"Jym Dyer" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> > I've got a hint for you SUV-haters out there. If you ignore them, they'll go away faster. SUVs
> > are a fad, just like anything else.
>
Remember BMWs in the 80s? That was a fad that was replaced by the minivan, which has been replaced
by the SUV, which will be replaced with whatever the next trend is. I'm thinking its a trip back to
station wagons, or tall wagons like the PT Cruiser, etc.
> =v= I disagree. SUVs broke into the market by a ridiculous doublethink campaign promoting them as
> having something to do with loving nature, which is irretrievably idiotic, but it worked: people
> lined up to buy them and slap their Sierra Club decals and "Keep Tahoe Blue" stickers on the
> bumpers. Now the doublethink selling point is that they're safer (they're not) and make you freer
> (just ignore those gas and insurance bills).
>
The first "new" SUVs, the Toyota 4Runner and Nissan Pathfinder were both pickup based, appealing to
young males that wanted an enclosed cab for their outdoor gear. The rest of the breed is driven by
marketing, capitalizing on the original idea and mass marketing it for the yuppies. The Suburbans,
Grand Cherokees, Cherokee Cheifs, and even the Ford Bronco had been around for a loooooong time in
smaller numbers than today, but the big American Station wagon was also available for those families
that needed the space and better gas mileage. Since the big station wagon died, there had to be
something to take over, enter SUVs for the everyman.
My insurance on my truck is less than that on any of my previous cars. Not by much, but still less.
> =v= The triumph of SUV sales simply proves that millions of people out there just don't think
> things through. Yeah, it's a fad, so creating an anti-SUV buzz may be the only way to get through
> to these people to redirect their faddish behavior.
>
> > You'll notice that the new crop of SUVs are more and more car-like, smaller, more efficient. See
> > a trend?
>
> =v= Yeah, another doublethink trend. They're "more efficient" on a scale set by absurdly-low
> expectations.
More efficient is still more efficient regardless of the expectations. I've also noticed a trend
from Detroit (and to a lesser extent Europe) to stuff big ole V8s in cars again. Talk about less
efficient! Less space AND the same size or bigger engine.
>
> > The more y'all bash SUVs, the more I like driving my F150 just to prove that I can.
>
> =v= All you're proving is my point. Reasoning, clearly, has not swayed you.
Explain what reasoning you're talking about. I've owned a VW Golf, a Sentra, a Volvo 142, and
several other cars that are much more efficient than my truck, but I still like the bed/cargo
capacity, the size, and the fact that in an accident, you lose by the fact that the truck I'm
driving weighs twice as much as your compact.
SUV-bashing makes more people aware that SUV
> driving is a sign of short-sighted stupidity, makes one smell like exhaust,
Funny, I don't smell of gasoline when I'm driving my truck. Maybe if you weren't at the level of my
tailpipe, you wouldn't either. Short sighted to me means involving the government with regulations
designed to limit freedom of choice, but then that's my opinion.
causes wars,
I don't remember any SUVs invading Kuwait, or firing Scud missiles, or oppressing a population. You
know of any?
and (according to the SUV makers'
> own market research) appeals to paranoid sociopaths who feel
> about what others think of you,
Funny, I could care less what you think of me. There are a very limited number of people in this
world whose opinions matter to me. Yours isn't one of them.
so perhaps this anti-SUV buzz will make yours a bit less lemming-like.
> <_Jym_>
Nope, all the anti-SUV buzz is to prove that America is a great place, where we have choices in the
vehicles we drive. Where there is the freedom to be an asshole as long as it doesn't infringe on
anyone else's right to be an asshole either.