WOW! I mentioned that I drive an Escalade

[alwynsw]

and didn't get flamed!

[Xithras]

1. Not all SUV owners are evil

Some of us have practical reasons for owning them (mine is having to deal with the Sierras every winter).

[kyrasdad]

2. No they aren't all evil...

But in the afterlife, be prepared... You'll be forced to drive a 1983 Chevy Chevette O8)

[alwynsw]

6. Had one already

actually two..a '78 and an '84. This fat boy's done his time in purgatory.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

3. I don't have an issue with most SUV owners

as long as they know how to drive a large vehicle.

I just don't like them in front of me. I like to see.

There are MANY Hummers though in So Cal. I think them a bit excessive and wonder why one wishes to travel in an assualt vehicle. I always look for gun turrets sticking out of them.

[Insider]

4. test drive

i'm going soon. they say it feels like driving a condo.

ps - almost bedtime.

[alwynsw]

8. I just stick my bazooka out the passenger side window

[Robb]

30. You keep that bazooka in check

Wait and go when we get to the rest stop!! :spank:

[Cleita]

15. Not only that they take up two parking spaces.

:grr:

[maggrwaggr]

5. I'm surprised you haven't been flamed. Why, exactly, do you drive that?

what is your actual need for such a vehicle?

[alwynsw]

7. Primarily comfort

That and getting two bad knees and a trick back into a smaller vehicle.

I have to admit, the butt warmer did spoil me.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

9. Yep

Warm butt is a plus.

[alwynsw]

10. The perfect cap for the thread!

[XNASA]

19. I drive an SUV with a butt warmer......

But it gets 27 mpg on the highway.

It's possible to have the best of both worlds.

FWIW, it's my opinion that the Escalade is one of the ugliest barges on the road. For what you paid, you could be driving a Lexus.

[kayleybeth]

11. I have

a big 1997 conversion van that gets about 15 miles to the gallon. We don't drive it a lot, but we do use it for transporting our handicapped daughter in her wheelchair when needed. Our other car is a toyota and gets 30 miles per gallon.

[markses]

12. You must be a pimped out muh-fucker

I never realized how many white folks in suburbs have Escalades. That's a straight thug ride in the City, dawg. Cadillac griiizz-ill.

Funniest thing in the world to see an overweight middle class white guy in a suit getting out of an Escalade. Makes me laugh everytime.

[alwynsw]

22. Happy I can lighten up your day!

[NickB79]

13. Been borrowing an SUV for a week now and must admit

It is pretty damn nice to be riding up higher than the rest of the crowd, all the creature comforts it offers. But I'm getting my Taurus this week, 28 mpg highway, so that's ok.

[Ellen Forradalom]

14. But don't mention that it's pink

and that you earned it by selling a million dollars' worth of Mary Kay. That'll bring the wrath of DU down on your head.

[Systematic Chaos]

16. I got to drive a Dodge Dakota pickup for a week

before the dealership I bought my vehicle from had to rescind on the deal and put me in something less expensive. I ended up with a Honda Accord which, all things considered, has been great to me. Plus, I know it has saved me hundreds in gas in the last year-and-a-half.

But, I do admit it was wonderful sitting up high, even if it was only a midsize pickup! Plus, having it would have made moving SO much easier....

I don't think SUV's are totally evil. If you have a large family or transport a lot of stuff around that will fit in an SUV as opposed to the bed of a pickup, then that's fine.

[Kolesar]

17. They handle like a dump truck, who wants that?

Buy a minivan if you need the room. They handle better and are more fuel efficient, too.

[alwynsw]

24. No guts in the minivan

VROOOOMMMMMMM! POWER!!! Actually, I also tow a 32' travel trailer with it.

[Kolesar]

25. progrocker69 was citing the need for room

My minivan is not gutless on the entrance ramp, by the way. I am not a lead foot, running the guts out of my expensive vehicle, so I seldom need to floor it.

Windstars and Ventures will tow 5000 pounds, what more do you need? If that is not enough, you should get a smaller trailer, or camp in a tent like I do. My tent weighs 79 ounces.

[MissMillie]

18. Some people NEED an SUV

depending on where you live, what kind of cargo (human and otherwise) you put in your vehicle, etc.

If I had a big family and lived and/or travelled where 4-wheel drive was a good idea, I wouldn't think twice about an SUV.

[leftofthedial]

20. that sucks!

you should be ashamed of yourself or you or your kids should be fighting in Iraq

get a repsectable car instead of that Repuke meat wagon, you DINO traitor to all that is good in this world.



Feel better?

sorry, I'm not much of a flamer.

[alwynsw]

23. I'm all toasty now. Thanks!

[CanuckAmok]

21. The whole SUV flaming thing is tiresome.

We will burn every drop of oil under the world's surface. Whether we do it in Escalades in ten years or hybrid Hondas in fifty, the exact same amount of fossil fuels will be burned, and the exact same numbers of pollutants will be released into the environment.

4-MPG and 45+MPG are equally damaging to the environemnt. Picking on SUV owners is the split hair du jour.

We have two Toyota trucks. Both are over ten years old, and are kept in mechanical and environmental top condition. Both have 4 cyl motors. But we have been lumped in with every other SUV stereotype, because of what we drive.

I wonder what the impact of the manufacture of a new vehicle, even a hybrid, is to the environment, as opposed to keeping a well-maintained vehicle through several decades.

[Kolesar]

26. We can control the rate of consumption with efficiency standards

I think it would make a difference in greenhouse gases. SUVs should be required to get the fuel economy performance as automobiles, or the customer and manufacturer should have to pay an excise tax.

We should end highway subsidies and development subsidies that lead to sprawling cities.

If we don't do something about petroleum consumption, we are going to be royally screwed in about ten years when world production starts to decrease due to depleted reserves.

[CanuckAmok]

28. my point is that we'll consume 100% of the crude there is...

...consumption standards merely prolong the consumption.

I personally believe that

a) there will be no significant relief to the environment if we prolong our oil consumption, and

b) the reserves are already critically low, and we're not being given the correct stats on how much is left. PNAC is all about becoming more aggressive, as the supply dries up.

[TEXASYANKEE]

27. Good for you.

I drive an Infiniti QX4. It's the one single solitary completely unrealisticly hedonistic thing I've ever allowed myself. I'm one car payment from owning it outright and I love it.

[CanuckAmok]

29. This article settles the issue. Period.

http://www.newyorker.com/shouts/content/

Sales Associate: ...And let me ask you this: Ever wondered what a Volkswagen Beetle sounds like as it’s crushed to scrap metal beneath your front axle?

Jesus: Not really . . .

Sales Associate: Like angels on high, amigo. Angels rejoicing on high....