies, in the mountains, and there is no public transportation here. Some of the nearby small cities have a limited bus system, but it comes nowhere near me. There's not even a Greyhound station within 40 miles of here.

Making the necessary allowances for rural populations and their specific needs and then extrapolating them onto a largely suburban/urban population is crummy policy.

In rural areas, where the roads are lousy and distances interminable, SUVs can make sense if the are 4WD and are large enough to haul all your shit around. That's not what we're really discussing.

Private transportation is an expensive, dangerous luxury in most of the places where most Americans actually live, and SUVs exacerbate the problem with their poor fuel efficiency and crummy emissions standards.

If options in rapid transit (including Light Rail Vehicles) were even on the table, I wonder how many drivers today might not find greater freedom by taking it than being chained to their cars/trucks/SUVs.

How many vehicular fatalities and DUIs would be avoided if there were other options? How might local air quality improve? How might we learn to socialize better and interact in a more civilized fashion?

I spent most of my adult life living in Boston, New York and Paris where urban densities and the realities of city living precluded owning a car. I was entirely divorced from the car culture except for the occasional rentals and overall very happy. The expense of owning, insuring and maintaining a car was shifted to the higher rent and other cost-of-living expenses associated with living in those places.

In 1999 I moved to Connecticut for a great job and ran into my first culture clash. A well-heeled, affluent suburban client asked me what I missed most about the city. Without hesitation I answered: "The subway."

She looked at me as if I'd thrown up on her lunch. "What", she asked, "was so great about the subway?"

I thought for a second and replied: "I used to read two newspapers per day, and dozens of magazines each month. I never worried about finding a parking spot or feeding a meter. My subway pass cost me $40 per month. I just spent $10,000 on a five-year-old car that will probably need to be replaced before I've finished paying it off, plus insurance, plus all the gas I need to keep it running. And I consider the 45 minutes it took me this morning to get here totally wasted."

If 1/3 of the money we spend on highways and on gas were poured into reliable, clean, efficient rapid transit imagine the various improvements we'd make to our lives. Imagine how different the streets would look if buildings and not parking lots lined local streets.

I am currently living in Ft Lauderdale, where a car is considered absolutely a requirement. Density is relatively low (but this is changing as small single-family homes are torn down and two or three townhomes built on the same lots), streets are wider and distances much greater than in New England. The bus service is completely unreliable, surprisingly expensive, goes nowhere and stops too soon. A seven-minute drive is a 40-minute walk or 75 minutes by bus (sometimes much longer). There are no shelters for people waiting in the blistering summer heat or caught in frequent tropical downpours.

In order to remain eligible for government assistance for my HIV meds after I lost my insurance, I cannot earn more than $2000 per month. My rent is $750, utilities can run more than $300 per month. My Mini Cooper, purchased when I first arrived and still had insurance ran, with payment, insurance and gas upwards of $650, which made eating difficult and I made the decision to let it go before it was repossessed.

This is not some philosophical discussion for me. This is the reality of my existence.

 

[Principessa]

If they still made it I would love to own a diesel Dodge Durango or if the Cadillac Escalade came in a diesel I would consider that.

Truth be told my next vehicle will probably be a used Volvo wagon. I miss my old one, it had the most comfortable seats of any vehicle I have ever owned, with my Caddy running a close second.

I'm one of those people that is always toting something somewhere. While an SUV may sometimes be more than I need, a large staion wagon was often perfect for my hauling, shopping, moving, and antiqueing needs.

 

[earllogjam]

SPRAWL - That suburb and freeway dream utopia of the 50's has turned into a unsustainable nightmare replete with soul-less subdivisions, costly and excessive infrastructure, and traffic nightmares. Just think what our communities would be like if the billions of dollars invested for two cars per household in America went for things like pubic transportation, parks, schools, community centers, gyms. It is one reason why the richest country in the world does not have a quality of life and standard of living that we deserve.

 

[2322]

That subway pass now costs a lot more. Subway fares are now $2 a ride.

I have mass transit IF I want to go into New York, but I have to drive to get to the mass transit. Otherwise there is none. Anywhere I need to go I have to drive. One of the great problems of the northeast is that the roads were designed for horses yet now they're accommodating cars. Even now, nothing is being built in the village itself. Businesses are building along roads for people to drive yet the area can't handle the traffic.

I needed AWD to get up my driveway in snow and ice. My Saab wouldn't do it. Rather than an SUV, I opted for a Subaru and I'm very glad I did. It goes right up the driveway in any weather and is reasonably conservative on gas.
Still, I have to drive it everywhere. There are no sidewalks.

Truth be told my next vehicle will probably be a used Volvo wagon. I miss my old one, it had the most comfortable seats of any vehicle I have ever owned, with my Caddy running a close second.

Swedes have great seats though the most comfortable seats I ever sat in were a Peugeot 505. Like buttah!