Comments frim an SUV owner....
OK - a few comments from someone who owns an SUV. I have a '95 Suburban. Why?
1. I tow a 3500 lb. boat 6 to 8 times a year, wife, 2 kids, dog, luggage. Can't do it with anything less. Should the environmentalists be able to dictate my recreational travel? I can't do these trips in the 330cic!
2. Since it seats 7, I frequently am "designated driver". By driving the 'burban and picking up friends, 2 other cars of friends are being left at their homes, saving gas, pollution and creating less traffic.
3. Why 4wd if I never drive offroad?
- 2 years ago we had a 23" snow storm in the area. My wife, a doctor, drove 30 miles in the snow storm (8" to 12" mostly unplowed at that point) to get to the hospital. The 'burban laughed at it - TRY THAT in your 330xi or Subaru Forrester with 7" of ground clearance. Doctors, nurses, etc. who lived 5 miles from the hospital couldn't get there. Suppose you got your hand caught in a snow blower, and no emergency workers had SUVs to get to their jobs?
- boat ramps (sometimes sand or mud) get slippery. More than once I have needed 4wd to get the boat out of the water.
I ride a motorcycle that gets 35 - 40 mpg. Is that justification for me to torch all cars that get less than 35 mpg or all vehicles with more than 2 tires?
What about the tens of thousands of handicapped people who have converted vans/SUVs allowing them to load a wheelchair? Can't do that with a regular car.
My point is that MANY SUV drivers have legitimate reasons and uses that may not be evident when you see them on the road. I agree that there are many CLUELESS Expedition/Suburban drving soccer moms that should be driving Volvo XC70 wagons. But, just as BMW drivers are sometimes wrongly stereotyped, the same goes for SUV drivers. In any event, there is no justifiable reason to destroy someone else's property based on narrow minded, self-serving beliefs.